Module 5 - Competences

The Importance of Soft Skills in Today's Job Market: An Interview with Marcin Biernat, Deputy Director of the Employment Office in Katowice

Definition of Competence

Competence is the ability to do something successfully or effectively. It is a broader term than "skill", although it is often used interchangeably with it. Below you will find an explanation of what dimensions the concept of competence contains and how the term 'skill' relates to this broader concept.

In youth work, competence is understood as having three interlinked dimensions:

• Knowledge: This dimension refers to all the themes and issues you know or need to know about to do your work. This is the “cognitive” dimension of competence. It is commonly associated with the “head”.
• Skills: This dimension refers to what you are able to do or what you need to be able to do to carry out youth work. This is the “practical” or skills dimension of competence. It is commonly associated with the “hands”.
• Attitudes and Values: This dimension of competence refers to the attitudes and values you need to espouse in order to do your work effectively. This dimension of competence is commonly associated with the “heart”.

We will sometimes use the term "skills" in this module, but remember how they differ from competences as a broader term.

Hard and Soft Competences

Competence is also a broader concept than qualifications (education and seniority), as it refers to general human qualities—both innate and acquired. In the course of learning, studying, and taking the first steps on a professional path, we not only enrich our portfolio but above all acquire new skills and develop new character traits. For this reason, in order to systematise concepts, we divide competences into hard and soft.

The first group includes specialist knowledge and skills, experience gained, courses completed, and certificates obtained. The second group consists of ways of dealing with social situations, attitudes towards work, motivation and values, as well as all individual characteristics.

Another important difference between hard and soft competences is the ability to prove their presence. In the case of the former, submitting the relevant documents is not a problem. The ability to use a computer programme, knowledge of the law, or operation of technical equipment can easily be proven with a course certificate or diploma. It is much more difficult to demonstrate composure in stressful situations, the ability to work in a team, independence, or a sense of responsibility. Soft skills are difficult to verify, as they only come to light in authentic and spontaneous situations.

What Are Soft Competences?

For decades, soft competences have been undervalued and placed second behind hard competences. A change in this trend has been observed for some time. Increasingly, it is soft competences that can determine success in getting a new job or promotion.

Soft competences include:

• Interpersonal Competences: Concerning the relationship with another person, such as communication, self-presentation, conflict resolution, cooperation.
• Social Competences: Concerning functioning in a group of people, such as perceiving the needs and experiences of others, empathy, knowledge of social rules, assertiveness.
• Organisational Competences: Relating to the work to be done, e.g., autonomy, time management skills, taking initiative, commitment.
• Individual Competences: Psychological and character conditions, e.g., creativity, resistance to stress, decision-making, striving to improve skills, problem-solving, divided attention.
• Managerial Competences: Related to managing a team, e.g., leadership, coordinating work, delegating tasks.

Fortunately, as we know from the optimistic results of research, it is possible to work on developing soft competences. However, in order to be able to do this, one must first look at oneself and recognise weaknesses. This is a very important step, without which further development is not possible. Only after self-reflection can you act: enrol in classes, meet with an expert to help you develop your chosen competences and read books on personal development.

Analysis and Improvement of Soft Skills

Theory on personal and interpersonal skills will not yield any results. Self-reflection and practice are needed.

To start the process of improving soft skills, we need to thoroughly analyse our current level of skills. This can be done by asking ourselves: What am I good at? What do I have an aptitude for? What do I have the biggest problem with? Once this knowledge has been gathered, it is worthwhile training and practising.

Familiarise yourself with the proposed self-reflection tool and try it out. You can use it in your work with young people, but it is so universal that adults can also benefit from it.

As mentioned earlier in this section, self-reflection is one of the two key elements of skill improvement. The second one is practice.

Practice of Soft Skills

Practice of soft skills must be based on three fundamentals. These are:

• Action
• Listening attentively to feedback
• Reflection

This will be explained using the example of communication skills. No doubt as a youth worker, this skill is particularly important. Read about the most important elements of practice to keep in mind when improving your communication skills:

• Action: Getting the message across (if you can, prepare it in advance using your existing experience and skills).
• Feedback: When communicating with others, it is always important to pay attention to whether the purpose of the communication was achieved, i.e. whether this communication was effective. Every result should be analysed.
• Reflection: Think about what you could have done better if you didn't achieve the goal. Reflect on what worked if the goal was achieved.
• Trial-and-error method: In a situation where communication has been ineffective, it is worth trying a different method of action and analysing it again in terms of results so as to develop the most effective one.
• Remaining vigilant in situations that are already familiar: As we practise a skill, it starts to become automatic. This can lead to a weakening of our alertness to individual feedback.

Soft competences are universal competences that can be used on both personal and professional grounds. They are extremely important for many professions and should not be underestimated. It is a good idea to take advantage of training courses, where training is usually based on the principle of role-playing, to consult professional literature and to train these competences every day and at every opportunity in relation to others. Such an investment will inevitably pay off.

Improving Soft Skills in Youth Work

Nowadays, the issue of education is also frequently raised. In the course of education, little space is devoted to soft competences and making students aware of their importance. As a result, young adults enter the labour market fully educated, but without awareness of their strengths or deficiencies in other spheres.

As a youth worker, you can encourage young people to improve their soft skills in many ways.

How to Do It?

1. Talk to young people about soft competences: Show what they are and where and how they can be used. You can also reflect together on which soft competences are key in different jobs. Young people should see how important soft competences are and that developing even one of them may open doors in many areas. Remember that most activities develop soft competences—even those with a different focus. The key to success is to reflect on the development of soft competences required. At the end of the activity, always talk to the young people about what they have learned and what soft competences they have developed.
2. Use a variety of methodologies in class: For example, project creation, group work, discussions, role-playing, and simulations. This way, young people will experience situations as close as possible to real life, which will give them the opportunity to develop soft competences in a supportive environment. If you put young people in a variety of contexts, they will be better prepared for any situation that awaits them in adult life.
3. Encourage youth to engage in extracurricular activities such as volunteering: Ask young people what they have learned through community involvement (if they have such experiences), or what positive changes might await them if they decide to organise, for example, a picnic to benefit those in need.
4. Encourage young people to evaluate their own competences: Use every situation as a learning opportunity. When young people in groups are preparing, for example, a presentation or a local activity, talk to them afterwards about what they have learned from working with their colleagues, how they evaluate their own work, and which competences they would like to develop further. Encourage them to ask themselves questions such as: Do I complete the tasks on time? How do I cooperate with others? How do I talk to them? Do I like to plan activities? Which tasks were easiest for me and which were more difficult? Self-evaluation will make young people more motivated to develop specific competences whilst also being aware of the process. This will certainly contribute to their success. They will feel that they have an impact on their own development, while at the same time realising how many skills they already have. The downloadable 'Self-reflection Tool' above ('Explore and Improve your Soft Skills') can be used for individual self-reflection.

GREEN TRANSFORMATION

One of the most important contemporary European trends is certainly the green transformation. It encompasses a range of measures aimed at reducing human impact on nature. Currently, the initiatives come from EU directives, mainly the Green Deal and Fit for 55.

According to the EU, the benefits of the European Green Deal will include the creation of jobs fit for the future and the development of the skills needed for a green transformation—so-called 'green skills'.

Projections made by the European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training (CEDEFOP) show that the effect of implementing measures to achieve the objectives of the European Green Deal by 2030 will be to increase employment in the European Union by 1.2% (which in absolute terms means an additional 2.5 million jobs). Moreover, some 286,000 people employed in the energy sector by 2030 will have to find jobs in “greener” industries CEDEFOP, 2021.

GREEN COMPETENCE - WHAT IS IT?

Shaping green competences is one of the priorities of the European Union. The recommendation of the Council of the European Union on learning for green transition and sustainable development identifies actions to promote the training of skills necessary for green transition and sustainable development in member states at all levels of education, including non-formal education.

These are, firstly, the competences needed to work in the green economy sector, including in the following areas:

• energy infrastructure,
• onshore wind farm design and wind farm installation,
• photovoltaics and installation of photovoltaic equipment,
• repair and maintenance of electric cars,
• energy efficiency of buildings and insulation,
• recycling,
• renewable technologies,
• sustainable agriculture and tourism.

Secondly, these are soft competences in the field of “green skills”. They are of a horizontal nature—i.e. they can be found in industries or professions that are not directly related to the green transition, although the green transition somehow necessitates their formation (e.g. raising awareness and respect for the environment or raising awareness of sustainable development).

Below is the concept of green skills as proposed by the European Union and the International Labour Organisation, presenting the most important competences for sustainable development in an accessible way.

GREEN COMP - A EUROPEAN COMPETENCE FRAMEWORK FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

Green competence encompasses multiple dimensions (Cabral & Dhar, 2019):

• Green knowledge: Concerns general knowledge of the natural environment.
• Green skills: Skills of both a professional and general nature that are necessary primarily for green jobs, but also for other professions affected by the green transition.
• Green awareness: Refers to the awareness of the impact of human activities on the environment including air pollution, carbon footprint, etc.
• Green attitudes: Understood as individuals' perceptions of the value of environmental protection.
• Green capabilities: Important for self-development and increasing productivity in the green economy.
• Green behaviours: Actions that support environmental sustainability.

The recently published (January 2022) European Sustainability Competence Framework (Green Comp) identifies 12 competences within 4 competence areas, the formation of which is essential for a green transformation. These are presented in the table below.

SET OF KEY SKILLS FOR GREEN JOBS BY INTERNATIONAL LABOUR ORGANISATION

In 2019, the International Labour Organisation developed a set of key skills for green jobs - these refer to a set of generic skills not linked to a specific job.

All employees:

• Awareness and respect for the environment; willingness to learn about sustainability.
• Adaptability to enable workers to acquire the theoretical and practical knowledge of the new technologies and processes needed to green their workplaces.
• Team working skills reflecting the need to work together within the organisation to find solutions to reduce the environmental footprint of the organisation.
• Resilience - the ability to adapt to changing conditions.
• Communication and negotiation skills to support the promotion of the required changes to colleagues and clients.
• Entrepreneurship supporting the exploitation of opportunities for low-carbon technologies and environmental adaptation.

Wanted in middle and high-skilled occupations:

• Analytical thinking (including risk and systems analysis) necessary to interpret and understand the need for change, and the resources and inputs required to do so.
• Coordination, management and business skills, which may include an interdisciplinary approach to economic, social and environmental objectives.
• Skills to innovate, identify opportunities and create new strategies to respond to green challenges.
• Marketing skills to promote greener products and services.
• Advisory skills to support consumers' understanding of green solutions and the diffusion of green technologies.
• Networking, IT and language skills to operate in global markets.
• Strategic and leadership skills to help politicians and company managers identify the right incentives, and create an enabling environment for green manufacturing and transport.

IMPORTANCE OF GREEN COMPETENCE

According to LinkedIn's report, only one in eight workers has one or more green skills, meaning that almost 88% of workers do not have even one green skill. In contrast, the average employment rate for employees with at least one green skill is 29% higher than the average for the entire workforce.

Worldwide, only 1 in 8 workers has one or more green skills - we are far from demonstrating the green skills we need.

The average employment rate for employees with at least one green skill is 29% higher than the average employment rate for all employees.

Garcia Vaquero et al (2021), analysing the demand for green skills in Spain, identified deficits in general soft skills, leading to the conclusion that green skills training programmes should also include the development of soft skills - these two categories of skills in retraining should be developed simultaneously.

Cabral & Dhar (2019) showed that green competence training positively influences all dimensions of green competence, and that companies' investment in green competence development positively influences green transformation within the company, thereby building competitive advantage. According to research, the development of green competences is key to achieving a sustainable future.

HOW TO DEVELOP COMPETENCES FOR A GREEN REVOLUTION IN YOUNG PEOPLE

As a youth worker, you play a key role in preparing young people for a green future. Here are some practical ways to bring green thinking and skills into your youth work organisation or school.

HOW TO DO IT?

1. Project-based learning: You can develop projects that challenge young people to propose sustainable solutions to real-world problems, fostering critical thinking and problem-solving skills. Project-based learning is a great way to encourage young people not only to develop these skills, but also to apply them.
2. Community climate partnerships: Encourage youth to partner with local businesses and community organisations that promote green thinking and sustainability. This can be done by inviting speakers or running workshops and programmes with young people.
3. Challenges and competitions related to sustainability and the environment: For example, photo competitions or environmental awareness competitions.
4. Activism: Encourage young people to engage with organisations and participate in social ventures. Activism engages on many levels and is therefore an important space for young people to develop. Consciously directing their involvement can open them up to experiences that allow them to build on their strengths and work on their weaknesses. And both are very rewarding.

GET INSPIRED!

These are just some examples of projects or ventures that can be carried out by young people:

• An interactive nature walk to raise awareness of biodiversity;
• Information sessions in the community highlighting practical ways to reuse waste;
• Planting trees near a school/other institution serving the local community;
• A series of lessons or activities on sustainable cities;
• The creation of a local or school climate action programme.

By building green thinking and skills among young people, you are helping to shape a generation that will drive positive change, as well as providing young people with the skills they need to secure and thrive in the workplace.

See the Reources section below if you would like to know more about this topic.

WHAT IS ENTREPRENEURSHIP?

Entrepreneurship is defined differently in the various scientific disciplines for which it is the subject of research. As a result, there is no single, universally accepted definition of entrepreneurship.

One possibility is to adopt the European concept of entrepreneurship as a key competence. As a result of years of work by a working group within the European Commission, entrepreneurship has been identified as one of the eight key competences for lifelong learning. Key competences are the combination of knowledge, skills and attitudes that all individuals need for personal fulfilment and development, for active citizenship, social inclusion and employment. A description of the entrepreneurial competences can be found in the document entitled EntreComp.

EntreComp defines entrepreneurship as the ability to take opportunities and ideas, and turn them into value for others. The value created can be financial, cultural or social. Entrepreneurship is based on creativity, critical thinking and problem-solving, taking initiative, perseverance and the ability to act collectively e.g. planning and managing projects.

The areas listed in EntreComp cover the knowledge, skills and attitudes that people need in order to be entrepreneurial and create financial, cultural or social value for others.

HOW TO IMPROVE ENTREPRENEURIAL COMPETENCE?

EntreComp defines 3 areas of entrepreneurial competence. These are:

• Ideas and opportunities,
• Resources,
• Actions.

Below you can read about the key skills, knowledge and attitudes that have been identified under the three areas mentioned here. In addition, read the specific tips on how to improve your entrepreneurial skills. You can use them to work on your own competences as well as with young people.

In the area of IDEAS AND POSSIBILITIES, the key skills, knowledge and attitudes are:

• Recognising opportunities,
• Creativity,
• Creating a vision,
• Valuing ideas,
• Ethical and sustainable thinking.

HOW TO DO IT?

Here are tips and recommendations on how to shape entrepreneurship in this area:

• Use your imagination and skills to identify opportunities for value creation (economic, cultural and social).
• Develop creative and purposeful ideas.
• Work on your vision of the future: imagine the future, develop a vision to turn ideas into action, visualise future scenarios so you can direct your efforts and actions.
• Recognise your ideas’ potential for value creation and identify appropriate ways to maximise it.
• Evaluate the consequences of the chosen ideas and actions and their impact on the target community, the market, society and the environment. Act responsibly.

In the area of RESOURCES, we distinguish the following skills, knowledge and attitudes:

• Self-awareness and self-efficacy,
• Motivation and perseverance,
• Resource mobilisation (acquisition and management of tangible, intangible and digital resources),
• Financial and economic skills,
• Mobilising others.

HOW TO DO IT?

Here are sample tips and recommendations on how to shape this area of competence:

• Identify and assess individual and group (if working in a team) strengths and weaknesses.
• Believe in your ability to influence the course of events despite uncertainties, setbacks and temporary failures.
• Stay focused and don't give up.
• Acquire and manage the tangible, intangible and digital resources needed to turn ideas into action.
• Make the most of limited resources.
• Estimate the cost of turning an idea into action.
• Plan, implement and evaluate financial decisions over time.
• Inspire and engage others.

In the area of competences for ACTIONS, the most important are:

• Taking the initiative,
• Planning and management,
• Dealing with uncertainty, ambiguity and risk,
• Working with others,
• Experiential learning.

HOW TO DO IT?

Here are tips and recommendations on how to shape this area of competence:

• Go big. Initiate value-creating processes. Take on challenges.
• Set long, medium and short-term goals. Set priorities and an action plan. Prepare a plan B in case of changes.
• Be prepared to make decisions in the face of uncertainty, ambiguity and risk.
• Collaborate and interact with others. Create networks.
• Use every value creation initiative as a learning opportunity.
• Learn with others, including peers and mentors.
• Make reflections and learn from both successes and failures (your own and others').

News related to the future of our society and our planet are not always helpful, as they often feed into sensationalism and fear. The often-overwhelming anxiety this creates can lead people to apathy, then to resignation and finally inaction. This is counter-productive to the goal of raising awareness about the need to change our ways and live more sustainably. Instead of focusing on fear-mongering headlines, we can focus our attention on the influential work of activists around the world who are courageously paving the way towards a more sustainable future. They can inspire us to follow in their footsteps and participate in transforming the world around us on a scale that is currently available to us, no matter how big or small.

Each of these young people, acting in accordance with their beliefs and making the best of their skills, has created value for the world. These people also realised that it was important to encourage others to act together, including people, companies, organisations and governments. This led to the creation of foundations, associations, companies and global movements with the overarching goal of changing the world for the better. Here are some inspiring examples of how others have turned their beliefs into action and created jobs for themselves and others, while serving the planet.

Local level

MAŁGORZATA TERRERO-ROZMUS, POLAND
Małgorzata Terrero-Rozmus from Częstochowa (Poland), like many young people, was strongly committed to fighting climate change. She changed her habits to be more environmentally friendly, but felt that this was not enough. As a 26-year-old, she founded the Rething Foundation in Częstochowa in 2019. Its main goal is to reduce the negative impact of human activities on the environment and to mitigate the negative environmental effects of such activities. The foundation runs social media campaigns, educational classes in schools, open lectures and workshops, as well as other activities that directly affect the environment, such as planting trees and organising community clean-ups of forests, rivers and other public places.

Małgorzata is characterised by stubbornness in pursuit of her goals, as she has a deep inner conviction that she cannot stand idle. She decided, therefore, to do something more and she set up two local charity shops selling second-hand items. They are staffed by disadvantaged employees and volunteers working within the foundation. The shops are called ‘Better Climate’ and offer products at lower prices than regular shops. All proceeds from sales (minus the cost of maintaining the shop) go towards the organisation's statutory objectives.

Visit the website of Rething Foundation: https://fundacjarething.pl/

Regional and national level

NZAMBI MATEE, KENYA
The Gjenge Makers organisation, based in Nairobi, Kenya, and led by Nzambi Matee, ingeniously creates environmentally friendly paving stones from recycled materials. The result is a colourful and durable material that is also good for the environment. Nzambi decided to give up her job as a data analyst in 2017 to focus on sustainability and waste management. Setting up a small lab in her mother's garden, she started creating and testing paving stones, finally developing the perfect recipe. In 2018, she made her first cube from plastic waste, and a year later she invented a machine to process waste on a larger scale…

She also had to face several challenges. Her neighbours complained about the noisy machine used for her experiments and production. In addition, Nzambi did not see her friends for a year because she was so determined to pursue her mission. She won a scholarship in a social entrepreneurship training programme in the United States of America. During her short trip to the US, she used the materials labs at the University of Colorado in Boulder to test and refine her sand-to-plastic ratio. Eventually, Nzambi founded the start-up Gjenge Makers. Since 2021, her factory has recycled around 20 tonnes of plastic waste and provided economic opportunities for more than 100 people, including women, young people and informal rubbish collectors.

Watch this video to learn more: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QbZKP4UAtL8

LEFTERIS ARAPAKIS, GREECE
Overfishing and plastic pollution have threatened many fish species in the Mediterranean, not only destroying aquatic ecosystems, but also causing fishermen in Greece to lose their sources of income. To remedy this, Lefteris Arapakis created the Enaleia fishing school, where he taught fishermen how to fish sustainably and to collect discarded plastic before it pollutes the sea. The fishermen collect more than 20 tonnes of plastic from the sea every month, making the waters habitable for fish; in turn increasing the fishing yield.

Born into a Greek fishing family, Lefteris spent his life on the Mediterranean coast. When the Greek economic crisis engulfed the country in 2016, he rose to the challenge with Enaleia, his non-profit social enterprise, dedicated to sustainable marine life and the education of young fishermen. The organisation tackles both local challenges, such as employment for small fishing communities, and global issues, such as ocean pollution, through initiatives such as Mediterranean CleanUp.

Lefteris has implemented innovative ways to create a circular economy and encourages sustainable practices. Using plastic brought ashore by fishermen, Enaleia works with companies to create t-shirts and socks, upcycling waste and reducing carbon emissions. “I believe in the key role that fishing communities can play in climate action, mitigating marine plastic pollution and overfishing, given their extensive knowledge and experience of the oceans and their specificities.... Optimism and flexibility are our main weapons in the fight against the climate crisis”, he says.

Find out more on the website: https://www.theworlds50best.com/50next/list/2022/trailblazing-activists/lefteris-arapakis

International level

GRETA THUNBERG, SWEDEN
As one of the most influential environmental activists, Greta Thunberg (born in 2003) continues to lead the Fridays for Future movement, which organises protests against the failure of governments and industry to take climate action.

The movement has attracted 14 million people to climate strikes, and Greta has inspired a generation of young activists to follow in her footsteps and raise their voices in defence of the planet.

Greta Thunberg, despite being promoted to ninth grade, did not go to school on 20 August 2018, prompted by the general election taking place on 9 September and the heatwave and forest fires that hit Sweden. Her demands to the Swedish government were to reduce carbon emissions and respect the 2015 Paris Agreement. On the day she was due to start the school year, she instead protested outside the Riksdag building, the Swedish Parliament, with a banner Skolstrejk för klimatet (translated: school strike for the climate). Every Friday since the start of the school year, she left school and continued her one-woman picket.

In December 2018, she attended the COP24 climate summit in Katowice, Poland, where she travelled at the invitation of the UN Secretary-General. She also protested in London and in front of the European Parliament in Brussels, and spoke at the European Parliament on 16 April 2019.

Young people around the world, following Thunberg, have started to organise climate protests in the form of marches organised during school hours. Millions of people in more than 150 countries around the world joined the so-called Global Climate Strike, demanding action by politicians.

Visit the 'Fridays for Future' website to learn more about this global movement: https://fridaysforfuture.org/

WHAT IS YOUTH WORK AND WHAT ARE THE COMPETENCES OF A YOUTH WORKER?

In module 1, we explained what youth work is - a keyword for all kinds of activities with, for and by young people of a social, cultural, educational or political nature. It belongs to the domain of “out-of-school” education, most commonly referred to as either non-formal or informal learning. The main objective of youth work is to create opportunities for young people to shape their own futures.

The range of themes that youth work covers is just as diverse as the types of people and organisations involved. Political activism, street work, sports activities, social enterprise and leisure-time activities can all be termed “youth work”.

In order to look at the topic of competences needed to perform the role of a youth worker, we would like to remind you of a tool developed by the Council of Europe called Portfolio (mentioned in module 1).

The Portfolio is a tool for assessing competences in youth work and planning their development. This process is very important because youth workers are committed to lifelong learning and youth work itself is a constantly developing field.

The key questions that the Portfolio wants to help you answer are as follows: When you think about the youth work you are involved in, what do you do and what do you need to be able to do it well? What does it take to be a competent youth worker?

In the Portfolio, the youth worker's competences are divided into seven sections according to their functions. Under each function, you will find examples of competences described in terms of 3 dimensions: knowledge (head), skills (hands), attitudes and values (heart). You have already become familiar with these terms in the first part of module 5.

To give you an example, look at the key competences for supporting young people in being active participants of the society they live in. It is important both for green transformation and for learning entrepreneurship.

Please visit the following website to see the full list of functions and competences: https://www.coe.int/en/web/youth-portfolio/youth-work-competence

But remember, the list of competences presented there is not exhaustive. You may want to add other very important ones you need for the youth work you do.

IDEAS FOR USING PORTFOLIO

The online European Youth Work Portfolio can be useful for you as an individual youth worker or youth leader to:

• Self-assess the current level of youth work competence.
• Set up learning and development aims and pursue those in ways you will identify.
• After a certain time, revisit your self-assessment to see what has changed, update your Portfolio or restart the process.

There is an online tool to start using the Portfolio. In order to use it, please, visit the website: https://www.coe.int/en/web/youth-portfolio/online-portfolio

Making a Portfolio is a dynamic process and you are invited, if you use the tool, to revisit it regularly. This way it can help you to keep your motivation, to learn more and develop your youth work competence. You can easily check whether the self-assessment made at one point in time is still valid, and then update the parts for which changes or developments have taken place.

Also keep in mind that you do not have to excel in all of these competences.

PRACTICAL EXERCISE FOR SELF-DEVELOPMENT OF YOUTH WORKERS’ COMPETENCES

Another method in which the above-mentioned competences can be used is the Hierarchy of Competences. This method will help you to identify the competences that are important in your work, but also think of their hierarchy and development. You are going to create a ranking of particular competences. Do this exercise step by step. First comes the explanation and further down you can find the tool.

PART I. HIERARCHY OF COMPETENCES

Print Attachment 1 in the document below to complete this part of the exercise.

1. See the list of competences (these come from the Portfolio) – Attachment 1. Take a close look through it and check whether other competences that are important to you are missing from the list. If so, write them in the blanks.
2. Cross out 10 competences from the list, which are the least important for you in your work.
3. Look at your list, would you like to add something to it? You can write down further competences if something comes to mind. Use the blank spaces.
4. In the next step, cross out another 10 competences which are not the most important. The task becomes more difficult, but you can do it!
5. Finally, cross out so many competences so that only 5 remain on your list. This does not mean that the competences crossed out will not count at all in your work. Just for the purpose of this exercise, choose 5 that you will work with today.
6. Take a break. This part of the exercise was not easy and required many difficult decisions. Make yourself a tea or drink some water. It helps your brain to concentrate.

PART 2. SELF-ASSESSMENT AND DEVELOPMENT PLAN

Print Attachment 2 in the document below to complete this part of the exercise.

1. Transcribe the competences you have chosen into a separate list for column 1 using the attachment 2.
2. For each competence on your list, indicate on a scale from 1 to 10 how important it is in your work. The scoring can be repeated, i.e. you can consider 2 or more competences to be equally important and give them the same number of points. Enter the scores in column 2.
3. In the next step, ‘my assessment’, consider how many points on a scale from 1 to 10 you would give yourself for having a particular competence. E.g. Use a range of educational methods including those that develop creativity and foster motivation for learning - 6 points. Write the score in column 3.
4. Write a score in the 4th column on a scale from 1 to 10 describing to what extent you would like to achieve mastery in the given competence. It will be your goal. E.g. Use a range of educational methods including ones that develop creativity and foster motivation for learning - 9 points.
5. Now think about and write down at least one idea on how you could improve in each of the 5 areas. E.g. training on youth work methods or job shadowing.
6. Finally, think about what you need to achieve your goal. E.g. funding, finding a partner organisation, approval from your supervisor, expert advice. Also determine within what time frame you are able to take care of what you need. E.g. Within 2 weeks I will find a counsellor to help me find and enrol in a training course. / In the coming week I will look at the available training courses on the SALTO website.

Congratulations! You have self-assessed your competences and planned your development in this field.

But don't forget to check, e.g. every six months, what progress you are making towards your goals and what your competence hierarchy is. It might change with time.

With Module 5 and its information on competencies, with a special focus on skills for green transformation and entrepreneurship, you will be able to support the development of young people's awareness and abilities in this area.

You can now use a self-reflection tool when discussing any type of competence with young people. By being aware of your strengths and weaknesses, both you and the young people you are working with, will be able to identify a starting point and next steps to strengthen competencies in particular areas.

In this module, you have also learned many practical tips on how to develop competencies through youth work.

We hope that the examples of people who successfully turn their beliefs into action and work, with a focus on green values, will serve as inspiration for the positive change that Europe and the world needs. Everyone, regardless of their age and occupation, can develop their competencies. They are useful in professional and private life.

Good luck with your development!