BACKGROUNDMore than a million migrants and refugees crossed into Europe in 2015, causing a crisis in which countries are struggling to cope with the influx. The situation is also creating division in the EU countries over how best to deal with resettling people. This new situation brings new requirements for knowledge, skills and competences in different fields of work in society. Many transversal skills are crucial on this agenda. Work places and tasks are very often related to dealing with people from different cultural backgrounds. The world of work in safety and security will be more complex and the education offered will need to prepare professionals for this. In some of the countries transversal skills form already a part of the learning outcomes in qualifications, in some of them not yet. Even if these competences are already embedded in the curriculum, they are not yet made visible in learning processes or supported by pedagogical methods or learning environments. OBJECTIVESThe E4S project aims to • improve and increase multicultural competence among teachers and staff working in private security sector and in immigration services• increase background knowledge of refugee crisis among teachers and staff in security sector from which also the authorities can benefit•produce learning material and related pedagogical methods to support the students when acquiring these skills and competences.Another issue currently in the agenda in safety and security education is raising awareness on facts related to terrorism. It will be another topic dealed with in the project.METHODOLOGY IN CARRYING OUT THE PROJECTThe consortium of colleges and working life partners will develop the content and pedagogical methods for the vocational upper secondary qualification in safety and security/uniformed services: International Security Operations unit (15 competence points/ECVET points). This unit of learning outcomes will be produced in cooperation with project partners and external stakeholders. The material produced will serve not only the learners, teachers and trainers presently in VET centers, but also authorities and companies planning and implementing in-service-training for their employees. The lifelong learning perspective is served to a large extent.The learning material with the pedagogical approaches where close cooperation with work life is at the centre, will support the implementation of learning outcomes based approach. The learning material produced will be prepared to support blended learning as a pedagogical approach and this way it will also support the acquisition of digital skills. The material produced will be distributed via project website.NUMBER AND PROFILE OF PARTICIPANTS10 VET schools from 5 partner countries (Ireland, UK, the Netherlands, Hungary and Finland) and several silent partners (companies, national authorities) from each country will participate in the project.Target groups/actors:• safety and security and uniformed services’ teaching staff • safety and security students• personnel of private security companies. • national authorities (quality assurance).DESCRIPTION OF ACTIVITIESIn the beginning of the project a survey on multicultural competence needs is planned for students, teachers and stakeholders. The results will be analyzed in the kick off meeting. This will be followed by 4 staff training workshops and one multiplier event in the end of the project. Each workshop will concentrate on one of the main topics of the learning material and pedagogics.RESULTSInternational Security Operations unit (15 competence points/ECVET points) including a practical plan with learning outcomes will be produced in cooperation with project partners and external stakeholders. IMPACTThe integration of vocational and common vocational units is one of the key issues in developing vocational education and training . This is considered to be a way to support the acquisition of general working life skills and as such, very relevant when seeking employment in the 21st century labor market. This learning material will meet various skills requirements of common vocational units and support the developing of the skills related to key competences. As refugee crisis is a common issue all around Europe, the project will support with its outcomes the quality and labor market relevance of safety and security field education in Europe to a large extent. POTENTIAL LONG TERM BENEFITSInvolvement of companies and national authorities such as the Finnish Immigration Service, will guarantee the quality and relevance of the unit created in the project. It will bring added value to each education provider of the network by increasing the labor market relevance of the education of the field on question. This will not only be an added value on implementing learning outcomes based approach in education, but also the attractiveness of safety and security field education among potential students.
BACKGROUND More than a million migrants and refugees crossed into Europe in 2015. The situation created a division in the EU countries over how best to deal with resettling people. This new situation brought new requirements for knowledge, skills and competences in different fields of work in society. Many transversal skills became ever more crucial on this agenda. Work places and tasks are very often related to dealing with people from different cultural backgrounds. The world of work in safety and security became more complex and the education offered had to change accordingly. In some countries, transversal skills form already a part of the learning outcomes in qualifications. Even if these competences are already embedded in the curriculum, they are not often made visible in learning processes or supported by pedagogical methods or learning environments. OBJECTIVES The E4S project improved and increased the multicultural competence among teachers and staff working in private security sector. This was done by increasing background knowledge of refugee situation. The authorities can also benefit from the produced learning material and related pedagogical methods. Another skills need spotted out by the partner schools and companies was to raise awareness on facts related to terrorism. Since the issue of terrorism prevention is an international issue, the partner schools saw the possibility to use the skills and connections of the partnership to work also with this topic during the project. The partners of the Project want to emphasize that developing multicultural skills and terrorism are not connected, but are completely separate topics in the project. METHODOLOGY IN CARRYING OUT THE PROJECT The consortium of colleges and working life partners developed the content and pedagogical methods for the vocational upper secondary qualification in safety and security/uniformed services: Working in a Multicultural Society Module. This unit of learning outcomes was produced in cooperation with project partners and external stakeholders. The material produced can benefit learners, teachers, trainers, authorities and companies planning and implementing in service training for their employees. The learning material with the pedagogical approaches where supports the implementation of learning outcomes based approach. The learning material and methods is using blended learning method. The use of digital learning material supports the improvement of digital skills of the participants. All the material is available at the website of the project: https://www.e4s.fi/ NUMBER AND PROFILE OF PARTICIPANTS The partnership comprised of 10 VET schools from five partner countries (Ireland, UK, the Netherlands, Hungary and Finland) and several silent partners (companies, national authorities) from each country. Target groups/actors were safety and security and uniformed services’ teaching staff, safety and security students, personnel of private security companies and national authorities (quality assurance). DESCRIPTION OF ACTIVITIES In the beginning of the project, a survey on multicultural competence needs was carried out for students, teachers and stakeholders. The results were analyzed in the kick off meeting and in the first workshop in Netherlands. Four staff training workshops organized and one multiplier event in the end of the Project in Police University College in Tampere, Finland. Each workshop concentrated on one of the main topics of the learning material and pedagogics. The material and pedagogical approach were also piloted during the Project and initial survey repeated after piloting in order to estimate the impact. RESULTS Survey on multicultural competence needs. Working in a Multicultural Society Module including a practical plan with learning outcomes was created and piloted. Additional learning material package on Awareness of Radicalisation and Terrorism. This is a separate unit which is delivered on its own. IMPACT The integration of vocational and common vocational units is one of the key issues in developing the labor market relevance of vocational education and training. All in all, transversal skills are often most relevant when seeking employment in the 21st century labor market. This learning material supports the various skills requirements of common vocational units and support the developing of the skills related to transversal skills. By offering tools to develop multicultural skills in safety and security sector, will support with its outcomes the quality and labor market relevance of safety and security field education in Europe to a large extent. POTENTIAL LONG TERM BENEFITS Involvement of companies and national authorities brought added value for each partner by increasing the labor market relevance of the education. This will increase also the value on implementing learning outcomes based approach in education, and the attractiveness of safety and security field education.