Cedefop’s 3rd policy learning forum on learning outcomes

Post added by Anastasia Pouliou

European and international experts took part in Cedefop’s 3rd policy learning forum (PLF) on learning outcomes in vocational education and training (VET), in cooperation with UNESCO, in Thessaloniki on 21 and 22 June.

Learning outcomes are used in different settings and for different purposes – ranging from qualifications frameworks to qualification standards, curricula and assessment criteria; they influence the way teaching and learning is organised and carried out. This makes it increasingly important to reflect on the conceptual basis of the approach and its implications for policy and practice.

The event had an international character with 30 countries represented, including EU Member States, South Africa, Laos, Fiji, Trinidad and Tobago and United Arab Emirates. The main focus of the forum was the ‘success story’ of Cedefop’s European handbook on defining, writing and applying learning outcomes, which was published in 2017, and the ambition to make it international. Four main issues were identified from the handbook:

• conceptual roots of the learning outcomes approach;
• the role of learning outcomes in governing education and training;
• learning outcomes as a common, international language;
• updating the handbook.

Discussions on the topics above, particularly including international experts, will feed into revising and strengthening the 2017 learning outcomes handbook.

On the first day, Sequel IEC’s John Hart, in his keynote speech, called the handbook ‘a comprehensive piece of work’ and focused on whether learning processes should be dumbed down or opened up.

In the afternoon, I had the chance to chair a working group, where two specific country cases (Denmark and Malta) were presented; how conceptual shaping of learning outcomes affects their use in policy and practice was emphasized together with the identification of challenges and opportunities. On the second day, UNESCO’s Borhene Chakroun discussed qualifications and their link to the labour market in his keynote speech. He said that learning outcomes are the language of lifelong learning that bridges the world of education and the world of work. International experts presented observations on the role of learning outcomes in promoting international cooperation, communication and networking.

It was amazing to listen to Ms Vadei’s presentation from Fiji, on learning outcomes in the Pacific; it actually took her 40 hours to travel to Thessaloniki for the forum! The event ended with the commitment to continue work in the area, engaging also international stakeholders.

For more information and access to the power point presentations of the PLF, please visit the event’s page. To see the tweet posts during the event, please see https://twitter.com/hashtag/vetlearningoutcomes