Mapping Competencies for Communication for Development and Social Change: Part IV: What's Next

- from Mapping Competencies for Communication for Development and Social Change: Turning Knowledge, Skills, and Attitudes Into Action

Part IV

What's Next?

The Functional Map of Competencies for the field of Communication for Development and Social Change is intended as a starting point for discussion by communicators and by the range of partners who work with them. The goal of this report and the other efforts to disseminate the work of the Bellagio conference is to submit this map to practitioners and academics in the field for review, discussion, and refinement so that it can serve as a tool for competency-based standards in education, training, and human resources management in the field.

Competencies and Curriculum Design

As Ms. Irigoin told the Bellagio group, definitions of competencies that are accepted asstandards in the field become an input to curriculum design. (Background information oncompetencies in curriculum design and delivery appears in Appendix B-3 [see full PDF document]). In a competency-based approach, she explained, each element of competence is analyzed to determine -

• Performance criteria - the result that determines a worker's performance and therefore her or his competence.
• Performance evidence - how the worker shows she or he has met the criteria.
• Range of application - the different types of circumstances in which the worker demonstrates the competency.
• Knowledge evidence - the principles, theories, or methods that the worker needs to know to achieve the action described in the element of competence.
• Guidelines for assessment - how others can assess whether and to what degree the element has been achieved.

These pieces were not expected to be accomplished during the week at Bellagio, although the discussion groups began to list performance criteria for some elements of competence of Communication for Development and Social Change. For example, one group identified the performance criteria that a communicator would need to accomplish Element 1.1.2 (Engage actors in dialogue) to include -

• Appropriate channels of communication are utilized.
• All identified actors are involved in horizontal and vertical communication.
• Dialogue between the actors and the broader set of constituencies are created and utilized.

Another group, looking at Element 2.1.2 (Facilitate identification and assessment of communication resources available to the community), suggested that performance criteria should include -

• A comprehensive assessment in relation to program goals is completed.
• The communication infrastructure is described according to quality specifications.
• A weighted analysis of media/communication roles is developed.
• Different communication practices are analyzed and evaluated according to different given situations.
• Communication polices are thoroughly reviewed and guidelines for application are established.
• Content is analyzed according to goals and application needs.

These criteria were listed fairly quickly in Bellagio and did not undergo extensive review or analysis. However, they illustrate what the next steps could be in using the competency model to design curriculum for Communication for Development and Social Change. (Appendix B-4 [see full PDF document on the CHANGE site] provides a more extendedillustration of Performance Criteria, Performance and Knowledge Evidence, and Range of Application as applied to Communication for Development and Social Change.) If these are the criteria that form part of performance, what knowledge, skills, and attitudes does a communicator need to know to be able to carry them out? Then the role of education comes into play - if this is what a communicator needs to know and be able to do, do currently available courses or training programs cover the necessary content? Is the content delivered in such a way that those who need it can have access to it? If not, these are gaps that perhaps need to befilled. As Mexico recognizes in its national framework of competencies, competencies provide a link between work, formal education, and training.

Other Steps

The Bellagio group agreed that, in addition to communication practitioners and scholars, the work on competencies should be shared with funders of development and social change programs that include (or could include) a communication component, as well as with managers and decision makers. Suggestions for how to do this ranged from short explanations for funders and managers, to presentations at meetings that technical decision makers attend, to postings on appropriate Web sites for those who want to carry the discussions further.

Other suggested actions included:

• Discussion within the participants' home institutions about the competenciesapproach, especially sharing the Functional Map. Also, because the competencies reflect (as they should) what is going on in the field, capturing efforts that fall under the various competencies would illustrate that the map depicts what is happening in many places, and not just an abstract construct.
• Discussion with others who are in the process of developing curricula and training programs in the field. In the brief amount of time devoted to this topic at the conference, participants suggested a few efforts in which they were involved: e.g,a WHO project on health communication, a series of trainings being organized by FemNet in Africa, a UNFPA-assisted effort to put together a postgraduate program in francophone Africa on communication for population and development, and various programs in Brazil.
• Application of the competencies approach into the workplace. One participant suggested that those on the "demand side" (who seek employees) could write model job descriptions based on competencies that can stimulate and educate; those on the "offer side" (who prepare people for employment) could think about what they could provide to meet the demand.
• Creation of a "community of practice," in which participants provide input, review, and support to each other on issues that arise related to competencies for Communication for Development and Social Change.

This publication and other outputs from the Conference were also intended to provide more background about competencies to those in the field of Communication for Development and Social Change. Thus, the Appendices that follow are organized into three main sections: (A) The Conference agenda and participant list; (B) Background about competencies; and (C) Background papers on topics related to Communication for Development and Social Change that were presented at the conference.