Future is in our hands is a project that wants to prepare its participants as well as the organizations to the future. All work is about to change and solutions are needed regardless of the profession. No college can teach the skills and knowledge needed for the work of the future. We believe that this project enhances the adaptation to new life situations and career shifts, manage change, take initiative and risk, innovate and engage in further learning. In the future skills for learning to learn and self-knowledge of competences and personal abilities and strengths is vital. Training a student will be less focused on teaching the actual job and more about being able to make transfers, see possibilities and be competent to do them. Key competences of lifelong learning become are crucial. The main purpose of the project is to activate the students into learning to learn in a more informal setting, in the four FUTURE LABS organized in this project. Each of the four project partner (Helsinki Vocational College FI, Da Vinci College NL, CIFP Juan de Colonia ES, Bridgewater &Taunton College UK) Each of the partners will engage 4-5 teachers and altogether 15-20 students from any field of study to participate in this project. The themes of the Future labs are based on global megatrends and challenges of the future working life. The participants are not to be taught of their future profession but to look at the future through their work and enhance the lifelong learning skills through the methodology of project based learning. The problems that the students will try to solve will be based on interviews done in each of the participants’ home country and work places relevant to the field of study. Prior to the first Future Lab week the teachers participating will be offered a 3-day training to the methodologies Before each of the Future Lab weeks the participating students in the hosting country will contribute to the project by first interviewing the working life on the theme. They will come up with a real problem that the companies need to be solved in the future. Then gather their findings in a national group and share them to the other participants. Meanwhile the other participants also interview the working life on the same theme to orient themselves to the theme. During the Future Lab students will solve the problems in multidisciplinary and multinational workgroups with a tight time schedule to find a solution, think about a strategy to get to the solution and make a presentation. These solutions can be anything from a prototype, to a slogan, poster etc. In the end the groups “sell” their findings through pitching and the digital newspaper. Their learning process is facilitated by the coach (teacher). Participation gives the teacher too a chance to get familiarized with the future of learning and test one’s ability to guide the students on the path of learning to learn. This project allows students to develop skills and knowledge in a range of subject and not only their own professional field. Participation to the project and methodologies used give students the right to wonder, ask and understand. These learning methods are seen as good assets to prepare oneself for the future challenges of work. The project will enhance its participants’ self-esteem and self-reliance as well as teach them skills to regulate their learning path, take responsibility and be flexible and aware. The learning outcomes will differ from student to student and teacher to teacher, dependent on the individual needs and abilities. The recognition of the learning outcomes will follow the procedures of each participating organisation. The project based learning puts the emphasis on what was learned and what competencies were acquired. Also teachers involved in this project will benefit, they will be working with their international counterparts, get knowledge about this type of training and will improve their coaching skills. The success in assessed with a survey to the participants at the end of each of the week. There will be separate one for the participating teachers and students as the impact of the participation varies. The findings and the future lab design are shared by each of the participating organisations in their EU-national agencies forums to share the knowledge on the chosen learning methods. The model used in the planning of the activities can be re used and easily adjusted to be used in a national or international setting with student of any age group and background. The methodologies can be implemented to other projects and supports the skills on recognition of learning outcomes The Future Lab learning ideology is one idea to meet with the clear demand for a change in the education institutions to quickly adapt as a response to the changing society by integrating interdisciplinary training to the educational path.
Future is in our hands was a project that wanted to prepare its participants as well as the organizations for the future. It aimed on giving an opportunity for initial and continuous professional development of VET teachers, trainers and mentors as well as to promote innovative approaches to provide key competencies and work-specific skills to the learners. Future was not only dealt with through the themes of the Future labs but offered a testing lab to elaborate new learning environments. To accommodate to the change of the working life new ways of working within teams and organizations was seen as crucial. The project wanted to foster innovation and underline the importance of “soft” skills such as collaboration, teamwork, creativity and learning. That is why the four Future labs were based on team pedagogy. This project enhanced the creativity, innovative thinking and flexibility in multidisciplinary groups. The key to the succses was to offer the teachers participating in the project an intensive three days training on the methodology. It also helped with strong bonding within the teachers participating in the project. The main purpose of the project weeks was to activate the students into learning to learn in a more informal setting, in the four FUTURE LABS organized in this project. The themes of the Future labs were based on global megatrends and challenges of the future working life and were chosen in the first project meeting. The Future labs were held in each of the participating country. The problems that the students solved were based on interviews done in each of the participants’ home country and work places relevant to the field of study. Each of the weeks offered a chance to investigate the topic in a relevant company. For both parties to gain understanding on each other’s needs. The future labs gave a learning opportunity for 80 learners on cultural awareness, communication in a foreign language with methods where everyone’s contribution is equally important for the final result and success. Both participating teachers and students truly were in a “pressure cooker” for one week to produce a solution; out of their comfort zone and forced to step out of their traditional roles.