Projects

Vocational education and workplace training enhancing social inclusion of at-risk young

Project promoter: Vytautas Magnus University

Project title: Vocational education and workplace training enhancing social inclusion of at-risk young

Project code: LT08-1-ŠMSM-K01-009 (Project contract No S-BMT-21-2 (LT08-2-LMT-K-01-010))

Project eligible expenditure: EUR 819124,37 (EUR 696255,71 grant from the EEA Financial Mechanism and EUR 122868,66budget co-financing)

Project signature date: 14 December 2020

Project implementation period: 1 January 2021 - 31 December 2023
Project partners:
Institute of Transport Economics (NO)
University of Latvia (LV)
University of Tartu (EE)
Project website

Project summary:

VET providers have better potential than many other institutions to meet the youth at risk and support them in addressing their challenges, especially through activating measures and through bridging school and work.
The main research goal of this project is to investigate, how can vocational education and training (VET) enhance social inclusion of young people at-risk, both in terms of combating school drop-out and promoting transitions between various (social) learning contexts, such as school-work transition.
The project comprises of three sub-studies:

In the first phase we focus on understanding personal strategies and institutional factors supporting or hindering educational careers of young people. In parallel with a narrative study focusing on at-risk youth in VET schools and workplace learning contexts, statistical analyses based on PIAAC data will be conducted.
The second part of the study is aimed to map the “best practice” of approaches, methods and tools used to support inclusion of at-risk youth.
As the third phase of the study an Educational Learning Lab intervention will be implemented to develop, test and assess methods and technology-based tools for successful inclusion of at-risk youth.

The project will shed light on complex interplay of personal and institutional factors and different dimensions in the ecosystems of young people affecting their learning trajectories and life careers. Moreover, the project will have practical implications on vocational education institutions. By applying the Educational Learning Lab model the study is expected to introduce a novel approach how school or community level processes could be co-constructed and is expected to give a boost to the professional development and agency of vocational teachers and workplace instructors.

Find out more by watching the video.