Valmopris, nonformal learning

C & C is the Dutch partner in the European Project Valmopris. Through the validation of informal learning, a learner in prison can become motivated to nurture this positive reinforcement in an educational setting, pursuing additional education (either formal or informal) or engaging more seriously with career planning. The impact of informal learning validation in a prison setting is clearly something with a significant potential to encourage learning and further competence development.

VALMOPRIS draws upon the tools and techniques developed through the LEVEL5 validation system which has previously been piloted across diverse educational settings, including in prison-based vocational training. VALMOPRIS, supported by the European Prison Education Association (EPEA) designs, delivers and validates informal learning activities with the focus on KC5+1 (primary Key Competence of “Learning to learn”)

VALMOPRIS will actively contribute to policy discourse on prison education and the role of informal learning. It hopes to bring a change in the mind-set of education in prison, raising the profile of the social and personal competences acquired through informal learning and the way they can be assessed and validated. It hopes to promote the motivation of prison learners to engage in in(formal) educational activities in line with the Council of Europe Recommendations on Education in prison and seeks to establish a continuation of the train-the-trainer program, designing it to meet the requirements of A KA1 mobility activity for prison teachers throughout Europe.

The project, will measure the effect of validating informal competence development on prisoners’ motivation to engage in further learning. Training prison educators across 8 countries to create and deliver informal learning opportunities and to provide systematic validation of learning outcomes, the project will explore the role of and impact of informal learning validation in prison, as well as examining the process of setting up and implementing activities for informal competence development in this context.