Competencies

Core Competencies


The Core Competencies are sets of intellectual, personal, and social and emotional proficiencies that all students need in order to engage in deep, lifelong learning. Along with literacy and numeracy foundations, they are central to British Columbia’s K-12 curriculum and assessment system and directly support students in their growth as educated citizens.

  • Students develop Core Competencies at home as well as at school, making parent/guardian support for students’ growing awareness, understanding, and development of the Core Competencies crucial.
  • Formal school tasks and activities often look different from the more informal tasks students are involved in at home. While both contexts are valuable, parents/guardians can expect that a student’s use of the Core Competencies may look very different in these two contexts.
  • The illustrations offer examples from a variety of contexts and can provide parents/guardians with a new lens through which to view their students’ development as educated citizens  These examples are varied and can include student work samples, student and teacher reflections, interviews, teacher observations, learning stories, and/or photos and videos. Examining the illustrations helps students develop an appreciation of the different ways, forms, and contexts in which the Core Competencies can be applied.
  • Parents/guardians will likely already have some understanding of their students’ development in Communication, Thinking, and Personal and Social. Discussing the Core Competencies with family members and friends can deepen students’ understanding of the Core Competencies and help them identify personal strengths and establish goals for further development as educated citizens.
  • Students are responsible for assessing their own growth in the Core Competencies. The profiles linked with each sub-competency can serve as a helpful guide in this self-assessment.
Resources:
Developing and Supporting K-12 Student Reflection and Self-Assessment of Core Competencies