Enhancing inclusion capacity of educational organisations / institutions providing VET with information and communication technologies (ICT) Erasmus Project

Project Title

Enhancing inclusion capacity of educational organisations / institutions providing VET with information and communication technologies (ICT)

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: Inclusion – equity; ICT – new technologies – digital competences; Access for disadvantaged

Project Summary

Official data shows that people with disabilities continue to be disproportionately excluded from the labour market. Moreover, people with learning or intellectual disabilities are even less likely to be in work than those with physical disabilities. However, the exclusion of people with disabilities from the labour market is a serious concern from the perspective of equal opportunities. Countries should make it a priority to achieve better results for, among others, learners with special needs / disabilities, as well as to promote personalised learning through timely support and well-co-ordinated services, to integrate services within mainstream schooling and to ensure pathways to further education and training (European Agency for Special Needs and Inclusive Education, 2013). Vocational education and training (VET) plays a crucial role, as it acts as the joint between school education and the working world.

EICON’s main objective was to support organisations / institutions providing VET to become more inclusive. In particular, the aim was to put the organisations as a whole in the focus, and not just education and training practice. Managers of these organisations / institutions are particularly in need for guidance on how to further develop their organizations, as they often have to work towards multiple aims simultaneously, i.e. inclusion usually is one among other aims. The typical organizational response to address inclusion is to provide teaching personnel with further qualification and training. This is essential, but unfortunately not sufficient to reach the aim. Rather, systemic approaches are required to succeed in the inclusion endeavour. Hence, different organizational areas have been analysed, in particular those that are known – from research – to be essential in establishing and maintaining an organisation’s inclusive capacity. For each of these organizational areas EICON explored, if and how information and communication technology (ICT) can be used within this unit as a lever / amplifier to increase the overall organization’s inclusiveness.

Six partners from Germany, Portugal, Greece, Sweden and Finland have joined forces to elaborate practice-oriented recommendations. Partners come from organisations that provide VET (Invalidisäätiö – Keskuspuisto vocational college – College LIVE (FI) and Cooperativa para a Educação e Reabilitação de Cidadãos Inadaptados de Cascais – CERCICA (PT)), that support organisations / institutions that provide VET (Specialpedagogiska skolmyndigheten – SPSM (SE) and the National Ministry of Education, Research and Religious Affairs (EL)), that provide technology for VET organisations and individuals (EPISTIMI GIA SENA ASTIKI MI KERDOSKOPIKI ETAIRIA – SciFY (EL)) and that support organisations in complex change processes (Institut für Technologie und Arbeit – ITA (DE); project coordinator).

The main project activities were arranged as a series of seven face-to-face meetings, each focusing on a central thematic area: (1) pedagogy & teaching / learning approaches, (2) technology & infrastructure, (3) establishing & maintaining links to employment / labour market, (4) stakeholder involvement, collaboration & partnerships, (5) leadership, (6) transition & target scenarios for VET organisations, (7) continuous improvement process. Each meeting produced specific draft outcomes. For the thematic issues (1) to (5), these drafts were published for a certain time on a consultation platform to collect further ideas, comments or suggested changes from a wider audience in Europe. Final / consolidated outcomes and recommendations have been published on the project’s dedicated website, see https://www.eicon-project.eu.

Project participants gained a wider perspective on inclusion by applying an organisational / holistic view on inclusion. They learned from good examples from other European countries and gained knowledge about effective organisational levers of change. Organisations / institutions active in VET feel better prepared for the required change, and they may initiate change processes and collaborate / network with other organisations in this endeavour.

The results of EICON are published as lists of inclusion opportunities for teachers, change agents / facilitators and managers in VET. They provide stimulus and support on how to make use of ICT to help organisations / institutions offering VET to become more and truly inclusive. All results / lists of inclusion opportunities are published under the Creative Commons License CC BY-SA.

Project Website

https://www.eicon-project.eu

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 74020 Eur

Project Coordinator

Institut für Technologie und Arbeit (ITA) e.V. & Country: DE

Project Partners

• Invalidisäätiö
• CERCICA – Cooperativa para a Educação e Reabilitação de Cidadãos Inadaptados de Cascais
• Ministry of Education, Research and Religious Affairs
• EPISTIMI GIA SENA ASTIKI MI KERDOSKOPIKI ETAIRIA
• Specialpedagogiska skolmyndigheten