Developing a European practitioner qualification: the TRAVORS2 project

Abstract

The TRAVORS projects, supported by the European Union’s Lifelong Learning Programme, ran between 2008 and 2012. Their object was to develop training programmes for disability employment practitioners across nine countries based on proven approaches both to vocational rehabilitation and to skills training. The second of the two projects aimed to trial and establish a European practitioner qualification, pitched at Level 5 of the European Qualifications Framework and emphasising skills-based training and workplace assessment. While the trials proved successful, they highlighted a generally poor level of understanding of assessment and certification based on workplace proficiency. The project resulted in a common ‘curriculum’, a detailed qualification specification and a strengthened set of processes to guide implementation in different countries. However, the qualification can be considered a work-in-progress and wider uptake – sufficient to support sustainable central governance – needs to be achieved if a genuinely international certificate is to emerge.

Keywords:

• vocational rehabilitation
• European collaboration
• qualifications
• international validation
• work-based assessment

Acknowledgements

The author acknowledges the extensive contributions to the project described in this article by the project partners, which in addition to the author’s firm were the UK Department for Work and Pensions, VšĮ Edukaciniai projektai, Merosystem SRO, Rehabilitation Network Ltd., Selçuk Üniversitesi, and Univerzitetni rehabilitacijski inštitut Republike Slovenije – Soča. The project was funded with support from the European Commission’s Lifelong Learning Programme. This article reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission or the other partners cannot be held responsible for any use that may be made of the information contained herein.