The tail wags the dog

When learning outcomes means learning isn’t always the outcome

Bibliographic Data

ID21696504
AuthorsRose Veitch (0009-0009-3459-7216, King's College London, corresponding author)
Year2026
Volume78
Issue3
Pages466-486
Publication date2026-05-27
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Vocational Education and Training (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1363-6820 • E-ISSN: 1747-5090
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/13636820.2025.2573926
OpenAlexW4415265775
LanguageEN
References cited24

The Learning Outcomes revolution has swept the globe. Heralded as the means to raise vocational education and training standards, and establish equivalence with academic qualifications, the outcomes assessment model has been at the vanguard of VET reform. These bold claims derive from the particular characteristics of outcomes design: atomised performance statements, the aggregate credit system, and exhaustive sampling. The architects of the Outcomes movement claim that these characteristics provide the transparency, flexibility and learner motivation that classical assessment design apparently lacks. Yet the Outcomes template has attracted a great deal of criticism, particularly from academic quarters. Critics find that outcome-based assessment fails to account for holistic curricular knowledge, and is therefore not fit for purpose. This article provides evidence that supports these findings. Investigating how outcomes qualifications operate in their environment, this study finds that the outcomes model interacts with accountability pressures to produce deleterious effects. Drawn from data derived from a literacy embedding study, the paper uses the concept of subject procedural knowledge to explore how teachers of outcome-based qualifications interpret their subject knowledge. It is argued that the model produces a compositional fallacy, and a tail-wags-dog culture whereby assessment consumes curricula and pedagogy, thus undermining educational quality

Educational Theory and Curriculum Studies · Global Educational Policies and Reforms · Higher Education Learning Practices

Tools

Open DOIOpen Access