The project brings together students and teachers of different European vocational schools. These schools are intended for students who are especially practical but also for students who prefer to gain theoretical knowledge by practical lessons. All children deserve a place in education that suits their abilities and potential. When they have found suitable education it will lead to the right career choice. A positive result of following proper education and making the right career choice may reduce early school leaving. Europe’s 2020 target is to reduce the share of early school leavers to less than 10%. It is essential that pupils should be supported not only in making a choice for further education or a job, but also need to be accompanied when developing competencies that enable them to shape their careers. Schools in Holland have the obligation to offer a career guidance program. Not all schools in Europe have this obligation therefor we like to make a helpful, understandable career guidance for students who attend a vocational study. The objective of the project is to raise awareness among students about their talents, skills, competence and abilities so they will chose the most appropriate education and finally have the right papers to find a proper job that suits them, that provides them good future prospects. Our goal is to make a tool that students of a lower level can use to profile themselves. Our aim is to provide support to schools, teachers and students by developing a workable career orientation plan (portfolio). We will work together with 4 participating countries. The partners are Italy, Poland Czech Republic and the Netherlands. All schools are vocational schools. The partners know each other from a previous project. About 64 students and 24 teachers will be directly involved in the project. The students participating in the mobilities, their acquired knowledge and information collected is transferred by them on to the students at home. The acronym STAR stands for Situation Task Action Result/Reflection. A logical sequence is to start with your baseline, your Situation at this moment, than do some Tasks and take some Action and at the end see which Results you have achieved and Reflect on your findings. The situation is their personal data, their awareness of their skills, ambitions, wishes, ideal job and their knowledge of the job market at the beginning of the project. The tasks and activities will include a number of various tests and questionnaires to fill in, work experience, mini internships, professional orientation, interview with a professional, networking, experiences in the education systems at the partner schools, visiting different companies, writing a cover letter in the English language, work exploration, networking, capacity reflection, motive reflection, etc. Students are able to direct their careers, if they can deploy these competencies in conjunction with each other. When they can think about their abilities and motives, opportunities on the labour market can investigate and have the appropriate channels (contacts), they are able to make good choices and reach their goals. After two years they have to look at in their accomplished portfolio. Do they recognise their strong and weak points, can they make a right decision about their career or courses? Can they reflect upon themselves? During the two years all the participating students will meet at their own schools every fortnight to perform a task. Teachers of different subjects will guide, coach and help them. The leader will monitor the tasks and activities. The tasks and activities will be composed and designed by all the partners in consultation. The communicative language will be English. After each exchange the students and teachers will present their experiences and findings to their peers and colleagues in their home schools. The digital portfolios will be set up in English but also in the language of the participating countries. The final product of our cooperation will be a complete digital portfolio. It would be really nice to see if their self-image has changed during those two years, their view on their future possibilities and if they can make the right decisions about education and work perspectives. So it can help to lower the dropout rates. The portfolios can be used as a detailed CV when you apply for further education but also when you apply for a job. It also helps you to reflect on what you have achieved and what you want to achieve in future. The portfolio should be maintained and regularly updated as the practitioner moves through his/her career. An general example of a portfolio (website) will be accessible for a wider public by presenting it through various public channels. Completed portfolios of students from each participating country will be accessible too, with regard to their privacy. The portfolio will be a copyable format for whom ever want to follow the example.
The purpose of the project was to bring together students and teachers in technical fields to work on a specific project called ‘I’m a STAR’. The acronym STAR stands for Situation Task Action Result/Reflection. The reasoning behind the acronym is that for any given Situation, one has to think about the Task required, the Action that follows to lead to a desired Result. Students were encouraged through a succession of activities during their program, to apply this thinking process either in a working environment or to improve their personal skills. In addition, the acronym had an underlying meaning, a positive and related to the inner-strength of each student: they are STARS that could shine, should they be aware of their strengths and how to overcome their weaknesses. The activities offered were also geared-up towards this objective – creating further awareness by coaching students on lifelong learning perspective by answering questions such as: which of these competences do I possess and which ones do I need to learn in order to secure an employment in my desired learned profession? The rational of the project is that every youngster gets the opportunity to discover and explore his/her talents optimally in order to develop into an independent, socially skilled and healthy citizen with a good knowledge and perspective on the labour market.The project provided the right process and tools to students to find out for themselves what their future employment could be on an international scale and which work skills they need to acquire to lead to a successful and fulfilling employment. The project provided the right platform to help those youngsters gain more awareness about what they could do, what they could improve, what they could inspire to be, where to find the information, how to apply for the right job, and most importantly, to realise the importance of education. The Erasmus+ two-years project offered 60 students, mainly from socio-economic disadvantaged regions, the possibility to increase their chances to find their dream jobs or those jobs that fit best their skills and aptitudes. For this project, 15 students representatives of all graduation courses, were selected from each participating school/country and enrolled into the two-years transnational educational program. Each school, identified a group of students from each working field available at the different schools (electronics, ICT, beauty and care, woodworking, cooking) to create a mix of competences and facilitate the exchange among different competences. The participants extended their information on an international level but they shared their knowledge at a local level with their peers. Local entrepreneurs and their personnel were asked to open their doors and knowledge to the students. Government institutions and parents, benefited from this project as they were indirectly involved by being a host family or opening their businesses to internships. At the beginning of the project, we made an inventory about the students' awareness concerning employment. At the end of the project, one student told us "The project inspired me to do better in life!". Students had four Transnational Learning/Teaching/Training opportunities abroad. They experienced different cultures, customs, mini-internships in foreign organisations, lived with host-families, used their newly acquired knowledge and made new friendships. Taking part in the development of an online portfolio - which was the foundation of this project, provided them with tangible, practical and useful tools, which represented the innovative part of this collaboration. Along the way, they discovered their own skills and talents. For example, they were thought how to write a CV or what employers seek in future employees. The compulsory internships during the exchanges abroad provided the students with a clearer perception of what's 'really happening in a working environment' and inspired them to do better at school as a result. The Erasmus+ project has certainly helped the participants get out of their comfort zone. They were challenged, inspired, encouraged to be more communicative by presenting their work to a wider audience (i.e. abroad, at school, with their peers, etc). they learned new IT skills like how to develop websites, blogs or design a brochure. By learning about the partners’ countries, cultures, ways of life through their mobilities and school-exchanges, students were able to improve significantly their communication skills in English. For example, in the Netherlands, students enrolled in the Erasmus+ program, achieved higher grades in English than their peer students. A qualitative research across the four schools, allowed us to establish that "I'm a Star" project had a tangible positive impact on 60 youngsters. The completed online portfolio is now a useful tool to help students anywhere in the world to find the right employment - a positive legacy of this strategic partnership.