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Recognition of Non-formal and Informal Learning: Key Issues and International Perspectives

This seminar explores the concept of recognition and its importance in the context of non-formal and informal learning. Dr. Patrick Werquin discusses the definitions of recognition, emerging issues, and the role of qualifications systems in promoting lifelong learning. The seminar draws on international perspectives to highlight key issues and challenges in recognizing non-formal and informal learning.

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Recognition of Non-formal and Informal Learning: Key Issues and International Perspectives

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  1. Seminar on Recognition of Non-formal and Informal Learning“Preliminary Conclusions of the OECD Experts Team on RNFIL Policy and Practice in Flanders; with Some Reference to the International Situation”Dr. Patrick WerquinOECD – D i r e c t o r a t e f o r E d u c a t i o nMinistry of Education and Training, Brussels, 31 January 2008

  2. Agenda • The OECD Activity(Definitions, Background) • Flemish Belgium(The OECD visit) • Some emerging issues(An international overview) Patrick Werquin, Seminar on RNFIL, Ministry of Education and Training, Brussels, 31 January 2008

  3. Agenda • The OECD Activity(Definitions, Background) • Flemish Belgium(The OECD visit) • Some emerging issues(An international overview) Patrick Werquin, Seminar on RNFIL, Ministry of Education and Training, Brussels, 31 January 2008

  4. Definitions • This activity is about RECOGNITION in the broader sense; which means: • Defining recognition! • Explaining recognition of what! Patrick Werquin, Seminar on RNFIL, Ministry of Education and Training, Brussels, 31 January 2008

  5. Recognition • Same word – Different meanings: Recognition (technical) => Validation (against standards) => Certification (stamp) => Recognition (social)* -Flanders: identification->assessment->recognition -Suggestion: identification-> documentation-> validation-> certification-> recognition (only social) - Because there is Technical Recognition and Social Recognition; but also: Practical Recognition Patrick Werquin, Seminar on RNFIL, Ministry of Education and Training, Brussels, 31 January 2008

  6. Recognition • Key issue for policy purposes: Formal recognition of non-formaland informal learning -The formal learning is already recognised* • All this is therefore about VISIBILITY, (of any kind of skills, knowledge and competences) • It is not about putting even more value on credential, it is saying that 1) recruiters (LM and LLL) need better and more up-to-date information and 2) credential can come from experience too! Patrick Werquin, Seminar on RNFIL, Ministry of Education and Training, Brussels, 31 January 2008

  7. Recognition of What? • Formal, non-formal and informal learning: It’s a nightmare! • No consensus whatsoever on the definitions (see Werquin, 2007a, for a discussion of all the terms) • Very tentatively: • Formal Learning: organised, intentional, with learning objectives, leading to qualification° (was: education, age…) Patrick Werquin, Seminar on RNFIL, Ministry of Education and Training, Brussels, 31 January 2008

  8. Recognition of What? • Informal learning*: none of the above, what we do all the time everywhere without even knowing it (key issue for documenting skills), does NOT usually lead to a qualification° • Non-Formal Learning: could be organised, may have learning objectives or happen alongside other more formal learning activities, does NOT usually lead to a qualification° Patrick Werquin, Seminar on RNFIL, Ministry of Education and Training, Brussels, 31 January 2008

  9. RNFIL Many terms even in English only: • RPL (Australia), PLAR (Canada), APL or APEL (UK), Ireland uses them all... • RAC (Flanders: Recognition of Acquired Competencies; RAS) • (Recognition of previous knowledge ) • Recognition of Learning Outcomes (EU) Other languages: • EVC (Belgium Flanders, Netherlands), VAE (France), RAC (Canada-Québec)… Patrick Werquin, Seminar on RNFIL, Ministry of Education and Training, Brussels, 31 January 2008

  10. Background • Lots of evidence about Recognition° of Non Formal and Informal Learning° (RNFIL), but piecemeal • OECD activity on Adult Learning • OECD activity on the role of national qualifications systems in promoting lifelong learning • … Patrick Werquin, Seminar on RNFIL, Ministry of Education and Training, Brussels, 31 January 2008

  11. Qualifications Systems …of which RNFIL is a component • RNFIL = mechanism to create more and better lifelong learning • as well as: • credit transfer • qualifications framework* • stakeholders involvement • … • Qualifications Systems: Bridges to Lifelong Learning (OECD, 2007) Patrick Werquin, Seminar on RNFIL, Ministry of Education and Training, Brussels, 31 January 2008

  12. Participating countries 23 countries or regions on 5 continents(17 in Europe, 23 CBRs, 16 reviewed): Australia, Austria, Belgium-Flanders, Canada, Chile, Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Korea, Malta, Mexico, the Netherlands, Norway, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland and the United Kingdom Patrick Werquin, Seminar on RNFIL, Ministry of Education and Training, Brussels, 31 January 2008

  13. Pressures • Demography • Skills mismatch • Inequities • Immigrants • Internal mobility of students and workers • Second chance (NEET) • European programmes (EQF…) Patrick Werquin, Seminar on RNFIL, Ministry of Education and Training, Brussels, 31 January 2008

  14. Caveats • May not create economic growth, but will help sustain it!!! • RNFIL does NOT create the skills and competences it aims at recognising, it make them visible if there are some!!! (RNFIL may create other competences,there is evidence) Patrick Werquin, Seminar on RNFIL, Ministry of Education and Training, Brussels, 31 January 2008

  15. Agenda • The OECD Activity(Definitions, Background) • Flemish Belgium(The OECD visit) • Some emerging issues(An international overview) Patrick Werquin, Seminar on RNFIL, Ministry of Education and Training, Brussels, 31 January 2008

  16. The Thematic Review Visit • Review visit: 21-23 may 2007 • Team: Michel Feutrie (Rapporteur), Eeva-Inkeri Sirelius (Finland) and Patrick Werquin (OECD) • Full programme of visits and meetings arranged by the Flemish Steering Group coordinated by the Department of Education and Training, the Department of Work and Social Economy and the Department of Culture, Youth and Sports • Country Note available soon Patrick Werquin, Seminar on RNFIL, Ministry of Education and Training, Brussels, 31 January 2008

  17. Many Positive Points • A lot of leaders and enthusiasts • A lot of good will and commitment • Clear investments by many actors (institutions, people with a vision) • Regulations, agreements and arrangements in place • Some interesting pilots or experimentations • Some plans for evaluation (nowhere else ) Patrick Werquin, Seminar on RNFIL, Ministry of Education and Training, Brussels, 31 January 2008

  18. A Group of Competent Actors • Actors: • who have invested a lot of their time • who are enthusiastic • who are convinced and have acquired new competences • who are really committed to this issue • who are ready for new developments Patrick Werquin, Seminar on RNFIL, Ministry of Education and Training, Brussels, 31 January 2008

  19. Issues for Discussion Patrick Werquin, Seminar on RNFIL, Ministry of Education and Training, Brussels, 31 January 2008

  20. Lack of Conviction/Excessive Prudence (1) • Scepticism about: • potential results, • involvement of learning and training organisations, • involvement of companies, • recognition of competences gained through experience • Worries about the many obstacles (discouragement???) • Lack of global vision – or national rhetoric – that may translate into plans Patrick Werquin, Seminar on RNFIL, Ministry of Education and Training, Brussels, 31 January 2008

  21. Lack of Conviction/Excessive Prudence (2) • No real push for Recognition of non formal and informal learning (a project among [many] others) • Information and guidance at the very beginning • Strong resistances: value of experience as opposed to qualification from formal system (Malta, Korea, Hungary, …) – Germany: experience already there • Are the “economic” pressure really felt – Real issues already there: demography, internal mobility, international mobility, immigration but no real corresponding momentum (Canada) Patrick Werquin, Seminar on RNFIL, Ministry of Education and Training, Brussels, 31 January 2008

  22. A Piecemeal System? • Each ministry develops its own system • No real common view on objectives or on priorities • Separated procedures, methods and tools • Complementarities and articulation rather than harmonisation • But no real articulation in order to contribute to the development of individual routes (even if it is considered a necessity) • No holistic vision considering the individual experience as a whole • No clear mid term strategy (qualitative and quantitative objectives) Patrick Werquin, Seminar on RNFIL, Ministry of Education and Training, Brussels, 31 January 2008

  23. Reaching a Consensus on Priorities • Are social partners really interested in the RAC? IS there a real demand? From Professional bodies? From enterprise? From trade unions? • Social partners seem to demand a system based on competences, but little or no evidence that they ready to recognise them? How about their involvement? • Value of qualification achieved through RAC in the labour market? Patrick Werquin, Seminar on RNFIL, Ministry of Education and Training, Brussels, 31 January 2008

  24. Pending Issues • For example: still not clear to me whether it is a supply of demand driven RAC system? • Not all curricula are learning outcomes based (an issue for harmonisation and transparency for users) • Quality assurance (a must for social recognition, a necessary but not sufficient condition though) Patrick Werquin, Seminar on RNFIL, Ministry of Education and Training, Brussels, 31 January 2008

  25. Recognition or Validation • Currently the system seems more geared towards individual recognition rather than validation and social recognition: i.e. legal value rather social value (due to the approach by law?) • Therefore, there are pending questions: • Awareness about recognising is not creating skills, confusion between recognition and training? • Hesitation between a tool for job seekers or a tool for building personal and professional route? • Tool for individual or Human Resources Management? Patrick Werquin, Seminar on RNFIL, Ministry of Education and Training, Brussels, 31 January 2008

  26. Perspectives Patrick Werquin, Seminar on RNFIL, Ministry of Education and Training, Brussels, 31 January 2008

  27. Timing and Orientation/Vision • Right time and wrong time to run such an activity (??) • But it is true that you need time!! • Is Flanders heading towards: • A system combining the different types of qualifications: covering the sectors or activities where there is no qualification at the moment or offering mutual recognition? • A competitive system? • A system based on two steps : qualifications acquired in initial education and those based on competences? Patrick Werquin, Seminar on RNFIL, Ministry of Education and Training, Brussels, 31 January 2008

  28. Sustainability (1) • How to make the system sustainable after the first experimentations? • Which steps to take? • Which conditions to meet? • Who will pilot the system? • Who will guarantee it is sustainable (training, quality assurance, investment…)? Patrick Werquin, Seminar on RNFIL, Ministry of Education and Training, Brussels, 31 January 2008

  29. Sustainability (2) • Need for a critical mass? It may be necessary for institutions and staff involved: readiness, cost effectiveness (dissemination, tools…) • RAC understaffed? • Is there enough IAG (Information, advice and guidance) – Counselling • Communicate with the appropriate vocabulary (end uses) – Definitions (move away from jargon, CBR now clearer) • Harmonisation (a challenge also pointed out by Ecotec) Patrick Werquin, Seminar on RNFIL, Ministry of Education and Training, Brussels, 31 January 2008

  30. Conclusion • It seems cleat that Flemish Belgium is somewhat ahead of many comparable countries or regions: law, framework, clear programmes… • Interesting concepts in place: exemptions (tertiary ed.) • There is clearly a system • But it seems piecemeal and somewhat fragmented • Therefore: • Implementation remains not systematic • Results are limited in terms of mobilisation of institutions and impact on the population Patrick Werquin, Seminar on RNFIL, Ministry of Education and Training, Brussels, 31 January 2008

  31. Main Question(s) • Rather broad approach: mainly vocational skills but room for skills acquired beyond the workplace (voluntary work • But not comprehensive: filling the gaps for qualifications that the formal system does not deliver • Real question: two parallel [potentially competitive] systems, with the issue of lack of social recognition for the RAC certificates, or harmonisation? • In the latter case: role and involvement of Ministry of Education will have to be spelled out Patrick Werquin, Seminar on RNFIL, Ministry of Education and Training, Brussels, 31 January 2008

  32. Agenda • The OECD Activity(Definitions, Background) • Flemish Belgium(The OECD visit) • Some emerging issues(An international overview) Patrick Werquin, Seminar on RNFIL, Ministry of Education and Training, Brussels, 31 January 2008

  33. After Some Review Visits: Some Evidence (1) • Mexico, Norway, the Netherlands, Australia, Flemish Belgium, Hungary, Slovenia, Korea, Italy, Germany, Canada • Labour market experience vs. Life experience • Ex.: Iceland (nothing about working life, Slovenia: all about working life) • Importance of the economic context • Virtually no unemployment (Norway, Iceland) • Sustainability?? Scaling up ?? Usefulness?? • Qualifications framework: does it help? • Learning outcomes, EQF // Australia, Ireland, UK, South Africa... • See Bjørnåvold in Duvekot et al. (2007) Patrick Werquin, Seminar on RNFIL, Ministry of Education and Training, Brussels, 31 January 2008

  34. After Some Review Visits: Some Evidence (2) • Confusion between teachers and assessors, training? • Australia, Norway a bit better • Involvement of stakeholders: A Key Element • Norway // - if not: law (Flemish Belgium, Slovenia...) • Creation of intermediary qualification: Way out • Partial qualification • But also full qualification at intermediate level (Mexico) • Practical recognition vs. Formal recognition • Informal recognition  // - UK, Australia • Information and guidance • vs. Complexity // - All countries Patrick Werquin, Seminar on RNFIL, Ministry of Education and Training, Brussels, 31 January 2008

  35. After Some Review Visits: Some Evidence (3) • Need for a clear rationale and a [national] rhetoric • Is it always good to codify all kind of learning? • Why do countries want to do it??? • Lacking almost everywhere: Norway, Australia, Slovenia, Canada • Existence of, or need for, a legal framework • A lot of countries have one (Norway, Denmark, Flemish Belgium) • Standards for validating • Education vs. Labour market • Ownerships of the standards • Occupations standards to be up-to-date so that qualifications based on occupational standards do have value for employers Patrick Werquin, Seminar on RNFIL, Ministry of Education and Training, Brussels, 31 January 2008

  36. After Some Review Visits: Some Evidence (4) • The portfolio approach is blossoming • Competence Passport (Norway) – a page • ProfilPass (Germany) – a book • The Citizen Training Portfolio (Italy) • University of Leuven and others (Flanders) • Canada… • Momentum: speed of the reform somewhat surprising slow • Some pioneers (Canada, France…) still struggling with low take up • Quality assurance • All countries aware but not necessarily active in this field Patrick Werquin, Seminar on RNFIL, Ministry of Education and Training, Brussels, 31 January 2008

  37. m e r c i www.oecd.org/edu/lifelonglearning/nqs www.oecd.org/edu/recognition http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/10/2/38500491.pdf http://www.oecd.org/document/53/0,2340,en_2649_33723_38465013_1_1_1_1,00.html patrick.werquin@oecd.org

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