NonFormal Education

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Non-Formal Education

• Towards new challenges

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What is Non-Formal Education?

• The term and the concept of Non-Formal
  Education (NFE) has appeared for the first time
  in the year 1967, at the Conference on the World
  Educational Crisis, organised by UNESCO under the
  direction of P.H. Coombs.

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In 1967

• it meant any organised, systematic,
  educational activity carried on outside the
  framework of the formal system to provide
  selected types of learning to particular
  subgroups in the population, adults as well as
  children 
•  

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Today and for the YFJ

• NFE is an organised process giving individuals
  the possibility to develop their competences
  (attitudes, skills and knowledge) others than
  those developed in a formal education framework.
  Those competences can go from interpersonal,
  team, organisational and conflict management to
  intercultural awareness, leadership, teamwork,
  co-ordination practical problem solving skills,
  self-confidence, discipline and responsibility.
•  

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Fundamental values approaches of NFE

• Be learner centred ? participants/individuals are
  actors of their learning process
• Be based on a voluntary approach ?
  participants/individuals decide to learn
• Use participative methods (as tools to further
  develop young peoples competences) ? NFE implies
  an ongoing learning process, whose crucial
  feature is learning by doing.
• Have clear learning ouctomes

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From Formal Education to Informal Learning ? a
quick overview


Formal education takes place in chronologically
graded and hierarchically structured training and
education institutions (schools, universities),
leading to recognised diplomas and
qualifications.
Non-formal education is an organised process that
gives young people the possibility to develop
their competences, takes place alongside formal
education and training systems, and does not lead
to formalised certificates/diplo-mas.
Informal learning is any the lifelong process by
which every person acquires and accumulates
competences from daily experiences and exposure
to the environment (home, work, friends,
medias), in an unorganised and often
unsystematic way.
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NF Education/ NF learning what is the difference?

• The YFJ sees the need and the importance to
  differentiate between non-formal learning and
  non-formal education. Both should be seen as 2 of
  the main pillars of an overall educational
  approach in a non-formal context
• Non-formal education, as a concept (education as
  a system)
• Non-formal learning, as a process (learning as an
  action)

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From Formal Education to Informal Learning ? a
whole educational scope
EDUCATION
Formal Education
Non-Formal Education
Non-Formal Learning
Learning outcomes
Real competences
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The recognition of NFE why do we need it?

• A knowledge-based society requires new
  criteria for education in the years to come. It
  is essential for everyone to learn and build real
  competences, life long and life wide. It is no
  longer sufficient to think only in terms of
  formal education. It is therefore necessary to
  widen our understanding of education, and to
  recognise NFE as an essential part of an overall
  educational process.

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The recognition of NFE what are real competences?

• Real competencies are understood broadly as
  encompassing all competencies acquired through
  formal education, non-formal education and
  informal learning. Thus, this is a combined
  concept for those values, skills, qualifications
  and abilities - regardless of learning setting
  that a person is able and motivated to apply.

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The recognition of NFE what is the recognition
of real competences?

• Recognition of real competencies builds on the
  basic principle that the individual can build
  upon and use competences acquired through
  non-formal education schemes, in the formal
  education system and in employment situations.

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The recognition of NFEthe challenge nowadays

• As learning increasingly takes place in a life
  wide context, i.e. through NFE, mechanisms of
  recognition of learning outcomes must also be
  adapted. In this context, certificates and
  diplomas of FE systems do not give the full
  picture of peoples real competencies.

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The recognition of NFEwho and how?

• By PROVIDER OF FORMAL EDUCATION (schools and
  universities)
• ? Breaking down the physical barriers between FE
  and NFE is the next step to enhance and recognise
  the complementarity and synergies between the two
  sectors, as both lead to complementary leanrting
  ouctomes.

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The recognition of NFEby the formal education
sector

• For example
• Attendance to NFE schemes can be combined with
  the curricula of FE. If it implies absence from
  FE programmes, special measures and flexibility
  should be developed aiming at their
  complementarity, based on agreements and quality
  guidelines.
• Widening of the concept of the knowledge-based
  society competences contributing to employment
  opportunities such as languages, adaptability,
  IT-literacy are as important as, for example,
  social and civic responsibility, intercultural
  understanding, and should therefore be included
  as equally important parameters in the assessment
  of real competencies.

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The recognition of NFEwho and how?

• By the LABOUR MARKET
• ? One of the major issues is the integration of
  each young person in the society. In this regard
  employment is crucial for majority of young
  people. The value of the skills and competences
  acquired through NFE should be strengthened when
  the time comes to enter into the labour market.

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The recognition of NFEby the labour market

• For example
• The skills acquired through NFE, such as
  interpersonal, team, organisational and conflict
  management, leadership, or practical problem
  solving skills, teamwork, self-confidence are
  essential in any workplace.
• The unemployment rate of young people is double
  in comparison to the average unemployment rates,
  those employed face difficulties reaching
  positions that would be relevant in terms of
  their skills, education and experience. This
  happens partly because of age discrimination and
  because the real competencies of young people are
  not recognised by the labour market and the
  society in general.

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The recognition of NFEwho and how?

• By the POLITICS
• ? In order to empower youth organisations, as
  already requested, there is a need for
  substantial financial support in order to
  reinforce the work of youth organisations and to
  give them the means to support all young people,
  those who are already involved in their work, but
  also to reach out to young people who are so far
  less aware of their work.

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The recognition of NFEby the politics

• For example
• ? Providing sustainable financial support to
  youth organisations is a demonstration of
  political commitment to promote the ideas of
  knowledge-based society, enable youth
  organisations to improve their capacities,
  functioning, work and structure.
• ? Truly representative youth organisations offer
  young people the opportunity to develop their
  competences life-long and life-wide, and to
  participate as active citizens, at all levels.
  Youth organisations are able to adapt to shifting
  realities in ever changing societies.

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The recognition of NFEwhat to consider?

• Status and meaning of NFE can be very different
  within and between countries and regions,
• Ways to ensure a better communication and
  structured dialogue between the education and
  training systems and the youth field have to be
  identified,
• NFE goes beyond the work done by the actors in
  the youth field,

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The recognition of NFEwhat to consider?

• The nature of the youth field has to be taken
  into consideration when developing recognition
  tools mechanisms. Those have to explicitly
  highlight the learning outcomes and describe
  them,
• Given that funding of projects and activities in
  the youth field but also the acquired
  competences depend on evidences and
  measurable outcomes, recognition of learning
  outcomes should also focus on indicators.

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The recognition of NFEcurrent initiatives

• At the E.U. level based on the Common
  European principles for the identification and
  validation of non-formal and informal learning
• Council Resolution on the recognition of
  non-formal and informal learning
• Key competences for Lifelong Learning A
  European Reference Framework provides, for the
  first time, a European reference tool on key
  competences that, for instance, young people need
  for adult life, for further learning and for
  participating actively in society

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The recognition of NFEcurrent initiatives

• European Qualification Framework will enable
  qualification systems at the national and
  sectoral levels to relate to each other. Have a
  voluntary basis will facilitate the transfer
  and recognition of qualifications held by
  individuals.
• Europass youth aims at establishing a system for
  better recognition of learning outcomes in the
  youth field

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The recognition of NFEcurrent initiatives

• At the Council of Europe level
• The Portfolio for Youth Workers and Youth
  Leaders promotion and recognition of non-formal
  education/learning. It is a self-assessment/self-c
  ommitment tool.
• The working paper  Pathways towards validation
  and recognition of education, training
  learning in the youth field  join working paper
  CoE-EC, to develop a common position and action
  with regard to education, training and learning
  in youth activities, in particular on the
  validation and recognition of these activities.

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The recognition of NFEcurrent initiatives

• At the U.N World Bank level
• World Banks Study on NFE (outcome of the NFE
  Forum, 2005)
• World Banks WDR 2007 on youth
• Week on NFE (Sept 06) of UNESCO 60 minutes to
  convince

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The recognition of NFEcurrent initiatives

• At the Youth Organisations level
• Dialogue and reflection spaces to deepen the
  issue of recognition and explore possible
  recognition mechanisms within NGYOs
• Promotion and training on using existing tools
  for the recognition and validation of NFE
• Engagements and partnerships with civil society
  and institutional partners as to contribute to
  the development of recognition policies and tools
• Visibility recognition of the role of NGYOs

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NFEwhats next?

• Continue to engage dialogue and cooperation with
  civil society, employers, social and
  institutional partners on the issue of the
  recognition of NFE
• Work towards the development of tools respecting
  the ethic identity of youth work but providing
  measurable outcomes evidences on the impact of
  NFE (quality standards?)
• Work towards the development of explicit
  synergies complementarities between FE and NFE,
  but also encompassing the whole educational scope
  (informal learning, vocational training)

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• Thank you
• for your attention!