Competences that people have acquired in different learning contexts in the course of life are taking on more importance alongside the certificates gained from formal education and training. The European Commission has called upon the EU Member States to introduce, by 2018, national strategies for the validation of non-formal and informal competences. Against this background, the latest issue of BWP (Vocational Training in Research and Practice) provides a survey of current progress and looks at the requirements of such procedures. The articles reflect insights both from research and from the implementation of validation concepts in practice. Experience gained in other European countries is also covered.
In terms of education and employment policy, major significance is attached to lifelong learning. Germany’s Federal and Länder governments have set themselves the target of achieving a continuing education participation rate of 50 per cent of the working population – measured by Adult Education Survey (AES) data – by 2015. A further aim is to increase the participation of educationally disadvantaged groups. Nevertheless, apart from continuing education, as defined in the national reporting system for the German AES, other forms of adult learning also exist. The article gives an overview of these whilst pursuing the question of whether they can be effective in helping to eliminate inequalities.
From recent findings on the validation of non-formal and informal learning at European level, it is clear that the EU Council Recommendation of 20 December 2012 is demonstrably influencing the structuring of national strategies and framework conditions. Against this backdrop, how can the situation in Germany be assessed? In the interview, Prof. Dr. Peter Dehnbostel elaborates the role played by non-formal and informal learning in vocational education and training and in the world of work. He describes how these findings can be incorporated into the development of a national validation system, so that the advantages of validation are recognised by individuals, companies and educational establishments, and validation concepts are implemented on this level.
On 20 December 2012 the Council of the European Union issued a “Recommendation on the validation of non-formal and informal learning” which calls upon the individual Member States to introduce corresponding regulations by the year 2018. To this end, the Recommendation specifies central elements of a validation process. The article begins by outlining the background and intentions of these efforts, and goes on to concretise the definitions of individual elements. Finally, examples of national developments on implementation of the Council Recommendation are briefly considered – with particular regard to individual steps in the process.
Ernesto Villalba-Garcia; Manuel Souto-Otero; Ilona Murphy
The European Inventory is a tool produced under the auspices of the European
Commission and has been in place since 2004. It presents an overview
of the situation regarding validation in European countries. The 2014 Inventory
investigates 33 countries through 36 country reports. After describing
the political context for the validation of non-formal and informal learning
in Europe, namely the European Council Recommendation of December 2012,
the article explains the main features of the European Inventory and presents
selected findings.
Activities on the EQF have shifted the focus of national and international discussions in education policy and academic research towards the validation of non-formal and informal learning outcomes. In Austria it began within the framework of a comprehensive national consultation process in which a consensus was reached on the procedure for developing a NQF. The introduction of the article outlines these political framework conditions and illustrates their significance for validation procedures. The second part is devoted to examples from practice, and locates and evaluates them in the context of national implementation strategies.
Semi-skilled and unskilled working people in Switzerland have access to several pathways leading to a basic vocational education qualification at secondary level II (ISCED 3B). Depending on the particular prerequisites, credit for informally acquired competences can be awarded in varying ways. The article sets out the existing pathways to second-chance vocational qualification in Switzerland. The prime concern is to show the status accorded to the recognition of prior learning within these pathways. In conclusion, reference is made to current challenges and broader perspectives.
As part of the French reform of vocational adult education, in 2002 a new procedure named “VAE” (Validation des Acquis de l’Expérience) was instituted under the Social Modernisation Act. It needs to be seen in conjunction with the Lisbon Process (2000) which is aimed at making Europe into the world’s most competitive economic area. The article goes briefly into the framework conditions and the VAE process, and reports on initial experience.
Daniel Schreiber; Carolin Böse; Anna Cristin Lewalder
In order to assess the equivalence of a foreign and a German vocational qualification, within the framework of the Vocational Qualifications Assessment Law of the Federal Government (BQFG) informally and non-formally acquired competences can also be taken into consideration. Provided that the prerequisite is fulfilled of having acquired a vocational certificate abroad, equivalence is assessed on the basis of an inspection of documents, irrespective of how the competences were acquired. Furthermore, where certain preconditions are met, vocational competences can be validated individually. The article illuminates the possibilities provided by the BQFG and presents initial experience gained by the German chambers.
In the company-based practice of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), competences that employees have acquired informally – i.e. within the work process – are frequently recorded and reported as part of work processes. Often this practice-based validation takes place by means of a consciously organised, interaction-based assessment by managers who are involved in the ongoing work processes. On the basis of conceptual considerations on informal competences and with reference to various practical examples, the article highlights the potentials and limitations of interaction-based assessment procedures.
For around 15 years the firm Fahrion Engineering GmbH & Co. KG has been meeting the challenges of demographic change in its own way. This has its roots in the company’s particular biography, which has resulted in its own unique approach to staff recruitment and a particular appreciation of the value of older employees and the strength of their informal competences. The article cites reasons which necessitate targeted communication with the generation aged 50+ when recruiting and employing skilled workers.
Particularly in rural areas, demographic change calls for strategies to safeguard and continuously develop diverse educational provision. Vocational schools offer important potentials for this, not least as a result of linking general and vocational education. Against this backdrop, the question discussed is how strategic development planning and cooperation among stakeholders might enable full utilisation of these potentials within a regional education landscape. The content of the article is underpinned by an exploratory project on the role of vocational schools in local education policy.
As of 1 July 2014, the updated “Regulation on the examination for the recognised advanced vocational qualification as a Certified Industrial Supervisor Specialising in Plastics and Rubbers” entered into force. The modernisation process was instigated due to technical developments, the increasing specialisation of companies, and the requisite adaptation to the latest standards for advanced vocational training regulations. At the same time, a differentiation was introduced in alignment with the underlying initial vocational training occupation. The article explains the essential innovations.
The German National Qualifications Framework (DQR) in practice
The article is based on findings of a working group appointed in April 2013 by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and the Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs of the Länder (KMK). Its task was to examine whether and how outcomes of non-formal learning can be reflected in the German national qualifications framework for lifelong learning (DQR). The article sets out key discussion points and the recommendations of the working group.
Undistracted by Germany’s World Cup excitement, the summer meeting of the Board of BIBB chaired by Elke Hannack, DGB, managed to concentrate on its tasks and attend to current issues in vocational education policy. These included the recommendations of the German Council of Science and Humanities on the relationship between vocational and academic education as well as the significant financial expansion of the Federal Government special programme on the “Promotion of Vocational Mobility of Young People Interested in Vocational Training and Unemployed Skilled Workers from Europe” (MobiPro-EU). Before that, however, the meeting opened with a report on the tasks and objectives of the German government for the current legislative period.