Emotional intelligence included in learning by projects to improve social inclusion Erasmus Project

Project Title

Emotional intelligence included in learning by projects to improve social inclusion

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 adult education

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2018

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Inclusion – equity; ICT – new technologies – digital competences; Entrepreneurial learning – entrepreneurship education

Project Summary

The Strategic Association is formed by CEPA Villaverde and CFPA Mercè Rodoreda adult education centres (Spain), EUROFORM RFS (Italy) and Ludor Engineering SRL (Romania). All partners are in peripheral areas of cities. We partnered through EPALE to answer some of our students’ questions: What shall I study that will be worth it for the future? What job will be more advantageous? We concluded that the “what” was not so important, it was the “how” that mattered.

The goals were focused on the design of a social entrepreneurship course based on the construction of technological pieces through active methodologies that simulate internal practices, but it was necessary to complete it with training in emotional intelligence to break “the glass ceiling”. In addition, the aim was to reduce absenteeism and improve the level of competence. Finally, the objective of facilitating access to the world of work to reduce job vulnerability.

The project was developed in three phases: the first one focused on the training of teachers and technicians, since without knowing the methodology it could not be applied in our classrooms; the second phase focused on the training of students based on the level of competence while applying the methodologies; in the third phase, the design of the course was addressed.

235 generation Z youths born after 1994 and 165 older adults have been trained directly. Young people are a new generation that interacts 24/7 with their mobile devices, seeks immediacy, is irreverent to authority and surrounded by uncertainty. They were people with job placement difficulties, either for having no previous work experience or for having lost their job. They are people of Spanish origin or immigrants who wish to finish their studies and obtain a degree.

The internal practices methodology was used. This methodological strategy included online tools and mobile apps; training in interpersonal skills (training in emotional intelligence). They were provided with easily assimilable STEM materials. All the activities proposed focused on dealing with a real-life problem, which the students had to solve. The teacher was only a mediator and coordinator and the students had to go through the entire process to reach the solution by completing different steps on the technical sheet. They became protagonists of their learning, improved their motivation and the level of absenteeism decreased. Empathy among our students increased since all the activities were carried out in groups, whose members moved between different teams and responsibilities.

The most efficient proposal was “project-based learning” combined with “flipped classroom”. This way, the time spent on the design and construction of the piece within the class time was greater. The teacher uploaded the content on the platform so that they could move forward. Topics from other curricular areas science and geography) were also included in this platform. The least efficient proposal was “design thinking”, since the creative phase took more time than expected because the pupils were not used to following this methodology in the classroom. On a daily basis, training activities were carried out in small chunks (between five and fifteen minutes) to improve the students’ emotional intelligence skills.

Adult students had 4 levels of commitment; each one of the higher levels included the previous one: 1: Construction only <2: Basic explanations <3: Project completion <4: Improvement of the pieces already built. The designed pieces were used to build the Science and Technology Museum (MUCyT) at the CFPA Mercè Rodoreda (physical and virtual). There are three main final products: The first one is the course "The Influence of Emotional Intelligence on Technological Training" (on paper and MOOC in IEDRA.UNED) that contains the training activities for Emotional Intelligence skills based on the Theory of Salovey and Mayer (1994): perception, facilitation, understanding and emotional control) in three languages (Spanish, English, Italian) and a teachers training programme translated into the 3 previous languages plus Romanian and Czech); the second output is the course “Creation of a school museum of science and technology ”distributed in four documents: presentation, construction, facilities and dissemination. The third one is the book "Technology Module II" The MUSETEAM Association disseminated the project through the "Contest of Pieces for a Technological Museum". Its members, who also form part of scientific institutions, collaborated as judges. All the partners presented the conclusions of the project in teachers training organization, schools and universities in their countries. The final evaluation is positive, since a programme offers educational and work opportunities to people at risk of exclusion and the verification of the effectiveness of this educational intervention makes it possible for a future implementation of this programme in any training centre.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 106437 Eur

Project Coordinator

Centro Público de Educación de Personas Adultas Villaverde & Country: ES

Project Partners

• SC Ludor Engineering SRL
• Centro de Formación de Personas Adultas Mercè Rodoreda
• Euroform RFS