„New D“ – New didactical models for inclusion of young unemployed Erasmus+ - Strategic Partnership Vocational Education and Training
Link to the projects website: www.new-d.eu
Background:
In most of the European countries youth unemployment is one of the most urgent problems to be tackled and solved. Unemployment rates of more than 20% with young people are alarming. This is on one hand due to the slow economic development and on the other hand, even in member countries with an agreeable economic situation, young people with any kind of disadvantage (migration background, low school leaving degree, economic disadvantages etc.) have much lower chances for inclusion on the regular labour market. In vocational education and training systems, statistics and studies do clearly show that current approaches of VET training is using didactical methods which is coming in parts from school education (class room education) and on the other hand from adult education (training on the workplace, biographic training approaches). However both perspectives influencing the didactical approaches are not fully reflecting the needs of the target group of disadvantaged young people. This leads to the fact that trainings in VET centers and also on the workplace are (if at all) equipped with didactical competences which are not fully appropriate for the target group, this in the end very often leads to frustration on both sides (trainers and learners) as well as potential drop out of a target group which appears to be very fragile anyway.
A number of discussions with VET trainers in training centers, schools as well as with responsible trainers also in companies on the work places have identified the need for a better suitable didactical model for vocational training especially for disadvantaged young people. The development of such a didactical concept which enables VET trainers to react and plan better for the training process of disadvantaged young people, to raise the success of the training process and thereby to reduce the risk of drop out of a very fragile and critical target group is the main aim of the New D strategic partnership project.
Project aims:
The main aim of the New D project is the development of a didactical concept for VET trainers in VET centers as well as in companies concerned with the training of VET skills of a disadvantaged young target group. This model should be much closer at the real needs and life background of young people of the 21st century that existing models of school didactics or andragogy. The concept should provide the appropriate methods to trainers which they are currently searching for, which they are currently somehow inventing by themselves (if they have the competences to), which shall reduce frustration in the VET training process in VET centers and especially also in companies within dual VET education systems.
Therefore the main aim is to better understand the life reality of young unemployed people (with any kind of disadvantaged background) in real detail and from this to deduct didactical approaches and consequences for methods used in VET training. Out of this reason the analysis of life reality of the target group has to take a considerable part in the project development process. In detail the project will envisage the following aims:1) Analysis of life reality of young disadvantaged persons in the partner countries (combination of empirical methods together with secondary literature analysis) and deduction of didactical guiding principles
2) Development of a didactical guideline for VET trainers in training centers and companies as a handbook (publication)
3) Development of a training curriculum for VET trainers from training centers and companies to learn about the innovative didactical models and overcome existing school education principles which are not fully suitable for the target group
4) Implementation of a training programme for VET trainers and responsible persons from companies for the VET training (dual VET training systems)
5) Ongoing dissemination and exploitation activities to support the mainstreaming and sustainable use of the project results on wider scale and after the project end including dissemination conference
| Project No.: 2014-1-AT-01-KA202-000975 Oct. 2014 - Sep. 2016
This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication [communication] reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.
Link to the project website: http://www.new-d.eu/index.php/en/