Affective Functional Competencies (AFCs)

 

 

AFC 1: Self-Awareness and Growth Mindset 

• Examines and takes responsibility for one’s actions, decisions, and outcomes
• Acknowledges mistakes and learns from them; Aware of the cause of one’s errors or successes
• Follows through on commitments
• Perseveres in the face of challenges and changes
• Acts with interest of the larger community in mind
• Understands and discusses personal core beliefs/values with depth and clarity;
• Reasonably and adequately defends assumptions and implications of, as well as the objection to, one’s personal ethical perspective concepts
• Aware of personal identities, attitudes, beliefs, values, assumptions and their relationship with others, and consistently and effectively reflects on how they impact and influence others
• Aware of strengths and limitations; Seeks assistance from others based on personal potential and limits
• Integrates both positive and negative feedback.
• Demonstrates deep self knowledge
• Demonstrates emotional regulation
• Aware of how one’s experiences have shaped rules/biases, and how to recognize and respond to biases, resulting in a shift in self description
• Compares self-observed performances against some standard, such as one’s prior performance, another person’s performance, or an absolute standard of performance
• Aligns personal values with actions
• Build one’s awareness of self over time
• Other key words/concepts: integrity, ethics, resilience, flexibility, motivation, confidence, self-efficacy

 

AFC2: Perspective Taking

• Recognizes differences across cultures and the diverse viewpoints that emerge from these differences. Recognizes how these factor into one’s identity and identities of others
• Develops a sense of personal and civic/community responsibility based on recognition of others’ diverse viewpoints/perspectives
• Applies communication skills and strategies to interact effectively
• Analyzes the power structures, complexities and interdependencies of systems; questions explicit and implicit forms of power, privilege, inequality, and inequity
• Evaluates solutions to challenges using interdisciplinary perspectives
• Reflects on one’s own messages and adjusts as appropriate; tailors messages and delivery methods to the topic, audience, purpose, and context
• Identifies one’s cultural norms and values; articulates how one’s experiences shapes cultural norms and values and how culture shapes personal experience
• Keen sense of self and identity as a global citizen
• Analyzes how cultural norms and values affect one’s interaction with others
• Engages with people and ideas from other cultures, experiences, etc. with courage, sensitivity, openness, and curiosity
• Creates space for varied perspectives in addressing social, economic, political issues; encourages others to engage in diversity
• Effectively seeks out, articulates, and discusses objections, assumptions, and implications of other’s perspectives/concepts; promotes others engagement with diversity
• Integrates others perspectives/concepts in to one’s own actions and views in various contexts
• Demonstrates empathy
• Demonstrates evidence of adjustments in own attitudes and beliefs because of working with and learning from diversity of communities and cultures
• Other key words/concepts: social mindfulness, inclusivity

 

AFC3: Interpersonal Communication 

• Consistently and effectively uses communication skills
• Applies skills to situations that promote intercultural competence
• Incorporates conflict management practice to transform conflict and interpersonal relationships and interactions; addresses destructive conflict directly and constructively, helping to manage/resolve it in a way that strengthens overall team cohesiveness and future effectiveness
• Tailors communication strategies to effectively express, listen, and adapt to others to promote positive relationships

 

AFC 4: Leadership 

• Assesses individuals and collective strengths, weaknesses, and capacities to achieve the desired goal
• Supports a constructive team climate; motivates others; engages diverse or competing perspectives
• Articulates a vision and strategy
• Organizes, prioritizes, and delegates work, roles and responsibilities
• Reflects on how one’s leadership abilities and style affect the group process and outcomes and adjusts as appropriate
• Reviews outcomes and assesses implications for future plans
• Treats team members respectfully by being polite and constructive in communication
• Uses positive vocal or written tone facial expressions and or body language to convey positive attitude about the team and its work
• Motivates teammates by expressing confidence about the importance of the task and the team’s ability to accomplish it; provides assistance and/or encouragement to team members where needed.

 

AFC 5: Critical Reflection and Integrative Action

• Aware of and is able to discuss personal identities, attitudes, beliefs, norms, values, assumptions and their relationship with others and reflects on how they affect others
• Integrates core beliefs/values into own complex set of ethics and priorities
• Integrates personal abilities and limitations in addressing social issues and serving others.
• Demonstrates understanding of interrelationships between and connections to local, national, and global issues.
• Aware of both strengths and limitations.
• Feels self-efficacious about learning; values the process of learning for its own merits
• Describes what is learned about one’s self as it relates to a reinforced and clarified sense of civic identity and continued commitment to public action
• Analyzes the power structures, complexities, and interdependencies of global systems; questions/challenges explicit and implicit unjust forms of power, privilege, inequality, and inequity.
• Takes informed and responsible action to address ethical, social, and environmental challenges to global systems and evaluates the local and broader consequences of individual and collective interventions
• Evaluates solutions to challenges using interdisciplinary perspectives.
• Other key words/concepts: integrative learning, critical agency, civic agency, issue awareness, honest self-understanding, recognition of systems and structures, integrity, ethics

 

AFC 6: Social Responsibility and Community-Minded Action

• Examines the implications of one’s actions/behavior/decisions/beliefs
• Acknowledges mistakes, learning from them, and adjusting over time
• Follows through on commitments
• Acts with interest of the larger community in mind
• Commits to social justice; takes informed and responsible action to address ethical, social, and environmental challenges to global systems and evaluates the local and broader consequences of individual and collective interventions
• Engages deeply with others both through learning and working with others
• Demonstrates sympathy and empathy for others
• Develops personal and civic responsibility with respect to global issues
• Develops solutions to global challenges using interdisciplinary perspectives
• Aligns personal values with civic actions
• Takes initiative to encourage and support others in their development of personal responsibility
• Creates positive bonds with people and social institutions
• Effectively addresses significant issues in the natural and human world based on articulating one’s identity in a global context
• Other key words/concepts: civic accountability, personal accountability, social accountability, acting in the interest of others, commitment to others, social justice

 

AFC 7: Sensitivity to Context and Informed Action

• Identifies one’s cultural norms and values
• Understands how one’s experiences shape cultural norms and values and how culture shapes personal experience; recognizes how cultural norms and values affect one’s identity and interaction with others
• Questions explicit and implicit forms of unjust power, privilege, inequality, and inequity
• Recognizes and aware of systems and structures
• Demonstrates understanding of interrelationships between local, national, and global issues
• Works through social complexity to influence change within systems/structures
• Demonstrates ability and commitment to collaboratively work across and within community contexts and structures to achieve social justice
• Aware of different social identities within groups and consistently and effectively implements efforts to expand inclusion
• Other key words/concepts: social justice, openness/inclusivity, situational awareness

 

AFC 8: Cultural/Global Humility and Inclusive Action 

• Identifies one’s cultural norms and values; recognizes differences and diverse cultural viewpoints
• Develops a sense of personal and civic responsibility with respect to global issues
• Applies communication skills and strategies to interact effectively and inclusively with people from other cultures
• Aware of and understands power structures, complexities and interdependencies of global systems
• Evaluates solutions to global challenges using interdisciplinary and inclusive perspectives
• Understands how one’s experiences/actions affect cultural norms/values and local/global communities and how culture shapes personal experience
• Engages with people and ideas from other cultures with courage, sensitivity, openness, inclusivity, and curiosity
• Promotes the quality of life in a community, through both political and social action
• Demonstrates a keen sense of culture and an identity as a global citizen

 

AFC 9: Collaborative Mindset and Synergistic Action

• Understands one’s own role on the team and the roles of others; accounts for one’s own assigned role and responsibilities on a team
• Demonstrates comprehensive understanding of group members strengths and empowers group members to use strengths; integrates team members’ diverse viewpoints; motivates and supports others on the team
• Effectively processes group ideas with help and feedback of teammates.
• Offers ideas, suggestions, alternative solutions, and feedback
• Negotiates, manages, and resolves conflicts when they arise
• Collaboratively applies knowledge and skills to implement sophisticated, appropriate, and workable solutions to address complex problems using interdisciplinary perspectives
• Other key words/concepts: teamwork, contribution, meaningful relationships, mutuality, reciprocity

 

AFC 10: Shared Humanness and Transformational Action

• Aware of the motives and feelings of other people and oneself;
• Views one’s own needs as interconnected with the needs of a broader society; motivated by then needs and feelings of others
• Listens attentively to others to gain perspective on positions while reading nonverbal communication and signals; attuned to a wide range of emotional signals, sensing felt but unspoken emotions in a person or a group
• Interprets intercultural experience from the perspective of own and more than one worldview
• Demonstrates supportive manner recognizing the feelings and perspectives of others
• Demonstrates sympathy and empathy for others
• Demonstrates commitment to social justice
• Analyzes how cultural norms and values affect one’s interaction with others
• Recognizes the commonalities and differences that exist among people and cultures and how these factors on one’s identity and identities of others
• Engages with people and ideas from other cultures with courage, sensitivity, openness, and curiosity
• Other key words/concepts: social/emotional intelligence