"CALL TO SKILLS! - CALL TO action for developing pupils’ Key and soft SKILLS" foresees the development of learning activities among pupils from different nationalities throughout a period of 24 months, from October 2020 to October 2022, aimed at enhancing important key skills which school curricular programmes are not always able to cover and develop despite the trends coming from the European labor markets. Professional trends are in great demand for individuals equipped with social and cognitive skills, such as critical thinking, creativity, entrepreneurial spirit, etc. in order to be able to adapt to uncertainty and develop resilience. Studies (conducted on the first supply of network connections and job opportunities, LinkedIn) have shown that, in 2019, hiring managers and employers valued skills like being creative and collaborative over technical abilities, such as computing or knowledge of artificial intelligence technology. Aware of such demands and conscious of the learning needs of their own students, the schools forming the Strategic Partnership come from different Countries: the Agrupamento de Escolas de Ourique from Portugal, as Leading Coordinator; the Scientific High School “B. Rescigno” from Italy; Cranford Community College from United Kingdom; Zespol Szkol w Wągrowcu from Poland. They decided to get together to integrate their different expertise and promote support actions targeting pupils’ self-development and lifelong success. The European Pillar of Social Rights states that “Everyone has the right to quality and inclusive education, training and lifelong learning in order to maintain and acquire skills that allow full participation in society and successful transitions in the labour market” and then declares “People need the right set of skills and competences to sustain current standards of living, support high rates of employment and foster social cohesion in the light of tomorrow’s society and world of work […] for personal fulfillment, health, employability and social inclusion” (COUNCIL RECOMMENDATION of 22 May 2018 on key competences for lifelong learning - 2018/C 189/01). The project “CALL TO SKILLS!” was inspired by such principles and, in a time of rapid and profound changes, it aims at strengthening the resilience of 84 young learners (aged 15-16) of different nationalities through training activities developed in transnational mode, hosted in turns by each of the partner school engaged in this Strategic Partnership (7 pupils will be selected by each school for each LTTA to be developed in mobility mode; if hosting, the schools will still involve 7 local students so that actual number of pupils involved will increase to 112); the activities will be organized during 4 international exchanges lasting 5 days, plus 2 days destined to travel arrangements from and to the Hosting Countries: Portugal, Italy, Poland and United Kingdom. The groups of students will be accompanied by 2 teachers from each school (for a total of 6 educators representing the school staff). Participants will be guided towards the creation of concrete outputs, an App “KEY to EUr SKILLS!” where students will describe the skills acquired in the project activities and will propose lifelong learning approaches to keep empowering such skills, even after the end of their school years and in adult life. The project objectives are: -to enhance pupils’ key competences and soft skills so as to mold their profiles according to the demands coming from the labor market through personalized transnational training activities; -to sensitize educational stakeholders and schools towards a more conscious perception of the game played by the acquisition and empowerment of key and soft skills in the individual process of integration within society and the labor market; -to speed the internationalization process of the partner schools involved by empowering its staff’s language/digital skills throughout the project lifespan as well as by enriching their curriculum with an additional management experience in the framework of the Erasmus+ Programme; to allow the educators involved in the management and accompanying teachers to develop sustainable planning and organizational competences and establish long term cross-border cooperation opportunities. The project will produce positive impacts: -students will acquire key competence and soft skills that will lead them along their self-development as professionals and individuals; -teachers will integrate the didactic methodologies and self-assessment tools used during the LTTAs in their teaching routine; -new didactic activities, transnational projects and virtual exchanges will stem from the cooperation among the partner schools to enhance the quality of teaching key skills.
The project began in the middle of a pandemic, which significantly affected its implementation, as face-to-face meetings were discouraged and it was difficult for students, parents, and teachers to meet to organize, discuss, and implement a project of this magnitude that was being carried out for the first time in the school. However, the motivation of both students and the entire educational community was very high and remained so throughout the duration of the project. The project was promoted through the school's social media and official channels, awareness-raising actions, inside and outside the classroom, with people who had participated in projects and who came to share their experience, but also through online and face-to-face meetings with eligible parents and students. The main objectives of the project were: -to enhance pupils’ key competences and soft skills so as to mold their profiles according to the demands coming from the labour market through personalized transnational training activities; - to sensitize educational stakeholders and schools towards a more conscious perception of the game played by the acquisition and empowerment of key and soft skills in the individual process of integration within society and the labour market; - to speed the internationalization process of the partner schools involved by empowering its staff’s language/digital skills throughout the project lifespan as well as by enriching their curriculum with an additional management experience in the framework of the Erasmus+ Programme; - to allow the educators involved in the management and accompanying teachers to develop sustainable planning and organizational competences; - to establish long term cross-border cooperation opportunities. The work began with an analysis and discussion of the objectives that would be worked on, soft skills. Throughout online work sessions, students and teachers evaluated and subsequently analyzed the impact and importance that these capabilities had in the current world. Teachers deepened their knowledge of the skills to be worked on through publications and individual work. At the same time as these sessions were taking place, teachers from different nationalities met online, not only to get to know each other, but also to discuss the objectives of the project, how to implement it, and how to maintain the interest and motivation of students when there was no certainty that the project could have face-to-face mobility and anxiety, stress, and fear of the future were serious factors to take into account. Online meetings were held with students from different nationalities, in which a presentation of the school, the country, and the students' expectations for the project was made. Students were enrolled on the eTwinning platform and encouraged to use it to communicate and complete projects. The platform was used to present the project logo proposals and elect the winner. During the various online meetings, before and after mobility, and the face-to-face meetings held during them, the teachers defined what to do in the mobility, how to promote and publicize the activities and the project, develop ways to keep track of what was done, evaluate its course, reformulate points felt as less positive, evaluate the risks and seek ways to anticipate and resolve them, and, finally, to prepare the final report. Positive pedagogical practices were also shared. A website/app was also developed where, after careful discussion and analysis, students gathered what they had learned, how they had learned, and suggestions for continued learning, in addition to the various reflections and analysis throughout the project. After analyzing the responses of parents and students and analyzing the reaction of the school community, we believe that the objectives were met. There are several areas where students have noticed a very positive evolution, namely: cultural exchange; communication skills and English language; autonomy, responsibility and self-confidence; community involvement; teamwork; improvement of digital skills; learning to learn; critical thinking and curiosity. As mentioned above, the project was well-received by the entire educational community, and was considered by students, parents, and teachers involved as a great asset for student training, but it also led to extra-project students, their guardians and other members of the educational community, requested that the project continue so that new students could benefit from it. Students and teachers involved in the project maintain close contact with partners through social media, and even several meetings and trips are scheduled. A group of former students will also present their experience to the new students in the next school year.