validating competences gained through non-formal education and volunteering viljami hätönen guides...
TRANSCRIPT
Validating competences gained through non-formal education and
volunteering Viljami Hätönen
Guides and Scouts of Finland
Meaningful competences for tomorrow’s needs
Background
• Quality education is needed for Europe to develop and prosper
• European Qualifications Framework (2012)– Recommendation to validate non-formal and
informal education in Europe by 2018– Levelling formal degrees and competences gained
in non-formal settings (scale: primary – doctorate)
Validation”Validation is a process where demonstrated and/or documented
evidence of a volunteer’s competencies or achievements are assessed against a commonly agreed set of criteria to assure their quality matches
these criteria, and are then documented.”• What’s in it for the volunteers?
– Personal development, employability, increasing the quality of voluntary work
• What’s in it for the organizations?– Motivation & engagement, professionalisation of the NGO, data regarding the
involvement and quality of voluntary activities
• What’s in it for the employers?– Alternative for professional training, motivated and skilled employees
• What’s in it for the formal education?– Taking classroom learning into action, added value in developing competences
Case: Guides and Scouts of Finland
• Validation programme launched in 2013– Phase 1: Training system– Phase 2: Volunteering positions
• Goal is to ensure the quality of volunteering, Training system and keep Scouting relevant as a volunteering opportunity
Training system validation
• Core content analysis– Each training module’s content is reviewed and
split into three categories: MUST know, SHOULD know, NICE to know
• Measurement and points (ECTS)– The workload of the volunteer is measured in
hours and transformed to ECTS points• (Yes, sounds a bit like school but learning has never been this fun!)
Training system validation
• Modeling the learning outcomes– Clearly defined learning outcomes– The objective is achievable and measurable– The objective is expressed in a simple way:• ”The person can… /…is able to…”• Absolutely not: ”understands” / ”comprehends” /
”knows” / ”has familiarized” – These are more about the educational objectives than a
subjective learning outcome
Training system validation
• Assessing the learning– Portfolio, CV, video, interview, Empower Yourself,
competence diary, Europass, tests, essays, group talks, etc.
• Certification– A well-documented process can be validated with
a formal certificate– Our partner is the OK Study Center
Volunteer position validation
• Much harder work due to variance in content, quality, engagement, etc.
• Piloting at the Finjamboree Roihu 2016• Process quite about the same as in Training
system validation– But first we need to define what are the
competences gained in Scouting
Competences/skills gained in Scouting
Understanding Self Understanding Others
• Ethical• Innovation• Self-development
• Mentoring / coaching• International & intercultural• Communication
Undertanding Society Understanding Environment
• Value-based leadership• Security• Organizational
• Nature• Sustainable development
• It’s still a draft, working hard on it :)• There are also lot of practical or ”hard” skills, but they are more of a by-product
Where’s your NSA at?
Discussion!
