Competency-Based Occupational Standards: Influences on Australian Speech Pathology Education

Speech Pathology Australia developed competency-based occupational standards in response to a national government initiative across all professions and these standards have formed the basis for the accreditation process of speech pathology education programmes in Australia since 1994. This paper presents a critical appraisal of the contribution of a competency framework to curricular design, focussing on both content coverage and teaching methodologies. Also, the assessment of learning promoted through a competency-based framework is considered in relation to models of critical thinking.