Zvyšovanie sociálnych a emočných zručností so zameraním na kritické myslenie v odbornom vzdelávaní a príprave na stredných odborných školách dopravných

<< Background >>Social and emotional skills have long been the focus of public policy makers, researchers and education experts. Currently, they constitute the main skills in the workplace and help to cushion the negative effects of an uncertain future. From the point of view of employers, the coronavirus pandemic has significantly affected inclusion in the workplace due to various impacts on the work performance of employees with different levels of education and skills. These impacts on women and men are also different and need to be addressed. We have therefore decided to start increasing the social and emotional skills of our potential employees, already in the process of their vocational education and training as students at secondary vocational schools of transport. This intention is also supported by the ongoing OECD study on social and emotional skills of students, the published results of which were the basis for round tables composed of experts nominated by partner organizations involved in the project. We needed to roundtable the experts, address the current state of data gaps, analyze the target data obtained in the cross-group survey, and formulate recommendations. << Objectives >>The goal of the project was to contribute to society-wide efforts to increase the level of social and emotional skills of secondary vocational school students and, by applying them in employment, to eliminate differences in work results, status at work, incomes, but also in efforts to improve the quality of management and create emotionally intelligent workplaces. In the discussion at the round tables, we tried to get information directly from the school environment about the conditions and practices that support or complicate the development of these skills. Furthermore, we assessed the relevance, appropriateness and adequacy of the concept of social and emotional skills of adolescents presented in the OECD study on the conditions and current state of vocational education and training at secondary vocational schools of transport. We were looking for answers to the nature and structure of the presented social and emotional skills, their development, formation, possibilities of comparison with other environments and cultures, and their importance and significance for our schools involved in the project. For this purpose, we analyzed data obtained in a survey on social and emotional skills among parents and students. << Implementation >>It was the organization of seven round tables of experts on vocational education and training in the transport industry, with a focus on increasing the level of social and emotional skills and critical thinking of students of secondary vocational schools of transport. We also conducted a survey of social and emotional skills among parents and students of secondary vocational schools involved in the project in order to provide experts with factual data for the formulation of conclusions and recommendations of the round tables for target groups. We edited the conclusions and recommendations of the round tables into information brochures for practical use by teachers, school psychologists and other educators at these schools. Separate brochures were distributed among interested parties in printed form in addition to digital form. We expanded the project outputs with an added activity focused on a questionnaire survey on social and emotional skills among parents and students of the schools involved in the project. The main results of the analysis of the questionnaire data were also edited into a separate booklet, both in digital and printed form, and distributed to project partners for further use. << Results >>The concrete outputs include the conclusions and recommendations of the first round table on the topic of Task performance - self-control, responsibility, persistence, of the second round table on the topic of Emotional regulation - stress resistance, optimism, emotional control, of the third round table on the topic of Collaboration - empathy, trust, co-operation, the fourth round table on Open-mindedness - tolerance, curiosity, creativity, the fifth round table on Engaging with others - sociability, assertiveness, energy, the sixth round table on Compound skills - critical thinking, meta cognition, self-efficacy and the seventh round table on Social and emotional learning and Critical thinking. We expanded the project's activities with a questionnaire survey among parents and students of partner schools, the evaluation of which forms a separate output. These outputs were processed in the form of information brochures, promoting the need to increase social and emotional skills in the process of vocational education and training of students of secondary vocational schools of transport in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. The ambition of the outpusts in the form of information brochures is also to serve to popularize and promote SEL