Introduction
During the first years of its existence, ATVSRG had considerable discussion about the implications of the 1999 Health Act that empowers the government to require regulation of "any profession that appears to Her [Majesty] to be wholly or partly concerned with the physical or mental health of individuals----". In order to avoid the possibility of externally imposed regulation and to retain a professional influence on the course of events, ATVSRG has been following a path toward developing a suitable regulatory structure. The writing and adoption of agreed NOS is a necessary step in that direction.
What are NOS?
NOS are broad statements of the knowledge, understanding, skill and conduct that a member of a specific trade or profession should have in order to deliver a competent service. Most trades and professions have agreed NOS; they are written in ‘generic terms’ in a standard format that is not necessarily easy to read at first sight. They define what a competent person should be able to do when they carry out a particular activity or function
What is the outline procedure for writing NOS?
Skills for Health (SfH) is the organisation charged with developing NOS for professions in the Healthcare sector, in collaboration with a standards consultant and representatives of a profession. When a NOS document is completed and agreed in draft form it then has to be approved by the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA), which also oversees the National Curriculum within schools.
NOS and the teaching of the Alexander Technique
In 2004 SfH approached ATSVRG with a proposal to develop jointly a set of NOS for the teaching of the Alexander Technique (AT). One reason why SfH made this approach was because of the relatively constructive working relationship existing between STAT, PAAT, ATI and ITM. The proposal included funding from Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA) and the Foundation for Integrated Health (FIH), to pay for the services of a standards consultant to help develop NOS and for room hire.
The AT NOS development process
A Technical Working Group comprising members of the four organisations involved in the ATVSRG and representing the profession as a whole, worked with the standards consultant and a project manager from SfH. There were seven day-long sessions between April and October 2004-05. The meetings included much detailed discussion of the AT and the teaching process and how best to represent it in a document based on an outcomes approach to skill, knowledge and conduct that was difficult to work with. Agreement was reached eventually to use template documents which had been developed for professions where skills were taught, rather than templates developed for complementary and alternative healthcare professions.
The specification of NOS includes critical outcomes of competent performance of an activity or function that would indicate competence, but not the means for gaining the essential knowledge and skill.
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The AT NOS consultation process
The completed draft documents were made available on the SfH web site for consultation with teachers between October and 24th December 2004, with an offer of discussion meetings around the country. The method and time slot for consultation was determined by SfH in accordance with their normal practice.
During the consultation period a good number of Alexander Teachers submitted comments that were considered by the joint NOS group. SfH informed us that the comments sent in were excellent in terms of quality and the numbers of comments made.
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The completion of AT NOS
Between February and April 2005 the feedback resulting from the consultation process was considered. The resulting NOS documents were submitted to the QCA in the autumn of 2005 and revised by SfH between then and April 2006 to fit in with their changed requirements. Unfortunately the revision process led to errors that we had to correct. The final NOS documents were sent to SfH in October 2006.
Current review of all NOS in Complementary Healthcare sector
In April 2008 SfH announced a project to review and rationalise the existing NOS for teaching the AT and for eleven complementary therapies. The project is intended to identify common functions, such as assessment, across the therapies and identify any relevant gaps for NOS development. The project will run until September 2009.
All project information is available on the SfH website
NOS as a means for recognition and regulation
Although the AT-specific sections of our NOS are at a fairly basic level, their existence does provide some safeguard for the Technique. If an outside organisation offers AT teacher training and asks to be included within the scope of our NOS then QCA/SfH would be obliged to consult with the ATVSRG or its successor. In this way the principles of the Technique and training will be protected from dilution of standards, as might occur for example, if an organisation offered a six week correspondence course in training people to teach the AT.
NOS make no attempt to define a curriculum within training schools, nor do they define in any way how a qualified teacher should teach. They do, however, provide scope to recognize differences in the teaching of the AT.
NOS are not activated unless they are built upon and used by the Alexander community - they have no life independent of the AT teaching profession. SfH are the guardians of our NOS and can change them only in collaboration with our profession and under the guidance of the UK Commission for Employment and Skills.
SfH have said that constructive suggestions for amendment of AT NOS will be considered from time to time, provided that they are accompanied by adequate rationale.
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