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About Valiguide

The ValiGuide offers a wide-ranging sample of materials, guidance and recommendations for practitioners working on the validation of adults’ non-formal and informal prior learning. The aim of ValiGuide is to contribute to the professionalization of the entire validation process as well as to each single validation stage, thus contributing to the promotion of the validation of non-formal and informal competences for adults.

The aim:

  • Inspiration
  • Knowledge and competence development across the Nordic countries
  • A strong focus on “how to” and awareness of challenges to be met

The project behind ValiGuide

The ValiGuide website is the main product of the Competence-pro project, linked to the Nordic Expert Network for Validation (NVL) and financed under the Nordplus programme, Adult 2015. The Competence-pro project builds on the previous project, Nordic Competence profiles and Competence development for VPL practitioners, also financed under the Nordplus Adult programme.

The perspectives of ValiGuide

ValiGuide is developed within the following overall perspectives:

1. The Nordic approach which emphasizes the benefits and preconditions

  • VPL encompasses formal, non-formal and informal learning and thus the term validation of prior learning (VPL) is used.
  • The tradition of strong adult education, strong labour unions and the political focus on social inclusion
  • The Nordic countries have a strong third sector and non-formal adult education is well established.
  • Lifelong Learning is structured, easily accessible and mostly publicly funded.
  • VPL is mainly used for access to and customizing of education, in addition to enhancing the individuals’ opportunities in the labour market.
  • The individual is at the centre of the VPL process and VPL is considered to be a learning process which promotes empowerment and social inclusion.

2. The inclusion aspect in the individual’s validation process sets requirements to coherency and continuity in providers’ VPL arrangements

  • VPL is considered to be a coherent process throughout the VPL stages
  • Strong guidance resources must be at hand for the individual in the VPL process
  • Coordination of VPL stages, together with stakeholders and other cooperation partners
  • Professionalization in terms of VPL practitioners’ competences
  • The EU perspective of VPL as a consistent process for the individual, comprising four VPL stages
  • EU recommendations and suggestions for the member states’ development of VPL systems or arrangements, in order to enhance the degree to which individuals’ benefit from VPL
  • The ValiGuide uses the EU concepts for the validation stages.
  • These perspectives are reflected in the structure of ValiGuide, for the four stage VPL arrangement, thus following the suggested stages and other recommendations of the European Council’s Recommendations, 2012, and European Guidelines for VPL, 2015.

Project partners

The Competence-pro is carried out by the following partners:

  • Coordinating institution, VIA-University College, NVR, Programme for Validation of Prior Learning, Denmark
  • Swedish National Agency for Higher Vocational Education, Sweden
  • Education and Training Centre, Iceland
  • VOX, Norwegian Agency for Lifelong Learning, Norway

Apart from, and in addition to the project partnership, inspiration for the development of ValiGuide is provided by validation expert, Anni Karttunen, Finland.