Context & Impact

DeSeCo has had a significant influence on later OECD work and on international competence frameworks: 

• Its overarching framework with the three categories (tools, interaction, autonomy) informed subsequent debates about educational goals and large-scale assessments.
• The normative foundation (human rights, social cohesion, sustainable development) laid by DeSeCo has been used in policy discussions on lifelong learning and education reform.
• The project encouraged a multidisciplinary and international dialogue, creating a reference point for countries to reflect on their own competence frameworks.
• DeSeCo also raised methodological issues around measurement and indicator development, questioning how to assess complex competencies beyond traditional tests.

The substantial interdisciplinary research and synthesis conducted within the OECD DeSeCo project were revisited in 2016 (see  OECD working paper). The review confirmed that the theoretical and conceptual foundations of DeSeCo’s competence framework — including the three categories of key competencies (acting autonomously, interacting in socially heterogeneous groups, and using tools interactively) — remain relevant and contributed to the conceptualization of OECD’s three transformative competencies and the  OECD Learning Compass.