Survey
* Your assessment is very important for improving the workof artificial intelligence, which forms the content of this project
* Your assessment is very important for improving the workof artificial intelligence, which forms the content of this project
THEORETICAL MEASURES OF SKILLS IN SOCIAL ECONOMY CORINA CACE VLADIMIR AURELIAN ENĂCHESCU Abstract: The administrative and financial decentralization makes sure, in a community level, that socio-educational services of the population are projected, coordinated considering the local requirements. Through this work we try to pup face to face, on the background of decentralization several aspects of the school: increasing the quality of education through information and the formation of all people involved, new skills and new responsibilities that come with a decentralization context: fears, expectations, views of actors in school, the relationship of the school with the local government, school as a medium of change and community development. Keywords: competences, capacities, abilities, school management, decentralization principles, rules and values of decentralization, advantages and risks of decentralization. The study starts from a real necessity: training specialists at the level of the community by designing a curriculum, included in a rich program of continuous formation for teachers in pre-university framework. The new decentralized social-economic-administrative context will bring school new roles. Gaining economic education, entrepreneurial education, social economy, school management, will allow the representatives of the school and also of the community not only to adapt to the decentralized concept, but also to be active involved in actions imposed by it. These will be added to the current ones and will make a whole that will transform school from an exclusive provider of educational services (knowledge) in a provider of socio-educational and economic services. The new roles of the school, the operation principles (based on an efficient management) will make school work like an economic agent in an economy based on market laws, looking towards profit (that may be or not evaluated in money), adopting a specific behavior ,required by competition, the regulator of the market, all of these seen in a community level. a. The Theoretical Dimensions of Competences: An essential reference in defining competences if found in the objective of Lisbon process(2000)- strategic objective of the UE until 2010, when it became “the most competitive and dynamic economy of knowledge world-wide , with a sustainable economic growth , more and better jobs and a bigger social cohesion”. In order to achieve this objective, the education/training systems Associate Professor Ph.D - A.S.E. Teaching assistant Ph.D – A.S.E. must be adapted to the requirements of the “knowledge society”, so they could improve the level and quality of professional occupation. Therefore, an important part of this process is developing and promoting a basic framework of basic competences, that are relevant for the social and professional context in our days. In “Le Petit Larousse”, it is mentioned the similarity between capacity, competence and ability, but the definitions relate in particular to the legal field. Competence is the ability of people to decide. Competence is an in-depth knowledge in a field. Competence is the recognized capacity in a particular matter, that gives the right to judge (Le Petit Larousse, 1995) Competence involves a high level of performance (Şchiopu, 1997). More, we can say that it’s an outstanding professional capacity, coming from knowledge and practice (therefore, form a systematic and intelligent research of a moderately difficult activity).The fact that in some definitions are established correlations between competence-capacity-skills, highlights a major idea, the one of competence as an integrated package. Competence is most of times described as an intellectual capacity, that has many transfer opportunities –the capacity of communicating, deciding, detecting, selecting, evaluating (Jessup, Psychology Dictionary, 1999). Competence is knowledge that became operational, which involves behavioral flexibility and adaptability, but most of all, efficiency (Maciuc, I., 1998). [competences]=[knowledge]+[practical skills]+[attitude/mentality] Or [competences]=[to know]+[to do]+[to be and to communicate] “the equation” that defines the concept of competences The common definition adopted by DG Enterprise Expert Group (http://www.europa.eu.int/comm/education/policies/2010/doc/basicskills_e n.pdf) has two components: A broad educational concept for entrepreneurial attitudes and abilities that includes the development of some personal specific qualities, which is not directly turned towards designing a business. A specific concept of preparing the way of designing a business. From the perspective of general competences, is found an unanimous agreement in the scientific community of teachers, specialized in economy, concerning economic educational objectives in the school system. So, as a part of general education, should provide students, that deal with economic every-day situations, knowledge that will help them later to decide and act in the most adequate and rational manner. In the end, the beneficiaries of the educational system should behave in such manner so they can secure and improve life in community through the economic value brought to it (De Göb, 2004).The economic behavior is necessary to individuals found in different roles: as consumers, employers and employees, citizens (Beck, 1993): 1. Knowledge and economic thinking 2. Using knowledge and economic thinking in three situations 3. Judgement values reflected in an economic way The first level of economic education is reflected in terms of skills that we develop in terms of consumer, aspects that will become relevant once we „jump” to entrepreneurship. From this perspective, many studies try to feed with updates the competence state of the consumer in modern societies. The objectives of economic education do not refer to „the blind acceptance of neoclassical perspectives concerning free market” or to “developing positive attitudes towards industry”, the targeted direction being “developing the capacity of the individual in thinking critically and taking informed decisions (Ford, 1992, p.26) The European Commission, through the General Directorate for Education and Culture 3, has defined eight key competences, central in the educational process: • Domain: (1): Communication in the mother tongue; • Domain (2): Communication in foreign languages; • Domain (3): Mathematics and Science; • Domain: (4): ICT (Information and Communication Technology); • Domain (5): Learning to learn; • Domain (6) :Interpersonal, intercultural, social and civic; • Domain (7): Entrepreneurship Education; • Domain(8): Cultural awareness. Recommendations: The eight domains of competence identified and defined by the work group should be taken in consideration in formulating an European Framework which would be properly applied in all education and training national systems and in close touch with policy makers, researchers and educational institutions for teachers. Schools and the ones that provide education should be empowered to plan and adapt teaching to local needs through the provision of curriculum resources for developing their staff and stimulating cooperation with the local community; Orientation in achieving key-competences should be, for example, extended to parents in order to assure their kids the entire support in the process of learning. Teachers, trainers and other supporters of the learning process should be trained to sustain the acquisition of key competences by all learners in cooperation with all partners needed - regardless of their specialization; Partnerships between all agents in education and training should be encouraged to promote the identification of social problems occurring in a particular category, for the division of responsibilities and find solutions, and disseminate results; Develop key skills should be one of the main goals to be achieved in programs supported by the European Community and social education. Source: Implementation of the Education & Training 2010. Working Group "Basic skills, entrepreneurship and foreign languages. "Report on progress November 2004 http://www.europa.eu.int/comm/education/policies/2010/doc/basic2004 .pdf b. Clarifications concerning the categories of competences: Economic competence is a highly general concept that has different limited definitions and when it is used, it may cause a reaction of rejection in business practice. From this point of view, ever since the beginning, researchers must admit the tacit, unsaid dimension of economic competence in business. However, in the attempt of defining economic competence is highlighted that each economic unit is facing a set of productive opportunities that cover all possibilities, including possibilities for expansion. Thus, economic power refers to the ability to identify, expand and operate a set of opportunities. Invention and innovation leading to economic change only to the extent that agencies within the system have used the advantage of the opportunity arising. Although economic power may refer to organizations at all levels of the economy, it is useful to distinguish analytically between power and economy as a whole correlated power of microeconomic units - companies. Certainly, other units governmental, public and private institutions have the economic capabilities. It is useful to distinguish between the types of capabilities that determine together the economic power of the company or a business (the ability to generate and capitalize on the advantage of business opportunities): 1. The various functions within the company, such as production, marketing, engineering, research and development, and specific product capabilities; 2. Learning skills. These abilities may be seen as a hierarchy of competence ,illustrated in Figure 1,where are presented levels of organization and operation of a business: the operational level of the pyramid represents different functions, the extent to which physical work is done; functions must be coordinated and integrated, this job being coordinated by the middle management; the top of the pyramid is the control exercised by the top management over all business activities, particularly by organizing and updating the allocation of human competence in the organization. In this way, choices made and used selection mechanisms serve the dual function of control and facilitating organizational learning. This last function needs an optimum balance: rigid control prevents organizational learning and deletes innovative and selective activities, and highly adaptability may generate loss of control. Fig. 1 Hierarchy of competence in a business organization Learning Top Management Middle Management Operational Units Strategy Coordination Functions Based on: Carlson and Eliasson, 1991 If we want to directly measure the economic power, it would be recommended to use an aggregate quantification of different types of skills. But as shown above there are many dimensions for each type of competence. A deficiency recorded from a scale (eg., functional) may be more than offset by a high degree of competence in the other skills made (eg., innovative ability). It also highlights a significant number of items that can`t be measured: a large part of corporate capabilities is tacit knowledge, luck can play an important role, although very often need luck and sometimes go hand in hand (Klein, 1988). To get a clearer picture of permutations between different types of skills, Label. 1 presents the essential characteristics of the four types of analysis capabilities. Label 1 Features of an integrated power business capabilities 1. Capability Selective Capability Features Choices and decisions are made at all levels of business: business strategy seen as a whole (which is produced and what sells, what technology is used and so on) continued development of an appropriate organizational structure, selection of staff (including senior management), information systems development, training and stimulation. Innovative and creative ability is a special form of selection: the ability to organize in order to generate business and to take advantage of new business opportunities. This refers to the entrepreneurial skill: the ability to create new ways to develop products and processes, new ways to organize economic activity, new markets and new sources of supply Innovation may be the result of new ideas emerging in the organization, but may also be the result of the ability to identify new business opportunities that lie outside the organization of ideas Creativity Company refers to the ability to generate innovations, in particular the extension to a set of opportunities that are not a response to exogenous changes Selective capability refers to the ability to 2. Organizational Capabilities 3. Technical (functional) Capability 4. Learning Capability correctly estimate the limits of their business to others, and ability to maintain flexibility. Coordination is the ability to integrate and manage Company activities to achieve synergetic effects at company level. Coordination (no synergistic effect) refers to the traditional briefing at Company, entered in the market (Adam Smith's invisible hand) or hierarchies (the visible hand of Alfred Chandler). Integrative Ability belongs to the middle management that is coordinating the operational activities to achieve the potential outcomes as planned. This ability is found on people and organizations, appreciating that it is difficult to articulate and to be transferred to other persons and organizations. At every point in the development of a business is established that there is a certain a conditioning of the organizational memory that allocate, filters and make people more or less productive in certain positions of the business. Capabilities include technical competence in all areas of Company activity, defined by functions (eg. research and development, engineering, manufacturing, marketing, service, finance, administration, etc.) or the product or market. This proficiency refers to the management of current operations (eg. production process control and related activities). A Company with high productivity (good result for a given input) or a high efficiency (low inputs to achieve a certain result) shows a high functional ability. Functional capability is necessary but not sufficient for high economic performance, other more dynamic economic competence (selective, organizational learning) are also very important The ability of a firm learning is a form of adaptive skill: the ability to learn from both successful and failure to identify and correct mistakes, to read and understand market signals and act appropriately. In this way, a business should demonstrate that it may be able to learn what it means to be "organized experimentally" (Eliasson, 1987). Generally, organizational learning includes the ability to create new domestic skills (through innovation) and to acquire knowledge of foreign markets. Also included are methods for effective dissemination of knowledge within the organization, while retaining the knowledge within it. Learning is a major part of the competitive process and refers to material resources (which is difficult to measure). Learning refers to the ability to update the three dimensions of business (selective, organizational, functional), but also to the adaptive (learning how to learn better). From this perspective, learning capabilities are different from other types of capabilities on the ground of compliance of existing knowledge within the company. Based on: Carlson and Eliasson, 1991 a. Models of economic competence in the field of social economy Social economy is the subject of large variation of change and innovation, so the specific economic modeling based on the staff abilities, working in the layers of this type of economy requires an approach connected to the general discourse on the role of the third sector and social enterprises. New elements of the social economy: 1. Mobilizing social capital: the identification and selection of ideals and motivations for the construction of the consolidated third sector 2. Identify the different forms of economic action: plural economy, local economy, social ties 3. Entrepreneurship and social entrepreneurs: taking the positive aspects of modern markets 4. Third sector as an area of social intermediary organizations and enterprises pillar - permissive boundaries between markets and state organizations. 5. Organizations of the / third sector and social enterprises as hybrid 6. The impact and power of civil society - is not measured by the size of the third sector but by the overall impact on the aspirations and civic principles. Social entrepreneurs play the role of change agents in the social sector by: Adopting a mission to create and sustain social value (not just private value); Recognition and expression of willingness to pursue new opportunities to serve that mission; Engaging in a process of continuous innovation, adaptation and learning; Operation freely, without being limited by the resources at hand; The manifestation of a high responsibility for the constituents and the results created. Social entrepreneurship is the process of establishing a social enterprise, distinct from profit oriented organization which supports a non-profit organization. Social enterprise is the result of social entrepreneurship and sustainability directs the non-profit organization to survive and solving social problems. Social entrepreneurship activities in the form of creating a social enterprise can be considered in itself a measure of performance, because the next step in developing a non-governmental organization. Age and education, particularly economic education are significant factors influencing economic power, issues that generate interest in developing a specific model derived from these influences. It shows so, connections to educational interventions and economic power plans and curricula, as well as attitudes towards the market economy (Seeber and Remmele (2009), p. 22). Important to remember in this model is how the cultural and socio-economic status influences attitudes in turn market economy. 1. Cognitive development - from finding that age and years of schooling is probably the most important factors in explaining economic understanding. However, the literature on children and adolescents understanding about the world economy is diffuse and varying quality, with a high number of disagreements about the number of stages of development, where points come the transition and the exact representation of each stage (Furham & Lewis, 1986, p.44). A number of studies suggest a connection between development and everyday experiences of the respondents. Leiser and Halachmi (2006) presented a group of children aged 6 years and 12 years, short stories on level changes of demand and supply and the effects on prices. The responses showed a good understanding of changes in the demand and its effect on prices: children act as a buyer and seller that report the price may be changed. When it recognizes a high demand, it is clear that the price will increase. The authors consider that it is relatively difficult to understand why a seller prices change depending on the increase / decrease in supply. In other studies explore the differences in understanding of economic issues, convincing example is that there is a better understanding of profit among children in Africa than British children (the researchers assume that there is connection between the experience of African children to negotiate). 2. Socio-economic status and gender - in almost all tests conducted on the economic understanding have highlighted gender differences in performance, there are various explanations of its conclusions. For example, female subjects usually recorded worse results in tests with multiple choices. Another view is expressed by the existence of a positive correlation between attitudes on economic and performance test results. Thus, male subjects showed a higher average positive attitude towards this subject. Effects of social class to which they belong reveals economic competence: children from middle class are more familiar with bank vocabulary, while working class children have some type of knowledge on production and manufacturing. Another important aspect is derived from parents' employment situation, with different effects in the male and female subjects. 3. Effects of education - in general studies show that educational interventions are effective, but also demonstrates the effect produced when there are limited educational resources. Thus, it is considered that the most appropriate predictor of economic understanding on the variables refers to formal education. In a study by Blendon and Al (1999) are notable differences between college graduates and those that did not graduate understanding the unemployment, job development and inflation. A further issue relates to economic education for the general level of education beyond the knowledge of economics proved by certificates and completion of certain courses is a significant indicator of performance in completing a test. b. Reply to actual market requirements: acquisition of new skills Understanding the economic and social context is a must for change: • The school is subject to many influences from the social, economic and political areas (economic conditions, competition, government intervention, modern technology, limited resources). • To tackle social and economic needs on the one hand and to impose effective educational management process, on the other hand, one of the solutions adopted educational policy is decentralization. • One of the fundamental change that is implied by decentralization is the mindset, social perception of the educational phenomenon, primarily those who are directly involved in education: teachers, parents, representatives of local authorities, representatives of other organizations educational role. • Any social change assumed by the people, naturally, generates a reaction characterized by rejection and resistance. Therefore, investment in human resources, strategically designed, make both group level and individual level, resistance to decrease. This can be considered a argument for the acquisition, through continuing education of teachers in K-12 system, new skills and patterns of economic competence in the social economy, and an analysis differences between economic and social entrepreneurship. BIBLIOGRAPHY 1. Alchian, A.A., H. Demsetz, (1972), Production, Information Costs and Economic Organization, American Economic Review, 62(3), pp. 777-795 2. Beck, K., (1993), Dimensions of economic education: Measuring-tools and findings. Final Report on the DFG-Project Test of Economic Literacy. Nürnberg. 3. Boschee J, McClurg J., (2003), Toward a better understanding of social entrepreneurship: some important distinction. 4. Blendon, R. J., Benson, J. M., Brodie, M., Morin, R., Altman, D. E., et al., (1999), Bridging the gap between the public’s and the economist’s views of the economy. In Robert f Garnett Jr. (Ed.), What do economists know. London Routledge. 5. Carlson B., Eliasson G., (1991), The Nature and the Importance of Economic Competence, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland. 6. DeGöb Deutsche Gesellschaft für ökonomische Bildung. (2004). Competences of economic education regarding secondary school qualifications. Köln. 7. Dees, Gregory, (1998), The meaning of “Social Entrepreneurship”. 8. Eliasson, Gunnar, (1990a), The firm as a Competent Team, Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, 13 (3), pp. 273-298. 9. Eliasson, Gunnar, (1990b), Business Competence, Organizational Learning and Economic Growth, IUI Working Paper No. 264. 10. European Commission, Directorate-General for Education and Culture, (2003), Basic skills, entrepreneurship and foreign languages, in Implementation of “Education & training 2010” – work programme, Progress Report, p. 48-58. 11. Ford. K., (1992), Cross-curricular themes in the whole curriculum: The contribution of economic and industrial understanding. In Hutchings, M. & Wade, W., (Eds.), (2007), Developing economic and industrial understanding in the primary school. London. Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. 16. Mai, Nr. 13. 12. Furnham, A. & Lewis, A., (1986)., Economic mind. Brighton: Palgrave Macmillan. 13. Gunther Seeber, Bernd Remmele, (2009), On the relationship between economic competence and the individual level of agreement with market economy, US-China Education Review, Feb., Volume 6, No.2 (serial No. 51). 14. Implementarea programului de lucru “Educaţie & formare profesională 2010”. Grupul de lucru “Competenţe de bază, antreprenoriat şi limbi străine”. Raport privind progresele - noiembrie 2004. 15. Klein, Burton H., (1988), Luck, Necessity and Dynamic Flexibility, in Horts Hanusch (ed), Evolutionary Economics: Applications of Schumpenters Idea. Cambridge, Cambridge University. 16. Leiser, D. & Halachmi, R. B., (2006), Children’s understanding of market forces. Journal of Economic Psychology, 27, 6-19. 17. Le Petit Larousse, (1995). 18. Maciuc, I., în (1998), Dicţionar de sociologie, Bucureşti, Editura Babel. 19. Otilia Driga, Esteban M. Lafuente González, CEBR Working Paper Series, 02‐2007, ANTREPRENORIATUL FEMININ IN ROMANIA: Caracteristici personale şi efectul variabilelor socio‐culturale. 20. Pelikan, Pavel, (1997), Allocation of Economic Competence in Teams: A Comparative Institutional Analysis, IUI Working Paper Series No. 480. 21. Pelikan, Pavel, (1988), Can the Imperfect Innoivation Systems of Capitalism Be Outperformed?, in G. Dosi et al. (eds), Technical Change and Economic Theory. London, Pinter Publisher. 22. Prahalad, C.K., G. Hamel, (1990), The core Competence of the Corporation, Harvard Business Review, May-June, 79-91. 23. Sandu, D., (1999), Spaţiul social al tranziţiei – Polirom, Iaşi.