This paper forms part of a doctoral study focused on the development and validation of an instrument for the self-evaluation of teaching and learning competencies for the purpose of faculty professional development. The rapid expansion of the higher education sector in Singapore has called for new approaches to university teaching that are adjusted to modern, more student centered, and technologically enabled learning contexts. The changing visions on student learning and the evolution of the teaching role require university teachers to develop themselves professionally on a continuous basis. It is therefore timely to have a taxonomy of teaching and learning competencies that can be used within a professional development model for academics to perform a self-assessment of their current pedagogical knowledge and skill levels as well as to set their learning and development goals. This paper is a systematic literature review of the concepts, theories and contexts involved in competency studies as well as the dynamic changes in the Singapore higher education landscape.