Research Foundations for the CSC Approach
Written by: David Cane
One of the questions we're sometimes asked is whether the CSC Approach is based upon published and/or accepted principles around the nature of professional competence and lifelong learning. The answer is emphatically, "YES", and in several different ways.
CSC Approach incorporates and integrates key published and generally-accepted principles that relate to competency-based learning, professional development, quality practice and practice enhancement. Our Approach builds on the CSC Collaborative partners’ many years of consulting experience within the world of professional regulation, and applies our original thinking about how these principles can be put to best use to support excellence in professional practice and the public interest therein.
Here are some of the established principles, with key literature references, upon which we have drawn to develop the CSC Approach:
• Following entry into practice, a professional’s knowledge base and performance continue to evolve. [Dreyfus, H.L. & Dreyfus, S.E. (1986). Mind over machine: The power of human intuition and expertise in the era of the computer. New York: The Free Press.] [Benner, P. (1984). From novice to expert: Excellence and power in clinical nursing practice. Menlo Park: Addison-Wesley.]
• Professional competence is context-specific, developmental and impermanent. [Epstein, R.M. & Hundert, E.M. (2002). Defining and assessing professional competence. Journal of the American Medical Association, 287, 226-235.]
• Effective workplace performance requires knowledge about, knowledge of how-to, and ability to perform; these three factors build one-upon the other; each requires a different form of learning and assessment. [Miller, G.E. (1990). The Assessment of Clinical Skills / Competence / Performance. Academic Medicine, Vol 65(9), S65-S67.]
• “Professional regulation is working in the public interest when it supports professionalism and allows it to flourish”. [Cayton, H. in Right-touch regulation, Revised (2015). Professional Standards Authority (UK), p9.]
• The strong emphasis on compulsory continuing education as an indicator of maintenance of competence is striking given the relatively weak evidence connecting the two; its main benefit appears to be ease of use. [Austin, Z. & Gregory, H.L (2017). Quality Assurance and Maintenance of Competence Assessment Mechanisms in the Professions. Journal of Medical Regulation,103(2), p 26.]
• Attempts by regulators to use self-assessment for summative assessment purposes cloud its true objective as a stimulus for self-reflection, making it a hoop for practitioners to jump through, and susceptible to faking. [Austin, Z. & Gregory, H.L (2017). Quality Assurance and Maintenance of Competence Assessment Mechanisms in the Professions. Journal of Medical Regulation,103(2), p 27.]
