The distinction between a qualification and an accreditation
is often confused.
Qualification is gained by a Training Establishment from
its Governing Body or Membership Association and has the credence of its peers,
which makes it a credible qualification or credential.
With the credibility of a Governing Body, the Training
Establishment will qualify its trainees with a recognised qualification. That
is to say it recognises the standard to which the trainee is qualified to
practice.
Accreditation is the act of giving credit for the level of
service given & received. A Training Establishment gives credit to and
credence to a Governing Body or Association by becoming a member and paying a
fee to that body or association.
In my opinion, the only form of accreditation that has
credence for a Coach is the testimony of a client that gives credit to that
individual practitioner.
Qualification has a credibility called credence that flows
from a Governing Body through a Training Establishment to a Professional Practitioner,
for the benefit of the Client.
With Accreditation the flow is reversed as it is the
credibility of credit given by the Client to a Professional Practitioner, by a Trainee
to their Training Company or by a Training Company to their Governing Body.
A Qualification is a credible credential, whereas an accreditation
often has very little credence.
Currently, the Coaching Profession has neither a Governing
Body nor one recognised Membership Association. It therefore does not have one
recognised system of Qualification of Coaches or Qualification of Coach Training
Companies. This means that no one is currently qualified to officially accredit
anyone.
Accreditation that is not qualified is in my opinion
worthless. It is not worth the money that a Coach has paid to a Trainer, nor
the money that a Trainer has paid to an Association.
Accreditation that is bestowed on a Coach Training Company
by a Training Association may be qualifying the Trainer to train coaches in the
skills of Coaching but is neither qualifying the personal development of the
Coach nor the ability of the Coach to use those skills effectively, credibly
and with credence.
The only Accreditation that has value to myself is the credibility and credence that I give to someone for the high level of service that they have shown and given to me.