"The project named "Schools 4.0 - Innovation in Vocational Education", was born from a set of 5 vocational schools belonging to the Network of Schools with Vocational Education guided by researchers from the department of CEDH - Center for Human Development Studies that, informally, organized reflection meetings on the paradigm shifts that must exist in vocational education in order to prepare young people to meet the challenges of the 21st century and whose items are outlined in the 2020 Strategy. These Reflection Works have given rise to concerns and proposals aiming solutions that should be tested and which were shared with some international partners (the case of Denmark and Greece), and it was concluded that there was a need to draw up a verifiable document, above all transferable, and that most vocational schools in Europe could adopt with a success guarantee concerning the change. It should be underlined the fact that there are 4 schools as active partners and one as an associated partner (by strategic option of resources), the fact is that this group represents only one will of the coordinating country, which is Portugal. It was chosen for all those who understood that they were partners/ trainers to meet different conditions with common problems and that represented the majority of schools with European vocational education (this version was rectified by the vision of the EFVET partner, as the European association of schools with vocational education). The activities will be distributed fairly to the various partners in order to define the learning outcomes to be achieved and, as well, the tools for their implementation and consequent evaluation, so that they can be theorized, be discussed and approved at the scheduled transnational meetings, including a training course in real work context on the application of digital tools in new learning environments, so that they meet the profile of the student of XXI century. The presentation of an Intellectual Output "A Pedagogical Innovation Framework for Vocational Education of Sec. XXI" will be conducted by two UCP researchers, experts in education and training, according to the CV attached to this application. This IO will be presented in paper and e-book form and will be disseminated through a multiplier event (with the presence of government decision-makers linked to the education), accompanied by the publication in the social networks and digital platforms of the partner countries.The medium-term project sustainability will be guaranteed by EFVET and the Catholic University. In view of the importance of this matter, converted for immediate application in the real context of work, it is expected that a framework will be created to rethink pedagogical practices and identify the changes to be introduced in order to move from a nineteenth-century school to a twenty-first century “School 4.0” capable of responding to the current challenges of Vocational Education at European level. To that end, it will be considered as a starting point the reference that was the origin of the innovative model of vocational education in Portugal, created in the beginning of the 1990s, in the 20th century, "The Modular Structure in Vocational Schools" (GETAP, Ministry of Education, 1993), of which the two researchers from the UCP, who will accompany this project, were general director and coordinator of a project team for curricular organization and development. In summary, it is expected to contribute to the change of national and European policies at the education level and in all vocationally-oriented schools throughout Europe, with a proven pedagogical tool that will allow them, within their autonomy and their educational project, to be aware of and better prepared to make their school, with their teachers and students, a school facing the challenges of the 21st century".
Recognizing the need to build the pillars to reinvent a School capable of responding to the new challenges and opportunities of Vocational Education and Training in the current "liquid" times in which we live, a transnational partnership was formed to develop, as early as 2018, Project No. 2018-1-PT01-KA202-047463, under the Erasmus + Program, key KA2, entitled "School 4.0 -Innovation in VET". The partnership consists of 4 Portuguese vocational schools, from the "Schools 4.0 Network", European partners from Denmark and Greece, with the involvement of EfVET, and the support of two researchers from the Research Center for Human Development (CEDH) and consultants from the Support Service for the Improvement of Education (SAME), from UCP-Portuguese Catholic University, from Porto, Portugal, as scientific and pedagogical advisors. The purpose of this transnational partnership was to co-construct and publish an Intellectual Output (IO), in Portuguese and English, in digital format, with hyperlinks of material in the mother tongue of each partner, which will be an innovative theoretical and practical reference to help the different stakeholders to rethink and identify the necessary changes that need to be introduced in pedagogical, organizational and assessment practices, in order to move from a traditional school, with only face-to-face teaching, to a 21st century school, "SCHOOL 4.0", oriented towards positive change, with digital instruction. In order to guide the research, we followed the Appreciative Inquiry and the guidelines of the quality management system (QMS), aligned with the European framework EQAVET. This report intends to disseminate not only the project, but also to display the process and some of the products that have been achieved in this transnational partnership, namely the good practices that have been designed, implemented and tested by the partners in classroom and on-the-job training contexts, life stories of "VET reference personnel", student narratives and testimonials from partners and stakeholders, and to increase the connection of the school-community relationship. Given the unexpectedness of the Covid-19 pandemic, which has required numerous adaptations and changes in teaching processes, and as this work is intended to be dynamic, the partnership decided to include a chapter on suggestions for methodologies, e-learning agendas and testimonies of experiences in times of confinement and learning during a pandemic. The great value of the partnership was centered on the fact that the four Portuguese schools, including the coordinating school, represent a large part of vocational education and training in Portugal, with common problems and aspirations for a paradigm shift that would be in line with European policies, added value by the Danish partner for its experience in pedagogical matters articulated with technological knowledge, supported by the work context of the Greek partner with relevant outputs in various age scenarios and the work of EfVET (Association of European Vocational Schools) as a vehicle for collecting inputs for the diagnosis and development of strategies to be introduced in the IO, as well as the excellent dissemination of activities during the project and the relevant diffusion of the project results among potential European stakeholders, thus ensuring the sustainability of the project in the mid-term. The scheduled activities were essentially carried out, both in terms of transnational meetings and in terms of staff training, which took place in Denmark and was very productive, except for the last transnational meeting scheduled for Greece which, for reasons of greater contingency caused by the anti-pandemic intervention rules, could not be held in person, but was replaced by several meetings via Skype. The most impactful activity was the Multiplier Event held in blended form (in person and online), at UCP on October 14, 2021, with simultaneous translation in PT/EN, where each partner presented their Best Practice that makes up the e-book, which was attended by several leading figures from the Ministry of Education and personalities considered experts in education at a national and international level, in addition to the participating researchers Professor Joaquim Azevedo and Professor Luisa Orvalho. It is worth mentioning that this e-book exists in digital format, was presented through a QRCode and distributed in a USB flash drive inside a handicraft package to all participants in attendance and has several illustrations throughout its narrative, expressly designed for this work by an illustrator specialized in education, which makes for more attractive reading and conveys the transversality and reflection of what was and is an example of collaborative work that exceeded expectations in every aspect. As a dynamic document, this E-Book was completed with outputs that attendees provided during the ME, as was the case with the introduction of the vision of the General Director of DGEstE, Dr. João Miguel Gonçalves, which greatly enriched this document, aimed at being a working tool for improvement and paradigm shift for the agents of teaching and education throughout Europe. It was also established that each partner will be able to produce the printed version of the e-book, if they wish, the link to which is given below. The project was designed to end on 31-08-2021, but due to the unforeseen pandemic it was postponed to end on 30-11-2022, which allowed for its improved execution. Thanks to the communication and dissemination plan that EfVET presented and managed during the execution of this project, materialized in the 5 Newsletters that translate the real management and life of the project and obtaining its final IO (e-book), guarantees its sharing with several peers, such as the project presentation at the XV Congress of the Portuguese Society of Educational Sciences, at the event SingularityU Greece Summit 2020 led by the DIAVIMA partner, at the Counsellor System at KBC by the Danish partner at the 17th Pan-European Conference on Digital Education, among others, and even after the ME we had requests for sharing the project via webinar by the Education Institution for Vocational Education (RIPO). Hence we can conclude that the objectives of the project were largely met and even exceeded, and that there is already concrete evidence that the results are reusable, transferable and expandable with a strong transdisciplinary and innovative dimension, keeping this work document dynamic, "not being an end in itself but one of the ways to...." through the e-mail that can be found in the e-book, page 14, ([email protected]) so that we can receive ideas and proposals for improvement that could be uncovered by each one of us, without geographical, racial or linguistic limits! https://epatv.pt/e-book-schools4.0