The system of support for academic teachers in process of shaping soft skills of their students Erasmus Project

Project Title

The system of support for academic teachers in process of shaping soft skills of their students

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 higher education

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2018

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Quality and Relevance of Higher Education in Partner Countries; New innovative curricula/educational methods/development of training courses; Pedagogy and didactics

Project Summary

Young people are still not properly prepared to enter labour market. In spite of many reports listing soft skills and competences mostly required by employers, in spite of closer cooperation between schools and companies, in spite of many tools and method available for young people wanting to gain soft skills.
So, where is the problem?
Dr Helen Soulé, executive director of the Partnership for 21st Century Skills (P21) says ”..these new types of soft skills cannot be taught in isolation but must instead be suffused throughout the curriculum.”
Nowadays, universities understand their task in the process of shaping soft skills of students. Soft skills courses are very often part of the study programs. But apparently, this is not enough.
Andreas Schleicher, director of the OECD’s Directorate for Education and Skills, highlights, that soft skills can be taught through the traditional subject base—often more effectively than when they are self-consciously administered as a separate focus.
What can be solution for that? The best solution – to incorporate teaching of soft skills to programs of regular subjects taught by academic teachers.
What is the problem with such strategy? Not all teachers are prepared for that. Most of them are researchers busy with research work, and when they started their teaching job – they were not required to be responsible for shaping soft skills of students.
We would like our project to contribute to change of this situation. Having the awareness that high quality of teachers’ skills results in high quality of skills and competences of their students, we would like to develop system of tools helping academic teachers to be more successful in shaping of soft skills and competences of their students. Our goals:
– Equip academic teachers with skills and knowledge allowing them to shape soft skills of students during regular classes
– Change attitude of academic teachers and encourage them to support students in gaining soft skills
– Support teachers in the process of making their work more efficient and increase its quality
– Create an academic environment friendly with teachers’ professional development towards increasing the efficiency of work with young people
– Develop tools widely available for academic teachers who want to improve their skills
– Initiate, in academic environment, discussion about possibility and advantages of shaping soft skills of young people during regular classes
Our outputs:
O1 – Publication for academic teachers. Publication containing directions and advices about how to improve quality of teaching O2 – Courses for teachers. We prepared 4 courses for academic teachers. The aim of these courses was help teachers combine standard teaching programs with new, attractive attitudes

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 139988,6 Eur

Project Coordinator

Wyzsza Szkola Przedsiebiorczosci i Administracji w Lublinie & Country: PL

Project Partners

• Mednarodna fakulteta za družbene in poslovne študije
• TECHNISCHE HOCHSCHULE DEGGENDORF
• INSTITUTO POLITECNICO DE SETUBAL