The Guidance and Validation Practitioners’ Competence Profile

A number of Competence Profiles exist for the Validation and Guidance Practitioners, such as the Nordic Competence Profiles of Validation Practitioners and Competence Development[1], together with ValiGuide, the Nordic platform for validation practitioners[2], or IMPROVE – Guide for Validation of Career Guidance Practitioners’ Competence[3]. At the same time, validation and guidance practitioners are at the center of numerous researches nowadays: CEDEFOP’s Research paper “Coordinating guidance and validation”[4], Educational Research Institute (IBE)’s “Contribution to the development of the competence profiles of validation practitioners for the TRANSVAL-EU project”[5] or FORMA.Azione and Pluriversum’s “Contribution on the IVC (Identification, Validation, Certification) system and practitioners’ training and competences required (legal point of view) – the Umbria Region system”[6], to cite just a few.

This plethora of researches, policies and papers is a reflection of the shifts taking place within our societies, as well as of their need to constantly adapt and meet the economic, social and/or environmental challenges that we face nowadays. Therefore a key question would be: why another Competence Profile? Together with the Transversal Competence Framework, the Guidance and Validation Practitioners’ Competence Profile (in relation to transversal competences) is one of the deliverables of Transval-EU. The aim of designing such a profile was not only to feed the European Training taking place in May 2022 that is addressed to validation and guidance practitioners, as part of the activities within Transval-EU that prepare the field trials. The innovation brought by the Competence Profile is that it focuses specifically on the way in which validation and guidance practitioners understand and apply transversal competences in their practice, in all the phases of the validation process and during guidance. The partners taking part in the work designed it with this idea in mind as to respond to a broad range of contexts, but according to the specific needs, interests, etc.

In terms of structure, the Competence Profile is structured into:

  1. a) more general transversal competences of guidance and validation practitioners, which are applicable in different validation stages and for different purposes (e.g. working with validation candidates, working with colleagues, for organisational purposes, for one’s own further development);
  2. b) technical competences related to the use of concrete tools, methods and techniques, etc. at (a) specific validation stage(s)
  3. c) competences specifically used for validating transversal skills / guiding candidates through the identification, understanding, documentation, etc. of their own transversal competences.

            The Competence Profile stands out by its focus on transversal competences. Moreover, it is in line with recent developments in terms of policies, orientations and aims at European and international level and in relation to the needs of the labour market, as well as to more individual lifelong learning aspirations.

References:

[1] https://nvl.org/content/nordic-competence-profiles-for-validation-staff, retrieved November 4, 2021.

[2] https://nvl.org/valiguide/, retrieved November 4, 2021.

[3]https://www.academia.edu/10010605/IMPROVE_Guide_for_Validation_of_Career_Guidance_Practitioners_Competence, retrieved November 3, 2021.

[4] Cedefop (2019). Coordinating guidance and validation. Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union. Cedefop research paper; No 75. http://data.europa.eu/doi/10.2801/801290, retrieved November 4, 2021.

[5] Wójcicka A., Fijałkowska B. (2021). Contribution to the development of the competence profiles of validation practitioners for the TRANSVAL-EU project. Warsaw: Educational Research Institute (unpublished).

[6]https://www.regione.umbria.it/documents/18/2272475/Allegato+A%29.pdf/2bccbc1c-dc8d-48e9-8bea946ba1ea624d?version=1.0, https://www.arpalumbria.it/sistema-certificazione-delle-competenze#, retrieved January 27, 2022.