Competence/learning outcomes-based curriculum is one of the key characteristics of modern Vocational Education and Training (VET) systems’ reforms inside and beyond Europe. Despite of mixed evaluations of competence term and its relevance and value for constructing curriculum, countries around the world apply some form of competence / learning-outcomes based curriculum models in different educational sectors (Edwards, 2016; Mulder, 2019). Competence  as social and educational construct is legitimated in European policy documents, national legislation and diverse competences texts, such as qualification and training standards, qualification profiles and competences frameworks. Moreover, it is embedded into educational practice through curriculum and competences assessment, recognition and certification systems and is widely applied by labour market actors (Mulder, 2019).

The current proposal is prepared on the basis of ongoing PhD research on the enactment of competence-based VET curriculum in Lithuania and in Italy. The research was aimed at exploring and conceptualizing the competence-based curriculum enactment cycle and its problematic areas under the conditions of school-based VET systems together with related implications to VET teachers’ activities and their competences. The phenomenon of competence-based education (CBE) is analysed from multiple skills formation system layers perspective, i.e.  macro, meso and micro levels, paying a particular attention to the meaning making and choices of enactors of the curriculum - VET teachers and trainers, the interactions (interpretations and translations) in-between intended and enacted curriculum and teachers instructional and competences assessment strategies (Ball et al., 2012; Billett, 2011; Sturing et al., 2011). Building on the assumptions about the importance of teachers agency for educational transformation, it is valuable to explore manifestations of teachers agency in curriculum enactment processes and how it influences engagement with competence and curriculum texts, professional identity and professional development (Goodson & Ümarik, 2019; Vähäsantanen, 2015).

The research has been carried out in Italy and in Lithuania, two countries with dominating school-based VET systems. In both of them competence is projected to be an orientation for VET curriculum, thus the research aimed at detecting how does legitimation of CBE in VET change the processes and institutional agency of VET systems and how does it shape and transform VET mission and VET teachers activities. Exploration of teachers’ activities and challenges through the lens of competence-based curriculum enactment allows to identify emerging teachers and trainers competences needs and factors which enhance teachers  continuing professional development.

School-based VET systems face particular challenges in implementing VET curriculum, safeguarding authenticity of VET, appropriate scope and quality of workplace curriculum and empowering VET teachers and trainers to work in changing VET contexts and to fulfil the vision of VET as constructed in EU and national documents  (Cedefop, 2017b; Hordern, 2014; The Council of the European Union, 2020; Young & Hordern, 2020).

More specifically the proposal focuses on the following aspects:

- presentation and comparison of CBE curriculum enactment models in two countries: roles, activities and strategies of teachers;

- emerging problematic curriculum and teacher competence areas in the context of societal and labour market implications for VET and for learners’ competences.

The research methodology is based on comparative analysis of curriculum reforms and skills formation institutional framework and empirical qualitative research. Comparative analysis (Pilz, 2012) included a desk research of literature, policy documents, administrative and practice level qualification and curricular documents and focused on the following units of analysis: context of VET systems, institutional framework, policy intentions and reform, VET teachers training system and curriculum framework. The empirical qualitative research involved semi-structured interviews with VET teachers and trainers and VET institutions administration (28 respondents in Lithuania and 20 in Italy). The data was analysed using qualitative content analysis. Qualitative content analysis enabled systemic analysis of interview data and inductive formulation of subcategories and categories framework which would explain curriculum enactment process (Mayring, 2014). The findings of empirical research were analysed in the context of comparative analysis of curriculum reforms and skills formation institutional framework. The comparative perspective and placing competence-based curriculum enactment in the overall skill formation system allows a better understanding of similarities and differences of curriculum models in different countries and cultural contexts and finding new ways of supporting teachers in their work.

Analysis of competence-based curriculum enactment models helped to construct an explanatory framework of curriculum enactment and revealed full scale of complexity of teachers’ activity. Empirical research confirmed claims of other researchers that teachers may surrender to the authority of competences texts, standards and curriculum and that, depending on agentic attitude and organizational factors, openness of institutions towards change and innovation, teachers experience diverse degree of autonomy in curriculum design and implementation. Lithuania and Italy have institutionalized different curriculum models with Lithuanian model mainly targeted at fulfilling neoliberal skills formation agenda and Italian model representing a more educationally strong curriculum with embedded development of learners’ personality in addition to the development of occupational competencies. The shift to current curriculum models in both countries still raises conceptual and organizational challenges. Competence orientation in curriculum imposes a horizontally and vertically coordinated, modular, interdisciplinary approach to planning and implementation of didactic activities. In both countries a shift to work-process logic in competence constructs may be observed implying teachers to deepen and broaden their vocational workplace knowledge and skills and follow innovations in their sectors. In addition to this, transversal competences such as teachers’ openness to change, agility, resilience, communication, teamwork, empathy, ethical competence prove to be increasingly relevant and important in present VET contexts. The research aimed to explore competence-based curriculum models as a multi-level phenomenon and based on its findings it is intended to provide recommendations for the enrichment of these models and their enactment strategies in order to better reflect contemporary societal, labour market and VET systems challenges and transformations as well as to provide recommendations for the development of teachers and trainers’ competence necessary for addressing these challenges and transformations.

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