BACKGROUND & CHALLENGES The VALCHILD project aspires to advance the Validation of Non-formal and Informal Learning (VNIL) in the area of childminding, to make individuals (especially those low-skilled) visible in the job arena and improve their employment opportunities. In spite of European Council recommendations on the issue, European countries still differ significantly regarding their advances in VNIL, stressing the need for further interventions and harmonisation. To this end, VALCHILD is particularly aligned with: a) European policies and evolving societal demands to increase the quality of Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) by establishing a more formal (learning and labour market) framework, and b) the increased demand for added-value services, such as boosting children’s mental development by people that have the knowledge and skills to do so through proper and ongoing training, which has been set forth by employers and associations hiring and promoting carers, VET providers, as well as the parents that purchase these services. OBJECTIVES VALCHILD forms a Strategic Partnership to develop a mechanism to validate childminders’ informally acquired knowledge and skills, and offer them further learning pathways. In particular, VALCHILD objectives are to: 1. Develop a validation mechanism, including a toolbox and a recommendation & certification scheme for childminders to make their knowledge, skills, and competences recognised and visible. 2. Support low-skilled childminders to seek personalised learning pathways for further training and qualifications. 3. Support the integration of harmonised validation practices by relevant stakeholders across the EU, by anchoring the VALCHILD validation framework to existing best practices and EU priorities. PARTNERSHIP The VALCHILD partnership comprises 5 partners with high capacity, qualifications and complementary skills from both the world of VET for ECEC and the field of VNIL, to support and improve validation practices in childminding. ECI brings the expertise of offering quality training to childminders; ESEIMU and IPERIA, being experts in the design and delivery of pedagogical materials and the dissemination of early childhood education, are responsible for the development of assessment materials & tools and the recommendation and certification scheme, respectively,. EC-VPL brings expertise in the recognition and validation of prior learning and the dissemination of associated issues across Europe, through an extended network of contacts. PROMEA has extensive expertise in R&D and the delivery of innovative learning methodologies, and has significant management and partner experience in EU projects. ACTIVITIES, METHODOLOGY & OUTPUTS - VALCHILD requirements and criteria, evaluated by childminders and validation experts (to reach 200 validation stakeholders). - VALCHILD Assessment toolbox for assessing and validating childminders’ prior learning, evaluated by childminders and validation experts (to reach 200 validation stakeholders). - Recommendations and Certification scheme to offer feedback to learners and lead them to further learning and/ or certification, evaluated by childminders and validation experts (to reach 200 validation stakeholders). - Three (3) pilot sessions to evaluate VALCHILD outputs & assessment material (235 participants) - Two (2) national information days to share and disseminate project outputs and achieve a multiplying effect, by motivating validation experts to adopt the framework in a wider context (180 participants). - A Memorandum of Understanding to pave the way for the endorsement and mutual recognition of VALCHILD results (20-25 stakeholders reached). - A sectoral position paper to influence policy making towards initiatives to harmonise the transparency and recognition of skills and qualifications across EU (to reach 15 policy makers). IMPACT & LONG-TERM BENEFITS The VALCHILD project is expected to have the following impact on its target groups: - Childminders, especially those low-skilled, will have their skills and knowledge assessed, validated and/or certificated through the VALCHILD assessment and validation mechanism. - VET providers, career-related stakeholders and other educational & training entities, being the connecting point between childminders and the labour market, will improve their effectiveness through: a) the integration of VALCHILD validation materials and tools in their existing practices, and b) the cooperation with public and private sector stakeholders to promote transparency, social inclusion and better quality of employment and life for childminders, resulting in fulfilling their educational mission. - Social partners, sector representatives and VET national and EU authorities will benefit from the development of a robust framework for the recognition of childminding skills of learners, in line with European reference tools (EQF, ECVET, ESCO), based on a learning outcomes approach.
Child care is an area that includes practitioners who have been trained in a formal setting, or have learned by experience or through a planned setting with no learning objectives. Informal childcare plays an important role in European countries, as parents increasingly use it, sometimes in combination with formal care. Nevertheless, child care provisions in the EU differ substantially regarding existing structures and systems, workforce qualifications, and as a result in childcare coverage rates and quality. VALCHILD aimed to tackle this deficit/challenge by assessing informal childminders’ prior learning against pre-set guidelines through a purpose-made and scientifically grounded validation scheme that can be adopted in a European context. Further to this, the project also aimed to facilitate the training provision for childminders by enabling VET providers to improve and customize training programs that match the learners’ different levels of learning. In particular, project objectives involved: 1) developing a validation mechanism, including a toolbox and a recommendation & certification scheme for childminders to make their knowledge, skills, and competences recognised and visible, 2) supporting low-skilled childminders to seek personalised learning pathways for further training and qualifications, and 3) supporting the integration of harmonised validation practices by relevant stakeholders across the EU, by anchoring the VALCHILD validation framework to existing best practices and EU priorities. The partnership comprised 5 partners with complementary skills and long experience and expertise in the childminding sector and in recognition of skills. ECI, IPERIA, ESEIMU, ISPA hold a long-standing expertise in the childminding sector, practices, training, education and support of occupational interests for informal childminders. EC-VPL has significant experience in the Validation of Non-formal and Informal Learning, and lifelong learning-strategies. PROMEA brought significant Research and Development capacities and experience in the implementation of training activities and the delivery of innovative learning methodologies. Main project activities involved: a) setting evidence-based criteria and requirements for the validation of informal and non-formal learning in the wider area of childcare, based on extended research on existing validation practices, b) developing an assessment toolbox for assessing and validating childminders’ prior learning, c) delivering recommendations and a certification scheme to provide learners with feedback and guidance on further learning and/ or certification, d) carrying out pilot sessions to evaluate VALCHILD outputs & assessment material, e) involving key policy makers and stakeholders in the (social) recognition and mainstreaming of project results, and f) sharing and validating outputs with multiplier events, inviting target groups to uptake VALCHILD results and to act as further disseminators. •Criteria and requirements for the validation of informal and non-formal learning in the childcare field. •A toolbox with evaluation materials, examination processes and documentation methods for the recognition of childminders' previously acquired skills and knowledge. •A recommendations and certification scheme to supplement the validation toolbox, providing guidance to informal child-minders on further learning and certification (O3). •A handbook on the use of the VALCHILD framework by validation practitioners (toolbox and recommendations/certification scheme) •A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) and a position paper to influence and support policy making to further simplifying the transparency and recognition of skills and qualifications across Europe (O4). •Three workshops in Ireland, France, and Portugal to run a pilot test of the VALCHILD assessment & validation framework (E1-E2-E3) • Two national information days in Greece, and the Netherlands to share and disseminate project results (E4-E5). Finally, the project’s long-term benefits: -Raised awareness and improved childminders’ capacity, especially the low-skilled, for validation and/or certification through VALCHILD assessment and validation mechanism. -Informed and enabled VET providers, career-related stakeholders and other educational & training entities to connect childminders with the labour market by integrating VALCHILD validation materials and tools in their existing practices and by cooperating with public and private sector stakeholders to promote transparency, social inclusion and better employability for childminders. -Social partners, sector representative and VET national and EU authorities benefited from VALCHILD framework for the recognition of childminding skills in line with European reference tools (EQF, ECVET, and ESCO).