Report - Salto

Bridges for Recognition | Hot Issues discussion groups
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3. Validation methodologies and quality assurance: making standards a reality in practice
Validation is wider than accreditation. Equally, Youth organisations could validate skills acquired
outside Youth activities or developed through Youth activities. Accreditation of skills acquired
through Youth activities, however, is an important mechanism to show the added value of Youth
work and the contribution of Youth organisations to developing a wide range of skills for young
people. What instruments and validation methodologies can Youth organisations employ to
assess that a person really did acquire new skills within the context of its activities? To take it
a step further, how can fraud be avoided in this field? –e.g. how can it be avoided that people
claim that they have acquired skills through the membership/work of a Youth organisation on
their CV falsely? In formal institutions records of performance are kept, but similar records are
not available in a Youth work context.
4. Validation of non-formal learning and equality
The danger exists that validation of non-formal education will benefit the young people who
have already extensively benefited from formal education and exclude the less educated, who
could benefit greatly from validation initiatives –in terms of self-esteem, career prospects,
further education, etc. It is important that these groups are not excluded for reasons of social
justice and also economic performance –E.g. validation will increase their employability and
their possibilities for life-long learning which would increase their productivity in the longterm.
How can these groups be reached to ensure that all young people can benefit equally from
validation of non-formal and informal learning? Are some methodologies better suited than
others to stimulate participation by groups, for example, which have had bad experiences in the
formal education system?
This point 4 was discussed in the Hot Issue discussion group ‘The Creaming Effect – Recognition
and Equality’ (with Kathy Schroeder)