Wake up Your Vocation

<< Background >>We find deficiencies in the relationship between the education system and the labour market: - Transmission of erroneous beliefs about what the labour market currently values (OECD Enhancing Employability G20 Report) and the consequent clash between students' expectations and the reality of work - Lack of adaptation of training curricula to the real demands of companies - Lack of training in transversal competences - Lack of adaptation of teachers.An average of 10.2% (in 2019) of 18-24 year olds in the EU left education and training prematurely, which may lead to greater difficulties in the labour market. Secondary education must respond to two demands of the environment: on the one hand, to introduce the new labour market paradigm, the new technical and transversal skills demanded and aligned with the new Qualifications and jobs (European Skills Agenda 2020); and, on the other hand, to give students a realistic vision so that expectations are aligned with reality and they have sufficient knowledge for their decision making when it comes to continuing their professional development. These two challenges are at the core of the WAKEUP project and will be addressed by the project.<< Objectives >>WAKEUP project focuses on reducing the gap between the Formal Education System and the labour market by providing students with the necessary preparation in terms of employability skills and labour market orientation, involving both companies and schools in this process. This will be achieved through the following specific objectives: SO1. To understand the vision and expectations of 12-18 year olds, their parents/guardians and teachers about the professional future and labour market inclusion possibilities of young people. SO2. To develop teachers' knowledge and skills on an innovative methodology in career guidance to help students design their academic and training itinerary according to their competences and skills. SO3. Raise awareness among students and their families about the reality of the labour market in European countries, the new skills and competences demanded in various digitised sectors relevant to sustainability and the academic or vocational training pathways available to achieve them.SO4. Bring students and the private sector closer together to generate a better understanding and connection of their realities, especially in rural areas, where there is a severe lack of social capital and career information.<< Implementation >>The following activities will lead to the desired result: R1: STUDY ON VISIONS AND EXPECTATIONS 1.1. Agreements with school centres The partnership will contact at least 30 schools (10 schools in each participating country - ES, IT, HR) and establish the agreements for the collaboration process that will cover the whole project. Different environments and school community types will be selected to have a wider view in the study, from schools in rural areas to urban areas, including less favoured neighbourhoods. 1.2. Surveys and interviews A survey for students, teachers and parents/guardians will be elaborated to identify their vision and expectations in relation to the students’ professional future. The results will be analysed and cross-checked among regions. Interviews with teachers, parents/guardians and students will be established to deepen the survey's results. 1.3. Study report (Result 1) With the results of the survey's analysis and the conclusions of the interviews, the four project partners will collaborate in the production of a report that compiles and shows an integrated vision of analysis performed.R2: METHODOLOGICAL GUIDE FOR TEACHER TRAINING 2.1. Methodology design The methodology will address, among others, the following issues: 1. Current and future reality about employment and jobs in the European countries. 2. Transversal requirements in actual jobs. The presence of Social Sciences and Humanities (SSH) in Technological and Scientific areas, etc. 3. New European challenges, which will tailor future economic activities: gender equality and the dangers of Gendered Jobs, climate change and environmental sustainability (green jobs), the digital challenge. 4. Importance of being an active part of the solution for Young people.2.2. Methodology Handbook (Result 2) The methodology handbook will put together the complementary knowledge of the participants in labour orientation, teacher training, students training and European objectives and policies. Pilot training activities will test the first draft and best experiences and lessons learned will be used to optimise the handbook to its final version. 2.3. Online training for teachers The online training program will include 3 online private sessions, digital material for self-study and 2 open (public) webinars. This will be replicated in the three training participant countries: ES, IT, HR.2.4. Online training for students 10 online awareness sessions per country will be held, one per participating school centre. 2.5. Awareness sessions with parents as with students, 10 online awareness sessions per country will be held, one per participating school centre. 2.7. Pilot report The training reports will be compiled in one volume and freely distributed. They will compile best practices, lessons learned or regulation issues encountered. R3: POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE’S 3.1. Workshop on policy recommendations GI will organise an online workshop with practitioners, project partners and additional international expertise on career guidance and future of work (such as OECD or UNEVOC) to jointly develop a thorough analysis and recommendations. Such bottom-up European approach will permit developing recommendations suitable to various national circumstances, for stakeholders at different levels, beyond the geographical scope of the project. 3.2. Policy recommendations document (Result 3) The recommendations will be fine-tuned and clustered for various stakeholders and levels, leading to the Policy Recommendations Document 4. Events - Presentation of the project results at local levels in Spain, Italy and Croatia - Dissemination of the online training for teachers and parents in Italy - International Presentation of the policy recommendations to policy makers in Brussels, at the end of the project.<< Results >>The project will deliver three main results: 1. Study on visions and expectations. This result focuses on understanding the demand side of the project. It will consist of a deep analysis through surveys and interviews to identify the vision and expectations of the young students, their parents /guardians, and teachers, regarding their professional future in a continuously evolving labour market. The target groups in this result are: - Students: focusing on their expectations and vision of their future. - Parents/guardians: They do have a significant influence in the students' decisions, mainly in the younger ones - Teachers: They are the main tool to inform young students during their academic pathway. The impact of the study is twofold. It will help the WAKEUP participants in the definition of the methodology to be developed, adapting it to the actual worries, expectations and possibilities of teachers, parents and students. Also, as it will be made freely available, other organizations will make use of it, to develop their own procedures, or to include new visions in the study to make it more complete and usable all along the EU. 2. Methodological guide for teacher training. This result focuses on the creation, test and validation of a methodology that can be put into practice in each partner's country. Other projects have addressed the guidance of students towards the labour market. The innovative character of this result stays in: - The developed methodology is not addressed to students, but to the teachers. This means that the guidance capacity and knowledge stays in the education centres as an added value, long after the guided students have left. - The guidance is not focused on any specific profession or skill. General and transversal skills or attitudes will be analysed and encouraged. The methodology will try to guide the students not only in the type of work they can do, but also in the kind of workers they want to be. - Young future workers are considered an active part of the community. The way they approach and develop their profession will contribute to defining our society in the incoming decades. A cascade impact is expected in this result. Impact on three different stakeholders: a. Students (Youth): Dynamic and attractive work methodologies in the classroom, capable of generating interest. b. Teachers: Support to incorporate new ways of working that capture the attention of students. Training on work by competences and its subsequent evaluation. Information on changes in the labour market and the expectations of companies for selection and hiring. c. Companies and hiring organisations: Hire professionals who respond to your demands and the new requirements of the labour market, in order to guarantee the best performance possible 3. Policy recommendations. During the implementation of the WAKEUP project activities, each project partner will operate in a specific legal, political, systemic and structural environment. Such diverse experiences will provide important information on factors that hinder or, on the contrary, empower young people’s informed transition to a new world of work. Collecting this information at different levels and stages of implementation across all partner countries will be key to jointly developing recommendations on how to create most favourable conditions and systemic improvements. In a second stage, these recommendations will be shared with policy makers, practitioners and other relevant stakeholders. The Policy Recommendations will support our efforts to increase political awareness of the need for enhanced career orientation in times of constant labour market evolution. It will improve implementation and increase the impact of the WAKEUP Project outputs in various contexts and the political and administrative support as well as practitioners’ interest to implement the WAKEUP Project and other career orientation initiatives in various schools and countries.