Is an “avant-garde” assessment? The certification of competencies in the Italian higher education system.

Over the years the debate on the scope and nature of informal learning has never stopped to grow. Parallel to this growth is the awareness that it is crucial to define approaches, models, strategies, and instruments in order to assess and evaluate informal learning. On the backdrop of this debate, the chapter first provides some contexts and trends around lifelong learning, informal learning, competence-based approach, and validation and certification of competencies. Working on certification of competencies allows enlightening on the integration between the international debate over the higher education governance and the new focus on informal learning. In the following the chapter describes knowledge around the design and the implementation of Italian policies aimed to recognize, validate, and certificate students’ competencies. In a methodological perspective, models and practices realized are analysed with a focus on validity criterion: one of the most important quality aspects in educational assessment. Limitations and issues are analysed in order to shed light on future educational research paths in the lifelong learning field.