"Who trains in small and medium enterprises: characteristics, needs and way to support" [Cedefop 2015] highlighted how the trainers received little attention in the company and how their potential as multipliers on increasing the participation and quality of the VET offer remains untapped. The number of different standards of competence required for CVET trainers, together with the heterogeneity of corporate training approaches, limit the transnational mobility of the Trainer profile, reducing the opportunities for growth of these professions. SEniors Learning Value aims to design and test new ways of recruiting and training trainers and mentors among senior workers, who can thereby develop skills and competences according to a personalized learning pathway. The profile of Senior Learning Facilitator can be used both in the organisations from which they come (e.g. for apprenticeship in companies) as well as in other contexts that make use of work based learning (VET Providers, Territorial Research Centres, Competence Centres, etc.). The SEAL project is aimed at leveraging the capital of know-how represented by senior workers, with very advanced levels of technical skills that can facilitate learning processes at work. The project includes following main actions: - the definition of a European framework of competences for the SLF - an open access online platform where tools for self-assessment of learning facilitator capacity will be available, together with teaching aids for the improvement of SLF training, guidance tools on how to activate work-based learning experiences - pilot training activities, together with the activation of learning paths dedicated to 80 senior workers The project brings together different approaches that aim at a common objective: the development of individualised training pathways, through access to MOOC and Open Educational Resources available from previous Erasmus + projects; interventions for the application in a work context of the skills learned from SLFs. The SEAL project foresees the realization of workshop activities in which the SLFs and the trainers designated by the project partners will participate, together with other stakeholders and policy makers active at local, national and European level in the definition and monitoring of work-based learning processes. A robust phase of stakeholder engagement and conslutation will accompany all phases of the project to validate the project results, ensuring their sustainability and immediate transferability into VET Provider management systems and facilitating dialogue with work-based learning systems.
The SEAL project aimed to design and test new ways of recruiting/ and training mentors/trainers among senior workers, who could develop skills and competences according to a personalized learning pathway leading to the (SLF) Senior Learning Facilitator profile able to operate both in organisations/companies where they work(ed) and in other contexts where dual system and WBL are strongly promoted/used (Univ. of Applied Sciences, VET/Research/Competence Centres, etc). SEAL aimed at harnessing the wealth of know-how represented by senior workers advanced levels of technical skills, that can facilitate on-the-job learning processes in VET environments and can dialogue with the education ecosystem stakeholders in order to transfer companies professional needs. SEAL objectives were: - the development and testing of a training pathway enabling the trainer's skills to move within the relational network among VET Providers and Enterprises, in the educational ecosystem - the design of a professional profile able to draw related services integrated at local level to the SLF profile, in order to boost the cooperation between VET and Labour Market systems - the empowerment of Senior workers experiences and their availability in the ecosystem.
"Who trains in SMEs: characteristics, needs and way to support" [Cedefop 2015] highlighted: how trainers received little attention in companies; how their potential as multipliers in increasing the quality of VET supply remains untapped. Moreover skills required for trainers in CVET environment, approaches to skills development and to quality guarantee are widely different among the EU countries, limiting their transferability. According to CVTS5 data. the use of VET by enterprises significantly increased between 2005-2015 allowing the provision of an updated know-how capital, suitable to help sustain Agenda 2030 implementation in the passage from productive systems to emerging paradigms of digital transformation and technological innovation. The increase in use of CVET interested all EU countries preluding the possibility of transnational actions. In this structural framework, qualified Senior workers are an important source/reserve of experience/skills to bring advantage to enterprises, economic systems and society in the widest possible way, suitable to bring precious resources as learning facilitators in their companies, but also as facilitators of innovation in start-up contexts, expert mentors in WBL in particular for SMEs.