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RESEARCH PRODUCT

Context of validation of non-formal and informal learning in Spain: a comprehensive view

subject

description

The system of validation and accreditation of professional qualifications in Spain is offered as a certification opportunity, especially for vulnerable groups. The procedure is presented as an evaluative proposal that allows some inequalities associated with training and employment to be addressed. In this article we analyse whether this system really fosters social cohesion, considering the political situation that frames the procedure and the educational approach underlying it. The research methodology combines the documentary analysis and interviews with the application of the Delphi method. The most relevant results show that the socio-political context is favourable to competences accreditation, while the lack of expectations of the population, as well as of financial resources is hindering its implementation. The educational approach focused on learning outcomes and the evaluative control give the process an instrumental and credentialist value. The government intervention on the accreditation system can turn the procedure into a new instrument of political control of curriculum and education. Learning responsibility is shifted to those that access the procedure, both accrediting and generating new risks of exclusion. In conclusion, the system will offer inclusion opportunities if contextual aspects that humanise the procedure are taken into account.