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Articles

Vol. 8 No. 1 (2017)

Learning Community Psychology Practice Competencies: Student Pathways through the Applied Community Psychology Specialization

Submitted
June 6, 2023
Published
2017-03-24

Abstract

Community psychology practice competencies provide a framework of skills students can learn to promote social change processes in communities. However, there is great overlap and cross-over of skill sets among some competencies. The complex nature of learning any competency will likely take multiple learning experiences to master and span years beyond a student’s exit from training to achieve expertise. Programs training students in practice competencies can benefit from working collaboratively with students to better understand how students develop experience and skill in utilizing competencies across the curriculum. This article explores five narrative accounts of how students and graduates learned selected community psychology practice competencies through their training in the Applied Community Psychology (ACP) specialization at Antioch University Los Angeles. Students and graduates were asked to select a competency and write a two-page narrative of how they learned the competency through their training in the ACP specialization. Implications for academic program development and training in community psychology practice competencies are discussed.