ESW – Early School Workers Erasmus Project

Project Title

ESW – Early School Workers

Project Key Action

This project related with these key action: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices

Project Action Type

This project related with this action type : Strategic Partnerships for vocational education and training

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2018

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: New innovative curricula/educational methods/development of training courses; Key Competences (incl. mathematics and literacy) – basic skills; Early School Leaving / combating failure in education

Project Summary

The project aimed to contribute to the renovation of VET systems with the ultimate goal of fighting early school leaving and increasing the employability of young people and encouraging their active role in society. In order to address this broad and challenging issue, the partnership decided to focus on some specific priorities that, according to the organisations that joined the partnership, could contribute to solve the problem.

These priorities were:
(a) strengthening the key competencies of young people in order to reduce the skills gap between the competencies required by the world of work and those provided by educational systems. In fact, it is now widely accepted, and scientifically supported, that strong key competencies are essential to be competitive in a fast-changing labour market;

b) promote partnerships and organizational models for WBL approaches that bring young people closer to the world of work.

The project aimed to achieve these objectives by analysing and adapting to the Italian, Spanish and German contexts a school model present in the United Kingdom (UTCs).

In other words, the idea pursued by the partnership was to transfer an organizational pedagogical model, which had proven to be effective in combating early school leaving and in the transfer of skills required by the labour market, and turn it into good practice for other European countries.

ESW project was based on a scientifically established methodology that consisted of the study of an identified good practice (UTC model), its adaptation to other contexts, conducting a trial and an evaluation phase and disseminate the final results. The method was particularly effective because it involved the transfer of an existing practice from a partner provider (UTC Warrington) to other partner users (4 vocational training institutions operating in 3 countries – Italy, Germany and Spain – beneficiaries of the good practice). The task of the user partners was to study/adapt the model to their local contexts in order to make it work.

Starting from this approach, the project was divided into 4 main phases and each phase realized a specific Intellectual Output.

STEP 1
The first step was to develop a transferability model of UTC English schools, including organizational, pedagogical and didactical dimensions.
This phase produced IO1, a document that explains the model of UTCs and supported the Institutions to replicate it in their local contexts.

PHASE 2
The second phase aimed at transferring the model and adapting it in VET centers in other countries by designing training paths (modules/curriculum) per sector and professional profile combining national standards and innovative elements of the UTC model.

Tools and supporting materials were created in order to support partners in designing new training paths starting from the UTC model. The goal was to create operative tools that partners could test in an initial pilot phase and then during the official trial phase.
This phase produced the IO2 that contains operational tools and a comprehensive explanation of how it was possible to define
a) a framework of transversal and employability competencies
b) a format for the design of the new curriculum.

STEP 3
After having developd a transferability model (IO1) and a methodological framework (IO2), partners focused on the trial phase, whose objective was to test the model in some selected VET centers. In this phase each partner had to implement, following the instructions of IO1 and the tools provided in IO2, specific training modules involving the final users (in total about 160 students were involved).
Training paths/modules have been designed for several sectors/professional profiles combining national standards and innovative elements of UTC model.

PHASE 4
This activity consisted in monitoring and evaluating the results and was transversal to the whole project. An output was produced that analyses the overall project results, the on-going evaluation, and a comparative analysis of the results achieved.

Other tangible results obtained from the project were:
– Dedicated website
– 6 Project newsletters
– 5 Dissemination events
– 2 LTTA (26 VET staff involved)

In terms of results, it can be said that the partner users have been able to deal with an organizational-didactic model really different from what they were accustomed to and that has led to changes in the teaching methodology within the institutions with a “deconstruction of traditional teaching” to make room for a teaching model focused on the solution of real problems / projects. The project has also significantly strengthened the capacities of some partners to collaborate in a more consistent way, to act at EU level and to develop an internationalization strategy.

Project Website

http://earlyschoolworkers.eu/?lang=it

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 422907,92 Eur

Project Coordinator

ENAC ENTE NAZIONALE CANOSSIANO & Country: IT

Project Partners

• CHRISTLICHES JUGENDDORFWERK DEUTSCHLANDS GEMEINNUTZIGER EV
• UNIVERSITA CATTOLICA DEL SACRO CUORE
• ENDO-FAP
• I.E.S. VIRGEN DE LA PAZ
• University Technical College
• EUROPEAN FORUM OF TECHNICAL AND VOCATIONAL EDUCATION AND TRAINING
• IES PUERTA BONITA