Guiding tools for Professional Skills development in VET Erasmus Project

Project Title

Guiding tools for Professional Skills development in VET

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 2017

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Overcoming skills mismatches (basic/transversal); Labour market issues incl. career guidance / youth unemployment; Early School Leaving / combating failure in education

Project Summary

Soft skills are recognized to be the success factor enabling individuals’ well-being, self-confidence, autonomy and responsibility, the fulfilment of education/social and professional lives, career development and higher income. However, the set of soft skills is often referred to be as non-measurable skills by conventional tests or exams, as they include a wide range of skills related to the individual mindset, such as: capacity building, learning to learn, persistence, resilience, creativity, self-discipline, self-reflectiveness, acting autonomously.
Considering this, the VET_GPS was launch aiming at developing and presenting a wide set of tools, guides and materials addressed to trainees, VET managers, VET counsellors and VET trainers/teachers, fostering the holistic development of trainees. The project was focused on the trainees’ soft skills acquisition, development and assessment, essential for their personal development, social participation and workplace success (holistic development).
Involving 8 partners from 5 Portugal, Spain, Austria, Italy and Belgium, during the 26 months of the project, the consortium had the opportunity of structuring, testing and validating the following main results:
• “Guide for the integration of the Soft Skills in VET offer” (EN, PT, ES, DE and IT) addressed to VET managers to support them in the definition of a strategy for the assessment and development of trainees’ soft skills.
• “Soft skills self-assessment too”l (EN, PT, ES, DE and IT) – Online questionnaire to support young trainees in the assessment of the level of development of their soft skills.
• “Success@work manual” (EN, PT, ES, DE and IT) – Addressed to trainees, providing 25 activities that can be easily implemented by them in different places, that can support them in the acquisition and/or strengthening of their soft skills;
• “Soft Skills Profile” (EN, PT, ES, DE and IT) – A structured interview scheme for counsellors to support them in the communication and explore of the trainees’ results from the questionnaire mentioned above.
• “Training course for VET Professionals” (EN, PT, ES, DE and IT) – Allowing them to develop knowledge and competences to integrate strategies and activities in their sessions/schools, fostering the assessment and development of trainees’ soft skills, according to the project’s methodology.
• “Youth Empowerment Handbook” (EN, PT, ES, DE and IT) – Designed to inspire and support VET trainers in the identification and definition of practices and activities to be implemented in their daily classes, fostering the assessment and development of trainees’ soft skills.
• Quality Framework for the Cooperation in VET System (EN, PT, ES, DE and IT) – Document with quality standards and examples of good practices for the establishment, reinforcement and maintenance of VET-Business Cooperation in the VET system.

All these materials were prepared, tested and validated by VET managers, counsellors, trainers and trainees at the national level and are available for download in the project’s website – https://www.vetgps.eu/ – in English, Portuguese, Spanish, German and Italian.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 250384 Eur

Project Coordinator

MENTORTEC SERVICOS DE APOIO A PROJECTOS TECNOLOGICOS SA & Country: PT

Project Partners

• Blickpunkt Identität
• CONFEDERACION ESPANOLA DE CENTROS DE ENSENANZA ASOCIACION C.E.C.E.
• ASSOCIACAO NACIONAL DE ESCOLAS PROFISSIONAIS
• EUROPEAN FORUM OF TECHNICAL AND VOCATIONAL EDUCATION AND TRAINING
• PIXEL – ASSOCIAZIONE CULTURALE
• CONNECTIS SRL
• POLITEKNIKA IKASTEGIA TXORIERRI S.COOP