2. DeSeCo: A general conceptual frame of reference for key competencies

DeSeCo - the acronym of Definition and Selection of Competencies: Theoretical and Conceptual Foundations — was an interdisciplinary, theory-oriented study that originated in the context of international efforts to assess education and learning outcomes and to evaluate educational systems.

The DeSeCo project was led and managed by the Swiss National Statistics Office (BFS), financed by the Swiss, Statistics Canada and the US National Center for Education Statistics and implemented under the aegis of the OECD. The project was launched in late 1997 in recognition of the need to conceptually bridge past and current international competence assessments and to develop an overall long-term strategy for international assessment of competencies based on a common theoretical and conceptual foundation.

Which competencies are relevant for individuals to lead a successful and responsible life and for society to face the challenges of the present and future? Is it possible to determine a limited set of key competencies important in different spheres of life, such as the economic sector, the political sphere, and family life? And if so, what is the nature of these competencies? These are the type of questions that guided DeSeCo's research process.

The multiple inputs to DeSeCo and the exchange among a wide range of experts and stakeholders resulted in a comprehensive frame of reference for key competencies.

This section lays out DeSeCo's mission and research process, followed by a succinct presentation of the core elements of the frame of reference elaborated in the final report (Rychen and Salganik, Eds. 2003). It concludes with a brief discussion of its relevance for ALL and of the challenges for future international competence assessments.