Validation of learning outcomes is of particular importance in the informal and non-formal adult education system since this sector focuses on adult learners who, at a possibly long distance from their original formal qualifications, need evidence of their further development of skills and social and personal competences.

This is also made clear in the Renewed European agenda for adult learning (Council resolution 2011/C 372/01) stating: “To encourage the development of effective lifelong guidance systems, as well as integrated systems for the validation of non-formal and informal learning” as an action point and “Putting in place fully functional systems for validating non-formal and informal learning and promoting their use by adults ... ” as an element of priority 1: Making lifelong learning and mobility a reality.

Grundtvig IST

According to GINCO the Grundtvig IST course system offers the ideal structure for an effective and useful introduction of mechanisms for validation of learning outcomes in the AE sector. There are two reasons:

• There is an intrinsic reason for Grundtvig course organisers to validate the learning outcomes of the participants at their course. Grundtvig courses are run in an international context and – from the perspective of the participant – always in a foreign country. How can a participant get evidence of what he/she has learned and acquired at this course and how can it be recognised in his/her home country? It is also clear that especially adult educators, proven to come from a variety of backgrounds, would benefit from evidenced professional development. A learning outcome validation system would therefore considerably increase the value of a Grundtvig course for its participants.
• There is also a strategic argument. Grundtvig IST course participants are adult educators: teachers and trainers in a sector that is a major contributor to non-formal and informal learning. Adult educators, participating in a Grundtvig course, will experience the mechanisms of validation and the value of evidenced competence development. They will be the most efficient multipliers/ambassadors and are best placed to help introduce these innovative systems in their own country and organisation.

GINCO

Promoting and supporting the introduction of validation of learning outcomes in Grundtvig courses therefore is one of the priorities of the GINCO network. GINCO strives to improve the expertise of course organisers concerning certification, recognition and validation of learning outcomes of their courses and help them conceive and present their courses in the form of course learning outcomes and competences to acquire. This is the basis for a certification and validation approach. The network will also explore ways to get courses certified within existing quality frameworks.

Validation

 ‘Simply’ defined one can say that validation is the process of identifying, assessing and recognising knowledge, skills and competences acquired in formal, non-formal and informal settings.

The CEDEFOP 2009 guidelines state that validation is: “The confirmation by a competent body that learning outcomes (knowledge, skills and/or competences) acquired by an individual in a formal, non-formal or informal setting have been assessed against  predefined criteria and are compliant with the requirements of a validation standard. Validation typically leads to certification.”

The benefits of introducing validation in adult education and learning can be situated at:

• educational level: improved access & transfer in education, exemption of training or subjects, partial/full awards;
• economic level:makes human capital visible, addresses skills shortages, supports  employment;
• social level:access to education/employment for the disadvantaged;
• personal level: self-esteem,  confidence, motivation, possible greater access to employment/promotion, stimulating self-reflection on prior learning.

But also a number of challenges can be put forward: variety of terminology and aims, need  for  a cultural shift, trust, implementation and  mainstreaming, variation in provision, quality and costs to individuals, Quality assurance, the Matthew effect, data collection and evidence gathering, the impact on non-formal learning ....

In order to contribute to the professional development of the adult educator GINCO wants to link Grundtvig IST learning to the results of a European research project about the creation of the competences overview for educators and staff working in adult education: “Key competences for adult learning professionals” (Research voor Beleid, NL). In this project a EU study was carried out to identify key competences adult educators may need to have in order to provide high quality education. The ambition of the study was to provide a common framework that would allow adult educators to discuss the competences required for staff working in adult education.  

The results of this study are highly relevant for GINCO. They serve as a basis for the elaboration of identified competences developed in Grundtvig courses and will help in making these competences operational. What competences are tackled in Grundtvig IST courses, how can courses be presented in terms of com­petence development? It is also clear that competence driven Grundtvig cours­es, in which adult educators as participants experience the approach are the best way to introduce competence based education and learning and therefore should be based on the right learning principles: active, realistic, personalised, together with others, holistic, aiming at skills and at learning to learn.  

GINCO also aims to promote validation tools for Grundtvig course learning outcomes. There are highly relevant approaches to validation, e.g. developed in the frame of the Grundtvig VIP and VILMA projects. These projects resulted in the LEVEL 5 system. LEVEL 5 offers an approach and instrument to document and visualise competence developments with a special focus on personal, social and organisational competences. The LEVEL 5 cube also emphasises the 3-D character of competences.

The final phase in the process of validation concerns the issue of recognition of learning outcomes of Grundtvig in-service training courses. One of the outcomes of the “Analysis and exploitation of the results of Grundtvig in-service training activities 2000-2009”, a research study by the West of Scotland Colleges’ Partnership, revealed that certification of Grundtvig course learning outcomes is of little value in recognition and validation of professional development unless it is coupled with a credit system. A number of systems are possible with pros and cons: in-house certificates, Europass, ECTS, EQF, continuing professional development referenced to the Key Competences for Adult Education Professionals ...

For GINCO it is clear that quality of Grundtvig IST courses is essential for the AE sector to reach the priorities set in the numerous policy papers towards Europe 2020. Quality in the ‘eyes’ of GINCO means that:

• mechanisms for quality care and self-evaluation are in place
• innovative didactics and competence oriented approaches are applied
• appropriate ICT use is applied in all phases: pre delivery, delivery and follow up
• mechanisms for validation of learning outcomes are in place
• attention is paid to personal and social competence development
• the European dimension is taken into account
• courses are linked to LLP priorities

Recognition of Grundtvig courses will only take place if the validation of the learning outcomes is included in this overall approach to quality.

Guy Tilkin, Alden Biesen (BE), GINCO coordinator

This article is based on the contributions of the key note speakers at the second international GINCO conference (Thessaloniki, 7-11 December 2011): Helen Keogh, Alexandra Dehmel, Radu Szekely, Tim Scholze and Guy Tilkin.

All presentations and studies mentioned in this article and all EU policy documents related to this subject are accessible via the GINCO website.

Source: GINCO Newsletter 7