2.+Competence

=COMPETENCE = =Definitions=

- the condition or quality of effectiveness, ability, sufficiency or success. //Webster's English Dictionary// - the ability to interact effectively with the environment - Competence Motivation
 * Competence**

- the quality or state of being able or suitable for a particular task//. - Wikipedia definition//

Instrinsic motivation is increased with feelings of competency. To be intrinsically motivated, people need to perceive themselves as both competent and autonomous. Competence is the opposite of helpless. [|www.emotionalcompetency.com]
 * Competence** refers to successfully meeting an optimal challenge.

**Engendering Competence** “Engendering competence means creating an understanding that learners have effectively learned something they value and perceive as authentic to their real world.” // - Raymond Wlodkowski //

Competence Motivation can be viewed as a basic psychological need that helps people adapt to and change their environment. The need for competence is mediated, organized and satisfied through cognitive processes.

These include beliefs:
 * expectations
 * inferences about competence
 * schemas or goals oriented towards acquiring or demonstrating competence
 * beliefs about the importance or value of different competence domains

Grounded in the assumption that the individual's competence beliefs & schemas are vital forces in their choice to pursue or avoid competence relevant situations, to persist in the face of challenges and weather critical evaluation and impact on affective and objective performance. The need for competence or possibility of incompetence is seen in typical achievement domains of school, work, sport as well as physical and psychological health. It is relevant across lifespan and across cultures. Summary Handbook of Competence & Motivation


 * How is competence evaluated ?**
 * absolute standards inherent in a task
 * impersonal standards, implicating change over time
 * interpersonal standards implicating normative comparison

The way in which competence is evaluated influences the psychological meaning and form that competence takes.


 * To what levels of actions or domains of endeavours does competency apply ?**


 * **concrete actions** eg: putting a peg in a hole
 * **specific outcomes** eg: a grade on a test
 * **identifiable patterns of skill & ability** eg: playing an instrument
 * **overarching characteristics** eg: intelligence
 * **omnibus competencies** eg: a person's life

We must take into account the ways an individual is energized and directed. The energization of competence-relevant behavior is grounded in the premise that competence is an inherent psychological need of humans. Competence is a fundamental motive that serves an evolutionary role that helps people develope and adapt to the environment.
 * How are individuals motivated in regards to competence ?**

Selected chapters Google Books Handbook of Competence and Motivation by A.J. Elliot and C.S. Dweck, Guilford Press 2005

Robert White introduces the concept of **effectance motivation** in //Motivation Reconsidered: The Concept of Competence.// In layman's terms, //"Playing on one's strengths makes people feel confident"// .Competence Motivation
 * Effectance** is regarded as the tendency to explore and influence the environment with **personal competence** is as the key reinforcer. White believes that competence motives are never really satisfied. That is, they go beyond satisfying biological needs and serve to enhance the abilities of the organism to help improve itself.

Richard Sagor in //[|Motivating students And Teachers in an Era of Standards]//, Chapter 1 suggests that to be motivated, people need to be satisfied in the areas of **Competence, Belonging, Usefulness, Potency and Optimism**.

Motivated students or teachers are those who receive and anticipate receiving regular doses from their school experience.



The Basic Need to Feel Competent
[|Motivating Students and Teachers in an Era of Standards]

Our need to feel competent is satisfied when we have credible reason to believe that we are good at something. Furthermore, if the thing that we are proficient at is something valued by others, it becomes even more satisfying. Finally, if we believe that the things we are competent at are difficult and that our skills were developed through dedication and diligence, our sense of competence gets a greater boost.

The Student's Need for Feelings of Competence
The most motivated students are those whose participation at school has been accompanied by credible feedback on their skillfulness. Consequently, these students have internalized the direct relationship among perseverance, hard work, and success. The returns they receive on their investment of energy inevitably produce high self-esteem. This is the process that explains the truth in the saying “success breeds success.” For other students, those whose academic history has been filled with repeated evidence of shortcomings, the constant experience of failure has contributed to a belief that education as an endeavor simply makes one feel incompetent. Needless to say, incompetence is an emotional state most people choose to avoid. For this reason, the challenge of motivating alienated students begins with a focus on finding authentic ways to increase opportunities for them to feel competent in the classroom. By giving students ways to feel competent, it becomes much more likely that they will learn what is necessary to be successful. In this way, students are able to experience the satisfaction of feeling competent. Several practices have potential for making the experience of competency likely for all students. Teachers who use these practices systemically and deliberately are able to see once-alienated students develop enhanced feelings of personal competence. Strategies that produce competence include
 * Student management of a portfolio of personal bests,
 * Student monitoring of personal progress,
 * Student involvement in the assessment of work, and
 * Student demonstrations of proficiency on mandated standards.

Kevin McGrew Ph.D. Educational Pychologist Director Institute for Applied Psychometrics [|www.iapsych.com]

Professor McGrew has devised a model for Academic Competence that identifies non-cognitive learner characteristics that are linked to improved learning. These encompass the larger realms of the learning environment in four broad domains.



Below is his slideshow presentaion detailing his model.

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Students cannot learn if they do not believe themselves capable of doing so. They will not be motivated to even try. Believing in one’s own capabilities, self efficacy, is critically important to the learning experience. Once learning has been experienced and confidence in one’s ability to learn has been established there are no limits to what can be accomplished.

An effectiv ﻿ e teacher should be able to lead students through the darkness of self-doubt, into the light of their own intelligence. Then the learning can begin. An effective teacher should be able to assess the needs of students and determine how best to enlighten them.