What is recognition?
Recognition can take many different forms: validation, certification, accreditation, endorsement, etc. which are formalised forms of recognition generally delivered by formal institution of education, awarding or accrediting bodies. Yet, there are other forms of recognition, less formal, like when one acknowledges someone else with a thank you, you did a fantastic job, I trust you or you are my friend. These forms of recognition are just as important as the formal ones, if not more so. Just as informal learning represents probably over 90% of all our learnings, informal recognition is likely to represent even more than 95% of all the expressions of recognition during a lifetime. And while some energy and thinking has been devoted to the recognition of informal learning, Open Badges being the most recent and proeminent initiative in that matter, much less efforts have been dedicated in the field of informal recognition. Where is the equivalent of Prior Learning Assessment and Recognition (PLAR) in the field of recognition? Is there anything to “recognise” the value of Informal Recognition of Informal Learning or something like Formal Recognition of Informal Recognition? While those ideas might be perceived as far fetched to those for whom the only valuable recognition is the one delivered by a “recognised authority,” Open Recognition is mostly an unknown territory which might be worth exploring.
As the result of an exploration of the recognition territory, we have created a map defined by two axes:
- Formal / non-formal — institution / community centred;
- Traditional / non-traditional — past / future, static / dynamic.
To populate the map, a number of “badges” have been added with names eliciting either the type or modality of recognition. For example, Smart Badges are recognition tokens whose display can change over time, depending on how they are being “fed”, like a Tamagotchi.
The two axes split the space into four quadrants:
- Conformance — the focus is on the alignment to institutional [predefined] standards;
- Inclusion — the focus is on alignment to community norms;
- Enabling — the focus is on providing dynamic recognition instruments that, unlike traditional diplomas and certificates [and badges used as micro-credentials!] are not static, are oriented towards the future; and
- Empowerment — the focus is on providing individuals and communities the means to have a say in the design, implementation and running of open recognition ecosystems.
While the conformance quadrant might seem the least open and the empowerment one the most open, in reality all four quadrants can be opened, so that an institution of formal education could develop Open Recognition practices contributing to an Open Recognition Ecosystem. One example would be an institution working within its community, small or large, to recognise the actual learning that takes place within the community, beyond the funnel vision defined by predefined standards and diplomas.
Conversely, communities could be tempted to mimic traditional institutions of formal education and implement recognition practices that are not open in order to get a funding they would not get otherwise. This is a real danger that could be described as either the colonisation of the informal by the formal or the formalisation of informal learning and recognition.
