ESVaC European Scheme for Validation of competences

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ESVaC European Scheme for Validation of
competences
Firenze, 18 Settembre 2007 - Roberto Frega
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ESVaC The Region Partners
Regione Toscana Direzione generale delle
politiche formative, beni e attività
culturali Settore FSE Sistema della formazione e
dellorientamento

• Toscana (Italy)
• Wales (United Kingdom)
• Catalunya (Spain)
• Rhineland-Palatinat (Germany)
• Vastra-Gotaland (Sweden)

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ESVaC The Aims of the Project
Regione Toscana Direzione generale delle
politiche formative, beni e attività
culturali Settore FSE Sistema della formazione e
dellorientamento

• To search for solutions that could
• improve the mobility of individuals
• foster mutual recognition of certificates
  delivered in different Countries
• Through the construction of a common scheme for
  transparency based on the shared adoption of a
  set of quality assurance criteria concerning the
  certification processes in VET

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ESVaC The Leading Principles
Regione Toscana Direzione generale delle
politiche formative, beni e attività
culturali Settore FSE Sistema della formazione e
dellorientamento

• Awareness of the importance of a single framework
  for transparency of qualifications as condition
  of mobility and employability
• Focus on the processes of recognition of
  professional qualifications used by the different
  regions, countries and systems instead of on
  certificates constituting their final result
• Keeping the formal and non formal dimension
  strictly linked since they are considered
  independent routes of equal level to obtain
  professional qualifications.
• Interest in the comparative dimension based on
  the identification of common analysis criteria to
  be applied to validation and certification
  procedures related to the issue of professional
  qualifications
• Priority attention to modularization of pathways
  and to its impact in terms of certification
  procedures
• Priority of the concept of competence as
  operational basis for the comparison.

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ESVaC The Action Plan
Regione Toscana Direzione generale delle
politiche formative, beni e attività
culturali Settore FSE Sistema della formazione e
dellorientamento

• i. Research on the regional certification and
  validation systems
• survey of the regional VET systems and their
  characteristics, with focus on the formal and non
  formal processes of certification
• Identification of the common elements shared by
  the VET systems of the Regions involved in the
  project
• ii. Pilot projects of experimentation and/or
  local survey
• Comparison at local level
• Testing of the Scheme
• iii. Identification of the Scheme

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ESVaC supporting the construction of a european
common framework for VET
Regione Toscana Direzione generale delle
politiche formative, beni e attività
culturali Settore FSE Sistema della formazione e
dellorientamento

• EQF as a metaframework
• 8 levels for the learning outcomes
• ECTS
• Quality criteria for fostering mutual trust

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ESVaC supporting the construction of a european
common framework for VET
Regione Toscana Direzione generale delle
politiche formative, beni e attività
culturali Settore FSE Sistema della formazione e
dellorientamento

• Quality criteria mutual trust
• Quality Assurance
• Validation of formal and non formal learning
• Counseling and guidance
• Key competences

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ESVaC supporting the construction of a european
common framework for VET
Regione Toscana Direzione generale delle
politiche formative, beni e attività
culturali Settore FSE Sistema della formazione e
dellorientamento

• ESVaC not a new QA system but a device for
  supporting the cooperation among Regions and
  States
• A focus on a specific subprocess of VET
• From certificates to certification

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From QA to their preconditions
Regione Toscana Direzione generale delle
politiche formative, beni e attività
culturali Settore FSE Sistema della formazione e
dellorientamento

• Focus on the institutional dimension
• Certification as a multilayered and multiagent
  process
• Focus on factors that have the highest impact on
  the final result of the process of certification
• Aim to make explicit what lies behind a VET
  certificate
• Transparency, expliciteness and mutual trust as
  preconditions for quality assurance in VET

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The process of certification
Definition of the learning outcomes
Identification of the professional standard
Guidance and information
Evaluation procedure
Certification of final results
Monitoring of the process
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The process of certification
The common denominator ESVac as a set of
criteria shared by all the partners
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The process of certification
Step 1 Identification of the professional
standard
A system of professional standards describes,
according to definite methods, the vocational
contents characterizing the various professions.
Its function is to supply a common criterion
shared by all players of the education and
training system that constitutes the benchmark
for the definition of learning objectives and
aims at guaranteeing the homogeneity and quality
of the professional competences of people with
the same qualification.
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The process of certification
Step 1 Identification of the professional
standard common traits

• The identification of the professional standards
  is in charge of competent bodies that are
  expression of the labor market (social parts,
  chambers, local institutions, ecc.).
• The professional standard are defined at a high
  level (mostly national) and constitute a
  reference for all the training, certification and
  validation activities.
• They are regularly updated and improved.
• They describe the profession in terms of the
  activities to be performed (can do statements)
  or in terms of the competences to be held

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The process of certification
Step 2 Definition of the learning objectives
Learning outcomes define the results that
learners must achieve at the end of an education
or vocational training pathway. Such outcomes
describe the knowledge and skills that the
training pathway intends to develop. In the
education and vocational training systems, the
vocationally-oriented learning outcomes can make
reference to the specific features of the
professional activity which is the object of
learning. This factor constitutes a quality
criterion since it assures a strict correlation
between learning subjects and the real contents
of the job.
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The process of certification
Step 2 Definition of the learning objectives
common traits

• Vocational learning objects are strictly derived
  by the professional standard.
• Vocational learning objects normally are
  expressed in terms of competences.
• Vocational learning objects tend to define the
  kind of performances that should be observed in
  the assessment procedure.
• Learning objects are divided into smaller units
  that are the simple reference for the evaluation
  and certification activities (units, credits,
  units of competence, modules)

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The process of certification
Step 3 Information and guidance
Their function is to facilitate the integration
between the features and expectations of a
student and the conditions of delivery of the
training activity. They aim at facilitating the
transition towards the training system
(information and analysis of the entry
competencies), at maximizing learning
opportunities within the training pathway
(solution of problems, personalization of
pathways, learning focus on specific themes) and
at fostering transition towards the world of work
(guidance to work). The presence of information
and guidance services constitutes a quality
criterion since they increase the efficacy of the
training service as well as students
opportunities of learning and employment seeking.
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The process of certification
Step 3 Information and guidance common traits

• Learners are offered guidance both at the
  beginning and during their course in order to
• Better understand their needs
• Better choose their path.

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The process of certification
Step 4 Evaluation procedure

• Evaluation procedures denote all activities
  carried out in order to check students learning,
  both during and at the end of a training pathway.
  
• The objective of these procedures is to provide
  students and teachers with a monitoring mechanism
  relating to the actual learning processes and to
  give detailed and reliable information on the
  competences possessed by the people having
  completed a certain pathway.
• The presence of transparent and reliable
  evaluation procedures constitutes a quality
  criterion since it is a condition for the
  capitalization of training credits and since it
  is an indicator of the efficacy of the training
  pathway.

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The process of certification
Step 4 Evaluation procedure common traits

• Evaluations takes place at an intermediate level
  (the unit, course, module level).
• The reference unit for the evaluation is the
  module (or unit, or credit, or course) which is
  strictly related to a professional unit,
  describing the competences to be acquired
• The evaluation procedure is usually defined and
  implemented at a very local level.
• What is shared and common throughout all the
  courses are the performance criteria to be met.

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The process of certification
Step 5 Certification of final results
Certification is the process through which the
public body or other authorized body awards,
after check tests, a formal certificate showing
the individuals mastery of particular
competences. Certification is issued to give
recognition and guarantee to the results of a
learning pathway. The existence of independent
and credible certification procedures constitutes
a quality criterion since it increases the
exploitability of qualifications in the labour
market.
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The process of certification
Step 5 Certification of final results common
traits

• Certification is delivered either by private or
  public institutions that guarantees the validity
  of the certificate
• In most of the cases, the assessors are external
  to the teaching/training institution

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The process of certification
Step 7 Monitoring and review

• Monitoring and review are check functions that
  can be activated at all levels of the training
  process.
• Their function is to guarantee the updating of
  procedures and products and to verify that the
  running of processes is consistent with the given
  instructions.
• The presence, at all levels of the training
  process (from step 1 to step 5), of monitoring
  and review procedures constitutes a quality
  criterion since it guarantees that the outcomes
  of processes correspond to the expected quality
  levels.

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The process of certification
Step 7 Monitoring and review common traits

• Professional standard are regularly updated
  (every 5 years on average)
• Learning outcome are regularly updated
• No monitoring takes place for the guidance
  services
• In most of the cases, the assessors are external
  to the teaching/training institutions
• Final certification is delivered either by
  private or public institutions that guarantees
  the validity of the certificate

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Strong common points shared by the Region partners

• Professional standard as unifying reference
  criteria
• The unitization (modularization) of both
  professional standard and learning outcomes
• Performance criteria easily understandable from
  country to country

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The ESVaC Scheme

• A benchmark for increasing the quality of
  certification processes
• A support for facilitating multilateral agreement
  among Regions or Countries
• A normative standard to be voluntary adopted
  (Quality Circle)

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The ESVaC Scheme

• 1 Identification of the professional standards
• Professional standards describe the professions
  in terms of the activities to be performed (can
  do statements) and/or in terms of the
  competences to be held
• The professional standard should constitute the
  unique professional reference for all the
  training, certification and validation
  activities.
• The process of definition of the professional
  standards has to be accomplished by players which
  are expression of the sectoral fields.
• Identification and definition of professional
  standard should follow from an adequate analysis
  of work processes.
• The professional standards should be defined at a
  high institutional level (preferably national).

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The ESVaC Scheme

• 2 Definition of the learning outcomes
• Vocational learning outcomes has to be derived by
  the professional standard.
• Vocational learning outcomes has to be expressed
  in terms of the competences needed in order to
  accomplish the professional tasks indicated in
  the professional standard.
• Vocational learning outcomes has to be connected
  to clearly identifiable and observable
  performances that will be observed in the
  assessment procedure.
• Learning outcomes has to be organized into small
  unit/modules that constitute the reference for
  the evaluation and certification activities

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The ESVaC Scheme

• 3 Information and guidance
• Learners should be offered guidance during the
  entire course of study in order to better
  understand their needs, better choose their path
  and support the transition toward the labour
  market.
• Guidance should be al least partly be provided on
  individual basis.
• Guidance should be considered as an opportunity
  for strengthening the reflective and
  self-evaluative competence of learners.

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The ESVaC Scheme

• 4 Evaluation procedure
• The reference unit for the evaluation is the
  unit/module which has to be strictly related to a
  professional unit included in the professional
  standard, describing the competences to be
  acquired in order to accomplish the tasks related
  to the professional unit.
• Evaluation of professional competence should be
  done according to performance criteria that has
  to be defined at a high institutional level,
  preferably national or regional.
• There should be intermediate evaluation aiming at
  assessing the mastery of competences relating to
  every specific unit/module.
• Intermediate evaluations have to relate the
  learning outcome to competence units which are
  expression of the professional standard
• Final examination must be held by independent
  bodies (or by commissions composed by a majority
  of external assessors).
• Final examination should include a practical exam
  that should verify the global competence in
  realizing the work performances defined into the
  professional standard taken as reference.
• Assessors should be certified or have received a
  specific training.
• Assessing bodies should include experts of the
  sectoral field involved and experts of evaluation.

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The ESVaC Scheme

• 5 Certification of final results
• Certificates have to be delivered by bodies
  (either private or public institutions) that are
  in a position to guarantee the validity of the
  certificate.
• Vocational certificates must be related to the
  professional standards and must express the
  degree of correspondence to such standards
• Vocational certificates might be
  expressed/translated into EQF language
  (transparency conditions)

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The ESVaC Scheme

• 6 Monitoring and review
• Professional standards has to be updated and
  improved on a regular basis (every 2-4 years and
  in case of dramatic changes in the work processes
  or in the market).
• Learning outcomes has to be updated according to
  variation in occupational standard and other
  parameters (eg. new standards for key
  qualifications) on a regular basis (every 2-4
  years and in case of relevant changes in
  methodology or cultural/social conditions)
• Guidance services should be monitored.
• Entitlement of individuals in accomplishing
  specific tasks (eg. assessors, guidance
  counsellors, teachers) should be regularly
  monitored.
• Quality assurance of vocational pathway should be
  monitored with reference to customer
  satisfaction, rate of employment after completing
  the pathway and stakeholders (especially
  enterprises) feedback on the quality of the
  training provided.
• Monitoring and review should be a strategic
  leverage to be used by relevant institutions (eg.
  Ministries and Chambers) for policy making in the
  VET system.
• Final certification has to be delivered either by
  private or public independent bodies that
  guarantee the validity of the certificate.

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ESVaC on the web
WWW.esvac.eu Web site self assessment
application