Incremental steps towards a competency-based post-secondary education system in Ontario

  • Mary Catharine Lennon Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto, Canada
DOI: https://doi.org/10.18543/tjhe-2(1)-2014pp59-89
Keywords: Learning outcomes, competency-based education, system design, quality assurance, credit transfer, Canada, Ontario.

Abstract

As one of Canada’s 13 distinct jurisdictions, Ontario is a national leader in developing a competency-based postsecondary education system. Hindered by challenges of a disaggregated system of policy actors in system design, quality assurance and credit transfer, sweeping change has not occurred. Instead, various bodies with operational powers over university, college, or private-provider quality assurance have slowly incorporated concepts of competency-based education into frameworks by introducing learning outcomes. This paper outlines the challenges facing Canadian and Ontario postsecondary education, discusses the roles and responsibilities of agencies involved in quality assurance, and actions made towards developing and implementing learning outcomes at the system level. The research highlights the ad-hoc and unaligned activities, but also demonstrates the commitment to move towards a competency-based education system.

Published online: 20 December 2014

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Author Biography

Mary Catharine Lennon, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto, Canada

Mary Catharine Lennon is a PhD Candidate at the University of Toronto. She has led projects on establishing and measuring learning outcomes including a ‘Tuning’ project with three sectors of academic disciplines, and was the Canadian National Expert and National Project Manager for the OECD’s AHELO Feasibility Study. Mary Catharine is also co-editor of ’Measuring the Value of Postsecondary Education’, a collection of international examples of learning outcome activities published by McGill-Queens University Press. She has been involved in higher education policy development, advice and research in provincial, inter-provincial and international educational agencies including the Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario, the Council of Ministers of Education, Canada, and the Association of Commonwealth Universities. The majority of her work extends towards international and comparative system level policy issues in postsecondary education including system design, quality assurance, learning outcomes, governance and assessment.

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Published
2014-12-20
How to Cite
Lennon, Mary Catharine. 2014. “Incremental Steps towards a Competency-Based Post-Secondary Education System in Ontario”. Tuning Journal for Higher Education 2 (1), 59-89. https://doi.org/10.18543/tjhe-2(1)-2014pp59-89.
Issue
Vol. 2 No. 1 (2014): Policy and implementation: actions for curriculum reform
Section
Articles

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