Validation in the youth field: why and what for?
Youth organisations provide learning opportunities that offer numerous young people a space to develop key competences for life. Recognising the value of youth organisations as quality education providers, as well as their impact on young people’s competences development, is a necessary step in implementing lifelong learning policies and ensuring quality education is accessible to everyone in different settings. Recognition relates both to the individual – as a means to gain self-awareness and feel empowered about their capacities and abilities – as well as to external stakeholders (such as formal education institutions, employers and societal actors at large), as a means to foster opportunities to build synergies and establish cooperation among them. By offering the opportunity to get competences acquired through non-formal education validated, young people are given the opportunity to obtain proof of these competences and to use them in other spheres of their life.
The validation process can have multiple effects for the individual as well as for youth organisations and society at large.
Individual benefits: For a young person, recognising and validating the competences gained in youth organisations can contribute to increasing their awareness of and confidence in their capacities, while reinvigorating their self-esteem and motivation to learn. Making their learning outcomes tangible and visible helps them become aware of their learning experiences in youth work/volunteering while improving their communication skills when presenting their strengths to others. This process also represents an acknowledgement of their role and often long-term engagement in the organisation.
As a result, validation may lead to new opportunities to enter into a (new) learning path in formal education (for instance, for those who have dropped-out of school or for the so-called NEETs (those not in employment, education or training) or to get awarded exemptions and/or credits for formal education studies. In the sphere of the labour market, the recognition and validation of non-formal education can provide more opportunities for young people to take up a (new) job; through validation they can prove to their future employer that they have the required competences, and give visibility to how youth organisations helped them develop those. This process can also reinforce their capacity to clearly present the competences they have and how they are linked to the job opening. Altogether recognition and validation contributes to enhancing young people’s employability as well as their mobility.
Overall, this process empowers the young person to become a life-long learner who is aware of the value of developing key competences in order to live a fulfilled life, both in the professional as well as social and personal sphere. Being aware of what you are capable of can reinforce your position in society, promoting more active citizenship4.
Youth organisations’ benefits: validation is an opportunity to give visibility and recognition to the educational role of youth organisations and their impact on young people’s competence development. This can lead to increased recognition of the youth sector by external stakeholders, including formal education institutions, policy-makers, public authorities, employers, etc. As a result, cooperation mechanisms and partnerships may be developed, and new funding opportunities may be offered to support youth organisations in providing learning opportunities. Those working with young people report that some students do not engage in exchange programmes because they are not valued/recognised by their schools/universities. Adherence of formal education institutions to validation can increase the chances and motivation of young people to engage in learning opportunities in a youth organisation. An additional positive impact of validation on youth organisations relates to impact. This process can contribute to proving the long-term impact of being engaged in youth work.
Societal benefits: The knock-on impact of validation can be felt in society at large. If widely practiced and embraced by all stakeholders, validation can lead to lifelong learning societies where education is valued and fostered in all its dimensions. This generates trust in all education systems, including non-formal, and fosters a culture of cooperation and complementarity between all education providers, thus increasing access to and the quality of education. Validation also touches upon the economy and progress. Research shows that a learning society correlates to innovation and development, leading to a more mobile and inclusive society. The success of the validation process will depend on its capacity to respond to young people’s needs, while respecting the way non-formal education is provided by youth organisations.
Validation in the youth field: potential beneficiaries There are several ways in which a young person can be involved in youth organisations. Whether they are volunteers or paid staff, youth workers/leaders, trainers or participants, they are all potential beneficiaries of validation. For youth workers/leaders and trainers going through a process of validation, it can offer proof of their competences to work with young people and open up a door to gain a formal qualification in this field. In countries where there are no higher-education studies in this field, this can enhance the employability of the youth worker, particularly if moving to another country. This also applies to volunteers, who can find a new career opportunity thanks to the competences acquired in a youth organisation. Young people participating in activities run by a youth organisation can also benefit from engaging in a validation process by increasing their self-awareness of the competences they have and boosting their motivation to continue learning. Validating their competences may also trigger a reflection on the study or career opportunities they wish to pursue.
Validation, a milestone for recognition of NFE and lifelong learning Validation offers the opportunity to take a holistic approach to education by acknowledging the contribution of nonformal education to the development of key competences and, in turn, the complementarity between formal and non-formal education. Validation can contribute to putting lifelong and life-wide learning policies into practice, opening the door for further cooperation between different education providers. For validation to support the advancement of recognition of NFE, the arrangements developed need to take into account the nature of the context in which the competences subject to validation have been developed. This means adjusting the process to the specific characteristics of the non-formal education setting, instead of forcing a change in the way it is provided.
Validation is an investment Developing validation arrangements at national level will provide young people with an opportunity to give value to the competences they have acquired outside formal education. This will contribute to their employability, supporting their transition from education to employment; it will also have a positive impact on their self-confidence and their chances to (re)enter education and, in turn, engage actively in civic and political life. Altogether validation represents a high return on investment in terms of social welfare, social inclusion, participation and well-being. Validation is a means to both reach out to a wider population by offering an alternative path and to integrate disadvantaged groups socially and economically. Sufficient funding needs to be secured to effectively support the implementation of validation. More than occupational competences: validation is also about transversal competences Validation includes the wide range of “knowledge, skills and competences” acquired through non-formal and informal learning, as captured in the Recommendation. Therefore, the focus of validation goes beyond occupational competences acquired in the workplace or through VET; it encompasses transversal competences, including personal and social. A learning outcomes approach to validation can support validation of such type of competences. The European Key Competences framework for lifelong learning should serve as a reference in this process.
Literature
European Youth Forum
VALIDATION OF NON-FORMAL EDUCATION IN THE YOUTH SECTOR: KEY SUCCESS FACTORS & RECOMMENDATIONS