Innovative Training in VET. Professional capacity building of VET-business key actors for qualitative WBL experiences Erasmus Project

Project Title

Innovative Training in VET. Professional capacity building of VET-business key actors for qualitative WBL experiences

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: Regional dimension and cooperation; New innovative curricula/educational methods/development of training courses; Quality Improvement Institutions and/or methods (incl. school development)

Project Summary

InnoTrain actions and outputs focued on the key target issues in promoting VET-business partnerships that impact on weak elements of the in-service learning cycle in five European regions in Austria, Italy, Germany, Spain and Greece. The improvement focus were regional and local and benefits from a transnational dimension working on effective practices leading to the innovation of training programmes and tools for professionals involved in the development of WBL. Our strategic partnership aimed to create a more systematic engagement of VET providers and companies with the proposal to explore, design and implement new synergies between local key actors involved in collaborative structures to promote WBL and to stimulate sustainable policy reforms in education and employment.

A mix of complementary transnational partners (consisting of 9 partners from five EU countries) worked over a period of 36 months to create new structures for cooperation between VET and business (Italy, Spain, Greece) and to revise existing structures (Germany, Austria).
The motivation of the partners to participate in the project was closely linked to the observation of local needs and the recognition of the need to close the gap between skill levels and labour market requirements, starting with strengthening the quality and quantity of WBL in education and investing in innovation for practitioners.

The overall objective of the project was to create transferable outcomes (4 IOs) for the improvement of professional competences of practitioners involved on a daily basis in VET-business relations and in the implementation of WBL programmes focused on the qualitative development of high quality skills and competences. On the other hand, we explored and developed new strategies for effective structures of cooperation between VET and business, involving complementary local stakeholders, but with a view to use in other EU regions. The target group of participants was VET professionals/general education/companies/social partners/local institutions/youth associations.

For this purpose, the first step in the project was to carry out cross-country comparative analyses to identify the strengths, weaknesses and needs of the partner countries (Germany, Austria, Italy, Spain, Greece). These results have led to establishing a general curriculum for the development of innovative training programmes for professionals. A total of 5 trainings based on the curriculum were conducted. The next major milestone in the project was to design, test and validate training tools through a bottom-up approach. The consortium partner chooses Moodle as the basic learning and teaching platform for the InnoTrain project. Especially in the times of COVID, where the project also focused more on virtual collaboration, Moodle was expanded more than expected by the project partners. A badge system (to improve motivation, recognition and credentialing) and learning lunches (learning from each other and learning together in an informal way) were developed. Finally, the number of trainers on Moodle was increased to almost 100. Country comparative analyses were also carried out on the topic of practical guide on Monitoring, Evaluation and Quality in WBL in order to identify the needs. In a further step, the measures of Monitoring, Evaluation and Quality Assurance in times of COVID-19-crisis were specifically analysed. From this, challenges and recommendations for VET teachers and trainers were developed, which can be found in the storyboard. The Storyboard of InnoTrain Methodology gives an overview of the overall project results and methods used.

Project Website

http://innotrain.whkt.de/content/about

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 307032 Eur

Project Coordinator

OSTERREICHISCHES INSTITUT FUR BERUFSBILDUNGSFORSCHUNG & Country: AT

Project Partners

• Jugend am Werk Berufsausbildung für Jugendliche GmbH
• Association of Thessalian Enterprises and Industries
• Proyecta Mejora Empresarial, S.L.
• CENTOFORM SRL
• INSTITUTE OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP DEVELOPMENT
• K.O.S GMBH
• WESTDEUTSCHER HANDWERKSKAMMERTAG