In the context of an increasingly globalised world and rapid technological change, employers do not only merely look for technical knowledge (so called 'hard skills') when selecting candidates, but tend to rather prioritise those characteristics involving personality traits, such as creative thinking, communication, negotiation, flexibility, which determine so called transversal or soft skills. Furthermore, as recognised by the Council Recommendation 22/05/2018 on key competences for lifelong learning, transversal skills are particularly relevant for the development of those key competences enabling young students to become active and responsible citizens in today's society. While the role of creativity and non-formal education in helping students to develop such skills has been recognised, education providers, including those in the field of VET, would highly benefit from the inclusion of such learning approaches in their school curriculum. The Playing 4 Soft Skills project aims to address the existing gap in market demand concerning transversal skills by introducing creative learning, non-formal education and digital tools in the context of vocational education providers with the objective to enhance students’ awareness and ability to recognize and develop relevant transversal skills. More precisely, the specific objectives of the Playing 4 Soft Skills project include: 1) Enhance students’ awareness of existing soft skills by actively engaging them in non-formal learning activities and provide with useful tools and material in order to assess and further develop such transversal skills in the context of a playful learning environment. 2) Provide teachers with supportive tools and meaningful training on methodologies aimed at enhancing students’ acquisition of specific soft skills through non-formal education and equip teachers in order to act as effective facilitators during the implementation of non-formal learning activities. The project will target current VET students (aged 14-19) and teachers working as part of VET programs across the European Union. More precisely, the Playing 4 Soft Skills project aims to reach around 1000 students and 300 teachers across Germany, Italy, Spain, Latvia, Poland and other EU countries. The project will build on the expertise of partner organisations working in the field of non-formal education, creative learning, digital technology and innovative thinking in order to involve students both as participants and feedback providers and teachers in the role of facilitators. The project aims to benefit VET providers, teachers, educators and policy makers with a series of project results which can be transferable to other educational contexts across the EU. The project results will include the following intellectual outputs: (1) Soft Skills Evaluation Report identifying the most relevant transversal skills to be developed in the context of learning activities with a set of relative indicators in order to measure progress, which will be produced after confronting students and teachers needs with expectations from employers in terms of soft skills; (2) Soft Skills Game Manual for participants explaining the rules, context and objectives of a new educational game tailored to the activation and development of transversal skills and based on innovative game formats developed by project partners; (3) Soft Skills Training Notebook, a guiding instrument for teachers providing training on pedagogical aspects related to non-formal education, explaining in details the role of facilitators and outlining instruments for progress evaluation; (4) Soft Skills Training App, an interactive tool aimed at enhancing students engagement in learning activities and foster soft skills activation and self-evaluation. By involving students in non-formal education activities, they are expected to develop a deeper understanding of transversal skills and further acquire the 'key competences' allowing them to grow as responsibile citizens and to be competitive on the job market. Thanks to the support provided by the digital app, students will be challenged to express their creative potential and ability to interact, communicate and emphatise in the context of both real and virtual scenarios. Such activities will also be beneficial to teachers as they will acquire further knowledge and expertise in the field of soft skill activation and non-formal learning, therefore refining their teaching skills in a crucial area for the future of education and training. Overall, project results aim to have a wider impact outside the boundaries of the project as these will provide with relevant outputs to be used by VET providers, educational institutions, policy makers and public authorities for the inclusion of non-formal education and creative learning as part of school curriculum and education policies at local, regional, national and EU level.
The final result of P4SS made available to European VET Institutes concrete tools (primarily the Board Game and the App) which would help young people, through the games and informality, to acquire awareness and indications to strengthen behaviors and attitudes regarding 5 specific and identified soft skills. Thanks to the intense work of a European working group, equipped with different but complementary skills, it was possible to concretely achieve the declared project objectives. More precisely, the specific objectives of the Playing 4 Soft Skills project aim at: 1) Raising students' awareness on soft skills by actively involving them in non-formal learning activities and provide useful tools and materials to assess and further develop these soft skills in a playful learning environment. 2) Providing teachers with support tools and significant training on methodologies aimed at improving students' receptiveness of specific transversal skills through non-formal education.
In an increasingly globalized world where there is a fast technological change, employers, when selecting new candidates, do not only evaluate technical knowledge (the so-called "hard skills") but try to hire candidates who show characteristics such as, for example, creative thinking, negotiation and communication skills, flexibility, and others that fall within the so-called soft skills. Furthermore, in a period of incredible impredictability and sudden change within the referred structures, young people must be even more competent, even in the workplace, of dealing with continuous uncertainties and emotional disturbances. Furthermore, as recognized by the Council Recommendation of 22 May 2018 on key competences for lifelong learning, soft skills are particularly relevant for the development of those key competences which enable young learners to become active and responsible citizens in today's society and better able to face the challenges and opportunities of the world of work. P4SS operates within this interpretative framework.