Trends in Drafting and upgrading Vocational Qualification Standards in Europe Magda Kirsch

1. Trends in Drafting and upgrading Vocational Qualification Standards in Europe Magda Kirsch EuropeAid/120164/D/SV/BG Vocational Qualification’ Project

2. Rationale • Globalisation • Increasing international competition • Changes in the demographic development and in the requirements of the labour market These are some of the key issues affecting a number of changes concerning the development of standards for VET Vocational Qualification’ Project

3. Trends • Better articulation with the labour market • Closer collaboration with industries • Standards but also QF expressed in terms of learning outcomes • Simplification of standards, • Integration of evaluation tool in the standard • Importance of career progression, • Importance of student guidance, • Link with NQF, credits, greater flexibility, partial qualifications Vocational Qualification’ Project

4. Better articulation with the labour market • Before drafting the standards a number of questions should be asked • What are the needs of the labour market? • Can education (formal, non-formal, informal) meet the needs of the labour market? • Are the graduates from VET prepared for the labour market? • Thus ensuring the employability of VET students. Vocational Qualification’ Project

5. Better collaboration with industry/the world of work • In drafting the standards • Upgrading the standards • Implementing the standards • In assessment • Certification • Quality control Vocational Qualification’ Project

6. Drafting the standards • Virtually everywhere a two-step approach • In all the countries (Bnl, Bfr, BG, D, UK …)studied the first step in drafting the standards for VET are the job/professional profiles or job descriptions. • In all countries studied, the sectors are involved in one way or another in drafting these job profiles/descriptions that are the basis for the training profiles or standards. Vocational Qualification’ Project

7. Drafting the standards (ctd.) • In drafting the standards • When job profiles are translated into training profiles or training standards (second step) they must be approved not only by the competent authorities but also by the sectors concerned. • Professional bodies in France can determine their own standards for training. These have to be approved by ministerial and sectoral committees. Vocational Qualification’ Project

8. Upgrading standards • In upgrading the standards • Rapid changes in society and changing needs of the labour market require new standards or upgrading of standards. • In all the countries (Bnl, Bfr, BG, D, IE, …)studied standards are (only) upgraded at the request of industry • It is also the world of work that will request the development of new standards. Vocational Qualification’ Project

9. Implementing standards • In a number of countries specific subjects teachers in VET are being (re)trained in collaboration with industry, • Competence – based and work-based VET models are implemented, • Industry will provide placements as well for teachers as for students, • Industry can provide or share infrastructure with training institutions • Standards developed by industry (e.g. Microsoft) are also implemented in education. Vocational Qualification’ Project

10. QA and certification • In Flanders industry is involved in the QA of Professional Bachelor courses through involvement in the SE of the institutions and through on site visits for external evaluation. • In France industry can be responsible for certification (after approval of the Ministries concerned). Vocational Qualification’ Project

11. Learning outcomes approach • Trend to define National Qualification frameworks /EQF in terms of learning outcomes/competencesthus they: • Can be used both by education and the labour market • Facilitate APEL • Enhance transparency Vocational Qualification’ Project

12. Learning outcomesapproach • Trend to define standards in terms of learning outcomes instead of learning inputthus: • Enhancing transparency and comparability of qualifications, • Emphasizing competences required at different qualification levels, • Giving the possibility of partial qualifications/ certifications. Vocational Qualification’ Project

13. Integrated assessment tool • Standards are a tool (criterion) to enable us to assess the effectiveness of the learning. They help us to assess whether the educational aims at a certain level and for a certain profession, training, module or subject have been achieved. • An evaluation tool will help us to check whether the learners have achieved this standard; • An evaluation tool will also guarantee that the standard will be implemented and assessed the same way nationwide. Vocational Qualification’ Project

14. Simplification of standards Need for simplification of the standards because of: • The ever more rapid changes on the labour market, making very detailed standards irrelevant or likely to be outdated very quickly, • Need for constant updating, • Need to speed up procedures, • Integrated learning outcomes approach, • Growing flexibilisation of learning pathways, • Recognition/Accreditation of Prior (experiential) Learning (APEL). Vocational Qualification’ Project

15. Simplification of standards: How? • Professional profile or job description is no longer part of the standard – different approaches • Standard for training is separate from professional profile or sector profile • Standard is in fact the simplified version of the professional profile, • Only one standard for training providers and industry, (not everybody agrees) • Focus on key competences, no longer longs lists of tasks, • Standards linked to professional titles, especially for adult education focusing mainly on skills; • Standards for partial qualifications/ certifications used as building blocks towards full qualification. Vocational Qualification’ Project

16. Simplification of standards A practical example : • In Flanders the new decree on the professional title is linked to the development of simplified standards, • The professional title can be acquired by professionals who have had no formal training, • Service centres will be established that can valorise and certify the competences of people who have competences but no qualifications for the labour market, • These competences will be assessed using the new simplified standards. Vocational Qualification’ Project

17. Implications of these trends • Modularisation and flexibilisation of VET (as is already the case in some VET schools in Bulgaria – PHARE-project), • Use of ECVET credits, • New methodologies in education such as project-based learning, work-based learning etc. • New assessment methodologies, adapted to these new didactical approaches • Growing importance of QA with the stress on self-evaluation. Vocational Qualification’ Project

18. Growing importance of QA in VET: A Common QA framework • Designed by TWG to support the development and, where necessary, the reform of quality systems in VET, in MS. • Provides a common reference system to improve, monitor and evaluate their own policies and practices in the field of QA. • Consists of a model based on PDCA quality cycle, a method (mainly self-evaluation), a monitoring system combined with peer review and a measurement tool. Vocational Qualification’ Project

19. Common QualityAssurance Framework (CQAF) • Assessment and review • Self-assessment, combined with periodic external monitoring by an independent and appropriate third party body, considered as a relevant method/tool to assess and evaluate quality, and to ensure and develop quality at system and provider levels. • The TWG has devised sample self-assessment guidelines for both levels, as a European guide. Vocational Qualification’ Project

20. Trends in QA in VET • Self-assessment • A number of countries such has Ireland, Romania, Italy, Denmark, Sweden, Flanders, the UK etc. have introduced self-assessment. • In certain countries like Denmark the focus is entirely on self-assessment and there is hardly any external assessment or audit in place. Probably due to the important involvement of Social partners in the VET system and on a ‘mutual trust’ consensus. Vocational Qualification’ Project

21. Trends in QA in VET • Self-assessment • Flanders: secondary education • Self assessment linked to audits once every six years. Focus on local autonomy,equal opportunities and transparency. • Flanders: college-sector (professional Bachelor) • Annual self-assessment of providers linked to external audit once every 8 years. (the results of the latter are linked to accreditation) Vocational Qualification’ Project

22. References • 'Copenhagen Process‘, Quality Assurance in VET, Technical Working Group Progress Report, December 2004 • http://www.oph.fi/info/qa/vet/auditory/Oliveira%20Reis%2010.2.05,%20Opening%20Ceremony%20Copenhagen%20process%20and%20European%20co-operation.pdf, • Lise-Lotte Ravnmark, ‘An European Guide on Self-assessment for VET providers’, September 2003. Vocational Qualification’ Project