Male child-educaters, or/and male teachers in primary schools are rare. To get some (young) suitable men for apprenticeship, there are different actions, like the „Boys Day“, mildly productive. Over these established actions we have to find some new ways to recruit men for these so called „female fields of work“. First we have to recognize, what interests are priority, and which motivation do men have, to commence an apprenticeship in this work-field. Or: what generates opposition? When we have luck and we get some men, than we have to keep them in the training. Maybe for this purpose there are some gender-aspects in teaching, but also special offers or proposals for action profitable. In this KA2-project we want to discuss this difficulty with our partners Europe-wide, because we have the same point of view (all partners have the same problem, and they want to solve it), but maybe different approaches. Single ideas and activities shall be interchanged. We want to evaluate them, and we want to transfer matching concepts. We want to make Interviews with male Experts - educators and teachers, who are working with children at the age between 0 and 10 years. Among others we want to ask them, what have to be changed, that this work-field is more popular for (young) men ... what was your motivation to work with children ... what makes you happy in working with small children ... what are your most exciting activities on your workplace ... how does it feel: male and to be an educator ... . At the end we produce a Youtube-Tutorial for the target-group of young men. It will be a promotion video for the professions Educator and Teacher for primary education, especially fitted for (young) men. As partners are working together: vocational schools, social partners / work life partners like Kindergarten and primary schools. First the project promotes the social development and the social recognition of men who are working in this work-fields (or who wants to work there). Second this project promotes the social development of the later target-group: the children. We also have to think about the immigrant people, who are using many of our public institutions in the meanwhile. So it is a part of cultural-learning, to inspire immigrant men for these professions. Therefor it is necessary, that first local men are setting the stage for them.
Our YOMAI project aims to make working with children, up to the age of about 10, so attractive to men, that they can imagine starting a job or training for that workspace. In addition, it is interesting for us to find out what conditions have to be given that men remain in this field of work after completing their training. Targeted professions: educators, teachers, social workers. These occupational groups were also represented by the participants in YOMAI. Each partner has sent at least two participants to each international meeting. The partners for YOMAI have selected the coordinating institution. The other German partner has been cooperating with the coordinator in many training contents for many years, including in European projects. All other institutions were / are known and reliable partners in the KA1-mobilities. About half a year before application, the first talks were held via the KA1 practice visits. All the requested partners have reported back, that they have a shortage of professionals. In addition to fewer skilled workers, male colleagues are clearly outnumbered in all countries, and this is considered negative for a variety of reasons. In Germany, the male rate in elementary education institutions is about 5% - the colleagues of the partner institutions assume similar rates, but can not rely on official figures. Each partner therefore collects local numbers to male professionals in the project. The pedagogical-focus of the partners will be discussed during the international meetings. Finland relies heavily on technical tools in educational institutions, laptops are ubiquitous in kindergartens. The partner institutions in Lithuania work multilingual. A kindergarten there uses EU-mobilities to a greater extent for its staff. This kindergarten with primary school also has a higher proportion of men. The partners in Romania also work multilingual. In addition, the implementation of pedagogical concepts is more stringent than in the current German pedagogical mainstream. “What do men say about the local conditions?” “What has led to the men working in the partner countries taking up this profession?” “What is important to you and interesting in the activities in the context of your pedagogical work?” These and other questions are asked through elaborated Interviews during the transnational meetings to the men. Through the feedback, we receive statements that we continue to use in the context of the project. In the run-up to the application, a YouTube tutorial was discussed as a project result. YouTube is a publishing platform that is very low-threshold. Our target clientele - (young) men in search of (work-) change - can be found there as well as "seasoned" educators. We discuss and set this format in the first international meeting. In this context, further details, such as file formats / configuration, layout / design, editing, creating an own YouTube channel, etc. is discussed and set in the first two meetings. As activities four trans- / international meetings were planned and carried out. One meeting in each partner-country. We visit institutions, who employ male professionals. In the first two international meetings, the interviews will be conducted. We evaluate the interviews. A video-storyboard is created, the design for the later video is discussed and defined. Video sequences are shot by each partner, and at subsequent international meetings they are viewed, rated and selected for reuse or discarded. Each partner creates a local "map" that shows, how many male colleagues are working in social settings in the neighborhood. The last activity is uploading the video via a YouTube channel. As a result, it can be stated that all the above-mentioned activities have been implemented. The partners have worked very disciplined, even between international meetings! We conducted many interviews. The "YOMAI-theme" was discussed in detail in each partner-/ and visited institution. The "maps" were not created as a file, but "handmade". Nevertheless, they show a good overview of the local conditions. The previous assumptions have been confirmed! No pedagogical environment of the partner-institutions reaches the men's rate of 4%! For YouTube even three videos were completed. Three existing partner YouTube channels can be used. The sustainability is given by further linking on institutional homepages of the partners. The videos are shown at (annual) general-meetings and team meetings of the partners.