(Part four of a seven-part series about careers in Emergency Management.)
If there are contradictory ideas about emergency management education, they revolve around this triad: training, education and experience. Many of my hours, and those of my colleagues, have been spent arguing the merits of each: which is better, which is necessary, which is required.
My friend, Dr. Carol Cwiak (faculty at North Dakota State University) puts it this way: "The age-old comparison of book smarts versus street smarts is one that is well noted in emergency management."
The traditional standard for emergency managers was training and experience. The traditional role for emergency managers was planning and response, and most emergency managers came from response-oriented backgrounds (fire, law, military) with strong training and experience programs.
With the growth into a new profession, education has asserted itself - linking training and experience - and created a new paradigm for the well-rounded emergency manager. But they are all distinctly different: Training is not the same as education. Education can't take the place of experience.
There are tactical aspects to any profession - those skills you learn through training . The core competencies for emergency management can all be achieved through training.
Those characteristics related to strategic planning require a broad-based knowledge and even broader perspective to understand the social, environmental and political implications - the kind you can only get with education .
What experience adds to emergency management is proficiency .
Any good, senior emergency manager of any flavor has to come from a background that includes all three parts of this triad. That's why training, education and experience is the foundation for the Certified Emergency Manager (CEM) certification. The CEM proves that you have progressed beyond competency to mastery.
PREVIOUS: The Market for Emergency Managers: The Core Competency Connundrum
NEXT: The Market for Emergency Managers: Competency vs. Mastery
by Valerie Lucus-McEwen: Degrees, certificates and relevant research for Emergency Managers
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