Although AFS/EFIL might not focus primarily on the vocational schools, getting closer to the VET sector to identify opportunities and synergies is one of the needs expressed by several AFS organisations. A good tool for that is “MobiliTeach” – a 2-year project (November 2017 – October 2019), with the Erasmus+ Strategic Partnerships funding, coordinated by UNISER Italy, with EFIL being the only partner from outside the VET sector. The main aim of the project is to jointly develop a format, methodology and brand for an international Summer School for VET teachers. The Summer School will largely focus on the importance of developing their intercultural competences and empowering the VET students to work in diverse working environments in their countries and abroad. The “work-based learning”, which is required in the VET sector, can also be combined with international mobility: apprenticeships abroad are an increasingly popular step in the vocational education.
The Summer School format will be piloted twice within the project (in Italy in 2018 and in France in 2019) and the first pilot edition is now planned to take place in Bologna, Italy, 24-30 June 2018.
On the 19-20 March 2018 the project partners met in Bilbao, Spain, to plan the details of the Summer School this year. The training programme will be jointly delivered by the partner representatives, reflecting the different strengths and competences in the project. About 20 VET teachers from the project countries (Belgium, Italy, France, Germany, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain) will participate. Among both participants and trainers of the Bologna MobiliTeach Summer School there will be representatives of AFS and EFIL. The first experience of the format will be an opportunity to gather valuable feedback, to make the event even better for the upcoming editions. In the future it is hoped that MobiliTeach will become a permanent feature on the training calendar, potentially to be used by the VET teachers and schools AFS partners with.
For more information: izabela.jurczik-arnold@afs.org