self-evaluation
Workshop on evaluation at the final organizational meeting
- Details
Structure of self-evaluation:
Fit For Job – Evaluation, Riga State Gymnasium No 3
- Details
Macro-level – Educational politics (as a general framework)
Past – what we had
- State Employment Agency and their career consultants (mainly oriented to unemployed people)
- Career consultants in Universities – Career centres
- State Education Development Agency – brochures and handbooks about career education in schools
- Education of interests (mainly connected with arts and sports)
- Career consultant – a Master’s programme in Universities.
Present – what we have developed
- Career education becomes more and more important – a Concept of Career Education in Riga is being developed at the moment.
- Career consultants start to appear in some schools.
- Career education needs to be included in the curriculum.
- Money is spent on courses for unemployed people, but instead it should be invested in career education in order to decrease their amount in the future.
Future tendencies and sustainability
- One centralised approach to career education in Latvia in which all the institutions had clear responsibilities and could support schools – the cornerstones of career education.
- Every school needs a full-time career consultant (bigger schools – 500+ students – even 2 consultants) and individual career orientation concept based on the centralised one.
Meso-level – International relations, strategic partnerships
Past – what we had
- Cooperation with Junior Achievement Latvia and some companies in a Job Shadowing Day (one day per year).
- Individual initiatives related to career education from universities (opening days).
Present – what we have developed
- European project – Youth Guarantee – to combat youth unemployment in the country.
- Our project Fit For Job.
Future tendencies and sustainability
- A bigger involvement and willingness of the companies (not just once a year) to have students not just as visitors but also as workers (during internships). That would help to attract future employees.
Micro-level – Projects in school
Past – what we had
- Cooperation with Junior Achievement Latvia and some companies in a Job Shadowing Day (one day per year), students’ companies, TITAN business simulation game.
- Teachers’ and students’ individual initiatives:
- Christmas market (goods from students’ companies)
- Learning excursions to companies and universities
Present – what we have developed
- Career consultant – full-time
- 24h long courses mainly for class teachers - Career education in secondary schools (agreed on 26.08.2015, Riga Nr.RIIMC-15-247) in order to develop teachers’ understanding of career orientation and career education.
- A Career Orientation Concept of Riga State Gymnasium No.3.
- Integrated career education in the lessons once a month.
- Materials for career orientation in class lessons (fully – primary level; partly, are being updated – secondary level).
- 24 students, 5 teachers, 1 career consultant and a principal got an international experience (involving intercultural competence and foreign language skills) and career orientation experience by participating in the project Fit For Job.
- Organized a conference for class teachers and all teachers at school to distribute the career education materials and the Concept itself as well as report the results of the project (30.08.2016)
Future tendencies and sustainability
- Update the schools Career Orientation Concept when the Concept of Career Education in Riga is developed.
- Continue integration of career orientation in the class lessons and monitor its effectiveness.
- Integrate career education in subject lessons (at least one lesson once a month).
- Share our experience with other schools.
Fit For Job – Evaluation, Liceo “Giuseppe Cevolani” Cento
- Details
Macro-level – Educational politics (as a general framework)
Past – what we had
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“Informa Giovani”: Counselling service of the town of Cento for young people
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Career consultants in Universities – Career centres
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Regional Education Development Agency in Bologna (Italy)– Career counselling (mostly for unemployed people) brochures and handbooks about career education in schools
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Career and Counselling service at our school performed by a teacher, sometimes without specific training.
Present – what we have developed
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Career education becomes more and more important – a Concept of Career Education in Italy is being developed at the moment as “Alternanza Scuola-Lavoro”.
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Career consulting agencies start to cooperate with schools.
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Career education needs to be included in the curriculum.
Future tendencies and sustainability
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One centralised approach to career education in Italy in which all the institutions had clear responsibilities and could support schools – the cornerstones of career education.
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Introduction of a trained career consultant in school
Meso-level – International relations, strategic partnerships
Past – what we had
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International exchange projects
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Cooperation with universities abroad
Present – what we have developed
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European project – Youth Guarantee – to combat youth unemployment in the country.
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Erasmus Plus project Fit For Job.
Future tendencies and sustainability
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A bigger involvement and willingness of teachers to take part in the project
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Help from central school board to build up a network of companies, which are willing to host pupils in internships
Micro-level – Projects in school
Past – what we had
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Teachers’ and students’ individual initiatives:
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Learning excursions to companies, Job exhibitions and universities
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Individual initiatives related to:
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career education from universities (opening days).
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Job shadowing (60 hours a year) at some companies, public offices, schools, Kindergarten, libraries
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Present – what we have developed
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Career consultant – only for a few hours a year
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Cooperation with Counselling agencies in order to develop teachers’ understanding of career orientation and career education.
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A Career Orientation Concept of Liceo “G. Cevolani”
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Modules of Integrated career education in the lessons
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Materials for career orientation in class lessons secondary level.
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24 students, 7 teachers got an international experience (involving intercultural competence and foreign language skills) and career orientation experience by participating in the project Fit For Job.
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Organized a conference for class teachers and all teachers at school to distribute the career education materials and the Concept itself as well as report the results of the project (1.09.16)
Future tendencies and sustainability
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Get a deeper insight into the different school systems, organizations and structures;
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Improve soft skills of teachers and pupils, involved in career orientation
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Implement orientation activities to career and university studies referring to the German and Latvian model;
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Develop new concepts and activities such as meeting with experts from universities, with representative of political institution, counselling boards, visit to companies, internships;
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Develop a closer cooperation between schools and companies in oder to achieve a better intermeshing in the field of education, training and job market;
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Develop an European concept of international cooperation in order to organize internships abroad.
Fit For Job – Evaluation Progymnasium Altshausen
- Details
Macro-level – Educational politics (as a general framework)
Past (1990s) – what we had
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Framework for Orientation to Career and University Studies (BSO/BOGY) established at secondary schools in Baden-Württemberg
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Opportunity of a one- week- work placement ( called BOGY-Praktikum) during school week introduced for pupils at secondary schools
Present – what we have developed
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Secondary schools are to develop and establish individual profiles and focal points anchored in the curriculum of the school (German terms: Schulprofil / Leitbild / Schulcurriculum / Schuljahresprogramm)
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Secondary schools have the opportunity to use a certain number of lessons to strengthen and deepen their profiles and focal points (German terms: Poolstunden / Kontingentstunden)
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Networks between schools and diverse extracurricular partners like
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Kooperations Schule und Wirtschaft
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Bundesagentur für Arbeit (Berufsberater / Berufenet / BiZ)
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Universitäten (Orientierungstage / Studienberatung etc.)
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Industrie und Handelskammer (IHK) / BORIS
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Bertelsmann Stiftung/ Coaching4Future/ Südwestmetall
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and many more
offer all kinds of support in the orientation process (material/ expertise and advice/ coaching/work placements and internships/practical trainings for pupils and students /competence tests/ teachers’ further training seminars like BEST etc./ job fairs etc.)
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Progymnasium Altshausen has seen the chance of this elaborate political framework and its possibilities at an early stage and taken it in order to develop its own in orientation concept thereupon.
Future tendencies and sustainability
Orientation to career and university studies is becoming even more important and emphasized
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by the implementation of a new subject at secondary schools, which combines orientation programs with economics and business studies. So it is no longer an option but a must.
Meso-level – International relations, strategic partnerships
Past – what we had
Experiences with transnational project work in different contexts:
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Comenius project with France and Italy (coordination and project management/ establishing contacts)
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School exchanges (France, Great Britain, Hungary)- promoting intercultural understanding
Present – what we have developed
Our Erasmus+ project “Fit for job” with secondary schools in Cento (Italy) and Riga (Latvia):
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Progymnasium Altshausen (Germany) as initiating and coordinating school - giving incentives and offering proven examples of good practice, learning from each other in different areas
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Transnational organizational meetings based on exchange and sharing of knowledge in theory and practice in different learning environments
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Cooperation among partner schools inspired by common aims and objectives
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Discussing, developing and establishing national school concepts as well as anchoring them in national school curricula
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Pupils taking part in theory and practice as well as evaluating certain modules of career orientation from their point of view during six exchanges (career weeks )- two in each partner country
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All participants improving their language skills and intercultural knowledge – broadening their horizon
Increasing interest and support of employers, companies and institutions concerned with orientation to career and university studies in the participating countries- partly due to
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Problem of youth unemployment in several European countries
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Current lack of skilled workers in many fields
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Project work becoming more and more important on different levels
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Mobility in the modern world of work – necessity of intercultural skills, broad-mindedness, tolerance and understanding
Future tendencies and sustainability
Dissemination of knowledge and skills (coordination, management, project work, entrepreneurship, didactic and pedagogical structures) in order to share resources on all levels and creating a better understanding among nations will become more and more important in the context of globalization and a peaceful world.
Micro-level – Projects in school
Past – what we had
Progymnasium Altshausen developed and established a comprehensive and elaborate orientation-concept (BOGY/BSO) based on five pillars over the past years:
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BOGY-lessons i.e. obligatory education once a week for all pupils of class 9 (comprehensive application process including trainings, assessments, application portfolio, job interviews, simulations, preparation of work placements etc.),
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Modules in the subjects German, Foreign Languages, Geography - Economy - Social Studies…
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Regular projects (obligatory student company in class 8, a week of orientation to career for classes 8-10 in cooperation with neighboring schools, social project with work placements in local institutions, mediation project in class 9, competence tests in class 10, meetings and cooperation with education partners...),
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Out of school activities (visit to the vocational information center of our national job agency, vocational fairs, company visits ...)
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Voluntary own initiative of our pupils (Girls´ Day, Boys´ Day activities, self- organized traineeships during the holidays, meeting and interviewing experts and practitioners ....).
In July 2012 our school was awarded with the so-called career choice seal of approval (BORIS) of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry (IHK).
In 2010, PG was one of the first grammar schools in the region that concluded an education partnership with three local and regional companies.
Orientation to career modules were evaluated annually (together with other educational focal points) with a scientific survey among all teachers, pupils, parents by Professor Dr. Werner Sacher, an expert in this field.
Present – what we have developed
Our orientation to career and studies concept and the manifold partners of the school as well as the existent contacts have been introduced in the Erasmus+ project.
The existing concept has been enhanced by a European component. Thus foreign language skills and intercultural competences have moved in the focus of interest not only of teachers but also of pupils.
Skills and competences as to coordination, organization and management as well as to project work on a transnational level have been improved in general by learning from each other during the project.
New contacts in the area of MINT- subjects have been developed in the course of our Erasmus+ project and new ideas and modules will be introduced thereupon.
Participation and commitment to the idea “Fit for Job” have increased on the part of teachers’ staff, and pupils as well as education partners.
In October 2015 the contract with our education partners could be revised and renewed as a fourth partner joined in.
The BORIS seal for outstanding orientation concepts and modules – has been awarded again in July 2015.
In the course of the Erasmus+ project, monitoring and evaluation by our education partners, Italian and Latvian school partners as well as our pupils have strengthened and confirmed the feeling to be on the right way.
Future tendencies and sustainability
Sharing and exchanging our experience with other schools in new projects – thus enhancing and deepening the knowledge of learning in projects and manifold environments.
