The main objective of the project was to lay the groundwork and develop a partnership for a larger innovative project that would develop tools to identify and develop proactive skills in young people during vocational training for the use of vocational teachers and trainers. Detailed objectives and results were: - Exchange of experiences within and outside the partnership about the practical use of instruments to create personal initiative during vocational training - Explore and create a database of European educational institutions dealing with the issue of proactivity in education, including vocational training - Development of recommendations for institutions in the field of vocational training, teachers and trainers about the accessible tools for identifying and developing proactive competencies among young people in vocational training.
Proactivity is a relatively new term and is expected by many employers but not properly defined. A survey conducted in Poland in 2019 shows that employers are increasingly looking for proactive candidates and are offering jobs in proactive teams, without being able to properly identify what proactive skills are. New, young employees who are proactive find their way into work teams more quickly. And proactive students and trainees better recognize their role in the team, learn and accept their rights and obligations more quickly, accept challenges, are more flexible during their apprenticeship and do not drop out of school or training so quickly. On the other hand, employers rely on candidates' many skills that can be recognized as proactive skills. Proactivity should be encouraged as early as possible, already at school. There are hardly any tools for teachers and trainers to help them recognize and encourage proactive behavior among students. The project was therefore very important in conveying the topic of proactivity into the vocational training sector.