“If it wasn’t for the afternoon lessons of computing, guitar and my work at the local youth centre to earn some money for the summer camp, I would believe that I am a looser, a school failure and I would drop out of school at the age of 14. I am not doing well at school ... but I am not lazy and I am not stupid. Achieving a Grade 6 in guitar and getting my ICT Diploma should not count towards my school assessment?” The NON-FOR-LESL project aims to address the challenge of Early School Leaving (ESL) at the stage of school level-intervention and to contribute to the efforts of EU countries to meet the headline target set in the EU 2020 Strategy by reducing ESL to less than 10%. In doing so the project draws on aims of the Erasmus+ as well as on 3 main targets of the EC: the initiative for the Opening Up of Education through the use of OER, recommendation for the validation of non-formal and informal learning and for the acquisition of key competence and transversal skills for the new work-force to meet the market’s needs. Research has shown that ESL is a complex phenomenon which can cause serious consequences, on the students and their families, as well as on the society and the economy as a whole. ESL is a process rather than a one-off event that often starts in primary school with first experiences of school failure and growing alienation from school. “Facilitating the recognition and validation of knowledge, skills and competences acquired through non-formal and informal learning and its permeability with formal education pathways” as set in the Erasmus+ will promote “the improvement of the attainment of young people, particularly those at risk of ESL and with low basic skills” and at the same time “encourage the development of transversal skills which will lead to active citizenship”. It is well known that a “rich source of human capital” is achieved deliberately or incidentally (OECD) in everyday life which if validated can allow students to complete formal education more quickly, efficiently and cheaply while it can also help employers and workers to get a good job match. The NON-FOR-LESL Project comes to fill in the gap that appears to exist in relation to practical measures taken for the students’ assessment. School failure, as reported, by traditional assessment tools, often affects students’ perception of themselves leading them to have common characteristics, such as a growing sense of alienation from school, disruptive behavior, high level of absenteeism, lack of confidence and self esteem leading them to drop out of school. The NON-FOR-LESL project aims to develop and pilot-test, a new innovative multi-dimensional method - an OER validation tool which will be used additionally to the assessment procedures. The OER will be based on a holistic view of students’ learning, drawn away from subject boundaries and will present and validate skills, knowledge and competences acquired through non-formal and informal learning related to the key competences and transversal skills as described by the EU and in accordance with the EQF. The OER will also incorporate aspects of an ‘e-portfolio’ providing students with the opportunity to showcase their progress and achievement towards a specific learning outcome by presenting artifact evidence of their work in and out of school, while being engaged in a continuous reflection process towards their own learning, as well as their personal, academic and career development planning. The NONFORLESL project is planned to be completed in 24 months in which a period of one school term will be used for the implementation of the OER in secondary schools (chosen on set criteria) in each country/partner by students and teachers, on voluntary basis. The plan and organization of the project reflects a research cycle procedure with interrelated stages leading to the production of 6 main Intellectual Outputs in sequential order:(1) a Comparative Study Analysis in which the issues under investigation will be analysed and participants views collected through the use of questionnaires will be discussed; (2) a framework and a award system for the validation of non-formal/informal learning within school based on the key competences and transversal skills as described by the EU, and the rules set by the EQF; (3) the NON-FOR-LESL OER validation tool; (4) an “Information Pack” with a Step-by-step Guide and a training course for the successful implementation of the tool in schools; (5) an implementation report in the form of case-study portfolio and (6) finally an overall evaluation report with a strategy for exploitation at the national level. During the whole lifecycle of the project a strong dissemination strategy was planned starting from the school, the local/regional, the national and the European/international level. It is expected that the project will have a direct impact on the students, but also indirect impact on the teachers, schools, families and the community.
Non-For-Lesl addresses the challenge of Early School Leaving (ESL) at the stage of school level-intervention. The cooperational basis together with EU countries is to meet the headline target set in the EU 2020 Strategy to reduce ESL to less than 10%. Research has shown that ESL is a complex phenomenon that can cause serious consequences, on the students and their families, as well as on the society and the economy as a whole. ESL is a process rather than a one-off event. It often starts in primary school when students can experience time school failure and growing alienation from school for the first time. School failure often affects students’ perception of themselves, which leads them to adopt restraining characteristics: Growing sense of alienation from school, disruptive behaviour, high level of absenteeism and a lack of confidence and self-esteem. These characteristics might cause them to drop out of school. At the same time, it is well known that a “rich source of human capital” is achieved deliberately or incidentally (OECD) in everyday life. Non-For-Lesl helps students to make their everyday skills, knowledge and competences visible. The consortium developed and pilot-tested MyKey (www.my-key.online). It is an innovative, multi-dimensional OER validation tool and can be used by students additionally to school assessment procedures. MyKey is based on a holistic view of student’s learning while it draws away from boundaries caused by subjects. It presents and validates skills, knowledge and competences acquired through non-formal and informal learning related to the key competences and transversal skills. With MyKey students get the opportunity to showcase their progress and achievement. Throughout their work with MyKey they are engaged in a continuous reflection process towards their own learning. To document the outcome of their additional activities students are able to generate a certificate which is monitored by their school. With this certificate, they can apply for internships and on the job market. The project consortium is made up of six partners: The coordinator, the Institut für Didaktik der Demokratie of the University of Hanover, has a focus on civic education, specialising on key skills and social competences. It has a strong record for developing state of the art educational tools, curricula and teaching material. Platon School is a private school in Katerini with experience in EU projects and the development of learning material and e-learning platforms. Pixel from Florence is a very experienced non-profit organization (NPO) and education and training centre, accredited by the Ministry of Education of Italy with a special focus on ESL. Ingenious Knowledge from Cologne is an SME enterprise, specialized on IT-solutions and is involved in many e-learning tools. Emphasys is a Centre for Education for ICT Training and non-formal learning specialist and provider, accredited by the Cyprus Ministry of Education. Finally, EuroEd is a NPO, which delivers educational services and international training courses, accredited by the Roman ministry of Education. Very experienced in implementing EU projects, they received several awards for the quality of implementation. The project was completed in 25 months and includes six main Intellectual Outputs in following order: 1) a Comparative Study Analysis in which the issues under investigation were analysed and the opinions of the target group (students and teachers) were collected with the use of questionnaires; 2) a framework and a system for the validation of non-formal/informal learning within school based on the key competences; 3) the OER MyKey, 4) step-by-step guides for students, teachers and administrators with background information on the project and on how to use and implement MyKey successfully; 5) an implementation phase of 5 month with an implementation report in the form of case-studies and finally 6) an overall comparative implementation strategy and evaluation: a “ready made – ready to implement” pack for operation. During the whole project, a three-step dissemination strategy was implemented: starting from the school, growing from local to national and arriving at international level. The evaluation has shown a strong and positive impact on the students’ self-esteem, identification with their school and their relationships with their teachers. They see themselves as full-fledged human beings. MyKey received very positive feedback and support from schools, stakeholders and ministries. Several schools will implement MyKey in 2017. They believe in the benefit of MyKey and how it will help their students in the long run. They will gain motivation and higher self-esteem which results in reducing the risk of ESL drastically.