Core Competencies

There is a growing movement to define competency within the field of marriage and family therapy (MFT), particularly with respect to the training of practitioners and the evaluation of clinical practice. Efforts to define competency, however, transcend the practice of MFT and much can be learned from the experiences of other disciplines. Professions such as education, law, and medicine have made strides toward addressing the complex issue of competency standards in their respective fields. This article describes some ways in which the issue of competency has been approached in other professions, as well as some common dilemmas posed by adopting a competency-based orientation, to shed light on the process of defining competency in MFT. Moreover, this article identifies some of the more useful conceptualizations, modes of pedagogy, and evaluative practices found in other professions.

Rational drug use has increasingly received public policy attention in efforts to maintain quality health care at lower costs. Prescribing habits are developed during residency training, and education regarding rational drug use should be an integral part of the residency curricula. Considering that many medical errors in family medicine are related to incorrect medication management, there is need for a focused education in pharmacotherapy. This paper outlines suggested guidelines for pharmacotherapy curricula in family medicine residency training, as recommended by the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine Group on Pharmacotherapy. A pharmacotherapy curriculum should include common conditions managed in family medicine, as well as general principles of pharmacotherapy. This should allow for repeated exposure to core topics over a 3-year cycle and be delivered in various settings (didactic teaching, longitudinal active learning, point-of-care education, and rotations). The curricu...

This study explores the academe-industry partnership of Cebu Technological University Bachelor of Science in Hospitality Management and Bachelor of Science in Industrial Technology major in Food Preparation and Services courses, SY 2014-2015 to improve the quality of course offering. It takes on the feedback received from supervisors of 50 different hotels and restaurants of Cebu province, as well as the self-rating of 185 OJTs of the two courses as regard to OJTs' level of functional and science-based core competencies. This descriptive research utilizes Likert-type research-made survey questionnaire which was previously tested for validity and reliability. The findings revealed that industry supervisors evaluated the trainees as Competent in core competencies (Bartending, Bread and pastry products, Cookery, Customer services, Front office services, food and beverages) as well as functional skills Time management and Initiative). However, they found the students need of strengthening their problem solving and communication skills. The researchers therefore developed an enhanced learning guide for the New Science GE course to address the gaps based on the industry feedback.

This article presents the results of a qualitative analysis of 80 articles, chapters, and practitoners' guides focused on collaboration and coalition functioning. The purpose of this review was to develop an integrative framework that captures the core competencies and processes needed within collaborative bodies to facilitate their success. The resulting framework for building collaborative capacity is presented. Four critical levels of collaborative capacity--member capacity, relational capacity, organizational capacity, and programmatic capacity--are described and strategies for building each type are provided. The implications of this model for practitioners and scholars are discussed.

Despite limited preparation through formal and non-formal education, local people throughout the world are engaged in the common work of building healthier communities. Some core competencies-including community assessment, planning, mobilization, and evaluation-are needed to address the variety of issues that matter to local communities. This report describes an Internet-based support system for community work known as the Community Tool Box (CTB) [http://ctb.lsi.ukans.edu/]. We examine the idea and origins of the CTB and its core content, access features, and applications. We review evidence for its use, implementation and dissemination strategies, and discuss core values that guide this internet-based work.

To cope with the current turbulent times, organi sation s' are seeking a range of solutions and one of the most public ise d strategies for this in recent times is outsourcing. In the Information Systems (IS) area, outsourcing has fast become an essential par t of an organi sation 's IS strategy. By signing outsourcing agreements, firms expect to reduce their overall Information Technology (IT) costs, focus on their core competencies, and gain superior technical resources. This paper offers a conceptual model for the area of outsourcing, which is based primarily on meta -abilities.

Background: Efforts to identify core competencies within health promotion and health education have been on-going for a number of years. These efforts include work carried out by the International Union for Health Promotion and Education (IUHPE) in drawing up a draft list of 11 core competencies which were incorporated into the practice module on the Masters (MA) in Health Promotion

Local adoption of the Association of Professors in Gynecology and Obstetrics women's health care competencies for medical students must be preceded by significant institutional groundwork. Nationally developed guidelines play an important role in persuading teaching faculty of the importance of including women's health and in augmenting institution-specific efforts.

As companies start to engage with the knowledge economy, they have to shift their mindsets to understanding knowledge management more holistically and, more importantly, understand the role of knowledge management as it pertains to sustainable competitive advantage. It requires companies to think of age-old concepts in new ways, and necessarily requires deep insight into the enablers of business success within the company, and then creative insight is required to reveal the new possibilities. This paper, drawing on resource-based theory, provides some guidelines for companies to develop business strategies, critically dependent on knowledge management initiatives. A chain of sustainability is introduced and three insightful concepts are highlighted (complementary resource combinations, strategic architecture and pool of resources); however, they do not tell companies specifically what to do, but robustly explain what the requirements of a knowledge strategy are, if they want to attain, and sustain, competitive advantage.

English summary: The book presents an overview and analysis of a whole range of concepts and diverse approaches to youth work with a particular focus on developing key competencies related to media and information. The author reflects on the importance and position of media and information literacy in youth work and informal activities and initiatives in which young people are activated and involved in public life on various occasions. The book presents specific factors and contexts related to information and media competencies in youth work - especially those that allow the application of activating methods in the practical use of innovative communication technologies and tools.

Slovak summary: Kniha predstavuje prehľad a analýzu celej škály konceptov a rôznorodých prístupov k problematike práce s mládežou s osobitným zameraním na rozvíjanie kľúčových kompetencií súvisiacich s médiami a informáciami. Autor reflektuje význam a postavenie mediálnej a informačnej gramotnosti v práci s mládežou, ale aj v neformálnych aktivitách a iniciatívach, v ktorých sa pri rôznych príležitostiach mladí ľudia aktivizujú a zapájajú do verejného života. Kniha predstavuje  špecifické faktory a súvislosti týkajúce sa informačných a mediálnych kompetencií v práci s mládežou – najmä takých , ktoré umožňujú aplikáciu aktivizujúcich metód v rámci praktického využívania inovatívnych komunikačných technológií a nástrojov.

This paper is concerned with the formulation of a framework for understanding the development and change of the competences of firms. Today, there is near universal agreement that the competitiveness of firms rests on the (core) competences that firms possess. However, little attention has ...

Like other disciplines, organizational and technological innovations have influenced the standard
philosophies of librarianship. These innovations have changed the basics of information retrieval and
delivery in libraries. As a result, library authorities are demanding competency-based job performance.
Nonetheless, there is a scarcity of research on the association between skills (current and needed) and job
performance (job satisfaction and organizational commitment). Further, there is a dearth of research on
the difference in skills of librarians. This research paper proposes a conceptual framework composed of
two major parts. Part one denotes empirical analysis of the relationship of current competencies with JP
aggregated as JS and OC. This relationship section may signify librarians’ perception of task performance;
part two examines the difference between the current and needed competencies. These different sections
explore the levels of deficit and surplus in competencies and job ‘best fit’. The findings of this conceptual
framework may be significant for the implementation of a competency-based management system, in updating
LIS curriculums, for designing librarians’ training programs and for LIS professionals as a whole
to perform more efficiently. Researchers from diverse settings can utilize the proposed model

Abstract: A central feature of innovation systems is that innovation arises from interaction between organizational units. This requires' cognitive distance'that is sufficiently large to yield novelty of combinations, but not too large for mutual understanding. Two problems and solutions in the transfer of knowledge, especially to small firms, are identified and discussed. There is a problem not only of expressing tacit knowledge, but also of absorbing new knowledge when it needs to replace existing tacit knowledge. Next to issues of learning or ...

The contemporary concept of emotional intelligence (EI) as a critical set of management skills is traced through time to its current application for health care administration. EI is defined as proficiencies in intrapersonal and interpersonal skills in the areas of self-awareness, self-regulation, self-motivation, social awareness, and social skills. The contributions of EI to effective management are supported by empirical research in the field. The importance of developing these skills in health care organizations is further clarified with examples familiar to health care administrators. Training suggestions and assessment resources are provided.

The Teachers' Competence Scale is created with the aim of continuous improvement of the study program at the Faculty of Teacher Education in Rijeka. Its basic form can be adapted to different purposes (evaluation, identifying needs for professional development, etc.). In the initial phase of construction it was used to assess the importance of different competencies and assessments were given by different participants in education in the area of primary school teaching: teachers, principals, educational experts and professors from the Faculty of Teacher Education. The study included 374 participants from 39 primary schools in Primorsko Goranska County, including teachers at the Faculty of Teacher Education. Constructed Teachers' Competence Scale has satisfactory psychometric properties. Of all the competencies participants made the greatest emphasis on methodical competences and practice as the most important elements of the teacher study program, while the competencies in scientific methodology related to the creation of new knowledge in the field of education were assessed as the least important. Significant differences between groups of participants were found with regards to the importance they attribute to various competencies. Principals and the professional staff typically gave higher estimates of the importance to almost all competencies included in this research. Teachers were, in comparison with other competences, relatively more focused on competencies related to working with students with special needs, and university teachers were more focused on the scientific and methodological competence. In subsequent research it is necessary to determine the applicability of this scale and the stability of its metric characteristics on various forms and populations. Keywords: education; evaluation; metric characteristics; school; study program

Skala učiteljskih kompetencija kreirana je s ciljem kontinuiranog unaprjeđenja studijskog programa na Učiteljskom fakultetu u Rijeci. Njezin osnovni oblik može se prilagoditi raznim svrhama (evaluacija, utvrđivanje potreba za profesionalnim razvojem i sl.). U inicijalnoj fazi konstrukcije koristila se u formi procjene važnosti pojedinih kompetencija koje su dali različiti sudionici odgoja i obrazovanja u području razredne nastave: učitelji, ravnatelji i stručni suradnici te nastavnici Učiteljskog fakulteta.
U istraživanju je sudjelovalo 374 sudionika iz 39 osnovnih škola Primorsko-goranske županije, uključujući i nastavnike na Učiteljskom fakultetu u Rijeci. Utvrđeno je da konstruirana Skala učiteljskih kompetencija ima zadovoljavajuće metrijske karakteristike. Od svih kompetencija sudionici su istaknuli metodičke kompetencije i praksu kao najvažnije elemente programa učiteljskog studija, dok su najmanje važnim procijenili metodološke kompetencije vezane uz kreiranje novih znanja iz područja odgoja i obrazovanja. U procjenama važnosti različitih kompetencija utvrđene su i razlike među skupinama ispitanika pri čemu su ravnatelji i stručni suradnici u pravilu davali više procjene važnosti gotovo svim istraživanjem obuhvaćenim kompetencijama, učitelji su bili, u odnosu na ostale kompetencije, relativno više usmjereni na individualni rad s djecom s posebnim potrebama, a fakultetski nastavnici na znanstveno-metodološke kompetencije. U narednim istraživanjima potrebno je utvrditi primjenjivost skale i stabilnost metrijskih karakteristika na različitim formama i populacijama.
Ključne riječi: evaluacija; metrijske karakteristike; obrazovanje; studijski program; škola

There is an increasing awareness that school failure and early school leaving are processes, rather than discrete events, that often co-occur and can have lasting negative effects on children's development. Most of the literature has focused on risk factors for failure and dropout rather than on the promotion of competencies that can increase youths' likelihood of successfully completing high school. This chapter applies the core competencies framework to the promotion of youths' success within the school environment. We conclude with a brief review of evidence-based prevention strategies that address the five competencies and identify avenues for future research.