European Professional Bachelor Programme Erasmus Project

Project Title

European Professional Bachelor 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 2015

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Teaching and learning of foreign languages; New innovative curricula/educational methods/development of training courses; Recognition, transparency, certification

Project Summary

The Association Ouvrière des Compagnons du Devoir et du Tour de France has developed a long-standing approach to vocational education and training with an original approach. This approach is based on a job alternation system that fosters strong in-company presence combined to geographic mobility, which leads young trainees to experience a work placement in various companies, in France and abroad. This mobility experience has proved a truly efficient training system as it allows for the transmission of knowledge and the development of professional experience in various environments. The institution pledges to maintain such a system. However, the digital revolution has led to a considerable evolution in the manufacturing processes, the operating procedures and in the services expected to be rendered for each trade. Some changes are also required in order to successfully achieve the energy transition. New skills are expected from the women and men in each trade. On top of the technical skills required, new technological and scientific knowledge are now needed for an effective on-the-job performance. To be successful, these professionals now need to be provided with higher education pathways allowing them to acquire this new knowledge. However, access to higher education today is almost impossible for someone who hasn’t followed a classical educational program.
The challenge of this project is to build a higher education pathway leading to an officially recognized diploma at Bachelor level (EQF level 6) for the students having undergone a technical/vocational training (which is the pathway often followed due to academic underachievement), while maintaining the principles that led those students to re-engage with the desire to learn: work-study and mobility. As we are not yet able to implement such a pathway for all the trades, we have chosen 2 professional areas to implement an approach transferable to other trades: the building trades and mechatronics engineering.
We had to harness partners with a knowledge of these career paths, the technical knowledge involved and the audience this higher education pathway targets, as well as partners from higher education bodies able to provide scientific knowledge and to offer a formal validation of the training. We have selected the following professional training centers: Les Compagnons du Devoir (project handler – France), Handwerkskammer zu Köln (Germany), Borgund Vidaregåande Skole (Norway) and some higher education institutes: le Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers (France) and the Erhvervsakademiet Lillebaelt Institute (Denmark). These partners were also known by the project handler due to their participation to other European programs, expect for the Erhvervsakademiet Lillebaelt Institute.
To meet the project’s objectives, the partners had to: elaborate the content of the higher education programs, build the training pathways for the students entering the scheme, define the profiles and the eligibility criteria for admission, agree upon the process of recognition and validation of the formal qualifications, implement bridging and support courses and, when appropriate, establish accommodation capacities in the various partnering countries and ensure the diffusion of the educational outcomes.
Based on the work undertaken by the various workgroups in charge of these actions, some outcomes have been achieved. The content of the three years’ training was developed and validated by the partners in the building trade area. These results are not yet achieved for the mechatronics engineering area. A standardized educational pathway was elaborated, and training contents were assigned between the various partners. This pathway is transferable to other trades. The process of validation and the mutual recognition of the training achievements were recorded. This allows for the recognition of formal qualifications awarded by universities. The experience which was implemented simultaneously to the engineering works helped identify the areas in need of bridging courses (in English and for some professional software) and to gauge the interest of a higher education pathway targeting a professional audience with a technical training background. Accommodation capacities have been outlined in the various countries. The diffusion of educational outcomes has not been implemented yet, but it was tested by the partners. To date, 2 French students are enrolled in the program and 5 Danish students have expressed their interest in joining it and in spending their last year in France.
The project handler intends to step up this action by transferring the methodology developed in this program to other trades, with other European partners.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 149613 Eur

Project Coordinator

Association Ouvrière des Compagnons du Devoir du Tour de France & Country: FR

Project Partners

• Borgund Vidaregåande Skole
• CONSERVATOIRE NATIONAL DES ARTS ET METIERS
• ERHVERVSAKADEMIET LILLEBAELT
• Handwerkskammer zu Köln