Open Recognition: Looking beyond Open Badges?

Open recognition is often reduced to a debate on open badges. A confusion between means and ends? Could it be something else?

During a discussion with a job counsellor on the impact of quality control procedures in the world of training, I made an observation on the current focus on reference systems and compliance with expectations, which could sometimes make us overlook the relevance of what is implemented in the situation. In short, we are more concerned with the indicators than with the people we support. Or that the resources and tools used take precedence over a reflection on the purpose of providing support. On this point, another example that came to mind: “For many trainers or teachers, open recognition boils down to the Open Badge system, which does not always allow for an open debate.” The colleague then said to me: “open badges, oh yes, I've heard about them, the new “good points”. Should I be taking them seriously?  Aren’t they just another gadget?” I am always surprised when complex issues are dismissed without any discussion. Radical simplification does not add a great deal to the debate. So, as I had prepared a remote presentation for the third edition of the Accompagnement Reconnaissance & Emploi (Support, Recognition & Employment) event, organised at the end of June 2022 by the CIBC Normandie and renamed the RE-CONNECT-ER days, I thought it might be the right time to tackle the questions of recognition from the point of view of the relationship between open and closed, procedure and process, obedience to a rule and co-construction of shared points of reference. This was to ensure that the debate does not confuse intentions (for what purpose?) and means (how?). It also seemed important to me to illustrate what open recognition has to offer, not just by using badges, but integrating it into a mobilising approach for the public and involving a wider ecosystem of actors in the territories: in short, an open recognition ecosystem such as the “Activateur de Potentiel” scheme initiated and run by the CIBC Normandie, which I will mention at the end of the article and in the links provided.

 

Recognition: a multifaceted issue

At a time when the opinions of others have an unprecedented influence on our self-confidence and our feeling of being able to take action (or not), the absence of signs of recognition can be perceived as a hollow judgement, or non-recognition. In the world of work, this manifests itself in a visible and even painful way. Moreover, certain social networks are gradually becoming tools for self-promotion (or even tools for promotion of others) which are developed gradually, with the help of many reviews, a reputation capital that must be displayed and maintained at a high level. In this environment where social recommendation increasingly acts as an amplifier, the inequity is obvious. Axel Honneth puts it this way: What is a well-functioning society? It is a society whose social, cultural and political environment allows individuals to develop an autonomous identity or a positive relationship with themselves. It is a society in which everyone should be able to become what they want to be without having to go through the painful experience of being scorned or denied recognition.

Moreover, the signs of recognition can be seen as complementary: what society recognises and what each person, subjectively, would like to promote. In short, this leads us to see the process as a form of reciprocity that is essential to appreciate the underlying identity levers.

Understanding the issues of recognition and trying to make them an object of cooperative work in the service of individuals therefore implies showing the implications in individual terms (that each person can feel recognised as different and capable). This creates a complexity of analysis that is about so much more than just tools. So, if there is open recognition, does that mean there is also closed recognition?

 

What are we talking about?

First, Open Badges: they are the digital embodiment of an experience, a skill or a knowledge. They can be used to confirm the acquisition of skills, knowledge or competences that are not recognised by a formal diploma or certificate.

More broadly, open recognition is an approach born out of the practice of open badges that explores and promotes practices, tools and policies that improve and expand the opportunities for individuals and communities to be recognised and to contribute to the recognition of others. Open recognition may focus on lifelong learning and development or other socially beneficial objectives.

This definition, proposed by the association Reconnaître which works towards the development of open recognition, lays down the fundamentals. This approach is emerging in opposition to more normative approaches to recognition, their coexistence being quite legitimate and desirable. Let's go a little further.

 

In what societal context do these questions arise? What are the risks?

In order to understand this relationship and these differences, there are a few essential points to consider:

• The world is more than ever standardised and quantified: the reference system may gradually tend to replace living experience. Conforming to expectations can become more important than acting appropriately in a situation.
   
• The risk lies in referring to prototypes of reproducible situations, whereas work or life situations are full of unexpected and random events. Coping with these events is one of the keys to professionalism.
   
• The comparative dimension can quickly override the reflective/intersubjective dimension.
   
• This can lead to focusing exclusively on indicators: for example with reputation scores.
   
• More broadly, there is a risk of transforming skills into real things (reification) when they are nothing more than the result of interactions in a situation.
• The other risk is to characterise people as holders of stocks of knowledge (internal, intrinsic dimension) and not as people in relationships where what is created is always ephemeral and moving.
   
• This can lead us to reduce the question of recognition to its reference points: thus, open badges would be open recognition whereas they are only one of the possible means, fun certainly, but which do not cover the entirety of what a process of open recognition can produce.

 

The question of open recognition: what it introduces, questions and allows

There are several dimensions to be considered:

• Closed/Open: introduces the idea of an evolving process as opposed to a fixed procedure.
   
• Expert/Peer: allows for input from all those involved and reciprocity in roles. I can be recognised but also contribute to the recognition of others.
   
• Frozen/Living: if it is a process, it is by nature in perpetual movement.
   
• Open recognition is necessarily reflexive: it generates ongoing lessons about what is being done to make it progress. The badge serves more as a reference point on a path than as a certification to be displayed.
   
• Formal/informal: this introduces the essential dimension of the circumstantial, the opportunistic. It is grasped more than anticipated.
   
• It seeks to free itself from an excessive normativity, while giving reference points that make it an audible language.

The emphasis is therefore on the pedagogical process that uses opens badges to engage the audience. In concrete terms, open recognition can be integrated and developed in an ecosystem of participants that structures its shared aims and contributes to democratising its use. In this respect, we can understand the comparison with local currencies. It is a question of extending to more and more participants who interact. Moreover, we can also believe that the synergy of participants on these issues will amplify recognition. This also brings up questions of equity.

 

Creating open recognition ecosystems

The example of the “Activateur de Potentiel” project run by the CIBC Normandie sets out, from the outset, the principles and values which make badges a means, certainly important, but first and foremost at the service of several very concrete intentions: “Broadening the field of possibilities by acting both on the transformation of processes and organisations, and on the commitment of individuals to identify and develop their potential. Digital badges make the skills and commitments of each individual visible, as well as the possibilities in terms of training and employment.” The project is all the more interesting because it is aimed at people for whom recognition has often been based more on what was hindering them (the famous obstacles) than on the resources they can mobilise. Reversing the process, giving credit to what is done, opening up to new experiences, helping to appreciate their value... all these levers make the public a stakeholder in different ways. Technically, this involves the construction of learning situations, the creation of Minimaps and the use of badges as equipment. In short, a system that mixes playful pedagogies to help develop openness to the world and belief in one's ability to take action. Badges are the symbol of this. 

But beyond this, what is really important is the development of open recognition ecosystems. Systems in which several actors can meet to define together the objectives and the resources to be mobilised. In short, creating territorial synergies in the service of the public, of individuals, but also weaving cooperative links between professionals that go beyond the distribution of participants or simple inter-knowledge. Is it that simple? Obviously not, and the conditions for the development of these ecosystems are not anecdotal. These ecosystems are localised (linked to a territory, an environment) and therefore by definition non-duplicable; they are based on interactions and iterations. Interaction is both the driving force and the energy; They are based on interdependence: the ecosystem can only work if the energy of its members circulates; They only make sense if they remain agile and permeable to the environment and to opportunities; They operate by permanent regulation, by adjustments, by regular fine-tuning which allows them to move forward; this presupposes having organisational bodies.

 The project developed by the CIBC Normandie, activator of potential, shows both the interest and the possible impacts, but also all the conditions for development. Reductionism is the danger. Thinking that adding a few badges to a training scheme is enough to produce an open recognition process. This effectively reduces the concept to no more than a gimmick. First of all, it is important to construct a shared framework (agreeing on the meaning and the aims) while progressively advancing on the operational side of things. By accepting the fact that not everything is pre-determined, but by being aware that the relevance of what we develop can never be modelled in advance. It’s a lot like life. Nothing goes according to plan. Is this bad news? Does this also mean that everything is open? “Open”, we come back to this word. Open recognition is not about the number of friends you have on social networks, either. No, that's something else again. Stromae put it very well.

Watch out for yourself
Ah friends, buddies or followers
You’re mistaken, you’re just popular!

 

Open Recognition: Looking beyond Open Badges?

Open recognition is often reduced to a debate on open badges. A confusion between means and ends? Could it be something else?

During a discussion with a job counsellor on the impact of quality control procedures in the world of training, I made an observation on the current focus on reference systems and compliance with expectations, which could sometimes make us overlook the relevance of what is implemented in the situation. In short, we are more concerned with the indicators than with the people we support. Or that the resources and tools used take precedence over a reflection on the purpose of providing support. On this point, another example that came to mind: “For many trainers or teachers, open recognition boils down to the Open Badge system, which does not always allow for an open debate.” The colleague then said to me: “open badges, oh yes, I've heard about them, the new “good points”. Should I be taking them seriously?  Aren’t they just another gadget?” I am always surprised when complex issues are dismissed without any discussion. Radical simplification does not add a great deal to the debate. So, as I had prepared a remote presentation for the third edition of the Accompagnement Reconnaissance & Emploi (Support, Recognition & Employment) event, organised at the end of June 2022 by the CIBC Normandie and renamed the RE-CONNECT-ER days, I thought it might be the right time to tackle the questions of recognition from the point of view of the relationship between open and closed, procedure and process, obedience to a rule and co-construction of shared points of reference. This was to ensure that the debate does not confuse intentions (for what purpose?) and means (how?). It also seemed important to me to illustrate what open recognition has to offer, not just by using badges, but integrating it into a mobilising approach for the public and involving a wider ecosystem of actors in the territories: in short, an open recognition ecosystem such as the “Activateur de Potentiel” scheme initiated and run by the CIBC Normandie, which I will mention at the end of the article and in the links provided.

 

Recognition: a multifaceted issue

At a time when the opinions of others have an unprecedented influence on our self-confidence and our feeling of being able to take action (or not), the absence of signs of recognition can be perceived as a hollow judgement, or non-recognition. In the world of work, this manifests itself in a visible and even painful way. Moreover, certain social networks are gradually becoming tools for self-promotion (or even tools for promotion of others) which are developed gradually, with the help of many reviews, a reputation capital that must be displayed and maintained at a high level. In this environment where social recommendation increasingly acts as an amplifier, the inequity is obvious. Axel Honneth puts it this way: What is a well-functioning society? It is a society whose social, cultural and political environment allows individuals to develop an autonomous identity or a positive relationship with themselves. It is a society in which everyone should be able to become what they want to be without having to go through the painful experience of being scorned or denied recognition.

Moreover, the signs of recognition can be seen as complementary: what society recognises and what each person, subjectively, would like to promote. In short, this leads us to see the process as a form of reciprocity that is essential to appreciate the underlying identity levers.

Understanding the issues of recognition and trying to make them an object of cooperative work in the service of individuals therefore implies showing the implications in individual terms (that each person can feel recognised as different and capable). This creates a complexity of analysis that is about so much more than just tools. So, if there is open recognition, does that mean there is also closed recognition?

 

What are we talking about?

First, Open Badges: they are the digital embodiment of an experience, a skill or a knowledge. They can be used to confirm the acquisition of skills, knowledge or competences that are not recognised by a formal diploma or certificate.

More broadly, open recognition is an approach born out of the practice of open badges that explores and promotes practices, tools and policies that improve and expand the opportunities for individuals and communities to be recognised and to contribute to the recognition of others. Open recognition may focus on lifelong learning and development or other socially beneficial objectives.

This definition, proposed by the association Reconnaître which works towards the development of open recognition, lays down the fundamentals. This approach is emerging in opposition to more normative approaches to recognition, their coexistence being quite legitimate and desirable. Let's go a little further.

 

In what societal context do these questions arise? What are the risks?

In order to understand this relationship and these differences, there are a few essential points to consider:

• The world is more than ever standardised and quantified: the reference system may gradually tend to replace living experience. Conforming to expectations can become more important than acting appropriately in a situation.
   
• The risk lies in referring to prototypes of reproducible situations, whereas work or life situations are full of unexpected and random events. Coping with these events is one of the keys to professionalism.
   
• The comparative dimension can quickly override the reflective/intersubjective dimension.
   
• This can lead to focusing exclusively on indicators: for example with reputation scores.
   
• More broadly, there is a risk of transforming skills into real things (reification) when they are nothing more than the result of interactions in a situation.
• The other risk is to characterise people as holders of stocks of knowledge (internal, intrinsic dimension) and not as people in relationships where what is created is always ephemeral and moving.
   
• This can lead us to reduce the question of recognition to its reference points: thus, open badges would be open recognition whereas they are only one of the possible means, fun certainly, but which do not cover the entirety of what a process of open recognition can produce.

 

The question of open recognition: what it introduces, questions and allows

There are several dimensions to be considered:

• Closed/Open: introduces the idea of an evolving process as opposed to a fixed procedure.
   
• Expert/Peer: allows for input from all those involved and reciprocity in roles. I can be recognised but also contribute to the recognition of others.
   
• Frozen/Living: if it is a process, it is by nature in perpetual movement.
   
• Open recognition is necessarily reflexive: it generates ongoing lessons about what is being done to make it progress. The badge serves more as a reference point on a path than as a certification to be displayed.
   
• Formal/informal: this introduces the essential dimension of the circumstantial, the opportunistic. It is grasped more than anticipated.
   
• It seeks to free itself from an excessive normativity, while giving reference points that make it an audible language.

The emphasis is therefore on the pedagogical process that uses opens badges to engage the audience. In concrete terms, open recognition can be integrated and developed in an ecosystem of participants that structures its shared aims and contributes to democratising its use. In this respect, we can understand the comparison with local currencies. It is a question of extending to more and more participants who interact. Moreover, we can also believe that the synergy of participants on these issues will amplify recognition. This also brings up questions of equity.

 

Creating open recognition ecosystems

The example of the “Activateur de Potentiel” project run by the CIBC Normandie sets out, from the outset, the principles and values which make badges a means, certainly important, but first and foremost at the service of several very concrete intentions: “Broadening the field of possibilities by acting both on the transformation of processes and organisations, and on the commitment of individuals to identify and develop their potential. Digital badges make the skills and commitments of each individual visible, as well as the possibilities in terms of training and employment.” The project is all the more interesting because it is aimed at people for whom recognition has often been based more on what was hindering them (the famous obstacles) than on the resources they can mobilise. Reversing the process, giving credit to what is done, opening up to new experiences, helping to appreciate their value... all these levers make the public a stakeholder in different ways. Technically, this involves the construction of learning situations, the creation of Minimaps and the use of badges as equipment. In short, a system that mixes playful pedagogies to help develop openness to the world and belief in one's ability to take action. Badges are the symbol of this. 

But beyond this, what is really important is the development of open recognition ecosystems. Systems in which several actors can meet to define together the objectives and the resources to be mobilised. In short, creating territorial synergies in the service of the public, of individuals, but also weaving cooperative links between professionals that go beyond the distribution of participants or simple inter-knowledge. Is it that simple? Obviously not, and the conditions for the development of these ecosystems are not anecdotal. These ecosystems are localised (linked to a territory, an environment) and therefore by definition non-duplicable; they are based on interactions and iterations. Interaction is both the driving force and the energy; They are based on interdependence: the ecosystem can only work if the energy of its members circulates; They only make sense if they remain agile and permeable to the environment and to opportunities; They operate by permanent regulation, by adjustments, by regular fine-tuning which allows them to move forward; this presupposes having organisational bodies.

 The project developed by the CIBC Normandie, activator of potential, shows both the interest and the possible impacts, but also all the conditions for development. Reductionism is the danger. Thinking that adding a few badges to a training scheme is enough to produce an open recognition process. This effectively reduces the concept to no more than a gimmick. First of all, it is important to construct a shared framework (agreeing on the meaning and the aims) while progressively advancing on the operational side of things. By accepting the fact that not everything is pre-determined, but by being aware that the relevance of what we develop can never be modelled in advance. It’s a lot like life. Nothing goes according to plan. Is this bad news? Does this also mean that everything is open? “Open”, we come back to this word. Open recognition is not about the number of friends you have on social networks, either. No, that's something else again. Stromae put it very well.

Watch out for yourself
Ah friends, buddies or followers
You’re mistaken, you’re just popular!