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EVC guidance and tools
Ditte Kimps
Expert in Education & Lifelong Learning
"The tools designed for this assignment appear to be widely applicable, including outside EVC."
The challenge
EVC stands for ‘erkennen van verworven competenties’ (validation of nonformal and informal learning). By having your experience recognised, you can find work, change jobs, continue studying, develop personally… The procedure of recognising competences is worked out in an EVC pathway that contains four steps: identifying, documenting, assessing and certifying. Assessing competences is done via assessment (exam, test, screening, interview) in an EVC test centre, such as CVOs (adult education centres) and VDAB. Those following an EVC pathway receive the necessary information and guidance. For example, it is checked whether the candidate is ready for the EVC pathway, or whether it is advisable to take a (shortened) training course. The way in which the guidance should take place is not laid down in regulations (but the assessment is). This study was used to identify practices and possible needs.
The process & results
Through the first study, we identified the guidance in EVC test centres and the use and needs of tools. With this knowledge, we then worked with AP University of Applied Sciences and Arts Antwerp to develop tools to support supervisors and candidates in EVC pathways. The aim of the first study was to map guidance during EVC in accredited EVC centres. The study focused on 3 parts: (1) inventory and analysis of existing tools and methodologies, (2) organisational model of the centres, (3) tutoring of EVC candidates. Based on the analysis, the model and good practices, we formulated recommendations for Flemish accredited test centres. During that research, we identified 9 principles the tools and methodologies of EVC guidance should comply with, viz. reliable and unambiguous, ownership and self-reflection, tailored to individual, accessible and inclusive, cost-efficient, transparent and transferable, confidential, impartial and fair.
Based on the initial research and keeping in mind the 9 principles, the follow-up research aimed to design tools for guidance during EVC in accredited EVC centres, and create content for web pages for organisations that identify and refer potential candidates to EVC centres via the Vlaanderen.be website. We – IDEA Consult and RELLI of AP University of Applied Sciences and Arts Antwerp – used Educational Design Research (EDR) and Service Design methodology as methodological frameworks to develop tools and materials in a research-informed way. The tools were created based on desk research, conceptual exploration, internal working session(s), (exploratory) interviews, workshops and steering committee sessions. These were conceived mainly cyclically and happened in different phases. In the first phase, based on the previous research, we came up with 16 concepts for tools and tested them through exploratory interviews with users and stakeholders. From the different concepts, 5 concepts were chosen to be further developed into prototypes: 3 for candidates and supervisors and 2 for tutors. In phase two, the prototypes were elaborated and presented to different stakeholders through workshops. After feedback from the stakeholders, the prototypes were further developed into final products, namely a portfolio, GROW, reflection box, web pages for tutors with elaborated cases and a prescreening tool.