Competence (human resources)

About: Competence (human resources) is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 53557 publications have been published within this topic receiving 988884 citations. The topic is also known as: competence (human resources) & Competency.

A Competence Model for Environmental Education

Abstract: The goal of environmental education is ultimately to enable a person to strive for and to attain a more ecological way of life. In this article, we begin by distinguishing three forms of environmental knowledge and go on to predict that people’s attitude toward nature represents the force that drives their ecological behavioral engagement. Based on data from 1,907 students, we calibrated previously established instruments to measure ecological behavior, environmental knowledge, and attitude toward nature with Rasch-type models. Using path modeling, we corroborated our theoretically anticipated competence structure. While environmental knowledge revealed a modest behavioral effect, attitude toward nature turned out to be, as expected, the stronger determinant of behavior. Overall, we propose a competence model that has the potential to guide us into more evidence-based ways of promoting the overall ecological engagement of individuals.

Young People as Competent Community Builders: A Challenge to Social Work

Abstract: What would happen if society viewed young people as competent community builders? This question is not trivial, for the dominant view of youths in any society will affect the beliefs and behaviors of adults and of youths themselves. Because adults often view young people as victims or problems, rather than as competent citizens capable of meaningful participation in society, it is not surprising that social work thought and practice also emphasize troubled youths and the services they require (Armstrong, 1996). Not at issue is the competence of youths and the role of adults as allies in the community-building process. In contrast, we started with the view of young people as competent community builders and searched for community-based initiatives in which youths took this approach. We built on the recognition of "youth as resources" (Kurth-Schai, 1988) and as thoughtful, active citizens in a living democracy (Lappe & DuBois, 1994). We sought initiatives in which youths were active participants in the process of personal, organizational, and community change (Checkoway, Finn, & Pothukuchi, 1995). This article reports on a pilot study of exemplary community-based youth initiatives in which young people actively participated in solving problems, planning programs, and providing services at the community level. We identified the initiatives, studied the accomplishments, and analyzed the lessons learned from practice. This article summarizes the research method, highlights case studies, and offers lessons for social work practice. As we learned to listen to the voices and appreciate the capacities of young people as community builders, many of our beliefs about youths were called into question. Perspectives on Youths as Resources Crime, drugs, dropouts, pregnancy: These are the types of images that permeate professional and popular thinking about youths today. This view assumes that young people are vulnerable victims of adult-neglect, poverty, racism, or other forces beyond their control, or that they are "bundles of pathology" threatening the social order (Annie E. Casey Foundation, 1994; Hancock, 1994; Males, 1996; Moseley,1995). Proponents of this view have responded with problem-focused interventions aimed at treatment, rehabilitation, and what Armstrong (1996) called the "medicalization of defiance," an infatuation with mental health solutions to the social problems affecting young people. Social workers, in particular, have adopted this view and seek to "save the children," "defend their rights," or protect them from worsening conditions by expanding needed services for youths. Social workers speak broadly of "youths at risk" as the target for a range of adult-directed helping interventions. The emphasis on youths as victims or problems prevents social workers from looking at young people as competent citizens and providing for their meaningful participation in civic life (Strom, Oguinick, & Singer, 1995). When young people are viewed in this way and relegated to the periphery, they see their social role as marginal and question the relevance of their relationship to the larger social, political, and economic context in which they live. Many interventions, such as those focusing on character education, sex education, and moral training, are value laden and personal in their orientation (Hancock, 1994). They attempt to inculcate particular values rather than to engage young people in critical questioning of the politics and ideologies embedded in the values. Furthermore, such interventions fail to locate the personal struggles confronting young people in a larger political and cultural context that speaks to the interrelatedness of challenges young people face. Questions of racism, sexism, and classism seldom figure into the construction of the problem or the solutions. And, for the most part, young people remain the passive recipients of services rather than active participants in a process of community change. …

Children's preference for challenge: the role of perceived competence and control.

Abstract: This research tested the hypothesis that children's perceptions of academic competence and their personal control over school-related performance affects subsequent intrinsic interest and preference for challenge in an evaluative setting. In a correlational study, children's self-reported perceptions of academic competence and personal control were found to relate positively to their intrinsic interest in schoolwork and preference for challenging school activities. A subset of this sample was exposed to varying levels of a controlling directive, and preference for challenge was assessed behaviorally during a free-choice period in which subjects were unaware that they were being observed. As predicted, the data indicated that when given the evaluative, controlling directive, children who had high perceptions of academic competence and control preferred a greater challenge than did children whose perceptions were low on these measures. No difference between groups in terms of preference for challenge was evident when no controlling directive was presented. These findings are discussed in terms of theories of intrinsic motivation and potential processes that underly these effects.

Autonomy and Competence as Motivational Factors in Students with Learning Disabilities and Emotional Handicaps

Abstract: Over 450 students (136 elementary, 321 junior and senior high school) with primary handicapping codes of learning disability (LD) or emotional handicap (EH) completed several questionnaires. All participants were from self-contained classrooms of a state-operated special education system. Questionnaires assessed students' self-perceptions and perceptions of home and classroom contexts, with all variables theoretically reflecting either the competence or the autonomy aspects of internal motivation or students' personal adjustment. Math and reading standardized achievement test scores were obtained from school records. Using multiple regression analyses, students' achievement and adjustment were predicted from the motivationally relevant self-perception and perception-of-context variables. Interestingly, different patterns of relations emerged for the students with LD and EH.