Qualifications designed to engage and empower young people with their own learning
Co-developed with teachers, the Award Scheme Development and Accreditation Network’s (ASDAN) new qualifications are designed to equip young people with competencies in communication, collaboration and emotional intelligence.
Personal and Social Effectiveness (PSE) Level 1 and 2 qualifications support those young people for whom the standard diet of GCSEs and exam-based qualifications isn’t enough to engage or excite them. Academic success in mathematics, English and science alone will not equip young people to thrive, and employers are struggling to find well-rounded individuals with the skills and grit to handle the daily challenges they’ll face in the workplace.
As an education charity with a mission to engage, elevate and empower young people in greatest need, ASDAN has set out to help education settings respond to this challenge in creating post-pandemic resilient young people with a positive mindset
Develops greater self-awareness
Director of Education, Martina Veale, outlines a core focus of ASDAN’s new qualifications:
‘We bring our “whole selves” to our learning. This means we need a secure understanding of who we are as people, our heritage and what motivates us and holds us back in order to make sense of our education journey.’
‘The ASDAN pedagogy aims to equip learners with core skills in language, numeracy and IT, alongside problem solving, working with others and improving their own performance, enabling them to take control of their learning and achieve their personal goals.’
ASDAN’s PSE qualifications have four assessed units. The successful completion of the first three units, ‘Developing myself and my performance’, ‘Working with others’ and ‘Problem-solving’, culminates in the Award in Personal and Social Effectiveness. In completing the fourth unit, ‘Delivering a project’, learners are assessed on their planning, research, presentation and discussion skills and achieve the Certificate in Personal and Social Effectiveness.
Includes ready-made resource pack
ASDAN’s scheme of learning is just one element of the extensive resource package – which includes over 30 hours of resources – that supports the PSE qualifications’ delivery.
ASDAN’s Education Policy and Development Officer, Susannah Harlow, explains that PSE is ‘designed to offer activities in which young people will develop their social and emotional skills’ and help ‘scaffold the reflection on their learning’.
‘Vocabulary acquisition and literacy are supported, particularly through purposeful talk. Each session contains clear objectives and links to the qualifications’ assessment criteria.’
Co-created with teachers
PSE has been created with practitioners and continues to involve teachers in delivery.
In 2023, ASDAN is committed to developing professional learning communities, enabling practitioners to come together, share good practice, be inspired and co-create the next evolution of ASDAN’s courses.
One teacher involved in the qualification’s development and now delivering PSE told us that ‘the personalised aspect of PSE is crucial for learners’ future development. The course is totally unique and valued by the learners, parents and staff delivering it. I value it immensely.’
Read more about the Personal and Social Effectiveness qualifi cations on the ASDAN website: www.asdan.org.uk/pse You can also get in touch with an ASDAN advisor to find out how the course can benefit your learners: 0117 941 1126 | info@asdan.org.uk
