Teaching VET educators for their different roles and challenges as innovators in Europe Erasmus Project

Project Title

Teaching VET educators for their different roles and challenges as innovators in Europe

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 2020

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Pedagogy and didactics; New innovative curricula/educational methods/development of training courses; Research and innovation

Project Summary

VET educators (teachers and trainers) play a decisive role in the quality of vocational education and training in all European countries. But the demands on vocational teachers in the countries differ because of varying structures of the vocational education and training systems. In this respect, vocational teachers have different responsibilities and tasks in the schools and various ways of qualification that lead them to these tasks.
VET must respond to emerging challenges throughout Europe. This includes:
• the digitalisation of the working world and the associated teaching and learning,
• the threat to democratic values through racist and negative attitudes towards heterogeneous societies (inclusion), to foster the need for civic engagement
• support for the career development of vocationally trained
• the use of the potential of learning at the workplace and
• Continuous professional development of vocational teachers to follow up changes in the world of work and to acquire further qualifications throughout life.
The aim of this strategic partnership is to bring together training providers in the field of VET teacher education and training from several European countries and to build a network called VETteach. Partners participating in VETteach shall,
1. share examples of good practice of VET TE, such as curricula, course development, pedagogics, didactics;
2. discuss the present and future challenges in these areas;
3. formulate development and research needs
Having the different situations in mind the project seeks for didactical innovations for training curricula for the VET teachers and suggestions for new European projects. Besides Germany, the partners Finland, Norway, Sweden, Spain and Switzerland are involved.
Each Partner represents different expertise from research and development on VET teacher education and training, which focuses on: Civic engagement and self-reflective thinking (D), VET educators further training (S) and learning at the workplace (F), VET educators as guides of their students and their careers (CH), Integration of disadvantaged people (ESP), Digitalisation at the workplaces and in learning (N).
All participants are responsible for the curricular design of academic qualification of vocational teachers and working in related networks at national and European level.
Through the exchange between the strategic partners several goals are achieved:
• Broadening the horizons of the researchers and lectures at the partner institutions involved and receive suggestions for improving their own practice and theory on their own premises,
• Dissemination of innovations in their institutional, regional and national networks and into the qualification strategies for vocational school teachers there,
• Exchange to prepare one or more projects, if necessary, which also include the preparation of studies and research that will be published and lead to curriculum development and learning and training activities with the specific training personnel,
• Consideration towards the extension of the network of partners to other countries and also to other actors such as teachers’ associations, training providers etc. at European level.
For the implementation of the project, four meetings of the project group will be carried out in Germany, Sweden and Spain during the 18 months of the project duration.
All four transnational project meetings pursue the exchange of good practice, the coordination of overall activities (dissemination, planning of meetings, monitoring, etc.) and the joint submission of a follow-up application, strongly oriented towards the development of transnational qualification modules and qualification workshops, which will be made available to a broad European public. Therefore the results are secured beyond this project.
Through their participation in the Strategic Partnership, the individual locations are pursuing to further expand their international profile and at the same time improve the quality of university teaching.
It strength the engagement of the partners in following the development of European policy in vocational education and the persons involved broaden their horizons for example with the contacts they establish and also students at the different locations can gain insights into the various vocational training systems and the challenges they face.
Particularly noteworthy is, that the project wants to exchange views and actively develop a qualification strategy for vocational teachers in Europe that has a broader focus to pedagogically comprehensively qualified graduates from their studies into the teaching profession.
In the context of setting up VET for the next decades, a collaboration of teacher educators across Europe with different expertise in teaching VET teachers is a helpful step. It helps VET teachers to become innovators not only towards new media and towards the change of technology at the workplaces but for a wealth of current and future challenges

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 47990 Eur

Project Coordinator

UNIVERSITAET ROSTOCK & Country: DE

Project Partners

• HAAGA-HELIA AMMATTIKORKEAKOULU OY
• OSLOMET – STORBYUNIVERSITETET
• UNIVERSITAT DE VALENCIA
• LINKOPINGS UNIVERSITET