Frameworks, Competencies, and Innovation in Evaluation

Last week we looked at the snappily-named Digital Competence Framework for Educators (DigCompEdu, for short): a European system of levels which helps those of us working in teaching to identify our level of digital competency. Each ability is split into six levels, from A1 to C2, with these levels defined by simple statements describing what the educator can do at each level (for example, "I experiment with new forms and formats for offering guidance and support, using digital technologies").

If this system sounds familiar, that's because it's been borrowed from the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages, which also defines its level-system by what learners can do, instead of what they know. The CEFR has been around since 2001, and is familiar to most European language students, so it's hardly new. My question then, is: why do these competency frameworks still feel innovative in the context of secondary education?

Whether in Spain or in Scotland, we still tend to grade students on a scale, whether from A to F, or 10 to 0. When we do this, we're grading them against criteria which may or may not be understood, rather than placing their learning in context. A student who gets a 4 will probably be demoralised, instead of reflecting on what they can do, and identifying what they still have to learn. A student who is given an A could easily think that they have nothing to improve upon, instead of considering their learning as part of a lifelong journey, in which there will always be more to learn.

I think that when we use levels and competencies instead of alphanumeric grades, we're able to show students where they are on a journey of learning, encourage them with positive statements of what they can do (instead of what they can't), and help them to understand their learning as something relevant to their lives (we don't congratulate them on knowing the present perfect or the third conditional, but on being able to communicate and understand). Whether for our students or for ourselves, they help us move beyond viewing the learning process in terms of success or failure; instead, it's about growth, expanding our capabilities, and reflecting on our skills.