According to Eurydice (2019) “Integrating Students from Migrant Backgrounds into Schools in Europe: National Policies and Measures” -report: “migrant students underperform and express a lower sense of well-being in school compared to native-born students in most European countries.” There are different factors at play, but among them, is the question of teachers’ ability to consider the diversity and to adapt to needs and to provide adequate support. It seems, that there is a lot of material about racism and multiculturalism in the field of basic education, but in general, very little in the field of the vocational sector. Therefore, there is a great need to gather more information from different countries and exchange as well as to adapt the good practices to the vocational sector, too. The project objectives are twofold: we want to improve the vocational college teachers’ (subject and practical) skills and competences to detect and understand racism in the vocational college setting and to better equip them with needed competencies and practical tools for them to adjust and support students with diverse backgrounds. The chosen concept is four-day workshops (LTT-activity week) that are to be carried out in each project participant’s country. The structure of a workshop will be as follows: Day 1: Introduction to the local context Day 2: Presenting the findings and discussion + exercises Day 3: Developing and preparing a small pilot activity Day 4: Pilot day + evaluation The focus of the workshop, however, changes according to the host college as every country has its context that should be considered when talking about multiculturalism and racism. Countries’ different migrant histories’ and stages provide a massive amount of valuable information as well as do the participants' multifaceted backgrounds and experiences. However, to ensure that the workshops are focused, contextualised and time-efficient we’ve been contemplating inviting experts to facilitate the first two days of the workshop.
The project objectives were twofold: to improve the VET teachers’ skills and competences to detect and understand racism in the vocational college setting and to better equip them with needed competencies and practical tools for them to adjust and support students with diverse backgrounds. During the project: - Exchange of good practices concerning multicultural and anti-racism education - Teachers learn to account for students' and teachers’ different backgrounds and needs. - Teachers learn what to do/act in cases of racism or discrimination. - Teachers learn about different approaches and practical tools etc. used internationally. After project completion: - Teachers have a good understanding of multicultural and anti-racism education internationally. - Teachers know how to work in a multicultural/diverse context and how to ensure everyone’s agency. - Teachers know how to ensure that college and the classroom is a safe space for all. - Teachers know how to adjust, develop and deploy practices that prevent/tackle discriminatory practices at one’s college.
Multiculturalism and diversity are an everyday reality in VET colleges. According to Eurydice (2019) “Integrating Students from Migrant Backgrounds into Schools in Europe: National Policies and Measures” -report “Migrant students underperform and express a lower sense of well-being in school compared to native-born students in most European countries.” On the other hand the VET teachers are lacking in skills to address the issue, as noted by, for example, The trade union of education in Finland (2019) "Reform without resources - Survey of teachers' experiences after professional reform": according to which one in three (32%) of vocational education teachers feel that there are gaps in their skills in relation to the teaching and guidance of students with an immigrant background. It was considered important, that VET teachers have tools and capabilities to acknowledge and respect diversity also to provide a safe space allowing all people to discover their potential and cultivate their sense of belonging not only to schools but also to the surrounding society. It seemed that material was abundant about racism and multiculturalism in the field of basic education, but in general, there was very little about the vocational sector.