Blended Programme Erasmus Project

Project Title

Blended Programme

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 2014

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Intercultural/intergenerational education and (lifelong)learning; International cooperation, international relations, development cooperation; New innovative curricula/educational methods/development of training courses

Project Summary

Blended Programme (BP), a project developed and piloted by Ireland, Finland and The Netherlands in a lifetime of 2 years. It combines and includes a variety of educational aspects, based on home curricula of the 3 participating countries. BP partners cooperate for students to experience, adapt and adopt study and culture away from home. Partners are confident to not only realize broadening of students’ horizons in knowledge and skills of their future profession but also in the natural use of English, basic learning of a new language, get knowledge on EU, their position within EU as (young) professionals and as citizens, to familiarize themselves with life and culture of other countries. BP is contrived as currently many VET students go abroad for an international internship where they go from work placement back to their apartments, finding their ways themselves in a foreign country. The majority of them are also to experience delay in achieving their diplomas as assessors are not recognized by home institution, so students are not to be assessed while abroad: no continuation of education. This results in demotivation of VET students for international internship. Students and parents also miss guidance, coaching when abroad. As result of BP VETstudents are inspired forward in their careers. BP participants do not experience delay in studies after return in homecountry. Vocational Education and Training are keywords for BP. Vocational Education in home countries is intensified and innovated by the offer of a curriculum-based module attended by participants in host country. Students attend classes in English or where English as a 2nd language. Students learn but also share their knowledge. Vocational Education is further extended by cultural and teambuilding activities. Students learn more about their home and host countries, about living-alone-together and tolerance of other cultures and way of living, they gain more knowledge on the EU and beyond, are further skilled in one or more languages. The training/the internship executed in this other country is extended with exam of the participating student by accredited assessors. The incompany tutors are assessors in home countries but BP offers a training to better understand the education of the international interns. BP is curriculumbased, part of the home curricula of the VETstudents. BP guides the VETstudent from pre-departure to host country and after its return home. Participants are to have successfully finished the first two years of their courses at level 3 or 4 and are in for a new challenge. Students apply for participation. Students are aware of the content of the program, from Pre-Departure till and including after return home. The content of the Pre-Departure part demands input of the students next to the execution of his studies at the moment this part of BP starts (ca 30 to 40 hours extra meetings/homework). When abroad BP demands full participation of students at organized activities, next to carrying out of internships and assessments, attendance of classes and homework for those. After return students meet and talk about experience and learning outcomes. BPparticipants become BPambassadors and are invited to share their experience with potential ones. BP reached more than 25 students of the three partner countries in the two years. The project offers 2 differing pilots, incl 2 different lengths of the program, to secure it at the end. One pilot have students from Finland and The Netherlands to Ireland. The second pilot have students from the 3 countries going across borders. BP offers a 10-week program and an 18-week one. At the end of the project visitors find the following documents on the website: Blended Programme Guide that is a compilation of useful resources developed during BP’s lifetime to guide students, inform VET institutions and VET workplacement organisations. It takes one through the development of the aim of BP: VETstudents being skilled and examined across borders, within the EU in full cooperation with organisations offering internships. All booklets of the Pre-Departure Program adaptable to one’s own need and situation. Partners are a team of engaged colleagues that have realized BP with love for VET students who are determined to reach farther and achieve the best possible challenge to become more qualified and international oriented young professionals in the future. BP team believe to have contributed to innovation in VET curricula. We worked closely together as 2 VET institutions, Finland and The Netherlands, and 1 language centre, Ireland. A perfect combination of different views on one specific goal. At the end we reached in engaging more departments of education in our BP, more VET participants to help us develop BP and more organisations involved for workplacements of BP students. BP is clear and innovative for VET, its path is adaptable for institutions in order to integrate internationalization in any curricula.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 191642 Eur

Project Coordinator

Landstede & Country: NL

Project Partners

• Barron Educational Languages Ltd.
• Satakunnan koulutuskuntayhtymä