CVDC (BE-FR): The field trials are in full swing

The Consortium de validation des compétences (CVDC) is currently conducting field trials as part of the Erasmus+ project TRANSVAL-EU in several of its validation Centers. One of these Centers is the CESEP in Nivelles, which is an external site of the IFAPME in Charleroi for the validation of competences for the occupation of administrative employee, as well as a recognised continuing education organisation and a socio-professional integration body.

Another Center involved in the field trials is the IFAPME Namur-Brabant wallon, a Center that organizes validation tests for the occupation of roofer, as well as training programmes leading to qualifications.

As already explained in a previous article, transversal competences are rather implicit in the validation frameworks and not certified as such. Therefore, our focus during the field trials is the guidance process that can allow a better identification of transversal competences in connection to the task that the candidate needs to perform during the practical test. Our hypothesis is that better identifying these competences might increase the candidate’s chance to pass the practical test.

After the national trainings that took place in each Center (step 1), several workshops were organized (step 2) that focused on identifying the transversal competences in connection with the practical test for administrative employee and roofer. These competences were also positioned in the European Qualifications Framework. For the occupation of administrative employee, here are some of the transversal competences identified by the practitioners of the CESEP in Nivelles and IFAPME in Charleroi: managing and organizing activities, reacting to the unforeseen, using oral communication in one or several languages, taking professional, social and cultural norms into account, using written communication in one or several languages, communicating using digital technologies, managing information. Once identified, the candidates were asked to self-assess their transversal competences (step 3) which allowed the practitioners to integrate them in the guidance process (in the pre- and post- test guidance interview, step 4) through the positioning tool (step 5), which is work in progress.

As far as the occupation of roofer is concerned, some of the competences that were identified and positioned by the validation practitioners of the IFAPME Namur-Brabant wallon were:  managing and organizing activities, reacting to the unforeseen, resource management, using oral communication in one or several languages, using written communication in one or several languages, managing information. The identification of the transversal competences was followed by a reflection stage on how they might be integrated in the guidance process. Therefore, a positioning tool for the pre-test guidance interview was created at IFAPME Namur-Brabant wallon that integrates the transversal competences and that was tested with several candidates during guidance. The tool is currently being refined and a second version will be tested.

Special thanks go to the CESEP in Nivelles, the IFAPME in Charleroi and the IFAPME Namur-Brabant wallon (Gembloux site), the first Centers that joined the field trials, for their interest in the project, as well as for their enthusiasm for integrating the transversal competences in the guidance process.

To be continued for an update on the work in the other validation Centers that have joined the field trials in the meantime.