| Chapter 1: | Introduction |
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Focus and Purposes
The focus of this book is to address the first of the two challenges described as being “formidable” by Curtis and McKenzie (2001). This is the challenge of conceptualising these skills in a way that makes it possible for them to be reliably taught and assessed. The second of Curtis and McKenzie’s challenges relates to issues that might be involved in implementing such skills once they have been conceptualised. This will not be addressed.
The broad question addressed is, therefore: Can competency standards be designed for soft skills?
In short, it is argued that the answer is yes, both practically (instrumentally) and theoretically. To demonstrate this, units of competency that define standards for selected soft skills have been constructed. This also reflects an underlying ethical mission pertaining to the fostering of emotionally healthy environments that enhance human functioning and flourishing. The book may be seen, therefore, to have an instrumental purpose, a theoretical purpose, and an ethical purpose. These three purposes will now be expanded briefly in order. They will, however, weave in and out of focus throughout the chapters that follow, the structure of which has been determined by the order in which the enquiry was undertaken.
Instrumental Purpose
The central task of the book is essentially instrumental. It is to show that soft skills can be put into a competency framework. To do this, a standardised means will be developed by which competency standards for such skills can be specified. This will be achieved by showing how the Australian National Training Authority (ANTA) (2001a) methodology for the design of competency standards can be adapted for this purpose.