„Quality development“, „Learning“, „Competences“ and „Assessment“ : The Individualisation of Social Responsibility

• Schools and other institutions for Bildung are, as the whole public sector in Western countries, more and more following the ideology and the strategies of a ”New Public Management”, formally conceptualized e.g. by Hood (1991). The ”New Public Management” denotes goverment policies that, since the 1980s, aimed to modernise and render the public sector more efficient through a better management of the public budget. as to enforce competition, emphasizing economic and leadership principles. New public management addresses beneficiaries of public services much like customers, and conversely citizens as shareholders. Ferlie et al (1996) describe the ”New Public Management in Action” in terms of an introduction into public services that is done by markets, managers and measurement.However, pedagogy aims at developing the emancipatory potential of the “responses” of each individual to the different questions of life. Pedagogy should enable the individual to get awareness of such questions, making him/her capable of working out a range of possible answers as well as reflecting these answers in terms of effecting a situation for the benefit of the social community, for society and environment as well as for her/his own good (see Kraus 2010). A pedagogical relation of an adult to a child or to a young (or aged) person is supposed to be carried out by a constant, in a way “loving” attentiveness for the initiatives of this person. Pedagogical “love” embraces difference as its basic principle as well as the demand of a completely unselfish and also highly reflexive attention to the needs of the child or young (or aged) person in terms of reaching the aim of pedagogy. Every pedagogical relation is thus directed to sooner or later surpassing the asymmetric social relation which is significant for it, in that by pedagogy the learning persons should be empowered to self-determination and responsibility for themselves, for others and for the things.There is no human development without the efforts of pedagogues or adults to focus on the needs of children and other dependent humans, focusing on the aim of an optimal emancipation.The aim of this contribution is to reflect on concepts of „quality development“ and such of „learning“, „competences“ and „assessment“ in pedagogical regards.

Subject headings

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Utbildningsvetenskap (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Educational Sciences (hsv//eng)

Keyword

Quality management

quality assurance

competences

assessment

Pedagogik och Utbildningsvetenskap

Pedagogics and Educational Sciences

Publication and Content Type

ref (subject category)

kon (subject category)