COACHING SKILLS FOR VET TEACHERS FOR DEVELOPING SOFT SKILLS, KEY HORIZONTAL COMPETENCES AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP SKILLS IN VET STUDENTS (KEYCOACH)
Project title: Coaching skills for VET teachers for developing soft skills, key horizontal competences and entrepreneurship skills in VET students (KEYCOACH)
Programme: Leonardo da Vinci Transfer of innovation
Partners: 1. Asociación de la Industria Navarra – SPAINDiocesane Pedagogische Begeleidingsdienst Bisdom Brugge – BELGIACentro de Formação deEscolas do Concelho deAlmada – PORTUGALVšĮ Socialinių inovacijųcentras – LITHUANIAFundatia Professional /Professional Foundation – ROMANIADanmar Computers – POLONIAEuropean network for transfer and exploitation of EU project results – AUSTRIATransfer and exploitation of EU project results – AUSTRIA
Summary: The European Reference Framework for Key Competences for lifelong learning identifies and defines the key abilities and knowledge that everyone needs in order to achieve employment, personal fulfillment, social inclusion and active citizenship in today’s rapidly-changing world. The framework defines the key competences as a combination of knowledge, skills and attitudes appropriate to the context. A number of horizontal themes, such as critical thinking, creativity, initiative, problem-solving, risk assessment, decision-taking, constructive management of feelings…are applied throughout the Framework and play a role in all eight Key competences. These horizontal themes can be considered to be “soft skills”. Soft skills have been defined as “a cluster of personal qualities, habits, attitudes and social graces that make someone a good employee and compatible to work with”. Modern organisations appear to attach more value to ‘soft skills’ or ‘key competences’ than in the past (Research paper 21, 2012 CEDEFOP).The 2010 Joint Report on Education and Training (2010/C 117/01) states that the full range of key competences and in particular transversal key competences, which are increasingly important in view of evolving labour market and societal needs, are less systematically addressed by most countries’ VET systems than they are by general education. The Report also establishes that this challenge relates in part to the education of VET teachers and trainers.VET tutors and mentors should be able to mentor students to acquire not only the knowledge needed but also the skills and attitudes necessary for developing, maintaining and growing transversal key competences, which will help them to adapt to a changing working environment throughout their life. This can only be achieved if tutors are themselves trained to identify and promote these attitudes and soft skills.KEYCOACH addresses these issues by proposing a coaching training course for VET tutors to coach their students in developing the soft skills and attitudes related to transversal key competences. KEYCOACH addresses objective number 2 of the Strategic framework for European cooperation in education and training (2009/C 119/02), which states that the major challenge for the improvement of the quality of education and training is to ensure the acquisition of key competences while ensuring high quality teaching, by providing continuous professional development for teachers and trainers.
ACTIVITIES
On the 18-19th of November was held the international project partners meeting in Spain.In 11th of March in Brugge, Belgium was held the second KEY-COACH project partners meeting. In the meeting participated partners from Spain (project coordinators), Belgium, Portugal, Lithuania, Poland, Austria and Romania. Lithuanian partner from VšĮ Socialinių inovacijų centras (SIC) was represented by Rita Brijūnaitė (director) and Viktorija Šilianskytė (social programmes coordinator).Keycoach pilot training in Lithuania finished!The 3rd project KEY-COACH meeting was organised in Almada (Portugal) from the 3rd to 5th of November. Partners from Spain (project coordinators), Belgium, Portugal, Lithuania, Poland, Austria and Romania participated in the meeting. Rita Brijūnaitė (director) and Aurelija Jankienė (psychologist) represented VšĮ Socialinių inovacijų centras.