VET Teachers and Trainers Contra Radicalisation Erasmus Project

Project Title

VET Teachers and Trainers Contra Radicalisation

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: EU Citizenship, EU awareness and Democracy; Migrants’ issues; Pedagogy and didactics

Project Summary

Vocational schools, secondary schools and vocational training institutions are often confronted with learners coming from different social, cultural or racial backgrounds. Due to the big number of refugees who have arrived in the recent years in most European countries, we experience more inhomogeneity in schools and especially in vocational education. Under these circumstances, it happens often that frictions arise that are born out of prejudice, low self-esteem and latent xenophobia. When such problems emerge and difficulties escalate, and when young people do not see positive perspectives, a critical minority, but in rising numbers, is attracted by extremist ideologies, such as Neo-Nazi groups or the jihadist movement of the „Islamic State“. The Radicalisation Awareness Network of the European Commission states that „the best prevention is to stop people from getting involved in violent extremist or terrorist activities in the first place, or to convince them to turn away from such ideas and methods…. The people best placed to tackle the phenomenon of radicalisation are the so called first-liners – people in direct contact with targeted individuals or vulnerable groups of population.“ Teachers and trainers – called „first-liners“ above – need therefore new skills and competences to be better prepared to deal with intercultural tensions between diverse groups of learners and detect, at an early stage, indicators of radicalisation among their learners. However, many of them have had their vocational education years ago, and many of them are completely or partially unprepared to the changes in the way in which our society is organized and which conceptual aspects of radicalisation pose a threat.

The objective of VETContra was to equip teachers and trainers with skills and competences to deal with intercultural tensions between diverse groups of learners, to detect indicators of radicalisation among their learners, to identify who is at risk and which is the best way of helping those who need support, to apply interventions in a preventive stage, to builds skills and motivation to take action against injustice and to reduce racism and xenophobia in the classroom.
The Partnership consisted of six adult organisations which have been previously involved in several informal networks or European project collaboration with marginalised learners:
E-C-C Verein für interdisziplinäre Bildung und Beratung (AT), coordinator, active in adult and vocational education projects for more than 20 years
Lesson in Happiness (NL), a non-profit organisation for research, training, consulting and education on wellbeing.
INTEGRA Institute for Development of Human Potentials (SI), operates a counselling and rehabilitation institute
QUALED Qualification and Education (SK), actively involved in the development of innovative training tools in both vocational and adult education.
ALDAIMA (ES), organisation of the Andalusian regional government, which facilitates family integration and protection of juveniles and adolescents
KTP Association for Qualification at the Labour Market (CZ), cooperation with various educational organisations in the Czech Republic

In the 18 months of the project, we have identified initiatives, best practice examples and tools which provide support to deal with intercultural tensions between diverse groups of learners. They are available on an e-platform that gives access to initiatives and learning materials identified and collected in the project, especially for teaching in multicultural groups, and give background information how to handle groups with intercultural tensions, based on social learning, ethics of participation, social language, social and emotional intelligence, conflict solving strategies. We have also implemented an online interactive forum for exchange between educators and youth workers who are confronted with this situation and who can ask questions or obtain helpful advice. The platform gives also a link to the translation options through the Google translation service and the Skype translator for oral communication.

The activities and outcomes fit into their strategy insofar that the identification of approaches, best practice examples and materials for intercultural communication is in line with their educational activities and course programmes. The transnational cooperation from different European countries with different approaches towards intercultural issues and radicalisation has enriched their transnational collaboration. The immediate impact was an amelioration of the intercultural competences for approx. 50 teachers and trainers working at the project partners.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 44601,15 Eur

Project Coordinator

E-C-C Verein fuer interdisziplinaere Bildung und Beratung & Country: AT

Project Partners

• QUALED obcianske zdruzenie pre kvalifikáciu a vzdelávanje
• KTP – Spolecnost pro kvalifikaci na trhu prace
• Asociación andaluza de apoyo a la infancia – ALDAIMA
• INTEGRA INSTITUT, Institut za razvoj clovekovih potentialov
• Stichting Lessen in Geluk