Junior on the Job Coach Erasmus Project

Project Title

Junior on the Job Coach

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 2016

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: New innovative curricula/educational methods/development of training courses; Early School Leaving / combating failure in education; Labour market issues incl. career guidance / youth unemployment

Project Summary

For a young vulnerable student at the lower levels of vocational education the first steps into the workplace are daunting. This is a whole new environment for them and they often lack the social skills and the social experience to adapt and function properly and quickly. They will often feel insecure and are likely to react in unacceptable ways in difficult situations. For example, when they face criticism. Often the consequence is that either students leave the placement or are sent away. In either case this nearly always means the end of the training course as students generally drop out completely.
The Junior Job Coach programme has been set up In order to prevent this common event from happening by providing a student at risk with a “buddy”, a trained coach, who at a distance from the workplace can offer immediate support and advice. Having been carefully matched with a well-trained junior coach, a vulnerable student can call on support at the workplace by using social media such as WhatsApp and text, so that any problems or difficulties become manageable and the student at risk always has ‘friend” at hand to fall back on.
The Junior Job Coach project has developed a successful support methodology along with accompanying materials to assist and retain students at risk of dropping out from work experience and apprenticeships. This innovative project has made available three new products: a Competence Framework for peer coaches; a flexible and modular training programme for junior job coaches; and a toolkit for employers to complement and strengthen their own support structures for new employees. An implementation guide also accompanies these materials to assist in their introduction. The materials are freely available in English, Dutch, Spanish German and Romanian on the project website. Each of these products has involved the close participation of employers, students and school/college staff and have been rigorously piloted, tested and validated. Based on the competence framework developed with employers in the five partners countries using VQTS methodology, the project partnership has achieved in the JJC Training Programme an engaging and effective training course that has been rated very highly by staff and students. The support that the trained and certificated Job coaches provide remotely by social media to students at risk delivers benefits for all participants. Employing the Junior Job Coach methodology and to improve retention rates and the performance of work experience placements and apprenticeships will undoubtedly contribute in meeting these highly ranked VET priorities in Europe.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 197207,87 Eur

Project Coordinator

STICHTING ROC MIDDEN NEDERLAND & Country: NL

Project Partners

• kent and mcgill limited
• BERUFSFORDERUNGSINSTITUT OBEROSTERREICH
• CENTRUL PENTRU PROMOVAREA INVATARII PERMANENTE TIMISOARA ASOCIATIA
• COMUNIDAD FORAL DE NAVARRA – GOBIERNO DE NAVARRA
• Cambridge Regional College