Competences are action-oriented - they are about capturing and improving potential courses of action in the future.
The areas of expertise of the Steinbeis+Akademie
„Adults - it would appear - are capable of learning, but cannot be taught.“
(H. Siebert, 1994)
„With competences ... you’re not so much dealing with capabilities, but certain aptitudes that make it possible to engage in creative action, subject to uncertainty, unknown outcomes, and highly complexity conditions ... and teaching competence is [thus] always about sharing knowledge and values..“ (John Erpenbeck, 2009)
This elaborate interpretation of competence also reflects how the academy sees its own areas of competence. These shape the qualifications we provide and the manner in which these qualifications enable students to engage in meaningful work based on what is expected of them. They also provide a foundation upon which competences can be developed.
Based on the qualifications that students gain – and the nature of the ethical guidelines and values that these stem from – people participating in the courses offered by the Steinbeis+Akademie should be empowered to organize themselves, act creatively, and shape the future in keeping with defined objectives.
Each course revolves around the specialist requirements of an area of competence, also forging connections to other fields of competence in order to adopt a holistic approach revolving around people.
Management
Organizations pursue certain goals and purposes. To do this, they are often guided by certain values. Fulfilling goals and purposes – and in so doing, staying true to personal values – is a task that regularly requires making new decisions and weighing up certain considerations. One of the aims of management teaching – especially for businesses, but also for many other kinds of organizations – is to provide inspiration and instruments for these decisions and considerations. These instruments should help people do justice to their defined objectives and existing values. Management education spans many disciplines, some of which will have a direct bearing on decision-making and may help people to make sound decisions. As such, management teaching dovetails well with the specialist disciplines of the Steinbeis+Akademie – personal development, technology, public health service, and education management. One of the main focuses of all certification courses in the field of management is the competence required as an organization to pursue goals successfully in an environment increasingly shaped by complexity – yet still laying emphasis on key values.
Personal development
Personal development is a key factor when it comes to developing competences. A central aspect of this is merging specialist knowledge with interpersonal skills such as communication, dealing with conflict, and an ability to focus on finding solutions.
A good way to motivate people is to foster their competences, acknowledge them, and allow them to become actively involved. Companies are more successful when they embrace such a culture and keep developing it. Training based on this philosophy merges theoretical knowledge with a strong emphasis on transferring knowledge into practice.
These are important factors in achieving success on a personal, social, and professional level and securing sustainability and future viability.
Education management
In essence, the Steinbeis+Akademie sees education management as a series of complex mechanisms for managing education and training processes. In many ways, education management is not about focusing on individual competences such as knowledge, ability, or volition, but on a complex model of competences. This model comprises technical competence, methodical competence, and social competence.
The courses offered in the field of education management aim to teach competences by focusing on factors relating to didactic methods and pedagogical sharing. This also includes other aspects such as motivation and the ability to make moral judgments. The courses offered in the field of education management are thus closely tied to other fields of competence at the Steinbeis+Akademie, particularly ethics and personal development.
Public health service
Demographic change, globalization, digitalization, and Industry 4.0 (smart factories) – these are just some of the terms connected with modern working environments. Companies and their employees are witnessing a rapid acceleration in structural changes combined with an increasingly older workforce. Not only does this have significant consequences for their business and the general employment situation, one factor that cannot be ignored is the impact this has on the health and social welfare of workers. To deal with this situation now and prepare for the future, interdisciplinary qualifications are required. Managers and their employees need the right skills to introduce new structures together and adapt them according to the changing conditions. With the right training (and skills stemming from this training) sustainable measures can be developed and integrated within companies, thus ensuring employees stay healthy and remain in employment for as long as possible.
Technology
Technology can be defined as “[…] the set of all known possible methods for achieving an objective in a defined field of application […].” This definition of technology offered by Hans-Jörg Bullinger provides a good distinction from the term “technics/engineering,” which refers to man-made objects/actions and their use in the context of purpose-oriented action.
The focus of technology goes far beyond pure technics and includes relevant environmental factors (such as economic, legal, and social factors).
Key topics in terms of course content: socio-technological competences and human factors (man-machine interaction), process optimization, applied technology, digitalization, the origins of innovation, and the challenges, benefits, and impact of new technologie.