AALEP COMPETENCY FRAMEWORK FOR PUBLIC POLICY ADVOCATES

AALEP has formally developed a Competency Framework for public policy advocates. Competency in public policy advocacy is the foundation of our profession. In a dynamic and rapidly changing world, a public policy advocate’s knowledge and skills must be continuously expanded to meet increasing complex problems and issues and to enhance the value added by public policy advocacy work.

Competencies refer to the knowledge, skills, attitudes and behaviours that an individual develops through education, training and work experience and which contribute to outstanding job performance. Knowledge is what public policy advocates know and understand. Skills is what public policy advocates can do or how they apply their knowledge and understanding. Competency is the context in which knowledge and skills can be applied.

Competency Framework: Taken together, these competencies form a competency framework which provides a blueprint for describing the competencies and behaviours of public policy advocates in their daily practice. By their nature, competency frameworks must be sufficiently broad-based to allow for universal applicability across all practice settings, but also sufficiently focused to allow the particular competencies specific to a given profession to emerge.

Key to developing the framework was wide participation by the right people to build a framework by and for AALEP members. Our journey began with understanding the overall landscape- perceptions and needs related to professional development as well as talking with a diverse groups of stakeholders to gather their insights.

Purpose of a Competency Framework

The primary purpose for building a competency framework is to guide systematic and sound approaches to designing, developing and delivering effective professional development opportunities. The goal is to promote forward-looking professional development and lifelong learning that meets the needs of public policy advocates, their employers and the public.

AALEP’s Competency Framework

AALEP’s competency framework provides a systematic framework for professional lifelong learning for public policy advocates, regardless of the type of employers they work for, the areas of their specialization or the career paths they travel.

Initially AALEP will use the tool as a foundation for professional development, curriculum delivery and curriculum evaluation. Using a consistent framework provides a blueprint for systematically assessing needs and identifying gaps, prioritizing development efforts, developing quality curricula i.e. linking competencies to learning outcomes, identifying the right instructional approaches, selecting the appropriate delivery mechanisms or combination of delivery mechanisms e.g. electronic systems including e-learning and webinars, conferences, meetings, workshops, seminars, articles and delivering professional development learning solutions at the right time e.g. set schedule, cycle or on demand.

Summary

AALEP’s competency framework for public policy advocates will be used for the following purposes:

1. To inform and develop plans for continuing professional development (CPD) by assisting public policy advocates to reflect on their practice and identifying learning needs; and to provide guidance and structure for CPD over the changing demands of a public policy advocate’s career;
2. To provide a platform for the development of specialization and advanced practice within the field of public policy advocacy
3. To provide a public statement of the professional role of a public policy advocate.