The VET mission is to support learners in acquiring knowledge, skills and competences to successfully enter the world of work. Therefore work experience is a fundamental aspect of vocational training across Europe. The Skills4Work project aims to improve work experience pathways for VET students by creating and validating a Work Based Learning implementation model engaging VET organisations and business. The emphasis is on learning from each other’s experience and engaging in a real dialogue with employers by developing the model in close collaboration with local enterprises. Through practical implementation of different work based learning approaches and feedback from enterprises, the project will develop hands-on implementation guidelines that will improve significantly the quality of work experience for both the VET students and enterprises in partner countries. The project will benefit VET teachers by creating CPD materials and transnational transfer of good practice through joint peer learning events organised as part of the CPD. Project objectives are: • To learn about existing work experience programmes in partner countries through practical study visits organised for VET teachers as part of the CPD strategy. To foster mutual learning between project partners. • To set up a VET & Employers Working Groups in each partner country to collaborate together on developing and validating WBL implementation model and engaging in a dialogue on meaningful work experience practices. • To develop WBL implementation guidelines for VET. • To develop CPD materials for VET teachers. • To extend employer participation in work-based learning practices across partner countries. • To disseminate project outcomes across EU Member States. The focus of this project is on the practical exercises in Ireland, Slovenia, Germany and the UK that will evaluate effectiveness of different WBL models and engage in collaboration local enterprises. Based on that the following two outcomes will be developed aimed at VET providers, teachers and students as well as employers across EU: 1. WBL implementation model for VET 2. CPD materials for VET teachers 3. VET - Business Partnership The target groups of the project are: • VET organisations • VET providers • VET teachers • VET students • Enterprises • Policy Makers • Research Bodies and Experts The project Consortium is composed of 6 organisations from 4 European countries bringing a wide range of knowledge and experience in the field of work based learning, pedagogy, technology and vocational training: 1. H2 Learning Ltd. from Ireland, an expert in providing services to education sector in the use of ICT technologies and innovative CPD strategies. 2. City of Dublin Education and Training Board (CDETB), the biggest VET provider in Ireland with 3,000 staff and 40,000 learners. 3. The Slovenian Institute for Vocational Education and Training (CPI), a leading institution in Slovenia to develop methodologies. and prepare modern education programmes for pre-secondary and secondary vocational education and college expert education. 4. The Solski Centre Vocational School from Slovenia that cooperates with more than 300 local companies and is very active in work based learning practices, providing work experience for 300 VET students every year. 5. The OSZ IMT Vocational School from Germany, the largest IT College in Berlin cooperating with 600 IT companies in the region. 6. South Eastern Regional College from the UK, one of the largest Further Education Colleges in Northern Ireland actively collaborating with local communities and managing 3,000 apprentice/training places across the country. Creating opportunities for quality work-based learning is one of the main challenges of European education and training policies. A lack of workplace experience and related skills and competences is one of the factors contributing to the ‘skills gap’ in the EU today, where many young people faces unemployment and in the same time employers struggle to recruit skilled workforce. The project will address this challenge by supporting VET teachers in preparing and assisting their students in taking a first step into the world of work.
The VET mission is to support learners in acquiring knowledge, skills and competences to successfully enter the world of work. Therefore work experience is a fundamental aspect of vocational training across Europe. The Skills 4 Work project aim was to improve work experience pathways for VET students by creating and validating a Work Based Learning implementation model engaging VET organisations and business. The emphasis was on learning from each other’s experience and engaging in a real dialogue with employers by developing the model in close collaboration with local enterprises. Through practical implementation of different work based learning approaches and feedback from enterprises, the project developed hands-on implementation guidelines (model) that will improve significantly the quality of work experience for both the VET students and enterprises in partner countries. The project benefited also VET teachers by creating CPD materials and transnational transfer of good practice through joint peer learning events organised as part of the CPD. Project objectives were: • To learn about existing work experience programmes in partner countries through practical study visits organised for VET teachers as part of the CPD strategy. To foster mutual learning between project partners. • To set up a VET & Employers Working Groups in each partner country to collaborate together on developing and validating WBL implementation guidelines and engaging in a dialogue on meaningful work experience practices. • To develop WBL implementation guidelines (model) for VET. • To develop CPD materials for VET teachers. • To extend employer participation in work-based learning practices across partner countries. • To disseminate project outcomes across EU Member States. The focus of this project was on the practical exercises in Ireland, Slovenia, Germany and the UK that evaluated effectiveness of different WBL models and engaged in collaboration local enterprises. Based on that the following three outcomes were developed aimed at VET providers, teachers and students as well as employers across EU: 1. WBL Implementation Guidelines (Model) for VET 2. CPD materials for VET teachers 3. VET - Business Partnerships Skills 4 Work project partners were: H2 Learning from Ireland (project co-ordinator), City of Dublin ETB from Ireland, OSZT IMT from Germany (technical vocational college), CPI from Slovenia, Solski Kranj Centre from Slovenia (vocational college) and SERC from Northern Ireland (Further Education College). A significant outcome from the Skills 4 Work project was that it allowed comparison of partners’ systems with other European countries and sharing of best practice, providing opportunity to explore innovative approaches used elsewhere. For all of the partners the project was complementary to activities already carried out in their organisations, in many aspects the project was innovative. The mixture of partners’ competencies and profile was a significant added value of the project partnership. Working together on this project gave all the partners an insight into how work based learning models operate in each of the countries and how VET teachers are supported to deliver meaningful work experience modules to their students. This project has highlighted the differences that exist between the education and training systems in each of the partner countries. The context and content of work-based learning is different in each country and that was a very interesting element of the project. Each of the partner organisations brought their own perspective to the project and they have used the study visits as a mirror against which to reflect on the current practices in their country. Local context was emerging as a key issue that needs to be taken on board when ‘borrowing’ from another jurisdiction and often it is the discussions that took place around these issues that has led to the deepest learning within the Skills 4 Work project