When vocational training students start new jobs at companies, they are often well-prepared in terms of technical knowledge. However, we have observed that there is a large gap between the level of transferable skills these students develop while at school, and the level of transferable skills expected by companies. This problem is even more exaggerated amongst the least qualified students. We feel it is important to focus on developing these transferable skills, as in many jobs the level of technical knowledge required is actually much lower than the level the students tend to possess. Such little time is devoted to training in transferable skills in schools that students find themselves totally unprepared when they enter the job market. Training in transferable skills should also allow students to move easily between low-skilled jobs. Our objective is to rectify this severe lack of training in transferable skills by involving students at every stage of our project. They will be the ones who contact companies to acquire information about the most relevant transferable skills, they will adapt a methodology for the teaching of these skills, and they will design both online and on-site activities. By being so involved in the project, we aim to instill in students a sense of the importance of transferable skills in the labour market. Upon completion of the project, students will have been trained in how to successfully look for, and apply for jobs. We hope that the project will help to reduce the dropout rate and increase employability amongst the least qualified students. Guidance will be provided throughout the project by a team of teachers. We will be working with a diverse group of students. The first group will be selected from students of first-level vocational training, who usually experience severe educational difficulties. We will also integrate second-level vocational training students into the group, and students of social pedagogy and education. This second group of students could act as mentors for the first group of students, providing support and guidance while performing the project activities. The teachers involved in the project will come from the same areas as the students, in addition to some other teachers to support with administrative and technical tasks. m Our expected outcomes are: -A Catalogue of Transferable Skills for lower-qualified vocational training students (OC1) -A pedagogical methodology to acquire these transferable skills (OC2) -On-site training activities (OC3) -e-Learning training programme & activities (OC4) -Job seeking guideline for the least qualified students (OC5) We will create four blended learning activities to help students move through the various stages of the project: In the first blended learning activity, students will develop the survey form for acquiring information from companies, agree on the data collection process, and begin to contact companies. In the second blended learning activity, students will complete the data collection process, analyse and summarise the data, build the Catalogue of Transferable Skills , gather information about methodologies for teaching transferable skills, adapt the methodology towards the least qualified students, and start to create online and on-site activities. In the third blended learning activity, they will finish creating online and on-site activities. In the fourth activity, they will collate all the information from the previous activities and create videos for the dissemination of the project at a fair in the Czech Republic, and in their local areas. They will also create a job-seeking guideline aimed at the least qualified students. During the first three blended learning activities, students will receive talks from HR experts and will visit companies to get an idea of transferable skills in the workplace, which will help them when designing activities. Our methodology will be based on Work Packages. The impact of our project will be widespread. Firstly, both current students and teachers from all partner schools will benefit since the outcomes of the project will be implemented into the schools’ curricula. Thus, teachers will learn from our outcomes and will have a set of activities for the training of transferable skills. On a wider scale, other schools will be able to benefit from our project since we will publish our outcomes on the internet and through European tools. All of the partners have their own network of schools who will be reached through the dissemination of the project. In terms of long-term benefits, this project will improve the level of transferable skills among students of all partner institutions, in addition to students at other institutions who wish to benefit from the project. Further, we aim to establish a sense of the importance of transferable skills among students and teachers in the European job market.
Context/background of the project: The project was carried out by four vocational schools. They intended to pursue the development of their students’ transferable skills in order to improve their employability. Our target group were students threatened by failure (school dropout...) and pupils at lower levels of VET who are generally less motivated and less trained in these skills. The main goal of the project was to enhance their chances on the labour market by training them in transferable skills. In lower qualified professions companies prefer workers who have good transferable skills rather than those with a lot of knowledge. The objectives of the project were, first, to make students aware of the importance of acquiring transferable skills. This was achieved by the students interviewing employers and employees. Subsequently, the participants created activities for training these skills. We also created a website in order to publish all our online courses as well as in-class activities. Finally, pupils created a guideline easily accessible to every job seeker. Activities (carried out by the involved students and teachers): -Creation of a transferable skills catalogue and analysis of a survey of transferable skills carried out on trainers and trainees -Creation of a methodology for the development of in-class and online activities for training transferable skills -Creation of in-class and online activities for the improvement of transferable skills -Creating a Job-seeking Guideline for lower qualified people Number and type/profile of participants involved: -35 from Spain: The 2nd level of Basic VET worked on transferable skills in the classroom, in addition to a group of other VET students. -10 from Belgium: Group of students in a precarious social and economic situation, from immigrant backgrounds -12 from the Czech Republic: Vocational Training Students -14 from Germany: Mixed group of pupils with school dropout and others with a general VET profile, 50% immigration background. Results -Transferable Skills Catalogue for Vocational Training Level 1 and 2 Students -Surveys aimed at professionals to learn about the weaknesses and strengths of trainees when they enter the job market as well as apprentices themselves to self-analyse their strengths and weaknesses. -A comparative analysis of the survey results -A well-defined process for the creation of in-class and online activities for the improvement of transferable skills aimed at VET students. -A set of in-class activities -A set of online activities -A job-seeking guideline Impact: -A group of teachers created and the methodology of transferable skills training to share with other teachers and trainers -This group of teachers acquired the skills of participating in and managing of European projects. This leads to an increased number of European project participations. -The students acquired wide knowledge of the labour market -Increase in students' self-esteem and motivation to pursue their education, -Students have become aware of the transferable skills that companies demand most and how important they are to the companies. -Improvement of the transferable skills of the participating students and making them aware that it is important to work with these skills. -Increased chances of entering the labour market successfully by lower qualified students. -Decreased absenteeism and school dropouts in basic vocational training. -Increasing the reputation of the participating schools in their regions and the educational community's perception of teachers' work and involvement. -Cross-cultural and multilingual learning of participants. -Students have greatly improved their communicative ability in English. Students with little training in English have learned to make themselves understood and have returned from the activity meetings aware of the importance of English and the need to learn it. -Encouraging students to carry out mobilities abroad independently. -Exchanging ideas and experiences between different schools -Promoting the use of ICT tools and methodologies. -Increasing the level of identification with the European citizenship and the feeling of togetherness in the participants of the project -Realising and appreciating the individual benefits of being a European citizen Long-term benefits: -The project has produced an increased dynamic and motivation to get involved in European projects in the school's staff. -Creation of activities to be used in tutorial classes at all levels, especially in basic VET courses. -Increased awareness and interest in European projects among students and parents. - Creating contacts among the students as well as the teachers and parents.