Competency Addendum

In doing this report, I had to rely on several of New Century’s competencies. Group interaction was one of the main ones that I used myself, and one that I saw others using. However, with that competency, another one was incorporated, that additional competency was valuing. Each member of the group listened to each other and, though their views may have been different, they respected each one as though it was their own. As I joined this group, I made sure that I was respecting the statements made by others. This is not to say that I, and others, did not speak up when we disagreed, but rather than fighting and saying that one person’s ideas are wrong, we found ways to share our opinions and ideas and try to understand why someone might think differently. Many of the dancers made it known that differences in opinions would not affect whether or not they would dance with someone. Another competency that I incorporated into the research behind this essay was that of communication. Obviously I needed to find ways to effectively communicate to the members of this community in order to find out more about them. I needed to be sure that I was asking the right questions when I spoke directly with one member of the community. Communication works both ways, however, and therefore I needed to be sure that I was effectively understanding what members of this cyber community meant by some things, such as various types of dance and acronyms I was unfamiliar with.

I believe that, as I joined this community, I also had to use the effective citizenship competency. I had to learn about the issues that surrounded their community as I became a part of it. I learned a little bit about the forum they used to be on, and why they changed to the new one. Although I did not need to become a leader of the site to use this competency, I did create a role for myself in the cyber community. I expressed my opinion and listened to others. I even learned a little about the history behind the types of swing dancing that this community engages in. It was a fascinating history lesson, and one that I would like to expand on in the future.