Access to Caretaking Professions for Deaf Erasmus Project

Project Title

Access to Caretaking Professions for Deaf

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 2019

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Inclusion – equity; New innovative curricula/educational methods/development of training courses; Disabilities – special needs

Project Summary

Inclusive vocational education and training and lifelong learning for students and learners with disabilities and special needs is one of the priorities of the European Education Strategy 2010-2020. Alternative ways, innovative forms of vocational education and training and Work-Based Learning (BWL) are formulated by the EC in the Bruges Communiqué as centrally desirable approaches at different EU levels.

The ACPD project takes this approach into account in a special way and is furthermore oriented towards the core competences of integrative teaching identified within the framework of a study by the European Agency.
Appreciation for the diversity of learners, support for all learners, cooperation with others and continuous professional development. These are necessary competences that are far from being reflected in all VET provision. It also reflects the strategic objectives of the Europe 2020 and ET2020 strategies, which identify inclusive education, equality, equity, non-discrimination and the promotion of civic competences as priority areas for European cooperation in education and training.

According to Statista, 119 million people in Europe are hearing impaired, 34.4 million with a hearing loss of 35dB or more. Most hearing-impaired people do not see themselves as disabled, but perceive their hearing loss as a natural part of their social and cultural experience, both with deaf and hearing people. While in some countries hearing impaired people make a successful career and participate in social life, in other countries, especially in South Eastern Europe, there are hardly any opportunities for social and professional integration. Employment opportunities here are often limited to low-skilled jobs and therefore financially and content-wise unattractive.
The qualifications and competences we have planned are in great demand, and the aim of the project is therefore to strengthen the employability of hearing impaired people throughout Europe in the area of nursing care. The demographic development provides almost secure employment and career development opportunities.

Bottom-up-collaboration between VET-providers, universities of applied sciences, special education needs association and deaf organisations/associations is set as a priority of the current project. The project should encourage creation of transnational and cross-regional education networks working on enhancing social and professional inclusion of people with all kinds of disabilities. The INTAMT Academy in cooperation with its partners plans to analyse existing VET opportunities in nursing and care assistance, check feasibility of a full-scale training course for deaf and hard-of-hearing people and develop a set of basic recommendations for such a course. The project partner expressed a strong wish to collaborate beyond the framework of this project in the future, in order to develop a training course that could be applied regardless of territorial context due to clear described content modules and transparent evaluation criteria for assessing basic qualifications of the hearing-impaired staff in the field of nursing and caretaking services and to foster the professional inclusion of this category of people.

The project partners have defined the following objectives:
– Analyse the current situation in the field of nursing and caretaking, market offers and demands in that field, to identify common legislative, normative and procedural descriptions of the profession, to evaluate weaknesses and strong points of existing training programs.
– Analyse the current situation in the field of employability of deaf and hearing impaired people with special focus on young persons (between the ages of 18 and 35), to identify the scope and thematic paths of skill-based training programs for the hearing impaired students with the special attention to the health and care sector.
– Provide deaf and hearing impaired people with basic knowledge in the field of nursing and caretaking for evaluating their general interest in that field.
– Develop a brief outline for a future blended learning training course for deaf, taking into account their specific characteristics and adapt this outline with a number of European countries involved in the project.
– Investigate possible ways for transnational mobility of skilled people with hearing impairments

The main target groups of the project are:
– Schools, VET-Centers and Universities of Applied Science for nursing and caretaking assistance professions, specialized schools and VET-centers providing education and professional training for deaf and hard-to-hearing persons.
– Vocational institutions for adult and lifelong learning
– Rehabilitation centers
– Deaf and hard-of-hearing associations
– Institutions for nursing and care of the elderly and hospitals as well as affiliated professional and interest associations, training institutes and training certification bodies.

Project Website

http://inclusiva.eu

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 33112,99 Eur

Project Coordinator

Internationale Akademie für Management und Technologie (INTAMT) e.V. & Country: DE

Project Partners

• FONDATSIYA ZASLUSHAI SE
• Asociatia Centrul European pentru Integrare Socioprofesionala ACTA
• CENTRO INTERNAZIONALE PER LA PROMOZIONE DELL’EDUCAZIONE E LO SVILUPPO ASSOCIAZIONE
• Utenos kolegija
• Verband Sonderpädagogik e. V.
• BALGARSKA AGENTSIYA ZA RAZVITIE