The interplay of philosophies and methods used in the design of assessments in the South African insurance industry.
Date
2010-11-10
Authors
Rogers, William
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Abstract
The insurance sector in South Africa is currently governed by the
requirements of the South African Qualifications Act (Act No. 58 of 1995),
which delegates it to the Insurance SETA (INSETA), an appointed
Sectoral, Education and Training Authority (SETA),
In the past, most insurance-related training and development centred on
insurance process training, and although the workplace requirements have
not changed, the requirements of the qualifications have. This has
potentially led to tension in the industry, in that the INSETA is arguably
designing standards and qualifications along behaviourist lines.
This research report confirms whether or not this situation is the case. It
also looks at the way the developers of the assessment tools for the unit
standards and qualifications have potentially altered their methods of
practice or alternatively, adopted a different philosophical stance to comply
with INSETA requirements.
Triangulated research was conducted using a defined set of respondents
from a local perspective. The findings showed that no one respondent
clearly displayed a particular philosophical standpoint and that, in every
case, his or her assessment tool development methodology was in line
with INSETA required practice.