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Vocational Compass – responsible choice of vocational education

An educational programme and ICT tool supporting primary-school pupils in making informed choices about vocational education and future careers.

European Funds – Knowledge Education Development, Republic of Poland, European Union – European Social Fund.

About the project

The project “VOCATIONAL COMPASS – A RESPONSIBLE CHOICE OF VOCATIONAL SCHOOL” is implemented by the University of Agribusiness in Łomża (Poland) and the transnational partner Bildungsverbund Thringer Unternehmen e. V. (Germany) from January 2019 to December 2021. It involves developing and adapting solutions used by BVTU to improve the education system’s support for post-primary school graduates in making responsible choices about vocational education. The project addresses unsuitable educational choices made by primary school graduates, which have negative consequences at several levels:

  • pupils: lower engagement in vocational learning and a risk of dropping out of education,
  • schools: ineffective education and places unavailable to other pupils,
  • the labour market: insufficient vocational skills and lower employability among vocational school graduates,
  • labour market institutions: a need for retraining and additional expenditure to maintain labour market integration (employment offices and social welfare services),
  • education authorities: lower effectiveness of education expenditure.

Project OBJECTIVE: to better align primary education in Poland with labour market needs from January 2019 to December 2021 by developing a new solution drawing on the experience of the transnational partner BVTU. The solution includes an Educational Programme with an ICT tool and a Guide to improve primary school pupils’ ability to make responsible choices about vocational education, and will be implemented in primary schools by December 2021. Specific objectives:

  • improve the quality of primary schools’ educational provision by using new tools to better align education systems with labour market needs,
  • strengthen primary schools’ links with the economy by implementing the Vocational Compass Educational Programme,
  • increase pupils’ ability to identify a future occupation when choosing a vocational school through participation in the Vocational Compass Educational Programme,

The target group will comprise primary schools and their final-year pupils in the Łomża and Ostrołęka districts, as well as teachers and final-year pupils of these schools. The project will be implemented through the following tasks:

  1. Preparing the solution in cooperation with BVTU;
  2. Testing the developed solution with the project’s target group, with support from BVTU;
  3. Analysing the results of testing, taking account of expert opinions and support from BVTU;
  4. Developing the final implementation version of the product together with BVTU, taking account of the test results and analysis;
  5. Putting the solution into practice, with possible support from BVTU;
  6. Developing recommendations for user institutions to ensure effective, sustainable use of the solution, with possible support from BVTU.

The project will centre on importing the partner’s solutions, adapting them and extending them with new components. The outputs will be an ICT tool and an Educational Programme enabling pupils to compare their own potential (internal factors) and planned choice of post-primary school (their vision of a future occupation) with the realities of that occupation. The ICT tool and Educational Programme will be tested, and the final version will be made available for use in primary schools.

Testing the MODEL

Testing will include:

  • preparatory training for 8 teachers (2 from each recruited school) to deliver the educational programme using the ICT tool. Participants will receive a materials pack including the Guide (3 sessions of 6 hours each),
  • preparatory training for 4 teachers from school management teams (2 from each recruited school) to introduce the educational programme (3 sessions of 6 hours each),
  • a 12-month pilot implementation of the educational programme in 4 schools.

Due to the pandemic and the suspension of face-to-face classes in schools, no support activities are planned for April 2020. Due to the pandemic and the suspension of face-to-face classes, no support activities are planned for May 2020. The preparatory training schedule will be announced after consultation with participants.

Recruitment for the testing phase

I am pleased to inform you that the University of Agribusiness in Łomża is implementing the project “VOCATIONAL COMPASS – A RESPONSIBLE CHOICE OF VOCATIONAL SCHOOL”, co-financed under the POWER programme. The project concerns the development of a new tool to support primary school graduates in making responsible choices about further education and their future occupation. At this stage, a test version of the Educational Programme with an ICT tool has been prepared. The next stage involves testing this programme to assess its quality and user-friendliness.

We invite you to register your school to participate in testing the programme. The recruitment form is attached.

A total of 4 primary schools and pupils in Years VII and VIII (an average of 22 pupils per school) may participate in testing.

At schools selected for the project, management staff (1 person per school) and teachers (2 per school) will be prepared for testing through:

  • preparatory teacher training: 3 sessions of 6 hours each,
  • preparatory management staff training: 3 sessions of 6 hours each,

To obtain feedback from the testing phase, teachers and management staff will be required to prepare reports on implementation at their school, including findings and recommendations for improving the educational programme.

The testing process will include the following activities:

  • pupils working with the ICT tool in school computer rooms under teacher supervision,
  • a thematic meeting with entrepreneurs and parents,
  • thematic classes in vocational workshops at secondary schools.

Participation in these forms of support will be free of charge for teachers, management staff and pupils.

For further information, please contact the project coordinator, Dr inż. Ireneusz Żuchowski, on 86 216 97 94 between 9.00 and 12.00, or by email at ireneusz.zuchowski@wsa.edu.pl

Please send application forms by 24.02.2020 to:

University of Agribusiness, ul. Studencka 19, 18-400 Łomża or by email to ireneusz.zuchowski@wsa.edu.pl.

Attachment 1. Regulations

Attachment 2. Application form

Final version of the MODEL for testing.

A model of educational support for primary school graduates in making a responsible choice of vocational school using an ICT tool

Introduction to the problem addressed by the project

The project responds to the Europe 2020 Strategy, which envisages smart, sustainable and inclusive economic growth as a means of overcoming structural weaknesses in the European economy, improving its competitiveness and productivity, and strengthening a sustainable social market economy. The strategy sets the following education targets:

  • reduce the proportion of early school leavers to below 10%,
  • at least 40% of people aged 30–34 should have a higher education qualification.

Under the implementation approach adopted in EU countries, these objectives will be pursued through a range of measures at both Member State and EU level.

This is linked to Measure 4 of the Knowledge Education Development Operational Programme (PO WER), which supports the creation of new solutions for implementing national public policies (the main directions of national education policy up to 2020, under strategic objectives 2: Skills as the key to the future, and 3: High-quality education).

At the most basic level, the problem involves pupils dropping out of the second stage of education (post-primary school), moving between fields of study at this level, and a lack of willingness to work in the occupation for which they have trained or to continue and develop an educational and professional career based on that occupation. This situation stems from insufficient support for pupils completing the first stage of general education (primary school) in developing the ability to make responsible choices about further education, including vocational education.

The problem is cross-cutting and occurs both in Poland and in other EU countries. Across the EU, it affects between 5% and 15% of the population. The project addresses one determinant of educational failure: an inappropriate choice of vocational school and the associated adverse effects;

– consequences at individual level: more frequent unemployment in this group, low-paid jobs with low entry requirements, lower job security and lower civic participation,

an inability to undertake further education and lifelong learning.

– consequences at national level: loss of national income and tax revenue to support public benefits, increased demand for social assistance, reduced participation in political life, reduced intergenerational mobility and less effective public education spending.

The project therefore aims to increase primary school pupils’ knowledge before they choose their next educational pathway by developing a MODEL that enables them to learn selectively about a future occupation in line with their aptitudes, using an ICT tool and cooperation with the business sector. The benefit of transnational cooperation will be

MAIN OBJECTIVE: to better align primary education in Poland with labour market needs from January 2019 to December 2021 by developing a new solution drawing on the experience of the transnational partner BVTU. It includes an Educational Programme with an ICT tool and a Guide to improve primary school pupils’ ability to make responsible choices about vocational education, and will be implemented in 10 primary schools by December 2021.

Purpose of the document

The purpose of preparing the final version of the Model is to finalise its structure, substantive scope and content. The final Model takes account of consultations with the transnational partner BVTU and recommendations from Polish experts obtained during a heuristic workshop.

The Model was developed in accordance with the methodology set out in the application, namely:

  • developing the assumptions for the initial content of the MODEL,
  • exchanging information and experience between Polish experts and transnational BVTU experts on solutions used by the German partner and in Poland,
  • importing the partner’s solutions, adapting them and extending them with new components:
  • developing an educational programme with an ICT tool.

The Model creatively applies a solution developed by the transnational partner BVTU (Germany), which implemented the Berufsstart plus project in response to primary school leavers’ lack of understanding of the realities of their future occupation when choosing vocational education.

The specific objectives achieved under Task 1 were:

  • defining the content and structure of the MODEL in relation to the needs of its users, namely:
  • pupils completing primary school and choosing their next educational pathway,
  • primary schools’ access to tools supporting educational processes related to choosing further education and shaping a professional career,
  • assessing the effectiveness and efficiency of the MODEL in supporting the target group’s needs,
  • ensuring that the MODEL is consistent with its assumptions and intended purpose.

The Educational Programme was developed under the project VOCATIONAL COMPASS – A RESPONSIBLE CHOICE OF VOCATIONAL SCHOOL, implemented through transnational cooperation between the University of Agribusiness in Łomża (Poland) and Bildungsverbund Thringer Unternehmen e. V. in Erfurt (Germany). The programme aims to increase pupils’ ability to identify a future occupation when choosing a vocational school.

The Educational Programme and Guide will serve as a methodological handbook for teachers acting as school coordinators responsible for implementing the Vocational Compass – A Responsible Choice of Vocational School educational programme.

The Educational Programme consists of modules that take pupils through an educational pathway using a “funnel” methodology. This involves stimulating and identifying pupils’ vocational interests, starting with general areas and progressively narrowing them by exploring selected occupations, with a focus on specific work activities and labour market conditions.

The programme allows activities to be tailored to individual pupils, improving schools’ effectiveness and their support for pupils during the challenging transition from primary to post-primary education.

Expert availability as part of project sustainability

Dear Sir or Madam, as part of the project’s sustainability arrangements, our experts remain continuously available to you. Anyone interested in using the Vocational Compass Educational Programme is welcome to contact us by telephone, email or in person. Experts providing consultations, advice and support visits, room 405:

  • Dr inż. Ireneusz Żuchowski – ireneusz.zuchowski@mans.edu.pl,
  • Dr hab. Andrzej Borusiewicz – andrzej.borusiewicz@mans.edu.pl
  • Marek Mielnicki, MA – tmmielniccy@interia.pl

Primary schools that have implemented the Vocational Compass Educational Programme with the ICT tool:

Vocational schools that have signed agreements to make their vocational workshops available to primary schools implementing the Vocational Compass Educational Programme with the ICT tool:

“VOCATIONAL COMPASS” Educational Programme – vocational skills assessment and career guidance

A man looks at materials and sketches pinned to a wall.

Start by completing the test

People in a spacious hall with tall glass walls.

Preparatory career guidance – vocational skills assessment: tests and tasks

A group works together at a table on printed materials and designs.

In-depth career guidance – tests and tasks on vocational skills and interests

A mechanic works underneath a car raised on a lift.

Focused career guidance

Three people discuss a chart displayed on a monitor.

Finish by completing the test

Footprints in the sand.

Contact

Anyone interested is welcome to contact the project office:

  • in person University of Agribusiness in Łomża ul. Studencka 19, 18-400 Łomża, between 8.30 and 12.00 on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday. Room 405
  • by telephone tel. 86 216 94 97
  • by email: email: ireneusz.zuchowski@wsa.edu.pl

Project website