Learning For The Workplace: Competency-Based Versus The Experiential Perspective

Learning for the Workplace: Competency-based versus the Experiential Perspective
Learning for the Workplace:

Competency-based versus the Experiential Perspective
Kalyan Chatterjea, Singapore Maritime Academy

[Published in Journal of Teaching Practice, 1999/2000, Singapore Polytechnic]
ABSTRACT
Competency-based education is receiving a lot of attention as we focus on the requirement for

competency standards to meet the workplace requirements. In the Singapore Maritime Academy of the
Singapore Polytechnic, there is considerable international pressure to implement a competency-based
programme (STCW ‘78 & its Amendments in ‘95) to prepare the shipboard workforce for the
competitive global economy. The paper attempts to analyse this competency or outcome-based
approach in adult education with some cautionary notes on its ways of implementation, particularly,
when such practices are focused on a narrow range of competencies as the course content.
Additionally, it is pointed out that competency- based approach has little to offer on how learning
happens and so, the paper argues that learning is best conceived as a process and not in terms of
outcomes and to make this process effective an experiential approach is suggested. Learning is also
seen as a process of knowledge creation through transformation of experience in both subjective and
objective forms. Hence, the stress of our educational practices should be on the process of adaptation
and learning and not solely on content or outcome.
Kalyan Chatterjea, Lecturer, Singapore Maritime Academy, Singapore Polytechnic. 1

Extract from Journal of Teaching Practice, Singapore Polytechnic 1999/2000
Table of Content
1 INTRODUCTION..............................................................................................................3
2 COMPETENCY-BASED, ASSESSMENT-DRIVEN LEARNING ...................................5

2.1 Fordism of the Education System 5
2.2 Dialectic Conflicts between ‘Standardisation’ and ‘Flexibility’ 6
2.3 Broad Competencies for Flexible Curriculum 8
3 EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING ..........................................................................................9

3.1 Experience As a Key for Learning and Growth 10
3.2 Objective Questionnaire as an Aid to Drawing Out Experience 13
3.3 Use of Learning Style and Its Effectiveness 15
3.4 Learning as the Major Process of Human Adaptation as well as the Source of Knowledge Creation 21
4 CONCLUSION ..............................................................................................................22
5 REFERENCES...............................................................................................................23

1 Introduction
The continual development of technologies of production can…. lead to radical changes

in the workplace. This may require further training for some, but lead to unemployment
for others. In this context, the promotion of learning clearly entails a struggle to give
value to certain forms of knowledge, behaviour and attitudes over others. In Field’s
analysis (Field, 1993) of vocational education for example, he argues the value given to
this form of learning has three aims: to socialise our consent to the maintenance of
status quo, to contribute to employee recruitment through the development of
qualifications, and to generate forms of knowledge and behaviour appropriate from the
employers’ perspective. (Thorpe. M. et al., 1993: p.2)
The views expressed above have led to reforms in adult education over the last decade
(Field, 1993), which emphasised competency-based framework of education to meet
these utilitarian perspectives. Competency-based education and training is receiving a
lot of attention as we focus on requirement for competency standards to meet workplace
requirements and prepare the workforce for the competitive global economy. In England,
Wales and Northern Ireland, the framework for National Vocational Qualifications was
initiated in 1986. NVQs specify what the workforce would be capable of doing in the
particular occupational field.
In the area of maritime training in Singapore Polytechnic, where I am a faculty member,
there is considerable international pressure to implement competency-based education.
Proponents of competency-based education claim that it provides clear expectations for
the learners as well as the employers. It provides clear guidelines for assessment
procedures and its scientific approach with mainly behavioural objectives are still being
rated highly by the employers. This paper attempts to analyse this competency or
outcome-based approach in adult education with some cautionary notes on its ways of

implementation. However, as competency-based approach has little to offer on how
learning happens and how best the learning programs may be effectively developed the
paper then argues that learning is best conceived as a process and not in terms of
outcomes (Kolb, 1993: p.143). New learning paradigms should be built on the existing
framework of learner’s knowledge base. As Kolb puts it,
"The fact that learning is a continuous process grounded in experience has
important educational implications. Put simply, it implies that all learning is
relearning. How easy and tempting it is in designing a course to think of the
learner’s mind as being as blank as the paper on which we scratch our outline.
Yet this is not the case. Everyone enters every learning situation with more or less
articulate ideas about the topic at hand. " (Kolb, 1993: p.145).
Kolb is referring to the experiential status of individual learners in a learning situation. We
never start with a tabula rasa. So, it seems worthwhile for a facilitator to enquire about
this status for each individual learner, which could then make the appropriate
connections easier for new adaptations of knowledge. This awareness of the experiential
status is perhaps equally helpful for the learner, which could give the learner a clear
perspective on his/ her possible learning routes necessary for making the learning more
meaningful. Hence, this paper further argues that in a learning situation, it will be prudent
to assess the learner’s existing beliefs in the subject domain based on his/ her
experiential past before attempts are made to refine the learner’s belief system to a
higher level. The approach contrasts from the traditional classroom based teaching
where a topic is addressed in a sequential manner from ‘A’ to ‘Z’ without much regard to
learner’s present belief system on the subject at hand. Finally, the paper endorses the
‘learning process’, to be a holistic process of adaptation to the world, whereby new

knowledge is created through transactions between objective accumulation of previous
human cultural experiences and the subjective life experiences of the learner. (Kolb,
1993: p. 152)
2 Competency-based, Assessment-driven Learning
"Competency based assessment, in its present form, threatens to become the new
Fordism of the educational system. The proliferation of competency specifications and
the increasing precision with which competencies are stated parallels the ‘parcellization’
of the work-force and labour process. As competencies are differentiated more finely, so
it becomes more and more possible to narrow the scope of initiative and field of
responsibility of each individual in (his or ) her work; the coherence and the goals of the
organization accordingly becomes less rather than more intelligible. " (Field, 1993: p.48).
This is the technology-focused approach to learning and Boud (1989: p.41) refers to this
as freedom from distraction. Learning goals and competencies required are derived from
analysing the needs and expected behavioural change of learners. These programmes
are tested on learners and feedback from them is used to continuously improve the
content, delivery and also the assessment format. The assessment practices for such
programmes are based on behaviourist psychology, as behavioural changes are easier
to measure and quantify.
2.1 Fordism of the Education System
The competency-based approach in education could be paralleled to Fordism in mass
production where work processes were repackaged into smaller, repeatable and
measurable steps to reduce the grips of the skilled workers (Field, 1993: p.41). This is
likely to result in performance improvement when the nature of work is highly repetitive
without much demand for changes in processes involved. The approach is perhaps

suitable for specialised industries, where narrow skills are sought after. Arguably, even in
such industries, the workforce would be restricted to the specialised plants or processes
and such training would encourage more employer control and less flexibility for the
workforce. As Field (1993: p.42) puts it:
Training for the Fordist production worker, such as was needed, took place on the
line and was so empty of any wider content than repetition that there was serious
policy concern over the utter absence of any wider awakening of the young mind
– to civic virtues, to culture, to discoveries in technology and science which would
produce the new, white-hot future.
Additionally, the behaviourist process of well-defined outcome-based approach is
criticised for its lack of attention to context (Prior 1989). Candy and Harris (1990)
reported poor retention of such decontextualised training for a particular competency.
However, it is also argued that competency-based courses have clear-cut outcomes with
well-defined assessments. These assessment processes have a way of changing
teacher and student behaviour (Field, 1993) and thus, may be used as a tool for effecting
change in an educational system.
2.2 Dialectic Conflicts between ‘Standardisation’ and ‘Flexibility’
In its conventional forms, as Field (1993: p.48) points out, the competency movement
…seeks to impose uniformity of standards of performance and its measurement,
in order to strengthen employer control over labour, and support strategies to ‘add
value’ through the more efficient distribution of the work-force. Yet in order to work

towards these ends, it also has to allow for flexibility in the face of constant
technical and organisational change, as well as the movement of labour and its
skills between different employers.
Field is referring to the dialectic conflicts between ‘standardisation’ and ‘flexibility’ in
competency-based approach. The need for flexibility in training is also far from
consensual as the employers attempt to manage the risks created by the unpredictability
of their investments in human resource development (Field, 1993).
In a technical domain there is support for the competency-based approach as pointed
out by Mezirow:
There is nothing wrong with this rather mechanistic approach to education as long
as it is confined to task-oriented learning common to the ‘technical’ domain of
learning… It is here such familiar concepts as education for behaviour change,
behavioural objectives, need assessment, competency-based education, task
analysis, skill training, accountability and criteria-referenced evaluation are
appropriate and powerful. (Mezirow, 1981)
On the other hand, from the viewpoint of liberal education Jarvis attacked behaviourist
approaches for at best confusing the processes of learning with the outcomes and at
worst ignoring the processes altogether (Jervis, 1987).
The positive aspect of a competency-based model is that it makes education and
training more relevant to the workplace requirements (Harris et al. 1995). In theory,
competency-based education should combine theory with practice and reduce the gap

between the mind and the hands. However, in practice, there is a danger that the model
may be conceptualised in behavioural terms, when the competence is broken down into
the performance of discrete tasks. In such circumstances the model could be
pedagogically unsound (Chappell, 1996; Hyland, 1994). It is claimed that behavioural
models ignore connection between tasks and according to Hyland (1994) these
connections are important for performance where synthesis of knowledge and skills are
necessary.
2.3 Broad Competencies for Flexible Curriculum
To cater for progressive individual development without emphasizing end-state of a
competency-based framework a trainee could be led through stages of development to
reach his optimum potential. The broad competencies of such a flexible curriculum,
applicable in maritime training sector, is suggested in Table 1 below, which encompasses
three aspects, vocational, social and individual to equip one with a capacity to assess
ones educational needs and to supplement the shortfall of requirements with new
knowledge and skills.
TABLE1: BROAD COMPETENCIES FOR A FLEXIBLE CURRICULUM
Core Competency Competencies for Competencies for

Progression Life/ Awareness skills
To impart every trainee a To equip the trainee with To equip the trainee with
basic levels of a broad body of flexible other essential life-skills
competence for his or her knowledge base, which and awareness skills such
immediate participation in could serve as pre- as skills in healthy living,
activities on board the requisites for his providing first aid, working
vessel. progressive development in a team or leaving in
in various specialised harmony with the
areas of maritime environment.
technology, which the

industry needs.
I am involved in maritime education, where the workforce is expected to change their
employers or their places of work (as they get transferred from ship to ship) on frequent
basis. Hence, if competency-based education is designed with highly specialised or
narrow competencies as the course content, it will produce a workforce at worst needing
retraining, perhaps every time they get transferred to a different type of ship. More
importantly, the competencies, which are taught in decontextualised manner, will have
limited retention for the learners. Unless the learning outcomes are made content-
specific, grounded in learner’s prior experience and delivered in a constructivist manner
for each learner, the resources expended for a competency-based programme is less
likely to be worthwhile.
Kolb (1993) de-emphasises outcome or content-based learning and views learning as
the process whereby knowledge is created through the transformation of experience. In
the following section I look at adult learning beyond the outcome-based approach and
view it from an experiential perspective, which perhaps holds the key for unlocking new
knowledge.
3 Experiential Learning
"An experience is always what it is because of a transaction taking place between an

individual and what, at the time, constitutes his environment, whether the latter consists
of persons with whom he is talking about some topic or event, the subject talked about
being also a part of the situation….The environment, in other words, is whatever
conditions interact with personal needs, desires, purposes and capacities to create the
experience which is had. Even when a person builds a castle in the air he is interacting
with the objects which he constructs in fancy. " (Dewey, 1963: p.42-3).
While cognitive learning theories emphasise acquisition, manipulation and recall of
abstract symbols and behavioural learning theories deny any role for consciousness and

subjective experience in the learning process, experiential learning suggests an
integrated perspective of learning, which combines experience, perception, cognition
and behaviour (Kolb, 1993). Kolb also pointed out the strong emphasis of this
experiential perspective in the work of Dewey, Piaget and Lewin. In the next section I
attempt to depict the commonalties of their models of learning, where the dimension of
experience played a key role.
3.1 Experience As a Key for Learning and Growth
Dewey described learning as dialectic processes integrating experience and concepts as
well as observation and action. He claimed that the crucial educational problem is that
of postponement of immediate action until observation and judgement have intervened
(Dewey 1938: p.69). The following figure depicts this formation of a purposeful action
from an original impulse modified through judgmental intervention, which constitutes the
learning process.
Impulse of experience gives

ideas their moving force
Formation of
purposeful
action – a
rather complex
intellectual
operation
Judgement on observation
and knowledge-recall to
decide what is significant
Knowledge of what
has happened in
similar conditions
in the past
Fig1. Dewey’s view of
learning process from the
Observation of experiential perspective
surrounding
conditions

For Piaget, the dimensions of experience and concept, reflection and action form the
basic continua for the development of adult thought. Development from infancy to
adulthood moves from a concrete phenomenal view of the world to an abstract
constructionist view, from an active egocentric view to reflective internalised mode of
knowing (Kolb,1993: p.141). Thus, there seems to be continuous transaction between
accommodation of new experience and assimilation of the same into one’s existing
schema leading to a higher level of cognitive functioning. Again as pointed out by Kolb
below, the type of intelligent adaptation resulting from balanced tension between
accommodation and assimilation depends on the dominance of one or the other of these
two processes. Referring to Piaget, Kolb observed the following:
When accommodation processes dominate assimilation, we have imitation --- the
moulding of oneself to environmental contours or constraints. When assimilation
predominates over accommodation, we have play --- the imposition of one’s
concept and images without regard to environmental realities. The process of
cognitive growth from concrete to abstract and from active to reflective is based
on this continual transaction between assimilation and accommodation, occurring
in successive stages, each of which incorporates what has gone before into a
new, higher level of cognitive functioning. (Kolb, 1993: p.141)
Figure 2 illustrates Piaget’s view of the learning process as seen from the experiential
perspective.

Existing level of
cognitive
functioning
Assimilation into existing concepts

Assimilation into existing concepts
Assimilation into existing concepts Higher level of
cognitive
functioning
Accommodation of concepts
or schemas as new
experience
Accommodation of concepts
or schemas as new
experience
Fig 2. Piaget’s view of

learning process from the
Accommodation of concepts experiential perspective
or schemas as new
experience
Figure 3 is adapted from Lewin’s cycle of adult learning as described by Kolb (1984).
Here, the concrete experience is given the focal point of the learning process, which
provides a subjective personal dimension leading to individual constructivist growth for
the learner. Much of the individual and organisational ineffectiveness could be traced to
the lack of observation and reflection (Kolb, 1993), as this feedback process may not
take place as a spontaneous follow up action after each concrete experience. Thus,
perhaps there is a distinct requirement to initiate such action by nudging the learners into
a reflective mode. I would like to argue that many times this could be achieved through
raising judicious queries to coax the learners to re-examine the concrete experience
from various perspectives, which, in turn, may lead the learners to higher levels of
knowledge concepts and generalisations. So, it is stressed that concrete experience
alone may not be the key to the progressive growth of the body of knowledge for the
learners unless there is perhaps a facilitated mechanism to initiate reflective

observations about this experience. In the next section I argue that this facilitated
mechanism could take the form of objective type questionnaires on the experience to set
the learners into a reflective mode.
Existing level of knowledge

concepts and generalisations.
Active
experimentation
leading to the
next concrete
experience.
Abstract conceptualisation leading

to higher level of knowledge
concepts and generalisations.
Reflective feedback on the

concrete experience on a
personal basis.
Fig3. Lewin’s view of learning
process from the experiential
Here-and-now concrete experience, perspective
used to validate and test existing
knowledge concepts & generalisations.
3.2 Objective Questionnaire as an Aid to Drawing Out Experience
In an adult learning situation, many times the learners have rich diverse experience on
the topics of the course curriculum. This is applicable for the advanced maritime courses
at the Singapore Polytechnic, where I am actively involved. The learners bring with them
their existing belief system for the subject in hand, some of that could be very relevant,
while others would need modification. So, when introducing new ideas for the subject in
hand, perhaps the key issue would be not to resort to a method of substitution of the
learners’ old belief systems. Instead, provide scenarios, which will encourage learners to
review their existing belief structure and if found pertinent they will modify these to suit
their new level of understanding. As Kolb (1993: p.146) advocated,

…. one’s job as an educator is not only to implant new ideas but also to dispose of
or modify old ones. In many cases, resistance to new ideas stems from their
conflict with old beliefs that are inconsistent with them. If the education process
begins by bringing out the learner’s beliefs and theories, examining and testing
them, and then integrating the new, more refined ideas into the person’s belief
systems, the learning process will be facilitated……On the other hand, when the
content of a concept changes by means of substitution, there is always the
possibility of a reversion to the earlier level of conceptualization and
understanding, or to a dual theory of the world where espoused theories learned
through substitution are incongruent with theories-in-use that are more integrated
with the person’s total conceptual and attitudinal view of the world.
Hence, as suggested by Kolb above, perhaps each education process should begin by
tapping into the learner’s experiential past, relating the topic-in-hand to the learner’s
theories-in-use. One way of doing that would be to expose the learners through leading
questions e.g. by using a number of objective type questions, which may prompt the
learners to re-live their experience on the topic-in-hand. This should encourage reflection
and if required, modification of the learner’s belief structure. This process would simulate
an environment where the learners can claim ownership of the new level of knowledge
and understanding on the topic-in-hand rather than considering the same being thrust
onto them by the lecturer. Additionally, from the outcome of such a transaction further
learning steps could be planned in an adaptive way, which will cater more precisely to
the learners’ needs while accrediting prior learning of the learners on the topic-in-hand.
Kolb endorses such a view (1993) when learning involves transactions between the
person and the environment and such an approach, thus, helps to go beyond the notion

that learning and educational processes are strictly limited to the province of institutions
and classrooms. His frustrations are clear in the following extract:
The casual observer of the traditional educational process would undoubtedly
conclude that learning was primarily a personal, internal process requiring only
limited environment of books, teacher, and classroom. Indeed, the wider ‘real-
world’ environment at times seems to be actively rejected by education systems at
all levels. (Kolb, 1993: p.150)
Hence, as argued above, in trying to facilitate constructivist growth of the knowledge
structure in a learner and to emphasize the strength of experiential aspect in such
processes, perhaps one would do well to raise the relevant queries in the minds of the
learners; thereby catalysing reflection and higher levels of generalisation.
A discussion on experiential learning cannot be deemed to be complete unless we
include the instruments learning style inventories, which help us to determine the
individual learning styles of learners. This is addressed in the next section.
3.3 Use of Learning Style and Its Effectiveness
Recent educational research….shows that students are characterised by significantly

different learning styles: they preferentially focus on different types of information, tend
to operate on perceived information in different ways, and achieve understanding at
different rates. Students whose learning styles are compatible with the teaching style of
a course instructor tend to retain information longer, apply it more effectively, and have
more positive post-course attitudes towards the subject than do their counterparts who
experience learning/teaching style mismatches.
(Felder, 1993: p.286)
The use of learning style in increasing the effectiveness of learning and teaching is not
universally recognised. However, as aptly recognised by Rogers (1996), it seems that

during our diverse exposure in learning and as we progress through life, we do tend to
develop our own learning styles. The key points of the widely used ‘Kolb’s Learning Style
Model’, adapted from explanations given by Felder (1996) and Rogers (1996) are given
below. They define the four distinct types of learners identified by Kolb.
• Some of us are found to be proficient as reflectors. They tend to be imaginative
people; they generate creative, ‘divergent’ perspective of knowledge. According to
Felder (1996) they are Type 1 learners. They could be grouped as ‘Why?’-learners,
who respond well to explanations of how course material relates to their experience,
their interests, and their future careers. Felder also claimed that to be effective with
Type 1 students, the instructor should function as a motivator.
• Some become proficient as theorists. They tend to be analytical people; they try to
make coherent pictures out of complex material. They speak in general rather than
concrete terms (Rogers,1996). According to Felder (1996) they are Type 2 learners.
They could be grouped as ‘What?’-learners, who respond to information presented in
an organised logical fashion and benefit if they have time for reflection. Felder also
claimed that to be effective with Type 2 students, the instructor should function as an
expert.
• Some become proficient as experimenters or pragmatists. They generate convergent
perspective of knowledge and they tend to be successful in school education system,
as most assessment approaches focus on convergent skills. Convergent knowledge
brings to bear a number of facts or principles on a single topic: problems have ‘right’
or ‘wrong’ answers (Hudson, 1966). According to Felder (1996) they are Type 3

learners. They could be grouped as ‘How?’-learners, who learn by trial-and-error in
an environment that allows them to fail safely. Felder also claimed that to be effective
with Type 3 students, the instructor should function as a coach, providing guided
practice and feedback.
• Some become proficient as activists. They tend to be dynamic, intuitive people; they
pursue knowledge growth through discovery learning. According to Felder (1996)
they are Type 4 learners. They could be grouped as ‘What if?’-learners, who like
applying course material in new situations to solve real problems. Felder also claimed
that to be effective with Type 4 students, the instructor should stay out of the way,
maximising opportunities for the students to discover things for themselves.
Rogers (1996) stated that we tend to use all of these styles and we do not confine our
learning efforts to one type alone. But we feel stronger at learning through one approach
rather than through any of the others. Hence, we should be aware that in any learning
group there would always be people with a range of different learning styles.
Consequently, Rogers (1996) concluded that the instructors should adopt a wide range
of teaching-learning activities in order to help those who prefer to learn through active
engagement with experience, those who prefer to reflect critically, those preferred to
develop more generalised views, and those who prefer to experiment and test out other
people’s theories.
Commenting on the learning cycle, Fardouly (1998) expressed concern that the
expectations of educators are somewhat biased, as they are more inclined to validate
the way ‘theorists’ learn. According to him, the aim of all education is to produce

analytical theorists even though about 70% of learners are not analytic learners. On the
use of learning styles, he noted the following:
We learn better, as well as feel good about ourselves, when someone is teaching
us in our most comfortable style. The process of learning which best encourages
well-rounded skill development, is one which moves through all the learning
styles. ….All students need to be taught in all four ways, in order to be
comfortable and successful part of the time while being stretched to develop other
learning abilities. They will also learn from each other as they each excel at
different places in the learning cycle. (Fardouly,1998: p.3)
Figure 4. gives a perspective view of the Kolb’s learning style concept, which is
superimposed on the experiential learning diagram. The figure shows the two major
differences in our learning activities, namely, how we perceive and how we process.
While perceiving, some of us prefer to receive information by sensing or feeling while
others are more at ease to think things through as we take new information. Fardouly
(1998) defined these two groups as follows:
Sensing/ feeling people
• connect experience to meaning (connected knowing)
• perceive through their senses
• immerse themselves in concrete reality
• are intuitive.

Thinking people
• separate themselves from the experience(separate knowing)
• stand back and analyse what is happening
• reason experience
• perceive with a logical (cognitive) approach.
In processing information, some of would be active doers while others would prefer to be
reflective observers or watchers. Again Fardouly (1998) defined these two groups as
follows:
Watching people
• reflect on new things
• filter them through their experience to create meaningful connections.
Doing people
• act on new information immediately
• reflect only after they have tried it out
• need to do it in order to make it theirs and extend it into their world.
These four combinations of perceiving and processing determine the four different
learning styles (Fardouly, 1998) and are included in the Figure 4.

Sensing/
Feeling
Concrete
Experience
Activis Reflec to
Doing Experimentationt
Active
r Reflective
Observation Watching
Expe rimen t Theo ris
er t
Fig 4. Kolb’s Learning Style
model superimposed on the
experiential learning cycle.
Abstract
Conceptualisation
Thinking
To determine a person’s learning style, Kolb developed an instrument called Learning
Style Inventory by answering questions contained in the Self-Scoring Inventory and
Interpretation Booklet (Kolb, 1985). The other widely used learning style inventory is by
Honey and Mumford and is called the Learning Style Questionnaire (Honey et al., 1982).
More recently Index of Learning Styles by Solomon and Felder (Felder et al.
http://www.crc4mse.org/ILS/ILS_explained.html ) are being mentioned in the literature,
which has forty four questions to categorise learners’ style of learning in the following
categories:
• Active and reflective learners
• Sensing and intuitive learners
• Visual and verbal learners

• Sequential and global learners (Felder, 1996).
However, the validity of Learning Style Inventory is still to be conclusively proven.
(Allison et al., 1988). Even though it is possible to identify the learning styles of
individual learners, Robotham questioned the appropriateness of learning style approach
in teaching, when individuals are exposed to only a limited number of learning activities
to which they are, in theory, best suited. (Robotham, 1995). Therefore, he advocated that
training should seek to move beyond the enhancement of performance within a narrow
spectrum of activities, and consider the development of foundation skills, such as self
directed learning, when the learner would choose the appropriate learning style to suit
the learning situation.
3.4 Learning as the Major Process of Human Adaptation as well as the Source of
Knowledge Creation
….concept of learning is considerably broader than that commonly associated with

school classroom. It occurs in all human settings, from schools to the workplace, from
research laboratory to the management boardroom, in personal relationships and the
aisles of the local grocery. It encompasses all life-stages, from childhood to
adolescence, to middle and old age. (Kolb, 1993: p.149)
Thus, Kolb stated that experiential learning should be viewed from a broader
perspective, whose domain goes beyond an individual human functioning, such as
cognition or perception. Instead, it should be seen as an integrated process of human
adaptation, where thinking, feeling, perceiving, behaving are all there ------
encompassing various concepts such as creativity, problem-solving, decision-making
etc. Learning connects all experiential life situations such as school, work, leisure and
other exposures ---- thus, making it a holistic adaptive process, continuing through
various stages of life. This continuous nature of exposure, according to Dewey, has an
active side, which changes the objective conditions under which experiences are held.

Kolb refers to this as the transactional relationship between the learner and the
environment, which gives a dual meaning to the term ‘experience’ ---- one subjective and
personal and the other objective and environmental and once they are related, both are
essentially changed. Learning is thus seen as a transactional process between objective
environmental knowledge and subjective personal knowledge, resulting in new
knowledge creation. Dewey noted these as civilised objective accumulation of previous
human cultural experience and the individual person’s subjective life experiences.
Hence, as Kolb puts it….to understand knowledge, we must understand psychology of
the learning process, and to understand learning, we must understand epistemology ----
the origin, nature, methods and limits of knowledge. (Kolb, 1993: p.153).
4 Conclusion
This paper attempted to analyse the present trends in outcome-based adult education
and its pitfalls when such practices are focused on a narrow range of competencies as
the course content. It was pointed out that in lieu of emphasising on content or outcome,
the stress should be on the process of adaptation and learning. Learning was also seen
as a process of knowledge creation through transformation of experience in both
subjective and objective forms.

5 References
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McGill (eds.), Making Sense of Experiential Learning, Open University, Milton
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Carlson, R. 1989. Vitae Scholasticae, 8:1, Cited at http://nlu.nl.edu/ace/index.html (Malcolm

Knowles: Apostle of Andragogy)
Chappell, C. 1996. "Quality & Competency Based Education and Training", in The
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Learning For The Workplace: Competency-Based Versus The Experiential Perspective

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Learning for the Workplace: Competency-based versus the Experiential Perspective

Learning for the Workplace:

Kalyan Chatterjea, Singapore Maritime Academy

Competency-based education is receiving a lot of attention as we focus on the requirement for

Kalyan Chatterjea, Lecturer, Singapore Maritime Academy, Singapore Polytechnic. 1

2 COMPETENCY-BASED, ASSESSMENT-DRIVEN LEARNING ...................................5

2.2 Dialectic Conflicts between ‘Standardisation’ and ‘Flexibility’ 6

2.3 Broad Competencies for Flexible Curriculum 8

3 EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING ..........................................................................................9

3.2 Objective Questionnaire as an Aid to Drawing Out Experience 13

3.3 Use of Learning Style and Its Effectiveness 15

Kalyan Chatterjea, Lecturer, Singapore Maritime Academy, Singapore Polytechnic. 2

The continual development of technologies of production can…. lead to radical changes

(Field, 1993), which emphasised competency-based framework of education to meet

these utilitarian perspectives. Competency-based education and training is receiving a

lot of attention as we focus on requirement for competency standards to meet workplace

particular occupational field.

In the area of maritime training in Singapore Polytechnic, where I am a faculty member,

there is considerable international pressure to implement competency-based education.

Proponents of competency-based education claim that it provides clear expectations for

Kalyan Chatterjea, Lecturer, Singapore Maritime Academy, Singapore Polytechnic. 3

implementation. However, as competency-based approach has little to offer on how

framework of learner’s knowledge base. As Kolb puts it,

"The fact that learning is a continuous process grounded in experience has

important educational implications. Put simply, it implies that all learning is

relearning. How easy and tempting it is in designing a course to think of the

Kolb is referring to the experiential status of individual learners in a learning situation. We

‘learning process’, to be a holistic process of adaptation to the world, whereby new

Kalyan Chatterjea, Lecturer, Singapore Maritime Academy, Singapore Polytechnic. 4

knowledge is created through transactions between objective accumulation of previous

2 Competency-based, Assessment-driven Learning

programmes are based on behaviourist psychology, as behavioural changes are easier

to measure and quantify.

2.1 Fordism of the Education System

The competency-based approach in education could be paralleled to Fordism in mass

Kalyan Chatterjea, Lecturer, Singapore Maritime Academy, Singapore Polytechnic. 5

workforce. As Field (1993: p.42) puts it:

– to civic virtues, to culture, to discoveries in technology and science which would

produce the new, white-hot future.

Additionally, the behaviourist process of well-defined outcome-based approach is

reported poor retention of such decontextualised training for a particular competency.

well-defined assessments. These assessment processes have a way of changing

change in an educational system.

2.2 Dialectic Conflicts between ‘Standardisation’ and ‘Flexibility’

…seeks to impose uniformity of standards of performance and its measurement,

Kalyan Chatterjea, Lecturer, Singapore Maritime Academy, Singapore Polytechnic. 6

skills between different employers.

Field is referring to the dialectic conflicts between ‘standardisation’ and ‘flexibility’ in

of their investments in human resource development (Field, 1993).

In a technical domain there is support for the competency-based approach as pointed

as it is confined to task-oriented learning common to the ‘technical’ domain of

learning… It is here such familiar concepts as education for behaviour change,

behavioural objectives, need assessment, competency-based education, task

analysis, skill training, accountability and criteria-referenced evaluation are

appropriate and powerful. (Mezirow, 1981)

worst ignoring the processes altogether (Jervis, 1987).

The positive aspect of a competency-based model is that it makes education and

Kalyan Chatterjea, Lecturer, Singapore Maritime Academy, Singapore Polytechnic. 7

the performance of discrete tasks. In such circumstances the model could be

pedagogically unsound (Chappell, 1996; Hyland, 1994). It is claimed that behavioural

2.3 Broad Competencies for Flexible Curriculum

To cater for progressive individual development without emphasizing end-state of a

competency-based framework a trainee could be led through stages of development to