Transcript Life Long Guidance

The EU agenda for Validation of
Non-formal and Informal
Learning
The 2012 Council Recommendation and the 2014
European Inventory – common challenges and
possible success factors
BEYOND FORMAL LEARNING – WHAT, HOW
AND WHY
Moscow, April 21, 2015
Anni Karttunen
Expert in European Educational Policy
Why validation?
 Education system factors: improving access to and efficiency in
the formal education system.
 Economic factors: needs of the knowledge economy also
reflected in enterprises.
 Social factors: providing opportunities for disadvantaged or
excluded people.
 Demographic factors: ageing of the population and increasing
migration.
 Technological factors: development of new technologies
accentuates appreciation of technical skills gained through
informal and non-formal means
 Increased awareness / acceptance of validation among
stakeholders: Greater awareness has led to greater use and
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involvement of stakeholders
EU Council
Recommendation for
VNFIL 2012
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Core of the Recommendation
 The systems should enable individuals to have their knowledge,
skills and competences to be validated regardless of the
learning context. The systems should also enable individuals to
gain full or part-qualifications through validation procedures.
 Validation refers to a four-phase process in which the Learning
Outcomes achieved by an individual are recognized by a
competent body
 The VNFIL process should entail Identification (of Learning
Outcomes), Documentation, Assessment and Certification
phases
 Connection to European Qualifications Framework
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Core of the Recommendation
 The Citizen (the individual) is in the centre of the VNFIL
process
 Countries should follow the recommended principles
taking local circumstances into consideration
 All EU countries should have VNFIL systems in place by
2018.
 The member states are urged to co-operate with
different VNFIL stakeholders and co-ordinate the
implementation process.
 There will be an EU level evaluation of the outcomes of
the Recommendation in 2019
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General principles of VNFIL arrangements
 There should be a connection between VNFIL and
National Qualification Frameworks and the National
Standards / Learning Outcomes
 VNFIL requires information, advice and guidance (LLG)
 It is deemed that the unemployed and individuals in risk
of unemployment will benefit; a possibility to participate
in Skills Audits
 Europass and Youthpass are recommended as
common tools to make learning visible
 VNFIL should be compatible with ECTS and ECVET
 Wide co-operation and cooridination of systems /
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arrangements
VNFIL principles / Quality Aspects
 Systematic Competence Development of VNFIL
practitioners (cf. European Inventory 2014 => Little or
no systematic training for VNFIL practitioners)
 Same competence requirements in VNFIL as in formal
qualification requirements / training programmes
 Assessment / Validation methodologies and tools must
be reliable, valid and credible
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Criteria for assessment and VNFIL
methods:
 Validity (must measure what is supposed to be
measured)
 Reliability (how likely it is to get same / similar results
when competences are assessed in similar
circumstances)
 Fairness (the degree of independence of the
assessment result regarding, e.g. of context or culture)
 Cognitive dimension (does the method take the width
and depth of competences into consideration)
 Fit for purpose
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Linkages to other policies and processes
 Bologna Process (European Area of Higher Education)
 European Qualifications Framework (EQF) and National
Qualification Frameworks (NQFs)
 Quality Assurance => further developments in EU
 Learning Outcomes
 ECTS and ECVET systems
 General recognition of competences and qualifications
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EU Guidelines for
VNFIL (new, not yet
published)
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European Guidelines for VNFIL; ten principles
by Jens Bjornavold / Cedefop
 (1) The individual is at the centre of the validation process
 (2) Validation has different purposes – the need to distinguish
between identification, documentation, assessment and
recognition.
 (3) Information on validation should be made available close
to where people live, study and work
 (4) Guidance and counselling is essential for individuals to
be able to adapt validation to their needs and interests
 (5) Validation should be part of national qualifications
11 systems and frameworks;
Principles continue
 (6) Qualifications standards should be defined and described
through learning outcomes; the same or equivalent standards
should be used for learning experiences in formal, non-formal
and/or informal settings
 (7) Quality assurance should be an explicit and integrated part
of the validation process
 (8) The professional competences of validation counsellors
and assessors should be developed
 (9)Validation should address labour market needs; for example
through skills audits and competence assessment in enterprises
 (10) Documentation of validation must be streamlined and
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European Inventory
on VNFIL
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European Inventory on VNFIL
 A structured report on VNFIL developments in each EU and
EEA country (by Cedefop and the EU Commission)
 Carried out since 2004 every few years (five so far)
 Vital information on how the EU policies are implemented and
what their effects are (e.g. follow up with Recommendations)
 Go hand in hand with the Guidelines and Recommendations
 2014 Inventory was published late 2014 (covers 2011-13)
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Eight thematic reports
Executive Summary
Final Synthesis Report
36 Country Reports
Case studies
Compendium of VNFIL projects
European Inventory on VNFIL
 2016 Inventory is already in the making
 Carried out in two phases:
 Follow-up on the thematic reports (report)
 Follow-up on the country reports with thematic focus points
 First phase will be carried out in May 2015 (thematic reports)
 Awareness rising
 Competence assessment in the private sector
 Current approaches to skills audits in the public sector
 Multi-level governance
 Guidance and counseling
 Research themes on validation
 Validation and early school leavers
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 Validation methods
QUALITY in VNFIL
General notions on quality
 Quality is a very broad concept and difficult to define =>
rather: quality assurance mechanisms in the validation
process
 Validation occurs in different kinds of contexts => quality
assurance mechanisms should be tailored to fit the purpose
(cf. formal, non-formal, informal contexts)
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General continues
 Quality assurance is sometimes considered a threat to the
flexibility of validation process OR it is seen as sufficient if the
formal education system has a general quality system in place.
 The ultimate purpose of quality assurance in validation is to
GUIDE the system and assure the INDIVIDUAL an equal,
transparent and reliable process.
 The individual has to be in the centre of the validation
process!
 Competences can only be made visible through a high quality
validation process => high market value
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Eight steps towards QA in VNFIL
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Information
 Information -phase should address questions
such as why, how, for whom and where and
when.
 All target groups should have equal
understanding of the procedure and the
standards.
 Information should also be accessible through
various media, like the internet, intranet and
brochures.
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Preconditions
 Regulatory framework
 Funding mechanisms
 Co-operation structures between stakeholders
 Descriptions of qualification requirements
 Assessment criteria and standards (learning outcomes)
 Attitudes
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Documention – admin procedures
 Proper documentation system of the VNFIL procedures with
each individual promotes transparency, supports the
individual rights and enhances a systemic approach to
VNFIL procedures.
 VNFIL documentation could be compared with organic farming:
the entire production trail has to be able to be tracked and
traced down.
 A proper documentation system must be in place and each step
of the validation process has to be duly documented:
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guidance discussions
agreements
progress plans and timeframes
assessment results
certification
Co-ordination
The task of co-ordination / co-ordinator is to:
 monitor the VNFIL procedures
 train/help VNFIL practitioners
 Support / guide VNFIL professionals
 co-ordinate the development of VNFIL procedures
 help in forming communities of practice
 help in forming networks of VNFIL professionals
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Guidance
Guidance provides the VNFIL scene:
 What are the benefits of VNFIL for the individual?
 How does the VNFIL work?
 What are the rights and responsibilities of the individual?
 What are the assessment criteria like?
 How does the administrative documentation work?
 What kind of certification is available?
 What other possible outcomes there are for the individual?
 How to use the validation results?
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23What type of further learning paths are available?
Mapping – making competences visible
Mapping is about building the roadmap for the future.
Mapping makes it easier to determine what is the most suitable
qualification for the candidate, what level and width of
competences does the individual have in order to plan a
development path.
There should be different kinds of methods for mapping and
documenting the individual’s competences.
 Collection of documentation such as prior certificates or
employment references
 Pictures
 Portfolios
24Other descriptions of competences
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Assessment
The assessment results in VNFIL should have a legal status
 Assessment should be reliable
 Assessors should be competent in VNFIL procedures,
assessment methodology and the field that they are assessing
 There should be a number of assessment methods available
and a combination of methods should be used
 Criteria should be unambiguous and clear
 Assessors need to have clear understanding of the
interpretation of the assessment criteria.
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Follow-up
After the assessment procedure, the individual has a right to have
feed-back of the assessment results and the possible
consequences:
 Does the result of the assessment possibly shorten the study
time?
 What are the future options in terms of education and work?
 What if the result of the assessment was negative and the
individual does not agree with the result?
 Is there an appeals procedure in place?
 Is there guidance available also after the assessment
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Links to documents and websites
 Council Recommendation on VNFIL (2012)
 European Inventory on VNFIL (country reports, thematic reports
etc.)
 European Guidelines on VNFIL (2009)
 EQF/NQF
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Let’s keep the validation train moving!
Please, contact me in case of any questions or
queries!
Anni Karttunen
Expert in European Educational Policy, Euedu
E-mail: [email protected]
Facebook: www.facebook.com/EUedu
Homepage: www.EUedu.fi
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