We wanted to broaden our international focus in the FET sector by using existing relationships and forging new ones to cooperate with international partners for innovation and sharing best practise. In applying for this project we were aware that some of our partner VET colleges In the EU are more evolved and established in how they organise their student learning in terms of Inclusion, using Technology Enhanced Learning and adopting the green agenda. Some of our FET colleges had never been involved in Erasmus and we felt that teacher job shadowing was the ideal way to introduce them while giving us the opportunity as an organisation to broaden our learning. The staff involved would increase their skills and competencies and be able to share their knowledge within the organisation. The staff will also appreciate the value of international mobility’s and the value it can deliver for themselves and their colleagues and in the longer term motivate them to organise student mobility’s. We had also just acquired a new catering college in Dublin City Centre and we felt that sending teachers to the FICATH training event in a dedicated catering college in France would be a very useful learning exercise as they developed the new facility.
CDETB aims to provide high quality person centered learning opportunities for the people of Dublin. The ETB delivers education at first, second level, VET as well as adult education. This project was aimed at the VET provision, CDETB is the largest VET provider in Ireland, comprising 13 Further Education colleges, 9 Youthreach Centres, 2 Training Centres along with many special projects. We provide a wide variety of vocational training progression routes as it is a key response to addressing social inclusion. We engage with Communities, employers and other stakeholders in the development and delivery of services. The staff are our most important resource and this application is aimed at upskilling and empowering staff. The VET Sector is a multi-service and multi-centre provider. Even at European level, the Irish FET sector is characterised by a high degree of diversity in the type of programmes we offer. We offer post Leaving certificate programmes, apprenticeships , traineeships ,youthreach and a variety of special service at Level 4/5/6 on the National Framework of Qualifications. The learners in the VET sector are generally aged from 16 to 22. The Number of VET learners is approx. 14000, with circa 2000 teaching staff.