Activities
The partnership defined three different strategies to achieve the objectives and to solve the selected problems. The partnership worked on the four dimensions of guidance: formative, informative, counselling, inclusion into the labour market. While each partner works direcly on the formative guidance, the other three sectors of guidance are developed in cooperation with the local partners of each school.
The two partners from Finland and Greece worked on the same subjects of the entire partnership focusing on special need guidance and how these more intensive guidance practises and methods could be adjusted and utilised with mainstream students.
The partnership planned 7 international meetings. The first two meetings were divided in two parts: a formative/training section and a project implementation section. The other meetings were defined to manage and evaluate the project, while the final conference took place in the final meeting.
The first strategy improved the quality and dimension of the analysis about the problems and difficulties of guidance. The partners' staff received a training on Project Cycle Management in the first meeting. The training enabled each partner to use the same project planning and management methodology and to define the criteria needed to set up a wider analysis. The partners' staff learnt how to manage a focus group and an interview, how to manage the project, how to monitor and evaluate the project. The training was provided with front lessons, workshops, group of works.
Each partner developed the analysis of the problems and difficulties of the guidance means and instruments used inside his vocational school, involving students, trainers, guidance operators. The analysis focused mainly on the good and “bad” practices developed by each partner in order to find out what is working properly andwhat is not working properly in guidance. The analysis was carried out with focus groups, interviews and researches of available documents. Non-stop communication among the partners and the coordinator was essential in order to check and monitor the development of the planned activities and to point out difficulties when they spring out.
The state of work of the partnership was evaluated in the second meeting with groups of work and plenary meetings. In the second meeting the partners' staff received an advanced training on Project Cycle Managment. The partners learnt how to elaborate the data collected into the problems and objectives trees, the Logical Framework Matrix, the Strategy Analysis. The training enabled the partners to enhance the quality of the analysis following the European Commission method of work.
Final results of the analysis
The second strategy improved the know-how about the means, instruments, regulations, local partnership used in the guidance activities of each partner.
The regulations of the Public Authorities and the organisation of the local partners who are working on guidance with each school were shared among the partners in the meetings. A specific working group was settled for this purpose. The partners shared the material using a critical approach, focusing on the good and “bad” practices developed by each regional/local system in order to find out what is working and what isnot working properly and to propose possible improvements.
In the first meeting (implementation section), the partners defined the criteria needed to set up the inventory of tools and instruments used in the guidance activities. The approach used by the partners included meetings, working groups, laboratories, workshops and the presentation of the work done in the final plenary session.
The inventory prepared by each partner is available in the partner page of the internet site, while the partnership inventory can be downloaded here.
The first two strategies allowed the partners to share material and information about guidance in VET; to share a common method of work for the project managers, the guidance operators and trainers; to start working in team for the achievement of the project results.
The third strategy, developed in the second year of the project, allowed the staff of the partners to work for the definition of new common products of guidance in VET; to cointinue working in team for the achievement of the project results.
The third strategy enhanced the cooperation among the partners and the students of each school with the launch of the international contest about guidance "Steps to my future".
The students of each partner, in cooperation with the guidance and training staff, developed tools/instruments for the description of a profession in a specific sector using the visual arts (photography, video, posters, presentations, sculpture) as a mean of expression, creating innovative material to be used in the guidance activities of the partners.
In the fourth meeting the partners defined the regulations of the contest and prepared the information material for the launch of the initiative. The partners set up a specific didactic unit to assure the active involvement and participation of the training staff of each school into the preparatory and implementation activities of the contest. The partners prepared the material in the working groups, workshops and laboratories hold in the meeting.
Since the beginning of the preparatory activities, the partners shared the material with the internet platform settled up for this purpose.
Once the students have done the new tools/istruments, the partnership analysed the method of definition of each new tool/instrument in the fifth and sixth meetings, in order to prepare a scheme of the steps needed to set it up. As a result of the work done with the methods, the partnership defined three guidelines to carry out the project in:
- curricula activities
- extra curricula activities
- special needs education activities
