The Personal Record of Achievement for Youth Exchanges and Group Initiatives Recognising the skills of young people Building employability Encouraging active citizenship

Introducing Connect Youth Runs programmes that give international experiences to 12,000 young people annually Part of British Council UK, financed by FCO, DFES, European Commission UK National Agency of European YOUTH Programme We work through UK network of 12 committees

Our purpose and target groups Enabling young people to experience: -active citizenship - intercultural learning - personal development Challenge stereotypes and build racial tolerance Increased employability Enabling those working with young people to: - find partners, exchange good practice and develop youth policy Open to all young people, No entry qualifications young people with fewer opportunities

European YOUTH Programme Action 1 -Youth Exchanges Action 2 -European Voluntary Service Action 3 -Youth Initiatives - Group Initiatives and Future Capital Action 4 -Joint Actions Action 5 - Support Measures

What are our evaluation needs? How do you help young people to recognise what they are learning? How do you demonstrate it to others, including decision-makers? How do you relate these life-skills to those sought by employers? How do you standardise evaluation procedures? How do you improve project quality?

Employability - What is it? Job readiness - attitude Ability to be employed - having the skills, understanding and knowledge of a competent employee Same skills needed for active citizenship

What are key skills? Communication Working with others Learning and improving own performance Problem-solving Application of number Application of IT

Personal Record of Achievement (PRA) Background – in 1990’s Connect Youth (CNY) managed 2 projects to recognise Group Initiatives PRA developed 1998/99 by CNY to meet request from UK Network for an evaluation tool for exchanges First version highlighted key skills plus global and intercultural awareness

UK pilot groups took part - UK wide, and a variety of activity themes represented Positive feedback: 1.Recognition of learning for group leaders and young people 2.Reflection on exchange processes linked to specific learning outcomes 3.Increased self-awareness and understanding of one’s own contribution

PRA improved version Consulted with international partners at seminar under auspices of European YOUTH Programme -Abergavenny, June 2000 Base skills and optional skills for youth exchanges and group initiatives

Features of PRA Voluntary, with no levels Managed/validated by group leaders Optional number of skill areas Evidence shown in many ways – photos, tapes, videos etc Consists of certificate +supporting documents Evidence gathered can be used for other award programmes Helps young people to build portfolio for lifelong learning +get accustomed to collecting/recording evidence of learning Confidence-building

Base skills and optional skills * ‘ Language skills ’ are not available as an Optional skill area for participants of Group Initiatives. OPTIONAL skills are: Citizenship Equal opportunities Health & safety Political awareness Analytical skills Project theme skills Improving learning and performance Number and information technology Language skills* BASE skills are: Working with others Self awareness Intercultural and global awareness Communication skills Problem solving Review and evaluation

Accreditation Accreditation is a process by which learning is certified by an examining body according to recognised national standards International Youth Work accredited for Youth Exchanges and Group Initiatives at level 1 -2 under Open College Network. (EVS soon)

Choices for young people Young people can choose to: 1.Take part in a youth exchange or a group initiative 2.Take part in a project and PRA, gaining a certificate 3.Take part in a project and International Youth Work, gaining an accredited qualification

The future – 2005 onwards International Youth Work - promotion Assessment of evidence – UK network to be trained as internal moderators Training for group leaders Quality assurance systems put in place Funding sources