Two days devoted to the Learning Right and CompetencesThe 31st October and 1st of November 2008, by Borsa Merci of Arezzo (Tuscany, Italy) COFIR Association organizes the . After the positive experiences of the previews years it has been identified the issue of competences as the main point of the meeting. The theme of competences will be compared with the learning right which is the main issue of the COFIR activities. Peter Mayo (delegate of Mediterranean School of Comparative Education) and Moacir Gadotti, (Director of the Institute Paulo Freire) are the guests of the meeting. There will be also several conference speakers of many Universities and Italian Research Centres. Moreover, we are waiting the confirmation of Daniel Pennac’s presence. In the latest years “competences” have known an explosion of internationally interests. In fact, this issue has acquired an overbearing relevance in Europe and in Italy. Indeed, one can notice that in the eighties of the last century the concept of competence starts to appear less episodically in the scientific current affair press concerning the organization, education and vocational guidance. It has to be underlined that the field of exploration is above all Francophone: France and Canada can be thought to be pioneers in this field. In Italy, we started to talk, widely, about competences around of the mid-nineties thanks to the researches and publications of the ISFOL. In the last two years, the early regulations instructions of reconstruction of the education cycles and the systems of professional training qualifications, towards competences, have placed Italy in the wake of the latest events, even though in delay, concerning this process. In this regard we cannot help reminding the 8 key competences, tracing the European ones, indicated as the basic goal of all kinds of high school education for the first two years and it is meaningful the current change of the professional profile in the regional systems of education and training through a description for competences. On a European Level, we have to recall very briefly the Statement of Maastricht of 14th December 2004 which confirms and consolidates what had already been said to the Process of Copenaghen inviting to structure qualification frameworks mainly based on competences and on results in terms of learning.The European Qualification Framework suggests a mutual language among the different countries in order to describe competences in terms of learning outcomes and defines 8 levels of learning outcomes (independently of the context where one learns and on the methods) through descriptors which refer to the kind of knowledge, to the ability, the autonomy degree, discretionary power and responsibility which the person practises the acquired competences. A set of principles are defined and shared in the field of development processes of competences (quality of training process) and in those of acknowledge and validation of the acquired competences and at last are defined a set of tools (Europass, Ecvet) is defined. The member countries are invited to the construction of a national frame of qualification in order to grant the connection with the European frame and thus the mutual readability among the national systems. Nowadays, competences seems to be the language through which the worlds of training, education and work can build a code for dialogue, interchange and mutual fertilization (assuming that the above mentioned system are open to it). The processes that are revolving around the exploration, identification, validation and certification of competences, can manage, at least in their intentions, to benefit a fuller democracy in matter of learning, can lead to appreciate what one knows and what one is able to do, regardless to where, when and how one has learned something.For example, formal, non-formal and informal competences do not exist but it do exist places and methods of learning which correspond to this three kind of learning. There are no first-class or second-class competences a competence is a competence anywhere and in anyway it has been acquired. Competences could be a positive outcome in terms of equality access and they could manage to finally translate into a value the working, associative and existential experiences of people allowing a real payback in terms of acknowledgment and certification.Furthermore, the competence, in training and education systems, moves the axis from the process of teaching to the process of learning and also this aspect can be a very important advantage if we think to the meaningfulness of the learning places as it is perceived by the users of those systems and to the efficacy of our education. Competences though pose some conceptual and methodological problems, if we don’t want them to be just one of the “passing fads” that periodically go through the training and educational systems. The methodological problems are, firstly, connected with professional categories which have to make easy the training, the access to systems, notice and certificate them. Systems that for a long time were focused on the passage and transmission of knowledge have “sclerotized” those professional categories that insisted on this. It is quite urgent think at an updating of starting education, methods and tools. It is also worthwhile noticing that, competences can be a danger as they can guide the training and education systems too heavily towards the productive and working world by conveying the wrong thought that the productive and working world shall be a “lighthouse” and a measurement of efficacy for the educational and training systems. In fact, the productive world is guided to the current world and to the profits, while the training and education systems have to be orientated to the future and to the empowerment of the subject. The choice of one of these two options is not neutral because, notwithstanding all “adjustment” attempts, they can really be in conflict, to make one of the two choices can mean, once and for all to act towards democracy and equal opportunities or towards determinism and conservation. Therefore, the questions that we want to ask to ourselves through our IV International meeting are:* Can competences be a solution for learning systems?* How can we grant a democracy of accesses and opportunities for the growth of competences?* What are the risks and how can they be mitigated/avoided? * What are the methodological options to promote the development of competences for anyone? * What are the observation clearness, awareness and certification systems and methods?* What are the professionalities and through what training courses? * What the tools?* What are the best settings and methods?For further information contact COFIR at (0039)0575 380468 or info@cofir.net
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