THE NEED FOR EDUCATIONAL STANDARDS IN THE GR PROFESSION

The challenge to the leaders of the GR profession is to deliver training programmes that are affordable and effective. One crucial element is the development of recognised higher education courses and qualifications. Today no consesus exists as to what a GR curriculum should contain, or how academic content and experiential learning can be balanced.

None of the courses offered in GR are sanctioned by the EU authorities. There is no approved curriculum taught by approved faculty members. 

We submit that the EU authorities should develop a process to certify those universities and organisations, including GR associations who would be approved to teach the courses. By providing the educational requirements for GR practitioners, with the imprematur of the European authorities and coupling it with an examination, 'graduates' would be able to use their accomlihments as a tool for professional advancement as well as touting their expertise to prospective clients. Those entities accredited to offer the curriculum would naturally compete with each other both to increase revenues, but also to acquire a reputation as being the best. The competition for the delivery of essential educational courses would be a welcome development that would only strengthen the GR profession. Today no one can claim the level of credibility and participation it needs unless the educational programmes are sanctioned by the EU authorities.

Courses in GR should be developed in accordance with standards and delivered by registered training organisations (RTOs). The standards could be regarded as a benchmark of competence required. They would specify the standards of performance that GR professionals are expected to achieve in their work and the knowledge and skills they need to perform effectively. The purpose of the standards would be to ensure consistent, high-training and assessment services:

• set out the requirements that an organisation must meet in order to be a registered training organisation (RTO);
• ensure that training products delivered by RTOs meet the requirements of training packages or accredited courses, and have integrity for employment and further study;
• ensure RTOs operate ethically with due consideration of learners' and enterprises' needs

Benefits of Standards

Individuals could use the standards to

• develop their self-confidence and enhance their personal effectiveness
• provide a means for determining gaps in knowledge, experience and skills
• offer an objective process for identifying training needs
• ensure best practice
• support their professional development
• open up a wider range of career opportunities
• help to transfer their competence to other work situations.

Setting Standards or Essential Requirements for GR Education

Three types of interrelated educational standards might be envisaged:

1. First, the content standards or curriculum standards would describe the skills, knowledge, attitudes and values that teachers are supposed to 'teach' and students are expected to learn.
2. Second, the assessment or performance standards would define degrees of attainment of content standards and level of competencies in compliance with the professional requirements.
3. Finally, the process or opportunity-to-learn standards would define the availability of staff and other resources 

In other words, the content standards define what is taught and learned, and performance standards describe how well it has been learned. The content standards, without performance standards, are meaningless. Similarly, opportunity-to-learn standards cannot stand on their own because without content and performance standards, it is not possible to assess whether the resources are effectively deployed.

Definition of minimum essential requirements of GR programmes

1. Collect information on various aspects of GR education
2. Establish a core committee consisting of experienced experts in GR to begin the process of defining 'minimum essential requirements' that every RTO should provide. These 'essentials' should include knowledge and skilsl, and professional values, behaviour and ethics of universal significance.
3. Once a consensus is reached, these 'essentials' will be tested and offered as a tool for improving the quality of GR education. It may also provide an acceptable basis to be used for the process of evaluation and accreditation of GR programmes.

The most controversial issue regarding standards is how they can be developed and enforced and by whom. Should such standards be mandatory, voluntary, or de facto ? There is fairly general agreement that content and performance standards should be voluntary and not mandatory, and that they should be created by professional GR associations free of political interference. It is also clear that as the different stakeholders in GR education, have varying expectations, the development of essential requirements and standards is a matter of negotiations necessary to reach consensus. This will require time.

Concluding Remarks

For a profession in any given field to function, a body of knowledge for that field must be defined and the field's boundary must be establsihed. There must also be a reasonable consensus within the field as to what the knowledge should consist of. The boundaries and consensus for any profession will evolve over time, but at any given moment they can be defined- which is what enables formal training and certification. Certification signals competence to the general public who would benefit from it.

Today, neither the boundaries of the GR discipline nor a consensus on the required body of knowledge exists. No professional body is granted control, no formal entry or certification is required, no ethical standards are enforced, and no mechanism can exclude someone from practice.

Professional education enables an individual to master the body of knowledge deemed requisite for practice. It comprises three stages: admission, during which potential entrants are screened for intellectual ability and aptitude; a taught programme, during which educators impat knowledge of the subject; and formal assessment, which leads to certification. Professional education is about taking a given individual on the journey from having little or no knowledge or experience to becoming qualified.