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Construction traineeships in the south of France

In January 2022, Don Bosco Sint-Denijs-Westrem is sending four students of the 7th year of construction and planning techniques on an internship to Perpignan in the south of France.

They will work a few weeks in local construction companies and thus further improve their skills in site supervision and calculation.

In addition, their fluency in the French language will undoubtedly be sharpened. They are looking forward to an internship that will be a great asset to their future CV.

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Capacity Building of VET Staff

The thematic discussion on the topic Capacity Building of VET STAFF was moderated by Ms Darina Petrunova and Mrs Vanya Neycheva from European Center for Quality, Bulgaria.
In total 5 good practices -2 from Bulgaria and 3 from Belgium were presented. The good practices were related to the improvement of VET staff skills through participation in international teaching activities and working meetings and structured VET trainings.

  • Good practice 1 – Vocational High School of Electrical Engineering, Galabovo, Bulgaria
    In February 2020 the team of the school held a working meeting with teachers from the Edirne Vocational High School in Turkey. Some specifics of the Turkish educational system were also highlighted and the teachers exchanged different ideas and best practices of teaching methodologies and techniques in the field of Electrical engineering.
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  • Good practice 2 – Diagnose Car – Connectief, Belgium
    It is a collaboration between the private sector and the ministry of education. In this project, private companies give access to the schools to a variety of modern cars with network technology, diagnostic equipment and technical data. All participating teachers receive Train the trainer sessions depending on the cars. 
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  • Good practice 3 – RTC East-Flanders, Belgium
    RTC main objective is to activate and reinforce cooperation between education,  companies and other labor market actors by connecting schools and businesses, sharing technology infrastructure and equipment and competence enhancement of teachers and students.
  • Good practice 4 – CREATE project, Syntra West, Belgium
    The project aimed to organize 6 mobilities placement for 20 Belgian teachers in Barcelos, Portugal in the summer of 2019. The focus at CRE-ATE is on ICT-supporting teaching and the train-the-trainer principle. The project goal is not only to provide teachers with ICT skills, but also to give them a practical approach by using coaching methodology.
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  • Good practice 5 – FUTURE FOR US, Bulgaria
    The project was implemented by the Vocational high School of Construction and Woodworking ” Nedyo Ranchev “Stara Zagora and the teachers conducted a training placement in Barcelona in 2019. The main aim was to stimulate the use of digital methods by studying and introducing innovative pedagogical approaches and setting up a mediation team at school to reduce aggressive events, conflict situations and the number of dropouts of school children.
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The thematic room gathered in total of 33 participants – many VET teachers, project coordinators; 3 management representatives and other stakeholders.  Representatives from Belgium, Italy, Bulgaria, Albania, Ukraine joined the discussion. According to the participants the most suitable types of staff, mobilities are structured VET training and job shadowing. Moreover, 22 participants responded and highlighted that the main obstacles they face for participating in VET staff mobility projects are the language barriers and insufficient opportunities.

To conclude it can be stated that the content presented during the event was engaging and beneficial for the participants and space for networking was provided.

Capacity Building VET Staff: Resources available

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Sustainable Development Goals

ENNE Project coordinated an international online conference on November the 9th named VET4FUTURE.

The conference introduced to the future of vocational education thanks to Mr. Luca Pirozzi Policy Officer for VET at EAECA (Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency of the European Commission)

The ZOOM event organized into 5 breakout rooms each of these dedicated to a specific thematic:

  • Recognition/validation of competences in WBL (Work Based Learning – national traineeships/transnational mobility/etc.)
  • Social Inclusion in VET (Disabilities, migrants, economic disadvantages, etc.)
  • Digital transformation / Distance Learning
  • Sustainability and contribution of VET to the achievement of UN Agenda 2030 SDGs
  • Capacity building of VET Staff

In the ZOOM breakout room dedicated to “Sustainability and contribution of VET to the achievement of UN agenda 2030 SDGs” the VET European schools members of the ENNE Network presented and shared their “best practices” in order to show how it is possible to boost ideas and collect contributions for the 17 Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nation.

  1. Sandro Pertini Institute of Afragola (Naples, Italy) presented its motto: “Sustain sustainable school”. The institute established a “free plastic week” and arranged interactive exhibitions where students can experiment the condition of being costumers and citizens passing through production activities. An opportunity to raise awareness on reducing waste through prevention, reduction and recycling;
  2. The Alfonso Casanova Institute of Napoli (Italy) – in order to encourage students in engagement in favor of disadvantaged people – planned the realization of packaging for removable dental prosthesis for prisoners. This allows the development of transversal skills;
  3. The National High school in Finance and Business of Sophia (Bulgaria) dedicates a school area to those students who have ideas in terms of contributing to the achievement of the UN goals arranging drawers to collect the students’ views. Other activities concern the realization of usable objects or art creations using only trash or garbage items.
  4. The Orfini Institute of Foligno (Perugia, Italy) promoted the involvement of VET-schools in the development of sustainable urban centers establishing VET education programs relevant to the development of sustainable urban centers. The activities also concern the enhancement of cooperation and entrepreneurship creative skills among students.

Sustainable Development Goals: Resouces Available

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Recognition and Validation of Competences in WBL

To celebrate the formal establishment of the 5 VET networks, ENNE’s project partners have decided to organise an online Conference, during the European Vocational Skills Week, to foster a first meeting between their VET communities, where they could interact and work towards their common goal – the Enhancement of VET quality and attractiveness

Arts & Skills was responsible for moderating the thematic session “Recognition and Validation of Competences in Work Based Learning”.

National or international WBL programs are targeted to bridge the gap between the learning environment and real work environment, and different WBL strategies provide career awareness, career exploration opportunities, career planning activities and help students attain competencies such as positive work attitudes and other employable skills.

The recognition and validation of competencies in WBL environments refer to the identification and appreciation of the skills and competencies that an individual acquires through a work-based learning experience.
Although, WBL experiences can have different forms ((apprenticeship, internship, service learning, school-based enterprise, or industry projects) they should be well planned, monitored and assessed properly to become relevant for 

The European Credit System for Vocational Education and Training (ECVET) is one of the most relevant EU frameworks developed to help the VET community implementing high-quality WBL programs:   

  • ECVET provides a framework for the assessment, validation and recognition of learning outcomes, alongside a series of common tools and instruments able to support quality in mobility. 
  • ECVET promotes the integration of mobility into existing learning pathways. 
  • ECVET contributes to the development of a common language for use by different VET stakeholders and promotes mutual trust within the wider VET community. 
  • ECVET supports the valorisation of key competences (such as foreign language skills or intercultural competence) alongside those that are more technically – or vocationally – oriented. 

The implementation of ECVET was referred during the best practices presented by six of our network members, from Portugal, Italy and Germany, who shared with the audience good practices implemented by their VET organizations and related to WBL experiences.

Ms. Sonia Barani, from the “Italienische Handelskammer für Deutschland”, Germany, presented the MeMeVET project (mechatronics and metallurgical VET for sectors’ industries) and its outcomes. The project, implemented in 5 countries (DE, IT, ES, BG, SK) aimed at tackling some of the main issues impeding free mobility of workers and VET learners of the sector in Europe. One of the main issues is related to the difficulty of having one’s competencies and know-how recognized in another EU country. Another one, concerns the gap between the training and learning offer of VET institutions and the real needs of the labour market.

Ms Joana Soares from EP Felgueiras, Portugal, shared with the participants their experience in VET-Business cooperation at local and regional level concerning Curriculum development; Matching supply and demand of technicians; Development of technological devices (e.g. Robots) for the local industry; Social Inclusion and Monitoring of trainees after the completion of the course.

Ms. Margherita Battaglini, from ITE SCARPELLINI – Foligno, Italy, offered an overview of their experience with the implementation of ECVET not only on Transnational, but also National WBL experiences.

Ms. Alessia Montanucci, from I.O. Salvatorelli Moneta Marsciano, Italy, presented a mobility experience developed in Malta in 2019, that involved 15 students from the 3rd and the 4th year of high school. The internships  were held at local businesses: museums, shops, state agencies, cruises for tourists, etc. which she had the opportunity to accompany for the whole training period.

From Portugal, Mr. Edgar Costa, from Vocational School Bento Jesus Caraça, shared how they adapted mandatory WBL experiences that should have been developed in a real working context, to a successful simulated business context due to the confinement imposed by COVID 19. 

Mr Ferenc Naacke from “Berufliches Schulzentrum für Wirtschaft in Dresden, Germany, presented the “Healthy Lifestyle” Project and the approach that allowed their organization to implement 70 internships abroad, in 8 different countries, for students from the Social Insurance Course, whose training focuses mainly on administrative work of social insurance clerks, but not on the background knowledge in advising insured people on the prevention of diseases.

This session showed us how diverse work-based learning strategies can be and how multiple approaches can be addressed by VET organizations to improve and enhance VET quality and attractiveness.

We hope we have brought some inspiration to our audience for further projects and cooperation among our VET Community. 

Recognition and Validation of Competences in Work-Based Learning: Resources available

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Digital transformation and distance learning

Digital transformation and distance learning have been a hot topic since the Covid-19 outbreak.
This was also clear during the inscriptions for this theme at VET4FUTURE.
We give you a brief overview of the good practices that were shared.

BLEFT is an EU project for the development of e-learning modules in forestry. In Saxony (Germany) the official LernSax was put into service during the lockdown. Students and teachers worked online and found each other on this well-equipped platform for lessons, meetings, etc.
In Portugal, the Escola profissional C.J. de Campanha should find a new way to publish student work in graphic media. For this they used a virtual exhibition. Italian Fondazione Lepido Rocco bundled a lot of good practices on the website from which we discovered a CLIL training and the Sherwood project.
Finally, we have introduced to google classroom thanks to the tourist vocational school Aleko Konstantinov from Bulgaria.

Digital transformation and distance learning: Resources available

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Social Inclusion in VET

The first out of 20 principals of the European Pillar of Social Rights is devoted to education, training and life-long learning: 

Everyone has the right to quality and inclusive education, training and life-long learning in order to maintain and acquire skills that enable them to participate fully in society and manage successfully transitions in the labour market.”

(Source: https://ec.europa.eu/commission/priorities/deeper-and-fairer-economic-and-monetary-union/european-pillar-social-rights/european-pillar-social-rights-20-principles_en)

All around Europe, we can find numerous initiatives, projects and programmes supporting the inclusion of disadvantaged people in education and by this into work. They also show that the implementation of social inclusion in education and specifically in VET also depends on the structure of the educational system and relevant national policies in each country.
Following, we are going to introduce three good practices presented during the VET4FUTURE conference

  • Individualised Education Plan
    The Istituto Omnicomprensivo Giano dell’Umbria – Bastardo from Italy started working with Individualised Educational Plans (IEP) in 2019. It is a holistic approach to education enhancing the capabilities of the students, which do not only include academic, but also social competencies and life skills. The approach is carried throughout the whole cycle of education starting from primary school until secondary school including vocational education and training. Moreover, IEPs can be applied not only to disadvantaged but all students. Each student is assessed, individual goals are set and appropriate didactical measures and methods are chosen to achieve them. Based on the IEP Life Projects are developed for disadvantaged students encouraged by their achievements. In order for this approach to work, the social background and community around a student needs to be involved – the school, the family, relevant associations, social services as well as companies – with the goal to support each student in finding a suitable workplace
  • Inclusive Internships
    The keys to successful inclusion of people with disabilities at the workplace were presented by DomSpain Consulting from Spain. It is important to be aware of myths and preconceived ideas, involve the whole company, raise awareness among the staff and implement an effective communication strategy. Especially conscious and unconscious biases can be a challenge for inclusion. It needs to be taken into account that students taking part in an internship at a company have different special needs, which need to be addressed and solutions to be found. For persons with reduced mobility architectural barriers might need to be overcome. Different communication methods and technology can be used for persons with hearing or visual impairments. Companies should also think about the accessibility of their documents and their website. Persons with dyslexia or other learning disabilities will be grateful for easy-reading instructions. Therefore, a careful evaluation of the specific situation should take place in advance in order to meet the needs of the intern and guarantee a successful start of the internship.
  • SEN Students in Mobilities
    An empowering step further can be the participation of students with special educational needs (SEN) in Erasmus+ projects and mobilities, like in the case of the Istituto d’istruzione superiore Ciuffelli-Einaudi, Todi in Italy. Throughout the project “Linking Business, Enterprise & Entrepreneurial Skills Internationally”, the students involved in the project activities also included SEN students in order to foster peer communication and cooperation. The students were able to take part in mobilities in the partner countries of the project.
    The partnership focused on what the students can do and not what they cannot. Learning was facilitated through creative activities, which promote responsibility, teamwork, risk taking and problem solving. Furthermore, the activities were designed to correspond to the different learning styles of the students. Due to these activities and the possibility to take part in mobility among many other things the confidence of the SEN students increased and their communication skills improved

Social inclusion in VET: Resources available