Preventing school failure is about developing an inclusive system where all learners – including those at risk of failure and most vulnerable to exclusion – receive a high-quality education. Building school capacity and combating school failure are crucial steps in the efforts to develop a more inclusive education system. Research shows that young people with disabilities, physical or mental illness, from socio-economically disadvantaged areas together with people who do not have a high school education and young people born abroad, are groups that are overrepresented in terms of people who neither work nor study. Students with learning difficulties and educational needs also have some of the lowest attainment levels in both the UK, France and Sweden. Building school capacity and combating school failure have long been and continue to be a priority area for the three project partners. The partnership includes two public regional authorities and one school from three European countries (Sweden, France and UK). In the selection of the partnership, the goal has been to establish a collaboration that represent and use each partners specific characteristics to create a project where the quality of results are high, relevant and usable. The starting point for the project is dual. Beside combating school failure, there are today several member states experiencing labour shortages, and efforts that widen the potential supply of labour is needed. We could also expect that labour shortage might put already vulnerable target groups even further from a potential job since both demand and competition for high skilled workers will escalate. One way to meet this challenge is to strengthen an inclusive dimension in educational policies that support all individuals in acquiring and developing basic skills and key competences and close their gap to the labour market. The DIGINC project aims to create an innovative model for modernizing education and confronting the risk of exclusion for persons with learning disabilities and difficulties or that for other reasons are limited to take part in internships, by developing more engaging, motivating learning and teaching experiences through the use of digital experiences in internship. Actions will contribute to building digital education readiness and mitigating the impact of the Covid-19-crisis. Moreover, the aim is also to - Provide teaching and non-teaching staff and schools with opportunities to innovate in their organisations and empower their students -Create visibility for workplaces, that have difficulty accepting students on internships due to the work environment (e.g. Covid-19, dangerous machines, hazardous environment) -Exploit and disseminate the project results at different levels of society to be able to create longlasting and sustainable impact. The partners all work close to decision-makers in charge of teacher-training provision or teacher training centers, providing good practise to face common challenges in the use of ICT in school education. Activities that will lead to the project results are among others L/T/T-activities with a strong relevance and connection to the IO’s: Mapping of workplaces and school's collaboration with working life (IO1), Case production (IO2) where each partner develops a model/case for how a workplace can be made visible through a digital experience. Based on surveys and models/cases, Guidelines for continued work (IO3) are developed, for how workplaces and work steps can be made visible through a digital experience and how the schools can prepare students for a digital workplace visit. Efforts will support the understanding on how to best incorporate digital technology into work based learning. The target groups to be addressed within the project are: Primary target group -Teaching and non-teaching staff (teachers, career and guidance counsellors, school management, etc) -Educational community Secondary target group and beneficaries -Students -Workplaces that today can or cannot offer internships
The aim of the project was to improve the internship experience for students with special needs using digital technology, while also promoting discussions and exchanges of ideas on how to improve internships for these students. This included active exchange of ideas between the participating countries, as the project considered each country's specific competencies and experiences to be important to capitalize on. The goal was to reduce the risk of exclusion both in school and in the future by improving students' opportunities to stay in school and avoid a life of exclusion and unemployment. During the project, guidelines and models were developed to introduce new digital work methods that can improve the students' internship experience and thereby increase their chances of success in school and in the workplace. The project also aimed to capitalize on the opportunities offered by new technology and thus contribute to increasing awareness of the potential of students with special needs. By promoting collaboration and exchange of knowledge and experiences between different countries, the project hopes to increase awareness and understanding of the challenges facing students with special needs.
The Municipal Association of the Gothenburg Region in Sweden and the two collaborating organizations, Rectorat de Montpellier in France and Stony Dean in the UK, all recognize the importance of strengthening teachers and staff who work with students with special needs. Strengthening this group means reducing the risk of a life of exclusion for their students, while workplaces can gain access to a new workforce. The project has worked to develop guidelines on how to use digital technology in a smart and efficient way to enhance and improve the experience of practical learning for students in need of special support. The needs that the project aimed to address were mainly how new digital technology can improve and facilitate the practical learning for students with special needs. In addition, the different partner organizations would share their specific knowledge in different areas, which would lead to an exchange of experiences. Through its guidelines, the project has developed models that will be able to help introduce new digital ways of working, which in the long run should strengthen and improve the opportunities for students to stay in school and avoid a life of exclusion and unemployment