Retail Sector Competencies for all Teachers Erasmus Project

Project Title

Retail Sector Competencies for all Teachers

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 2015

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Pedagogy and didactics; New innovative curricula/educational methods/development of training courses; Overcoming skills mismatches (basic/transversal)

Project Summary

Teaching self and social competencies in vocational education and training has great relevance to achieve employability in all European countries. This especially concerns the customer-intensive retail sector.
However, these competencies has so far been taught insufficiently in vocational education. Therefore, four teaching-learning arrangements were developed in advance for vocational schools/further education colleges to develop self and social competencies of young people in the retail sector. These materials were evaluated very positively by teachers. However, the practical implementation of the teaching-learning arrangements showed that their distribution largely depends on a large extent on the teachers’ willingness of to use it. The complexity and novelty of the teaching-learning arrangements sometimes discourage the teachers from integrating them as an integral part of their lessons.
Consequently, the focus of the project “Retail Sector Competencies for All Teachers” (ReCall) has been set on the professional development of teachers in vocational schools. Teachers are trained in teaching self and social competencies. Existing reservations about the present material has been dismantled, thereby lowering the inhibition threshold with regard to the use of teaching arrangements in the classroom.
The training of teachers is done by using a web-based Teacher Training Tool (TTT), developed as part of this project. The TTT includes information and practical exercises to relevant aspects for the four teaching-learning arrangements (to the sections ‘criticism’, ‘team competencies‘, ‘time management’ and ‘self-evaluation of ability’) in classroom. Using descriptive and targeted training materials for the practical application of the teaching-learning arrangements, teachers acquire the content in self-study learning with learning supportive accompaniment.
The multimedia TTT integrates new information and communication technologies (ICT) in teacher training. The tutorial enables medial exercises and notes for the teachers at vocational schools in the retail sector, which can be acquired and gleaned at any time and from any place. The TTT and the integrated teaching-learning materials promoting self and social competencies are available as “Open Educational Resource” (OER) on the internet. The OER ensures the sustainable use and dissemination of the training and the connected educational materials in the Europe-wide teacher training.
Three universities that are renowned in the field of teacher education, as well as three well established vocational schools, each from Poland, Italy and Germany were part of the project consortium. All partners have a great deal of professional expertise and project experience.
The project was implemented through a joint framework setting of process, responsibilities, and an accompanying management. On the one hand, the project quality was secured through the involvement of two “critical friends” who were not directly involved in the project and were accompanying it from the meta-perspective. On the other hand, for the purpose of quality assurance, it was important to include external experts, such as social partners and teacher training institutions in the project. These experts were already actively involved at an early stage to participate in the development process of designing an appropriate TTT. To verify the handling, acceptance, and the learning effect, the digital training tool has been be tested from at least 15 teachers per country under practical conditions. Therefore, the project partners developed an appropriate evaluation tool in advance. The evaluation results formed the basis for optimizing the TTT and the final provision as OER. The distribution was made through linking on the websites of the partners’ institutions.
The digital training is available online and free of charge all over Europe in the languages English, German, Polish, and Italian. Strengthening the teaching staff in this field of competence has led to and will result in a lasting improvement of vocational school education. The availability of the TTT beyond the three partner countries to all teachers in vocational schools in the retail sector will significantly make it easier to use the teaching materials and promote their use. In the long term the TTT can also be used in other areas of vocational education training as well as in different vocational fields because teachers are here demanded in the same way to teach self and social competencies. A multiplier event in all partner countries as well as extensive promotional and information measures ensured a most rapid and extensive dissemination of the ReCall project.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 294268,54 Eur

Project Coordinator

UNIVERSITAET ZU KOELN & Country: DE

Project Partners

• UNIWERSYTET PEDAGOGICZNY IM KOMISJI EDUKACJI NARODOWEJ W KRAKOWIE
• ENTE DI FORMAZIONE SACRA FAMIGLIA
• Zespol Szkol Przemyslu Spozywczego
• Berufskolleg an der Lindenstraße
• UNIVERSITA’ DEGLI STUDI DI BERGAMO