PROVED (“Productive Learning in Vocational Education”) is a two years project which will be performed in Finland, Germany, Greece and Lithuania. The MAIN AIM is to contribute to a higher employment rate of youth and young adults, to reduce the rate of drop-outs of the vocational education system and in that way to fight poverty and social exclusion of young disadvantaged people. By improv-ing the VET systems in the participating countries disadvantaged young people should get a better support in their transition to the labour market. The PROJECT AIM is the transfer of the principles of a successful educational ap-proach („Productive Learning“ - PL) from the field of general education to the field of vocational education. In Germany 84 secondary schools offer PL, more than 10. 000 students who were at risk of drop out of the school system participated yet, the ma-jority left with a school certificate and with a clear vocational perspective. During the last years PL was also implemented in secondary schools in Finland and Lithuania. The main characteristics of PL are: - Learning in real life situations - Connecting theory and practice - Individualisation of the learning process - Connecting general education and vocational orientation The consortium consists of eight partner institutions coming from Finland, Germany, Greece and Lithuania. The institutions work in the field of general, vocational or non-formal education and they are experienced in project and curriculum development, teacher training, teaching in secondary schools and at VET. The main benefit for the institutions involved will be an expanded pedagogical profile or expertise in the field of vocational education and a deeper cooperation at regional (e.g. with enterprises, job center), national (e.g. with ministries, networks working in VET) and international level (e.g. between the participating countries, in the frame of INEPS). The experiences of the successful VET systems in Finland and Germany and the innovative ideas of PL will be the basis to develop an attractive pedagogical program for young disadvantaged people between 16 and 24, offering more practical learning and more connection between practice and theory in the frame of vocational orientation and education. With regard to the needs and demands of the VET systems in the countries involved, four implementation plans will be designed in the first project year. On this basis each vocational education institution involved will develop, test and implement its own ADAPTED PL CONCEPT. At least 50 disadvantaged youth and young adults will participate in the second year. Expected impacts for the youth and young adults are more clarity concerning individual skills and interests, a better idea of the demands of the world of work, developed skills in particular needed in the world of work, better vocational perspectives and more economic independency. At the same time the local economy benefits from better educated young people and from the possibility to “test” the young people in prac-tice. An individualized and practice related pedagogical approach requires also new meth-ods of teaching. Therefore the concept development and the implementation process will be connected with the QUALIFICATION OF THE TEACHING STAFF of the participating vocational education institutions. At least 12 teachers will participate in a TRAINING PROGRAM FOR TEACHERS at VET, including seminars, school based trainings and study letters. It is foreseen to open parts of the training program to interested vocational schools in the region. The main expected impacts for the teachers involved are more knowledge about the VET systems in Finland, Germany, Greece and Lithuania, improved methodical skills, more job satisfaction, better chances in the working field of VET and more international contacts and ex-change. Especially in Greece and Lithuania there is no tradition of learning in real life situa-tions. Therefore it is necessary to prepare the enterprises for a co-operation by the development of specific information material (e.g. flyer for each country describing the concept and the conditions of a cooperation) and by the TRAINING OF MEN-TORS IN PRACTICE. At least 24 mentors in practice will participate in this training program focusing on questions concerning the concept, the methods, the tasks and the legal frame of “learning in practice”. The main expected impacts for the mentors are more knowledge about the concept, improved methodical skills in counseling young people in their learning process and a better understanding of the needs of disadvantaged young people. In conclusion PROVED will contribute to a high quality in vocational education, to a better cooperation between school, VET and the world of work and to high qualified staff, in particular to the development of an European Qualification Framework (EQF) in that way PROVED will support young disadvantaged people in their transition to work.
PROVED (“Productive Learning in Vocational Education”) was a two-year project from 1 September 2014 until 31 August 2016 performed in Finland, Germany, Greece and Lithuania. The main aim of PROVED was to contribute to a higher employment rate of youth and young adults, to reduce the rate of drop-outs of the vocational education system and in that way to fight poverty and social exclusion of young disadvantaged people. The project aim was the transfer of the principles of a successful educational approach called Productive Learning (in short “PL”) from the field of general education to the field of vocational education. With regard to the needs and demands of the VET systems in the countries involved, each vocational training institution involved developed, tested and implemented its own adapted PL concept. The leading aspects for the concept development were the following principles of Productive Learning: Learning in real life situations, individualisation of the learning process, connecting theory and practice. Due to the specific situations in the participating countries the vocational training institutions involved in PROVED focussed on different aspects of PL. The consortium of PROVED consisted of eight partner institutions from Finland, Germany, Greece and Lithuania, working in the field of general, vocational or non-formal education, experienced in project and curriculum development, in community education, in teacher training or in teaching. Six partner institutions are members of the International Network of Productive Learning Projects and Schools (INEPS). The main project activities were the concept development and the implementation of the concepts, the design of a teacher training concept including the development of different materials, the training of the teachers involved and the preparation of the mentors in practice, four transnational meetings, the internal and external evaluation of the project, the documentation and dissemination of all activities and results, the project and quality management including the organization of the cooperation between the partners and with important stakeholders, especially companies in the region. The main intellectual output of PROVED are five adapted PL concepts. Closely connected with this intellectual output are the following products: - A Teacher Training Concept and Program, - A Study Letter “Vocational Orientation through Productive Learning & Productive Learning in Vocational Training in different European Countries”, - A Manual with pedagogical material for the work with principles of PL in the frame of vocational education, - A Handout for Mentors in Companies cooperating in the frame of PROVED, 65 disadvantaged young people between 16 and 33 “tested” the adapted PL concepts in the 2nd project year. The main important impacts for the youth and young adults are: motivation to continue the learning process, more clarity concerning individual skills and interests, a better idea of the demands of the world of work, developed skills in particular needed in the world of work, better vocational perspectives and more economic independence. 12 teachers participated in a teacher training program, including international and national seminars, school based trainings, self-study units using the developed Study Letter and material concerning the topic “Digital Learning in PL”. The main impacts for the teachers involved is more knowledge about the VET systems in the participating countries and about PL, professional development and improved methodical skills, more job satisfaction, and more international contacts and exchange. The main characteristic of PL (“Learning in real life situations”) needs a close cooperation with companies and other institutions. Depending on the different concepts the vocational training institutions established between two and 21 sustainable cooperations mainly with companies offering practical places. The main impacts for the local economy and for mentors in practice are better educated young people, the possibility to “test” young people in practice, more knowledge about PL, a better understanding of the needs of disadvantaged young people and improved methodical skills in counseling young people in their learning process. The main benefit for the institutions which were part of the consortium is an expanded pedagogical expertise in the field of vocational education and a deeper cooperation at regional (in particular with enterprises), national (in particular with the ministries and with networks working in VET) and international level (especially between the participating countries and in the frame of INEPS). In conclusion, PROVED was a successful project with a high impact on the young disadvantaged people involved, for the cooperating companies, for the partners of the consortium and also for the VET system itself. In this way PROVED also contributes to the development of the European Qualification Framework (EQF).