The contemporary life and labour market require teaching and training to focus on achieving the goals of New Skills Agenda for Europe and Europe 2020 Strategy. To ensure that these goals will lead to the best possible outcomes the training systems need to be demand driven, designed to improve the quality and relevance of trainings, make skills more visible and competitive so that enable people make better career choices, find decent jobs and improve their life chances. According to Eurostat 20.6% of youths in Europe are unemployed (4.9% long-term) and the percentage of ESL and NEETS is equal – by 11.5%. One of the main reasons for their status is that they have not received proper career guidance and good motivation by their educators mainly because they lack knowledge, skills and adequate tools. The paradoxical existence of high unemployment and talent-hunting in some spheres arises suspicion on the effectiveness of the career guidance leading to the right choice of education and profession. At the same time educators are facing new challenges as they are no more only educators but advisers and mentors. The need of effective actions for supporting students in their choice of education, training and career is significant. According to the specialists, making an informed choice leads to higher job satisfaction in a long-term and reduces the possibility of unemployment. Project aims to provide educators with new professional skills and knowledge so they increase their qualifications by delivering career counselling. Rather than rely on traditional and unified scattered educational methods and tools, partners aim to provide a new integrated learning methodology with tools and methods for career counselling. Educators will be stimulated in terms of the development of their own training strategies and ideas for career counselling focusing on the concrete needs of their students rather than using already prepared tools which are general and not particular. The innovation in this strategic partnership focuses on the empowerment of educators with variety of content and at the same time oriented to the national peculiarities of each partner country educational framework for career counselling. The elaborated integrated learning methodology and e-plaftorm for career guidance will focus on the basic principles and professional requirements in the sphere while at the same time will cover the national priorities for each partner country and personal perspective of the educator. The project will pursue the following objectives: - To collect learning and teaching methodologies and pedagogical approaches in the sphere of career guidance at schools - To test, adapt and implement innovative practices that can provide knowledge, skills and competences (attitudes) professionals will need in their work as career advisors - To develop an integrated learning methodology with tools and methods that ensures motivation, coaching and support for career counselling - To elaborate e-platform with open and flexible guidance, counselling and coaching methods and tools for professionals - To train professionals new IT and professional skills and knowledge on career guidance so they increase their qualifications and foster quality improvement - To improve the social, digital, personal and methodological competences of educators - To equip educators with tools to enhance their capability to support students while enrolled in education, trainings or labour market - To build a network of educators to cooperate and exchange good practices. The REFORM partnership envisages the elaboration of three intellectual outputs - Сollection of learning and teaching methodologies and pedagogical approaches in the sphere of career counselling at schools (CC-Box), an integrated learning methodology with tools and methods that ensures motivation, coaching and support for career counseling, e-plaftorm for career guidance (E-CC-Box). There will be also international training on career counselling and for using the E-CC-Box for 28 educators. A multiplier event in planned in each partner country. The REFORM partnership includes seven partners from 6 EU countries. The main criterion for choosing the partners was that they all are familiar with educational context in their countries, work within educational matter, cooperate with educational institutions or consult students and youths for continuation of their education or for future work placements. The partnership has a collective strength of diversity in status, size, skills and expertise bringing together: one comprehension school (BG), a cluster of schools (PT), educational inspectorate (RO), private education and training institutions (BG, GR and PL), ENGO (Italy). The partnership ensures a good geographical balance and a balance of old and new member states.
The paradoxical existence of high unemployment and talent-hunting in some spheres arises suspicion on the effectiveness of the career guidance leading to the right choice of education and profession. At the same time, educators are facing new challenges as they are no more only educators but advisers and mentors. The need for effective actions for supporting students in their choice of education, training and career is significant. According to the specialists, making an informed choice leads to higher job satisfaction in the long-term and reduces the possibility of unemployment. Instead of relying on traditional and unified scattered educational methods and tools, the partners provide a new integrated methodology for training with tools and methods for career counselling. After getting acquainted with the new methods of applying career counselling in school, teachers were motivated to develop their own learning strategies and ideas for career counselling, focusing on the specific needs of their students. The project achieved the following goals: - Collected methodological practices for learning and teaching and pedagogical approaches in the field of career guidance in schools - Tested, adapted and applied innovative practices that provide the knowledge, skills and competencies that teachers need in their work as career counsellors - Developed an integrated training methodology with tools and methods that provide motivation, training and support for career counselling - Teachers from all partner countries were trained in new skills and knowledge for vocational guidance, which led to an increase in their qualification in a new field. - The social, digital, personal and methodological competencies of teachers have improved. - Teachers were equipped with tools to improve their ability to support students while enrolled in education, training or the labour market - A network of teachers was established for cooperation and exchange of good practices. The REFORM partnership applied to develop three intellectual products: - Collection of methodologies for learning and teaching and pedagogical approaches in the field of career counselling in schools (CC-Box); - Integrated learning methodology with tools and methods that provides motivation, training and support for career counselling; - e-platform for career guidance (E-CC-Box) After project approval and corrections by the National Agency, only one intellectual product was approved - Methodology with tools and methods for career counselling. - We were able to conduct a study of existing methods in individual countries, to examine the needs of schools for appropriate activities and to exchange good practices in order to equip our methodology with innovative, useful and adaptive methods to assist teachers in their work as career counsellors. - We conducted international training for career counselling, which was attended by 28 teachers. - The planned Multiplier event in each partner country was held with great interest. The results we have achieved are extremely satisfactory. Following the Multiplier event in each partner country, we received very good feedback and a desire to conduct new career counselling training in the future to reach more teachers and schools. Some of the activities presented in the Methodology were adapted for their application in an online environment, which responded to the need for a quick response in a situation of social isolation and transition to distance learning for students. Thus, the practices can be used in different situations and different learning environments. The REFORM partnership includes seven partners from 6 EU countries. The main criterion for selecting partners was that all of them are familiar with the educational context in their countries, work within the educational subject, cooperate with educational institutions or consult students and young people for further education or for future jobs. The partnership has the collective power of diversity in status, size, skills and expertise, bringing together: a school of understanding (BG), a cluster of schools (PT), an education inspectorate (RO), private education and training institutions (BG, GR and PL ), ENGO (Italy). The partnership ensures a good geographical balance and a balance between the old and the new member states.