VET Policies and Practices for Social Inclusion

1. VET Policies and Practices for Social Inclusion In BHAK und BHAS Wien 10 Green Badge, Albania, Kosovo, Macedonia

2. Contents • Students at risk of exclusion in the school • Measures to adress inequalities (teaching and learning process, school development and school culture, cooperation with the steakholders, Counselling service) • Challenges and difficulties in implementing the measures and Institutional support • Tour of the BHAK Wien 10 • Findings in the Group Discussion Green Badge, Albania, Kosovo, Macedonia

3. School Profile • Type of school: Higher(3 years)- and medium-level(5 years) commercial vocational college • Numer of students: 1023 pupils plus 450 adults (second chance education in the evening) • Number of teachers: approximately 140 • Number of classes: 43 plus 15 adult classes in the evening • Vision: All our pupils and students finish their education • Learning opportunities: • four different kinds of the higher commercial college: Quality Management, International Business and Cross Cultural Behaviour, Information technology and Information management • medium-level secondary commercial college (a three-year course) with training in occupations in all branches of business and administration and a four-year special type for athletes; they may finish with the “Matura” after additional three years in the advanced training course • Higher commercial college (two years) for students having finished the gymnasium Green Badge, Albania, Kosovo, Macedonia

4. Social Inclusion vs.Social Exclusion Data • 34,43 % speak German as a mother tongue • School is in a typical vienese blue-collar county • Our students are subject to the following risks (Risk detector grafic): • RF12 (28) controll and influce of the the parents • RF 2 (20) social behaviour and participation • RF 6 (20) difficulties in learning • RF 10 (19) commitment of the parents • RF 14 (18) influence of the peer group • RF 9 (17) support by the parents Green Badge, Albania, Kosovo, Macedonia

5. Measures to adress unequalities(1) • teaching and learning process • Checklist German-Mathematics-English before admission • Diagnostic Test German-Mathematics-English • additional courses to help less qualified students improving their knowledge • Cool (cooperative open learning method) • Peer learning and peer mediation • Virtual training firm • school development and school culture • Development of the “Modulsystem” for the higher commercial college, starting in the third year of learning • Development of the full-time school for the medium level secondary college with the subject “KOEL – competence based cooperative open learning” • Introduction of Special class for pupils in the first year to catch up the missing knowledge (“Übergangsstufe” – transition class) Green Badge, Albania, Kosovo, Macedonia

6. Measures to address inequalities 2 • cooperation with the stakeholders • Parent-teacher-conference before the final admission • Forcing students to take up their individual responsibility (example: Network of student-tutors) • Audit and quality management: reporting to the board of education of vienna, discussion of improvement measures with the state superintendent of VET-schools • Counselling service • Counselling interview before admission • Conference of the class teachers • “Jugendcoaches” – external social workers and psychologists • Councellors for the “Modulsystem” (teachers) • Career councellor (Teacher) • Risk detector and councelling interviews few month after starting in the first year of learning (Project stop dropout!) Green Badge, Albania, Kosovo, Macedonia

7. Project Stop Dropout • Risk detector (online questionaire) • Results of the questionaire • Councelling interview Green Badge, Albania, Kosovo, Macedonia

8. School Tour • All day long school experiment • German class • Virtual company Green Badge, Albania, Kosovo, Macedonia

9. Challenges and difficulties in implementing the measures • Lack of resources • Room • Specialists (social worker, psychologist, …) • Lack of money – improvements in education have to be self-financing • Situation of the society • Technical trends (Smartphones, …) • Web2.0 (facebook, …) • Teacher bashing in the news media Green Badge, Albania, Kosovo, Macedonia

10. Good practices and challenges observed • Processes of identifing students at risk Risk detector online questionnaire, questionnaire result elaboration,counselling interview • (Inclusive practices in the school_ targeted measures • Child-friendly, Enrollment stages(checklisting, prerequisite criteria meeting and diagnostic tests), • Multicultural setting (students learn to accept one another in natural settings • Peer learning(good students assist their colleagues) • Peer mediation(ensuring good learning climate,preventing conflicts in school) • Ganztag schule_all day through school experiment • Competence oriented learning Responses to meeting the diversified needs of students • Flexibility in distribution of teaching classes(school –based) • Peer learning • Transitory courses and all day long learning successful • Career counselling • Every student go es away from school with a diploma, following individualised paths(from the 5 year course of study they Green Badge, Albania, Kosovo, Macedonia

11. Group Reflections • In depth analysis of social exclusion cases needed)research is not systematised, the initiative for school based researches is undertaken by school directors themselves and varies from school to school.The mechanisms for data flow to the central level are not always in place. • Social inclusion policies are designed but the impact of these policies on a local level is seldom measured. • High number of students in classes and classes with shifts as a challenge • The involvement of the stakeholder(like company representatives) in the respective countries into the school´s decision making process is often formal and not always working Green Badge, Albania, Kosovo, Macedonia

12. Lessons learned • In school research results lead schools into taking tailor-made measures to approach the social inclusion of vulnerable groups. • School internal capacities and school finances are insufficient and inadequate, so applications for projects targeting social inclusion should take place. • Assistance, peer assistance, by universities, by networking should be provided to schools to enable them carry out an analysis of the current status of students enrolled in the first classes of vocational education; • Community stakeholders should be further involved into social inclusion practices. • Capacity building trainings focusing on the topic of social inclusion should be organised • Targeted counselling and guidance services should be in place Green Badge, Albania, Kosovo, Macedonia

13. Issues for Further reflection • How should cases of children coming from disadvantaged socio-economic backgrounds be addressed? • How much space is available into our educational systems for enhancing curricular flexibility on a school level? • How can we increase the role of student organisations in the decision making processes of the school? Green Badge, Albania, Kosovo, Macedonia