‘Better Support – Better Options’ is a strategic partnership within the school education sector. The key objectives of the project include an exchange of professional experience and good practices along with creating materials and IT Tools supporting the process of career consulting for the Deaf and the Hearing Impaired (HI for short).The project aims at using modern ICT tools in a way which ensures that the actions taken will meet the needs and demands of the digital generation.Taking into consideration the current trend of work-related migration the project aims at supporting the Deaf and HI graduates who currently live and work abroad or are going to do so in future.There are four partners in the project: Zavod za gluhe in naglušne from Ljubljana, Slovenia;Stredna odborna skola pre ziakov so sluchovym postihnutim from Bratislava, Slovakia; Zakladna skola pre ziakov so sluchovym postihnutim internatna Viliama Ganu of Kremnica, Slovakia and Specjalny Ośrodek Szkolno-Wychowawczy dla Niesłyszących im. Janusza Korczaka of Cracow, Poland. The Polish partner is the project coordinator.All the partners have both an extended knowledge and vast experience concerning the Deaf and the Hearing Impaired education and highly qualified professionals willing to take action and contribute to achieving the project objectives which will be of great value in the field of the Deaf and HI career counseling and support. As a result of this partnership we have already created a clear action plan schedule, a characteristic of expected results (including their form and importance for each target group) and a dissemination strategy for the project’s results.In order to meet the project objectives a number of different actions are scheduled to take place. The actions include mobilities for professionals to enable them to take part in learning, training and teaching activities; developing materials and IT Tools focused on career consulting for the Deaf and the HI; collaborative work on expected results. There are also plans for individual and group workshops for both students and professionals to be held; for career-oriented meetings with parents and professionals involved in working with Deaf and HI on daily basis in many different fields and capacities; for ensuring that partners stay in touch with their graduates and monitor their progress.The tangible results of the project include ‘The Manual for a Career Consultant for the Deaf and the Hearing Impaired’, a video-guide ‘Carry on Signing’ and materials written and developed by career consultants during the work on the project, e.g. a video showing interesting examples of implemented actions.The partners of the project expect that ‘The Manual’, written by each partner in their native language, will be the key tool for the career consultants working with the Deaf and the Hearing Impaired. Other materials developed to meet the goals of the project will play a secondary role.‘The Manual’ will be available online (via Moodle and eTwinning) for free which guarantees both long-term and common usage of the results of this project and actions taken by the partners. In order to disseminate the manual there will be meetings held with career consultants, school management, psychologists and educators, non-profit organizations working within the field of education as well as meetings with academics and university departments providing education for prospective career consultants.It is the aim of the project partners that the video-guide ‘Carry on Signing’ will become a source of knowledge and a practical know-how for our students and graduates who want to continue their education and/or find employment abroad. The video-guide, developed in native sign languages of the countries participating in the project, will help and support the students and graduates who decide to live abroad. It will be available on the project’s website, on each partner’s website and on social media, which are frequented by students and graduates alike.The project will take 24 months to complete.
“Better support – better options” (LTT) is a strategic partnership project in the school education sector. The project lasted 24 months. The major objective of the project was to develop, based on international experience, materials and tools in the field of career counselling that would be adapted to the needs of deaf and hearing impaired people. Another important goal was to exchange experience and good practices in this area. The project participants used ICT tools in the process of career counselling. They tried to adapt them to the needs of the digital generation and to increase the effectiveness of the teaching methods used. Both actions were important parts of the project. The project also focused on the current tendency to migrate between the labour markets. One of its results is the “Carry on signing” video guide. It was based on a unified scenario developed by the project partners and is available in the sign languages of the countries involved. It is a source of information for deaf people who are abroad or planning to leave their countries. The video guide consists of several clips which focus on: ways of looking for a job on foreign labour markets, preparation of a EuropassCV, types of necessary documents and additional documents when going to work abroad, hazards related to travel and stay in a foreign country, and good advice on individual travel abroad. The project partners were: Zavod za gluhe in naglušne Lublana from Slovenia, two Slovak schools: Stredna odborna skola pre ziakov so sluchovym postihnutim from Bratislava and Zakladna skola pre ziakov so sluchovym postihnutim internatna Viliama Ganu from Kremnica and Specjalny Ośrodek Szkolno-Wychowawczy dla Niesłyszących im. Janusza Korczaka in Krakow, Poland as the project coordinator. What distinguishes this project is its area of impact. The partner schools are training centres which have great experience in education of children and youth with hearing impairment and other disabilities. During the project the partners took part in mobilities of staff devoted to learning / teaching and training, organized: workshops for students and staff, educational and vocational events and meetings with parents and specialists working with deaf and hearing impaired young people. They maintained contact with the graduates of the partner schools and implemented some local and regional activities which involved the promotion of the project and the dissemination of the project results during the meetings with beneficiaries. The partners also undertook international activities devoted to the promotion of the project, consultation and dissemination of the results during the meetings of the European HIPEN Network and while the international dissemination seminar in Bratislava. The actions taken have brought the results that are universal values on the education market. In addition to the video guide, which have been already mentioned, the project partners created a "Career counselling manual", which is aimed at the counsellors who work with the deaf and the hearing impaired. It was published in English as well as in the national languages of the countries involved. It is a vade-mecum containing proposals of individual and group activities, which can be used by specialists in the field of career counselling who work at schools, psychological and pedagogical counselling centres and other counselling institutions. The brochure contains links to materials developed in the project, including digital resources. The fact that the handbook has been published on the project partners’ websites as well as websites of other schools guarantees the availability of the results for all concerned and creates further opportunities for dissemination and extending the impact of the project. The project was limited by the time frame, but its results are expected to be a useful tool for further activities carried out during analogous meetings and events to those which took place in the project. Its innovative approach enabled adaptation of didactic materials to the capabilities of people with disabilities and it may be one of the stages of a systemic approach which would respect the needs of disadvantaged people. This is evidenced by the establishment of cooperation in this field with both academic entities in Bratislava and Krakow. The project partners agree that the actions taken do not cover all aspects and tasks that professional counselling for people with disabilities face. However, they are a reliable reference point for further research and activities that a separate project could be dedicated to.