Why are these credentials different than other credentials?
Explaining Learning Mobility so people might actually understand it
A recent report from UpSkill America examined the obstacles to LER (Learning & Employment Records) adoption and I was gripped by one key finding:
“LER leaders consistently overindex on communications about technical details, processes, project progress, and governance structures, rather than clear descriptions of how employers will benefit from LER platforms.”
One of my mentors once told me that we are wise to shape *how* we show up based on *for whom* we are showing up. If the stakeholders for whom we are showing up don’t hold precious all of the same awesome and cool things we do, then our role as responsible brokers of these conversations is to figure out what is precious to them so that we may frame the imperatives for trusted, verifiable records about who we are as learners and achievers in ways that align with THEIR needs.
In my culture, we have a tradition of oral storytelling rooted in this very principle. During the annual Passover Seder that celebrates our peoples’ liberation from slavery, we respond to the Four Questions, in which we explain to four different child personas “Why this night is different than all other nights.” These four personas are:
- The Wise Child
- The Wicked Child
- The Simple Child
- and The Child Who Does Not Know How to Ask
Adopting the same framework as a way of self-correcting for my own “overindexing” in explaining Learning Mobility, this post seeks to meet people where they are in explaining Why this credentialing is different than all other credentialing.
The Wise Child
The Wise Child asks, “Why is this different? What makes it special? What, exactly, are we actually doing here?”
To this child, I respond: Credentials are all about recognition of learning and achievement with official, trusted learning records. These credentials are different because they are focused on serving the mobility of those Learning Records, and thus the mobility and opportunity for Learners.
We spend the majority of our resources on filtering people out instead of dedicating resources to filtering them in.
What if we could compile a digital highlight reel of all your amazing learning and achievements? That would be pretty cool, right?
And what if you could then share it with employers, admissions councilors, and others? How cool is that?!?
But here’s the deal: mobility is not so simple as just putting the highlights in any old container.
We could package up an amazing digital story of your learning and achievement, but if we put it in a laser disc and nobody has access to laser disc players, the disc might be shipped far and wide but we haven’t done anything for your own learning to actually be mobile. For that, we need to make sure we’re using the right containers.
The Wicked Child
The Wicked Child asks, “Who cares?”
And to this child, I respond, “Your mom cares.”
But also, unlike records that are just made for registrars and compliance officials to care, these are made for lots of people to care. Most importantly, the people holding the door open for your opportunities will care. Your next boss. Your scholarship award committee. Your admissions officers. Your coaches. Your advisors. Your councilors. Your mentors. Even your colleagues and peers.
These are the people who care.
The Simple Child
The Simple Child asks, “What is this? How does it work?”
To this child I share what they already know: your resume, transcript, cover letters, and writing samples aren’t very good at doing their intended job of narrating how awesome you are. As a currency, they aren’t valuable coin despite all we spend on them.
These credentials are different because people will believe and trust them. That is valuable currency!
And a big reason for the valuable belief and trust is Credential Transparency. These credentials are different because they can contextualize learning. They can take out the guess work. They can be reliable narrators about what the credentials are credentialing.
These credentials are different because they are focused on serving the mobility of those Learning Records, and thus the mobility and opportunity for Learners.
There’s no one right way to offer this reliable narration, though some ways are better practices for Credential Transparency than others: Clear Descriptions, Measurable Earning Criteria, Assessment, Alignments, Evidence Artifacts, and ensuring that they are MACHINE READABLE are all promising practices of Credential Transparency.
The Child Who Does Not Know How to Ask
Because this child knows not how to ask, I tell them: This is being done for a reason. We have never been good at this stuff. And we have historically been really bad, especially for underserved people who most need more equitable systems that do a better job. This stuff offers us a chance to do better, to recognize the harm that’s been caused, and to heal by designing for a better future.
One reason that we have never been good at discovering the proverbial needles in the haystack, is that we have a long history of using tools that are more appropriate for discarding the hay than with discovering the needles.
We employ SAT/ACT cut scores, degree requirements, and previous experience as pitchforks to help us find needles by removing hay. We spend the majority of our resources on filtering people out, instead of dedicating resources to filtering them in.
These credentials are different because they offer the transformational approach to ditch the pitchforks and ignore the hay altogether. These credentials act to supercharge the magnetism in the needles so that we can swap the pitchforks for magnets.
Independent of race, gender, age, ability and last name, opportunity seekers will be connected with opportunity providers based on their assets being recognized and communicated by these credentials. That is why these credentials are different.
And that is a very big deal.
Thanks for reading. If you liked this post, please click to 👏👏👏 and recommend it to others! If you have thoughts to share about this, I hope to learn from your own response post!
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