COMMUNITIES OF EXPERT PRACTICE (CEP)

The Organizing Framework for Occupations (OFO) has been introduced to the South African Labour Market and Industry as a common frame of reference for the categorizing and defining of occupations for the purpose of collecting information on occupations.  The framework groups and categorizes all occupations in a five tier structure.  Occupations are clustered together in Units based on their similarity in purpose, the tasks associated with the purpose and the skill level of the occupation.  Skill Level is determined by the learning and experience required for a person to perform the tasks associated with the occupation to ultimately achieve the purpose of the occupation.
The Quality Council for Trades and Occupations uses the information on the OFO as the basis for the development of the National Occupational Pathway Framework (NOPF). The purpose of the NOPF is to show linkages between occupations in terms of occupational progression and the NOPF will also record occupation related data.  Communities of Expert Practice (CEP) ultimately seek to perform some of the above mentioned functions in terms of Articulation between occupations.

According the Concept Document for Discussion from the Department of Labour, October 2008, the Community of Expert Practice (CEP) is a term that describes a “group of practitioners currently in the occupation”.
The Community of Expert Practice Comprises of the following:

  • the Captains of Industry (practitioners), i.e. people that are deemed to be the experts in terms of knowledge and understanding of what a specific occupation entails;
  • training providers that traditionally have been involved in providing learning opportunities associated with the occupation;
  • employers that require the specific occupation in their value chain.;
  • Labour Unions;

and

  • Regulators

Functions of the CEP
According to the Occupational Qualifications Framework (OQF) document, the design and development process for occupational qualifications, curricula and qualification assessment specifications will be expert-driven and conducted by CEPs. The CEPs are responsible for defining curricula and qualifications, based on agreed upon competence profiles.  They can also play an active role in the moderation or examination body and register constituent assessors who conduct or moderate assessment.
It is envisaged that the CEP will design, develop, manage, conduct and verify the final integrative summative assessment for awards, and even for some certificates - this work, however, will take place under the delegated authority of the QCTO.
In some instances the mentioned practitioners are already convened in Professional Bodies or Associations that aimed to regulate the

  • competence profile of specific occupations; and
  • designation associated with the occupation.

The CEP should comprise of committees such as already or newly established Professional Bodies or Associations that will be responsible for the awarding of occupations or professional designations.  In order to perform the said functions the CEPs for a specific occupation would have to accept responsibility of custodianship for all occupations that have been grouped at the Unit Level of the OFO and all related occupations that indicate occupational progression. The CEPs would thus form the umbrella for all related stakeholders and stakeholder bodies to the occupations grouped or defined by the fourth level of the OFO.

Though CEPs are being initiated by SETAs at present, their functioning and outputs are governed by the Quality Council for Trades and Occupations.  The main focus of the QCTO’s governing function is to ensure the following (in no order of sequence):

  • The Department of Labour is informed of suggested new occupations, specialisations and alternative titles.
  • New occupations in a Unit Group relate to the other occupations in the Unit Group in terms of their purpose and skill level.
  • All experts or Captains of Industry have been engaged. The schisms created by the SETA landscape needs to be bridged by ensuring stakeholders that have an interest in a Unit Group’s occupations participate in the profiling process.
  • Professional body and regulatory requirements for designations related to the occupations in the Unit Group are recorded.
  • Curricula address the compiled competence profile and are consolidated for the Unit Group.
  • The occupational path of the occupations and Unit Group is defined clearly.

The SSETA is currently taking the lead in breaking the silos by  inviting stakeholders from its constituencies as well as stakeholders form all industries that require the specific occupations  to define the competence profiles of occupations whose learning fields have resorted with the ETQA of the SETA.  The initiative is however transcending the SETA landscape boundaries. A strong emphasis is placed on involving stakeholders from all industries that required the specific occupation in its value chain. 
CEPs need to build on the additional expertise of members of existing Standards Generating Bodies (SGB) and other expert practitioners active in SETAs.
SETA Specific Guide for CEPs

SETAs will in general have an interest in several occupational families, while CEPs would draw on members from a variety of economic sectors to ensure the occupational profile represents all their needs.
Broadly speaking the SETA will engage in the following activities:

  • Scope the occupations relevant to the specific sector.
  • Identify the industry’s unique occupations for which the CEP will accept responsibility.
  • Relate unique occupations to the OFO.
  • Identify the expert practitioners and other stakeholders that should be involved in the CEP.
  • Support the initiation and funding of a CEP.
  • Cooperate with other SETAs to initiate the formation of CEPs for cross sectoral occupations.

Broadly speaking the CEP will engage in the following activities:

  • Draft a comprehensive competence profile for each occupation falling within the scope of the CEP.  Specific tasks and associated skills and knowledge bases should form the basis of the competence profile.
  • Consult with other stakeholders to validate and confirm competence profiles.
  • Develop or revise occupational qualifications and unit standards.
  • Develop or revise related curricula.
  • Develop or revise assessment standards and guidelines.

Different members of a CEP with different fields of expertise will be convened for different stages in the process. Less provider input, compared to industry inputs is for instance required when the competence profile and career pathways are defined. The above outlined process is a cyclic process which would commence with four to five workshops. The workshops are aimed at capacity building and ensuring the occupation profiles are elaborate enough to inform curriculum and qualification development.  The initial competence profile and career path defining will require inputs from Captains of Industry and other experts from Professional Bodies and Associations.
Participants in the initial process should avail themselves to be involved in at least the first two (draft and consult) above mentioned processes.  New participants could and should join the workshops, but a core group is required to ensure continuation and momentum for the mentioned initial process.

Role of Management Committees

    • Assist & Advise SSICTO as a Quality Development Partner to the QCTO ;

 

                             -  Nominate experts for serving in working groups for profiling, learning design and assessment specifications.
                            -   Monitor & report progress made by the various working groups.
                            -   Validate the work done by the three groups
                            -  Monitor the participation of the working group members
                            -  Monitor the Curriculum Development Facilitator
                            -  Monitor the work done by the Quality Development Partner

  • Report to the CEP on progress pertaining to the Occupational Qualification Development process.
  • Assist SSICTO with articles and notifications for dissemination to the CEP
  • Serve on the SSICTO Council through the Chair & Vice-Chairperson.
  • Establish a database of the CEP
  • Assist SSICTO in maintaining the SSICTO Portal (once in place)
  • Participate in the SSETA Model for Professional Bodies

FOR REGISTRATION ON THE PLATFORM, YOUR CEP MEMBER, CONTAINING DETAILS ON WHAT’S HAPPENING IN YOUR INDUSTRY, PLEASE VIST WWW.ITAWARE.CO.ZA