Innovativet

Despite years of massive research effort and numerous development projects, the actual practices in education continues as usual. Previous study from the sector shows that up to 50% and 70% of the teachers expresses that they have not changed their daily practice because of participating in development projects (The Vocational Education Lab & Damvad, 2012). Even though the need for transformation is massive, we continue to practice our teaching as usual.

Since 2002, the Copenhagen process and then the Bruges Commoniqué and finally the Riga Conclusions together with all European Policy Agendas are asking continuously about innovative ways to fight rising levels of unemployment, cohesive and inclusive approaches through non-formal learning activities and recognition of skills and qualifications acquired. Many enterprises are also beginning to see the scope of the challenges they face when it comes to finding the right skills and talents to compete in the years ahead. If they have to compete with intelligent and innovative solutions rather than price, then development of skills and talent are vital resources with a direct impact on growth potentials and positive bottom-line results.

In effect, there is an urgent need to introduce new models of innovation in VET and in all the educational system, and the only effective way is to move the focus on teachers and educators active in the VET system. They need to develop and change their way of teaching in order to change the student skills and increase drastically the students’ employability.

The objective of this project is to address the gap and develop the tools need to implement the best teaching methodologies and thereby improve the students’ skills in order to foster their employability. This project is about innovation in VET and would like to explore innovation in VET in the partners’ countries and provide tools, methodologies and evidence gathering for professionalization and development of VET sector, educators trainer and staff.

Focusing on renewing practice, the partnership will produce four different Intellectual Outputs addressing:

• Evidence-gathering by focusing on authentic emerging needs, done by focus groups and interviews (stakeholders from VET sectors, teachers, students but also enterprises recruiting from the VET sector) and aimed to stimulate the emersion of the challenge and the disruption coming from the innovation in VET.
• Toolkit empowered by practical details about Work-Based learning.
• Toolkit empowered by practical details about Creative Problem Solving and Design Thinking
• Toolkit empowered by practical details about Co-working and FabLabs.

Focus groups, interviews, educational workshops, evidence gathering reports.

The expected results will be to offer innovative teaching methodologies to the VET sector by means of work-based learning, creative problem solving, design thinking and co-working.

The effect will be spurring change to educational practices. To provide a hands-on approach on how to flip a classroom (for the better), to engage the students and create a better synergy between the skills taught in the classroom, and what is needed in the industry.