Learning outside the framework of institutional education is coming increasingly into the perspective of German educational policy. How do young people learn in contexts not designed for learning? What do they learn and can these skills and competencies be made visible? Acknowledgement and recognition of informal learning can help awaken motivation and interest in formal educational processes and make them more successful.
Particularly those young people whose achievements in school are insufficient to guarantee a successful start in employment will benefit. Disadvantaged young people also acquire skills in non-formal and informal settings which are relevant for vocational education and training, but which cannot be used systematically because they are not readily apparent. Making use of these competencies requires that the learners themselves recognize these and that they can be made evident to third parties.
For this purpose the precursor project Informal Competencies and their Validation (ICOVET) developed an interview procedure for the validation of skills and competencies, a manual, and a programme for further training which are now to be developed further, and increasingly transferred into the support systems.
ICONET is an innovation transfer project funded by the European Commission programme LEONARDO DA VINCI. It includes eleven partners from seven European countries.


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