Acquisition of value-based competencies for effective management of training of specialists

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Acquisition of value-based competencies for effective management of training of specialists

Maryna Ivanova

Dnipro University of Technology, Dnipro, Ukraine

Vasyl Shvets

Dnipro University of Technology, Dnipro, UkraineOlena Varianychenko

Dnipro University of Technology, Dnipro, Ukraine

Svitlana Sannikova*

Dnipro University of Technology, Dnipro, Ukraine

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to examine the features of the acquisition of value- based competencies for effective management of training of specialists. Higher education institutions are tasked with implementing educational programs that allow to achieve the set goals and form the necessary competencies to provide quality training of specialists. An analysis of recent research and publications has shown that the use of the competency approach in higher education institutions has become possible owing to the new standards approved by the Ministry of Education and Science. Methodology: General scientific and special methods of system-structural analysis and synthesis, frequency analysis, quantitative distribution, grouping were used in the research process. Competencies which the applicants for higher education are supposed to acquire after mastering the educational and professional programs were analyzed in each specialty. The research findings show that the main components of professional education are 11 core competencies, which account for 35% of all competencies studied and form 68% of universal skills in all specialties, while 22 competencies are unique to educational and professional programs and provide performing professional functions by type of activity. It has been found that in the specialties of natural sciences, engineering and information technologies, the main emphasis is placed on the acquisition of purely professional competencies, while in humanities, economic, managerial and law specialties, professional competencies are supplemented with intercultural and social competencies. The grouping of competencies according to the opportunity to obtain learning outcomes has been given, the understanding of the grouping allows to provide effective management of quality training of specialists.

Keywords: effective management, competency approach, competency, higher education standard, value-based competencies, educational programs.

НАБУТТЯ ЦІННІСНИХ КОМПЕТЕНТНОСТЕЙ ДЛЯ ЕФЕКТИВНОГО УПРАВЛІННЯ ПІДГОТОВКОЮ ФАХІВЦІВ

Національний технічний університет «Дніпровська політехніка», Дніпро, Україна

Варяниченко Олена Володимирівна

Національний технічний університет «Дніпровська політехніка», Дніпро, Україна

Швець Василь Якович

Національний технічний університет «Дніпровська політехніка», Дніпро, Україна

Саннікова Світлана Федорівна

Національний технічний університет «Дніпровська політехніка», Дніпро, Україна

Метою даного дослідження є вивчення особливостей набуття ціннісних компетентностей для ефективного управління підготовкою фахівців. На заклади вищої освіти покладена задача впровадження освітніх програм, що дозволяє досягати поставлених цілей та сформувати необхідні компетентності для забезпечення якісної підготовки фахівців. Аналіз останніх досліджень і публікацій показав, що використання компетентнісного підходу у ЗВО стало можливим завдяки затвердженим МОН новим стандартам.

Методологія: в процесі дослідження були використані загальнонаукові та спеціальні методи системно-структурного аналізу і синтезу, частотного аналізу, кількісного розподілу, групування. Було проаналізовано компетентності за кожною спеціальністю, які здобувачі вищої освіти повинні набути після опанування освітньо-професійних програм. Результати дослідження показують, що основними складовими підготовки фахівців є 11 ключових компетентностей, які складають 35 % всіх досліджених компетентностей та формують 68 % універсальних умінь за всіма спеціальностями, а 22 компетентності є унікальними для освітньо-професійних програм і забезпечують виконання професійних функцій за видами діяльності. Визначено, що на спеціальностях природничих, інженерних, інформаційних технологій основний акцент робиться на набутті суто фахових компетентностей, а на гуманітарно-економічних, управлінських та правових, крім фахових, додаються компетентності міжкультурні та загальносуспільні. Наведено групування компетентностей за можливістю отримати результати від навчання, розуміння якого дозволяє забезпечити ефективне управління якісною підготовкою фахівців.

Ключові слова: ефективне управління, компетентнісний підхід, компетентність, стандарт вищої освіти, ціннісні компетентності, освітні програми effective management higher education

INTRODUCTION

Today's realities of functioning of any business entity require the availability of specialists who have formed such basic competencies as the ability for abstract and analytical thinking, understanding of professional activities, communication skills, teamwork, exercising their rights and responsibilities as members of society, preservation and enhancing of moral, cultural and scientific values.

It is the higher education institutions that are entrusted with such an important task as the implementation of educational programs that allow to achieve the set goals and form the necessary competencies for effective management of quality training of specialists. High efficiency of professional activity depends on both general and professional competencies acquired in higher education institutions. A feature of the current development of society is the relationship between professional activity of specialists and continuous education and self-improvement, which is based on career planning, continuous professional development and acquisition of the necessary value- based competencies.

LITERATURE REVIEW

The issues of defining "competency" and the comparison of this concept with the term "competence" were addressed in the work by L.S. Gavryliak (2019). In their turn, R. Hurevych, H. Hordiichuk and N. Opushko (2019), R. Moisei enko (2018), I. Snovydovych (2020) focused on the issues of modern competency approach and underlined that in higher education the indicator of quality and effective learning is the competencies that the learner will acquire in the learning process, and the competency approach in education is an opportunity to properly educate learners to achieve a qualitative result - the integration of knowledge, skills, values, culture into a shaped personality of the graduate student, who will be successful and in demand, whichever unforeseen changes will occur in the labor market. Special attention has to be paid to the requirements of stakeholders, who need employees with the desirable pre-formed competencies that are the indicators that determine the graduate's readiness for their future professional activity, development and life position. T.M. Smahina (2020) proposed the use of a "competency potential map" as a system of nodal points (descriptors) connected by lines that affect the end result of the formation of competencies after mastering the educational program.

The use of the competency approach in higher education institutions became possible due to the new standards approved by the Ministry of Education and Science (Table 1).

Having studied the works of A. Hrebenyk (2021), S. Stebhuk (2019), we came to the conclusion that the generally accepted definition of professional competency can be as follows: the ability to cope with professional challenges and solve typical professional problems that arise in real situations of professional activity, using knowledge, professional and life experience, values and abilities. It is believed that professional competency is not limited to individual personality traits, their sum or individual skills, as it reflects not only the potential of a person, but also the ability to use it, which would generate new phenomena, quality of life and activity. This allows a person to be successful and competitive. From the point to A.A. Zahorodnia (2018, 2019) professional education involves acquiring qualifications in the relevant field, and according it should be based on current trends in science and the requirements of market economy.

O.P. Sazhiienko (2018) studied the formation of professional competency of bachelors and noted that this is a purposeful process aimed at future professionals' mastering a set of knowledge, skills, and experience that contribute to the development of their creative potential and professional self-development in a particular field.

We agree with S.O. Bader (2019) that value-based competencies are related to the values of the learners, and their ability to understand and see the world around them, navigate it, to be able to choose semantic and target settings for their deeds and actions, and make decisions.

Characteristics of new competency standards Table 1

Swanson, E. (2020) examined leadership from a competency perspective, which allowed an insight into different dimensions of leader's qualities and abilities. The author proposes a model that covers the concepts of leader's competence, knowledge sharing, as well as employee job performance and employee loyalty in the context of expatriate general managers. From this perspective, leader competencies are crucial for promoting knowledge sharing and increasing employee job performance.

Wahab, A. and Tyasari, I. (2020) investigated the impact of managerial competence and learning orientation on the university leaders' job performance. Chen, S.-L. (2020) focused on the impact of practical training on student learning outcomes and their competency enhancing. Oberlander, M. (2020) offered a holistic view and broadened the scope of the concept of digital competencies, focusing on applications at work. Schreck, C.M. (2020) argues that some students lack skills and competencies at the beginning of their careers. This may be related to passive learning settings with limited or no exposure to practical experiences during training. To gain the required competencies, students need to be exposed to active learning processes.

Despite the rather large number of publications, the issue of acquiring value-based competencies to ensure quality training of specialists remains insufficiently resolved.

PAPER OBJECTIVE

The purpose of this study is to examine the features of the acquisition of value-based competencies for effective management of training of specialists. The main objectives of this study are to identify the specifics of the relationship between the acquisition of value-based competencies and the provision of effective management of quality training of specialists.

METHODOLOGY

In the process of research, general scientific and special methods were used: system-structural analysis and synthesis to identify patterns of distribution of competencies depending on their availability in the syllabus; frequency analysis of the use of competencies into educational programs; quantitative distribution of competencies in educational programs for specialties; grouping competencies according to the opportunity to obtain the outcome from learning.

The value-based competencies have been analyzed for each specialty, which are supposed to be acquired by graduates after mastering educational and professional programs. The formation of professional and personal qualities, knowledge and skills of future employees is based on a total of 33 competencies as defined in relevant higher education standards.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Distribution of all competencies that ensure quality training, labor efficiency and competitiveness of future employees in the specialties under study, in percentage terms, depending on the availability in a particular curriculum is shown in Figure 1.

The fundamental basis for training a today's specialist in any field is provided by two competencies:

- ability to preserve and enhance moral, cultural, scientific values and achievements of society based on understanding the history and patterns of development of the subject area, its place in the general system of knowledge about nature and society and in the development of the society and technology, ability to use different types and forms of physical activity for active recreation and a healthy lifestyle;

- ability to exercise their rights and responsibilities as members of society; awareness of the value of civil (free democratic) society and the need for its sustainable development, the rule of law, human and civil rights and freedoms in Ukraine.

A detailed study of higher education standards revealed that 95.2% of educational programs provide communication in a foreign language, 83.3% - in the state language. Also, general competencies include the ability for abstract thinking, analysis and synthesis (76.2%), teamwork (73.8%), ability to apply knowledge in practical situations (69%), use information and communication technologies (61.9 %), seek, process and analyze information from various sources (57.1%), and learn and master advanced knowledge (57.1%).

The other competencies belong to the professional ones, as they correlate with the subject area of study and are important for future professional activities.

Figure 2 shows the frequency of including the competencies into educational programs.

The main components of training of specialists are 11 core competencies, which account for 35% of all competencies studied and form 68% of universal skills in all specialties, while 22 competencies are unique to educational and professional programs and provide performing professional functions by type of activity. The composition and content of the value-based competencies is largely determined by the specifics of a field of work, but the ability to communicate in state and foreign languages, the ability for abstract thinking, teamwork, application of knowledge in practical situations, use of information and communication technologies, learning and mastering advanced knowledge and understanding of the subject area and professional activity determine the qualification level of the future specialist within the frames of any curriculum.

Figure 1. Distribution of all competencies in percentage depending on their availability in educational programs Source: Own compilation

Figure 2. Frequency of including competencies into educational programs

The above eleven competencies reflect the basic general requirements to professional and personal behavior in future jobs, which emphasizes a thorough approach to ensuring the quality of today's education.

It is certainly impossible to make a single list of competencies for an ideal specialist, because the desirable competencies will differ according to a field of work, working position, working conditions, and features of a workplace.

Table 2 shows the quantitative distribution of competencies in educational and professional programs for various specialties.

It has been revealed that the average number of competencies per specialty in the groups of Engineering, Machinery and Technology, Civil Security; Natural Sciences; Information Technology is lower than in the groups of Humanities, Education, Pedagogy and Law; Economics, Management and Administration, International Relations, Tourism. In our opinion, this is due to the fact that the specialties of natural, engineering, information technologies mainly focus on acquiring purely professional competencies, while in the specialties of the groups "Economics, Management and Administration, International Relations, Tourism" and "Humanities, Education, Pedagogy and Law”, the professional competencies are supplemented with intercultural and social competencies that are related to communication, social responsibility, human and civil rights and freedoms in Ukraine, the values of a civil (free democratic) society and the need for its sustainable development, etc. The latter groups of specialties have a wider range of opportunities and responsibilities for the development of society and improvement of personalities in it.

Table 3 shows the grouping of competencies according to the opportunity of obtaining learning outcomes.

It has been revealed that the average number of competencies per specialty in the groups of Engineering, Machinery and Technology, Civil Security; Natural Sciences; Information Technology is lower than in the groups of Humanities, Education, Pedagogy and Law; Economics, Management and Administration, International Relations, Tourism. In our opinion, this is due to the fact that the specialties of natural, engineering, information technologies mainly focus on acquiring purely professional competencies, while in the specialties of the groups "Economics, Management and Administration, International Relations, Tourism" and "Humanities, Education, Pedagogy and Law”, the professional competencies are supplemented with intercultural and social competencies that are related to communication, social responsibility, human and civil rights and freedoms in Ukraine, the values of a civil (free democratic) society and the need for its sustainable development, etc. The latter groups of specialties have a wider range of opportunities and responsibilities for the development of society and improvement of personalities in it.

Table 3 shows the grouping of competencies according to the opportunity of obtaining learning outcomes.

While acquiring the necessary competencies according to their specialty, future specialists are in the role of the subject of professional culture and implement its creative component. In professional activities, a necessary component of creating a positive image of companies and in particular employees is their commitment to preservation and enhancement of moral, cultural, scientific values and achievements of society. Under these conditions, the formation of a specialist and the formation of professional norms and rules, acquisition of necessary knowledge and skills occur on the basis of understanding of history and patterns of development of the subject area, its place in the general system of knowledge about the nature and society and in the development of society and technologies. Professional relations that facilitate the development of professional culture and values should be based on appreciating and respecting diversity and multiculturalism.

In today's globalized world, more and more specialists are faced with the need to organize work in an international environment, where the competence referring to the ability to work in an international context is indispensable.

Table 2

Quantitative distribution of competencies in educational and professional programs of specialties

Source: Compiled by the authors

Table 3 Grouping of competencies according to the opportunity to obtain learning outcomes

Source: Compiled by the authors

Today's professional activity is characterized by rapid developments, therefore, in order not to lose opportunities, employees need valuable qualities such as the ability to manage time and career, which is a necessary component of responsibility and autonomy.

Timeliness and completeness of awareness of developments in the internal and especially external environment is the basis for sustainable professional development, so the ability to use information comes to the fore, which requires competencies such as the ability for seeking, processing and analyzing information from various sources and the ability to use information and communication technologies. Communication in the job is a prerequisite for conducting activities in a market environment, therefore, to increase the efficiency of communications, a specialist needs the ability to communicate in the state language, both orally and in writing; communicate in a foreign language; communicate with representatives of other professional groups of different levels (with experts from other fields of knowledge / types of economic activity).

The connecting link between the perception of information and its use is its critical comprehension. In addition to external information, the information about internal processes related to the field of work is important, so the ability to be critical and self-critical is necessary for a specialist. Moreover, the development of the creative potential of an employee as a person is based on the ability to adapt to and act in a new situation and be proactive and enterprising.

Based on the development of the creative potential of a specialist, his / her creative personality is formed, so the ability to generate new ideas (creativity) and apply knowledge in practical situations will be indispensable.

Professional activity requires continuous problem solving. Accordingly, based on the information at their disposal, a specialist needs to justify and make decisions, for which he / she needs to develop the ability for abstract thinking, analysis and synthesis, the ability to identify, pose and solve problems, and make informed decisions.

Responsibility in the future job requires the ability to act on the basis of ethical considerations (motives).

The formation of a professional career is based on deep knowledge, professional skills and high qualifications that require knowledge and understanding of the subject area and understanding of the field of work, as well as definiteness and perseverance in the tasks and responsibilities taken.

Any professional activity in the long run requires the development of social responsibility; this is why the ability to act responsibly and consciously as well as awareness of equal opportunities and gender issues are the necessary competencies required of a specialist.

Since competitive advantages in today's world are connected with innovation, the feature of a specialist is the ability to carry out scientific research at a relevant level, to study and master up-to- date knowledge.

The environment in the era of global warming and other problems of world ecosystems, as well as the market environment in the era of severe competition require from an employee to work towards greening and sustainable development of society, which necessitates the ability to work safely; to assess and ensure the quality of work performed, the commitment to preserve the environment; the ability to exercise one's rights and responsibilities as a member of society; awareness of the values of civil (free democratic) society and the need for its sustainable development, awareness of the rule of law, human and civil rights and freedoms in Ukraine.

Professional activity involves a number of projects to implement, which requires effective management, planning and monitoring projects, as well as the ability to develop and introduce them.

In carrying out projects, it is important to form and develop a project team, which is why a specialist needs such competencies as the ability to work in a team, the ability to interact with people, the ability to motivate people and move towards a common goal.

This study was devoted to determining the specifics of the relationship between the acquisition of value-based competencies and providing the professional training, therefore it was limited to 42 educational programs of the first (bachelor's) level of higher education, introduced in the educational process at Dnipro University of Technology (Perelik osvitn'o-profesiinykh prohram). However, similar research can be conducted on other educational programs, including those intended for the second (master's) level.

CONCLUSIONS

The author's vision is that the formation of professional and personal qualities, knowledge and skills of future specialists is based on a total of 33 competencies defined in relevant standards of higher education, which is the basis for effective management of quality training of applicants for higher education. The fundamental basis for training a today's specialists in any field is provided by two competencies: the ability to preserve and enhance moral, cultural and scientific values and the ability to exercise one's rights and responsibilities as a member of society. A detailed study of higher education standards has revealed that the main components of training are 11 core competencies, which account for 35% of all competencies studied, and form 68% of universal skills in all specialties, while 22 competencies are unique to the educational programs and provide performing professional functions by type of activity. It has been found that in the specialties of natural, engineering, information technologies the main emphasis is placed on the acquisition of purely professional competencies, while in humanities, economics, management and law specialties, professional competencies are supplemented with intercultural and social ones. The grouping of competencies according to the opportunity to obtain learning outcomes has been given, the understanding of the grouping allows to provide effective management of quality training of specialists. The direction of further research may be the clarification of the specifics of the relationship between the acquisition of value-based competencies and the provision of quality training of applicants for the second and third levels of higher education.

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