The Six Competences for Community Learning and Development at Graduate and Post Graduate Level
1) To engage with the community
The community educator requires to be able to intervene within a given community; establish and sustain contact with local adult, youth and community organisations; identify needs; reach and engage with traditional non-participants; establish inter-agency links with other professionals working in the area; begin to identify from assessed needs of the community, the concerns and aspirations of the people in the area and relevant opportunities for community action and learning.
2) To develop relevant learning and educational opportunities
The community educator requires to be able to target individuals and groups within a community; provide potential participants with appropriate guidance; take advantage of spontaneous learning and development opportunities in everyday situations; design with the participants relevant learning programmes and curricula content; identify any special learning needs; promote and market learning and community action; implement the learning and teaching programme; and use a range of formal and informal educational methods and techniques.
3) To empower the participants
The community educator required to be able to empower the participants through developing collective action and learning; involve participants in planning, delivery and evaluation; enable participants to work towards their goals; encourage community-led development; develop the confidence, knowledge, skills and understanding of the participants; and widen participants' awareness of the concepts of power and change.
4) To organise and manage resources
The community educator requires to be able to develop and plan a work programme; organise and deliver quality activities and projects; recruit and mange human resources such as part-time staff and volunteers; identify funding and resources; apply relevant legislation and policy; demonstrate skills in self-management; manage financial resources; and mange equipment and physical resources.
5) To practice community education within different settings
The community educator requires to be able to express the values underlying community education through practice; apply the principles underlying community education in practice, apply the community development approach; practice across a range of age groups and within a range of settings; identify the external influences on the development of practice; demonstrate skills in working as apart of a local multi-agency team; and be able to implement appropriate exit strategies from the community and learning groups.
6) To use evaluative practice to assess and implement appropriate changes
The community educator requires to be able to use appropriate quality assurance and performance measurement techniques; plan and apply a range of participative methods of evaluation; use information technology; demonstrate skills in report writing and presentation for a variety of audiences; and use findings to influence practice.