Qualification, Open Resources & Toolkit for the Work-Based Learning Professional Erasmus Project

Project Title

Qualification, Open Resources & Toolkit for the Work-Based Learning Professional

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; Open and distance learning; Overcoming skills mismatches (basic/transversal)

Project Summary

In the context of high youth unemployment rate in EU, VET with a strong WBL component is a mean of enhancing the employment opportunities of youth. It is estimated that the demand for work-based trainers and educators will still continue to increase, and yet there is no single qualification that brings together the range of skills that these professionals need. Significantly, many occupationally and technically competent staff members are also being asked to support learning in the workplace, as tutors or trainers, and as mentors to apprentices, but not all are being supported in developing their personal skills to allow them to do this effectively. WBL-PRO aimed to create, pilot and mainstream a new job profile for the WBL Professional in a transparency approach, i.e. through the application of EQF and ECVET, detailing the specific knowledge, skills, responsibility and autonomy necessary to promote, guide, assist, facilitate and assess effective WBL experiences. The EU WBL Professionals are endowed with an online platform for training purposes offering: a sound understanding of theoretical perspectives which underpin WBL and offer justification for its place in the curriculum; a skill base which will allow them to deploy a range of facilitation, learning and assessing methodologies when supporting students, assuring quality in WBL delivery and facilitating the recognition of learning outcomes; and a content-based toolbox, meant as a repository of relevant best practices and tools collected from sharing and mutual learning activities among the countries involved. WBL-PROFESSIONAL.EU is a One Stop Virtual Space for WBL Services– an innovative online platform with open educational resources. All the Intellectual Outputs of the project are uploaded and implemented on and via the platform – Intellectual Outputs: WBL Pathways Research and Analysis Report (O1), WBL Professional Job Profiles (O2), WBL Professional Qualification Manual (O3), WBL-PRO Toolkit (O5), WBL Professionals Peer Network and Top 12 Empower Talk Movies Panel (O6). WBL Professionals can enhance the employability perspectives of young adults by: facilitating learning at work, linking learning, teaching and assessing in VET and CET and work-based learning; assessing the learning of work-based students in a view of recognising learning outcomes and assuring quality control and assurance of WBL programmes. The project goals were in compliance with the program priorities for innovating and increasing the quality and range of VET, including the production and adoption of OERs in diverse European languages.The project team included 10 organizations from 6 European countries: CIAPE, USRV and SCALIGERA (Italy), ANESPO and ISQ (PT), EMCRA and VHS im Lkrs. Cham (DE), BFE (Bulgaria), UEM (ES) and Biedriba Eurofortis (Latvia). The partners possess outstanding expertise and experience and the synergy of their professionalism, pro-activeness and commitment to high quality performance, teamwork in the spirit of cooperation, mutual respect and support was the solid basis for the successful implementation of the project idea.The activities included: management, coordination and monitoring activities; activities dedicated to the production of the Intellectual Outputs and achieving the set objectives and outcomes and activities for dissemination, exploitation and provision of sustainability.The envisaged impact for the first main target group – the young adults is their better employability. The impact for the second target group – tutors, trainers, assessors and those who design, develop, facilitate, support, deliver and assess learning at work is that they are able to improve the quality and widen the scope of the services they offer and thus improve their managerial skills and enhance their pro-activeness and sense of initiative.The whole society including the stakeholders, employers, representatives from VET organisations, etc. as indirect target group of the WBL-PRO project can benefit from the innovative and practical solutions to some of the most challenging nowadays problems. The main impact of the successful implementation of the project for the society is the reinforced interaction between practice, learning and policy. The dissemination activities were designed ad hoc for the new virtual generation and to promote the WBL-PROFESSIONAL.EU platform. All members of the strategic partnership expressed commitment to contribute with their networks of partners and professional contacts in their countries and across Europe for the dissemination, multiplication and mainstreaming of the project’s outputs and outcomes. All projects partners were strongly committed that the WBL-PROFESSIONAL.EU and all Intellectual Outputs will be maintained and utilized for at least 5 years beyond the funded period.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 246542,29 Eur

Project Coordinator

VOLKSHOCHSCHULE IM LANDKREIS CHAM EV & Country: DE

Project Partners

• INSTITUTO DE SOLDADURA E QUALIDADE
• emcra GmbH
• CIAPE – CENTRO ITALIANO PER L’APPRENDIMENTO PERMANENTE
• ASSOCIACAO NACIONAL DE ESCOLAS PROFISSIONAIS
• UFFICIO SCOLASTICO REGIONALE PER IL VENETO
• Scaligera Formazione scarl
• BIEDRIBA EUROFORTIS