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“Creating awareness on validation of the acquired competences”

Validation: Basic characteristics according to the European Union

Contents

In 2009, the European Commission, together with CEDEFOP (European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training) elaborated guidelines for the validation of informal training. In 2012, the Council of the EU elaborated a recommendation and recommended that these guidelines should be revised periodically. That is how in 2015, new guidelines where published by the CEDEFOP. In these guidelines, you can find the description of the validation process and the basic characteristics of it. There is also an instrument called the European Inventory on validation, which is a synthesis report that shows the ways in which the validation process is used and applied in the different Member States of the EU.

There are four basic phases in the validation process that need to be followed. These phases are:

  1. Identification of the learning outcomes that someone has acquired via non-formal training,
  2. Documentation of the results,
  3. Evaluation of the results,
  4. Certification of the results. This certification can be made via credit qualification or using different methods.

 

  1. Identification:

This phase consists on identifying the skills, competencies and knowledge acquired by an individual. There are different contexts in which you can acquire these skills and knowledge, as we have explained, and this variety of contexts can present a challenge regarding the methodology to identify these competencies. In order to assess this first phase correctly, it is important to take into account the procedures and tools used in the determination phase, the balance between normalized approaches and those based on conversation and dialogue, and the integration of orientation and counselling.

Source: Canva design template, original creation.

  1. Documentation:

This phase has to do with complying and corroborating the competencies acquired and the level of knowledge of the individual. In this phase, the person has to prove somehow that they have different competencies. This is done with the preparation of a competencies portfolio, that usually contains a CV, the professional trajectory and documents proving the results of the learning path of the person. To validate this properly, it is important to be open to new forms of validations. You can corroborate your skills using documents but there are also practical demonstrations that can validate your competences. The documents have to have enough information about the learning results and to achieve this is important to establish a proper coordination at a national and European level, for example, in terms of formatting. Europass is a great example of format standardization.

  1. Assessment:

This phase consists of comparing the results of the learning process with standard and specific benchmarks. It is useful to evaluate written tests but there are also other methods to evaluate someone’s learning outcomes. This phase is essential for the correct validation of non-formal learning. This is also a challenge because sometimes, new ways of evaluation can be considered inferior or with less value than a traditional evaluation, and that is why is essential to present the evaluation methods and tools used. Usually, the tools and methods used to evaluate the non-formal learning are similar to those used in formal settings. Validation consists of validating a specific experience of an individual and that is why the context has to be taken into account.

  1. Certification:

This phase is the final phase of the validation process. This is the certification phase or can be also called final validation. It can adopt different types, but the most common is to award a formal qualification. The main objective is to present a summative assessment that officially confirms that the individual has accomplished and acquired the learning objectives. This has to be done with respect to specific standards. It is important that this process is organised and managed by a professional and credible organisation. Of course, the value of the certificate depends on the legitimacy of the organisation. Some countries have chosen to adopt specific qualifications and certification processes to validate and certificate formal and non-formal learning outcomes. However, this can create two different certificates that can be viewed as ones with more quality and others with less quality. It is our objective, to stablish a validation process for the non-formal learning process to acquire competencies with the same value as those that are acquired following a formal process. To assess this phase correctly you should ask yourself different questions:

  • How is the credibility of the organisation guaranteed?
  • In which way can we interchange the results of the validation process? Can we interchange documents, competencies portfolios, certificates etc. in relation to the continuity of the learning process?

What about the validation of the open educational resources?   

FIL-Finances in Everyday Life can be considered as an open educational resource. It has been corroborated by the European Inventory of 2018, that the education and training sector has an incredible importance when validating the non-formal and informal learning in Europe. In some cases, validation is necessarily linked to education and training. The validation process is also essential in the adult training and education sector, and it contributes to give support to the lifelong training process. The Recommendation from the European Council of 2012 corroborates that the validation process has to take into account the knowledge, competencies and skills acquired thank you to open educational resources (OERs) such as FIL.

An OER counts with open licenses, with software and different features that allow them to produce and share content. It is designed to make content available and open for everyone, and to deliver and contribute providing educational benefits for free to everyone willing to access it online. The content of the OERs can be complete and extended courses, modules, handbooks, assignments, quizzes, videos, games… in short, a wide variety of educational materials. In FIL’s case, the OER counts with a handbook designed in different modules such as this one. Massive open online courses, called MOOCs, are examples of OERs. These options can be important additions and, in some cases, substitutes of traditional training programmes. Their benefits are mainly that they can reduce costs, also they foster accessibility as they are open for everyone willing to learn and each individual can organise individually, fix their own schedule and follow their own learning path. These are the reasons why MOOCs are an easy but high-quality method for teaching.

In order to properly validate OERs, they must follow some requirements:

  • First of all, the learning objectives must be organised in the form of learning outcomes.
  • If the OER is going to give an official certification or badge, this information has to appear properly explained and documented, following the certification phase of the validation process in order to ensure trust and transparency.
  • The evaluation process also has to be properly explained to ensure trust.

When addressing OERs, ask yourself if the validation methods used for that resource are the same that for traditional learning outcomes and programmes. Pay a lot of attention to the certification given by the OER. Is this certification well documented? Are the documents attached to the certification and badges trustful?