Flexible Educational Tool for Leadership Skills Development Erasmus Project

Project Title

Flexible Educational Tool for Leadership Skills Development

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: Entrepreneurial learning – entrepreneurship education; Labour market issues incl. career guidance / youth unemployment

Project Summary

Practice Enterprise (PE) is a simulated company that runs like a real business silhouetting a real firm’s business procedures, products and services. Each PE trades with other PEs, following commercial business procedures in the Practice Enterprise worldwide economic environment. In this didactic concept, the roles of the Teachers/Trainers and the students differ strongly from those in the traditional teaching learning processes. The trainees are the workers in the firm. Some are appointed as directors, line managers for a part of their training and development. It is simulated business, that is why this model as a training tool and training place is a perfect possibility for young people to increase competences related with management and leadership and improve level of skills for employability and new business creation. Within the FETLED project the materials related to leadership competencies was reviewed, applied and tested in the PE environment with the main aim – to create “Leader SkillBox” (SkillBox).

3 project objectives, connected with leadership literature study, SkillBox material development and results dissemination were reached according to undertaken activities:
* There was research done on what key leadership competencies could be developed in Practice Enterprises. The nature of leadership competencies was highlighted, with a strong focus on the perception of socially responsible business. Four SR-related core competences Awareness, Influence, Innovation, Integrity and 20 SR-related competences, coming from four SR-related core competencies.
* Created material – Skillbox – was widely tested not only with PE students and teachers in VET organizations, but also with other stakeholders in HEI, secondary schools and business. Gathered feedback was evaluated by partners and incorporated in the Final version of Skillbox.
* Dissemination plan was created to promote project results to main target group and wider society in all partners countries, EU and worldwide through via more than 12 channels and all in the plan foreseen activities, including Final conference in LT, were implemented.

In 4 partners countries during different project activities, such as researches, testing, final conference and other dissemination events and activities such groups were involved:
* more than 230 VET students;
* about 75 VET teachers;
* 100 other stakeholders: (20 PE Central Offices, 9 Business, HEI students and lecturers etc.)

Main results achieved:
* Leader Skillbox was created as was planned in English, and translated into Lithuanian, German, Spanish and Bulgarian languages. The SkillBox consists of 5 documents: questionnaire with described situations for students self evaluation of leadership competencies, table of results, results interpretations, results according to leader competencies, theoretical content-based part – material for improvement.
* Practice Enterprise methodology is complemented by a new tool for students in management positions in PE (for groups, divisions managers or the company managers itself), The created tool is the first tool in PE network for students leadership skills evaluation, that is why it is an essential part of learning outcomes achieved through practice, used as a performance tracking tool in various areas relevant to practice.

To improve own leadership skills, students do step by step all 6 stages of SkillBox. They start with the self-evaluation questionnaire in the first stage there are asked to answer, providing results and its interpretation, Easy understandable material for improve and end with the self-evaluation questionnaire to evaluate their progress in leadership qualities. First of all test results reflect project impact and benefits. More than 72% participants agreed that Leader SkillBox can be integrated in their own PE and Organization and that SkillBox was developed to the point of being transferable to their own work environment without any major adaptation. Almost 75% testing participants would recommend to their friends/other VET institutions/organizations to implement the SkillBox. Almost 81% respondents agreed that SkillBox helped them to determine their own strengths and weaknesses. About 80 participants gave comments that SkillBox is interesting and easily transferred to all education levels (not only VET).
SkillBox was transferred to PE Central Offices beyond project consortium already (Italian, Danish, Finnish Central Offices) as it is available in 5 EU languages and freely downloadable from Partners Web pages. It is easily adaptable to other competencies evaluation, not only leadership (because it includes 20 most popular nowadays transversal/core competencies for better students employment). SkillBox was implemented in other learning subjects (according to the testing results), it was already used in one Lithuanian and several Bulgarian schools by teachers in English lessons for language learning.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 59874,98 Eur

Project Coordinator

LIETUVOS IMITACINIU BENDROVIU ASOCIACIJA LIBA & Country: LT

Project Partners

• BULGARIAN CENTRE OF TRAINING FIRMS
• FUNDACIO PRIVADA INFORM-INSTITUT PER A LA FORMACIO DE JOVES VERS L’ADMINISTRACIO D’EMPRESES
• EUROPEN-PEN INTERNATIONAL EV