Final Report (abstract) CLOU1.BackgroundThe project has been conceived against the background of more and more young people who fail taking their final exams at school or in their vocational training programmes, who drop out of school and thus contribute to a growing number of young adults without any qualifying graduation. While the project was running a new educational objective arose caused by the current influx of fugitives. The project group has reacted immediately and managed to include this target group into their general work concept at short notice.Furthermore, we observe that the teaching staff often feels left alone and overburdened in such difficult and demanding situations, which results in the fact that little happens to effectively improve the learners’ conditions.2.AimsTaken as a whole the project dealt with general educational aims – including most recent ones which focus on improving the structural possibilities of educational institutions and on optimizing the success of the individual learner. Suggestions on specific actions to provide support are meant to develop the resource “education” and to increase young adults’ chances to find employment. It was agreed that there is a great need to support students in developing their individual talents, in improving their key competencies and in outlining personalized teaching concepts. Therefore the project partners found it expedient to share, compare and jointly develop innovative concepts in a transnational project in order to devise suitable arrangements which will satisfy the needs mentioned above. This resulted in a further aim, namely to awake and to improve the fundamental understanding of all people involved because as many teachers as possible were meant to be included by such an educational initiative into a discussion and reflection of the topic with the intention to make them realize and interested in further training programmes. The intention was to clarify the relevance of individual offers of support and learning arrangements and to take up catchphrases, like ‘equal opportunities’ and ‘inclusion’, which are discussed emphatically, but which are not always adequately realized. In our project we focussed on counteracting, on using and further developing existing patterns, for these patterns are based on past experiences which were shared, evaluated and put into context in the course of the project. Additionally it was important for the project group to discuss the promotion of examples of mentoring, of individual support and of modifying curricula, as EU countries differ considerably in furthering such processes. Therefore sharing their respective experiences and opinions is particularly attractive among transnational partners. While pursuing our aims we have reverted to results of a ten-year-old project which was realized in the context of a Grundtvig strategic partnership (“Aller Anfang ist leicht”), for the partners of this project had already dealt with topics like support, encouragement and with developing individual structures of support and mentoring. 3.Participating organisations Seven partners were involved in this project thus representing various forms of schools and ways of learning: the partners in Gothenburg (SE) and in Bartin (TK) represented schools teaching young people (secondary schools / grammar schools), the partners in Amsterdam (NL), Tallinn (EE) and the associated institution in Paderborn (DE) represented adult education / second-chance education; and educational associations or institutions of popular education were represented by the partners in Leitir Moir (IR) and Pleven (BG). Thus it was possible to cover, to analyze and systematically take into consideration the problems of learners (and teachers) independent of a specific school form and across all age-groups.4.Main activitiesThe work schedule outlined in the application of the project was implemented: there were three obligatory “transnational conferences” (kick-off Oct. 2014 / May 2015 and May 2016), in addition there were – as proposed in the application – further meetings when the project partners were focussed on working intensively, i. e. on compiling material, and on developing and outlining steps and activities for counselling and support. Each partner institution sent two to four representatives, who participated in the obligatory “transnational conferences”. Additionally all partner institutions again sent two participants each to two major meetings in The Netherlands (spring 2015) and in Estonia (autumn 2015), and furthermore there were two meetings on a lower scale in spring and summer 2016 when the partners from The Netherlands (NL) and Bulgaria (BG) were represented by one participant each. These meetings were mainly concerned with outlining and designing the homepage, therefore it was important to have a small group of workers committed to their task. The partners’ interests and activities were guided by their agreemen

Entering the labour market successfully when their schooling is finished is a challenge to young people all over Europe, especially if they are considered disadvantaged. The problem is not only visible in the economically weaker countries in Southern and Eastern Europe, but is also evident in all other countries. To address this problem, many countries in Europe introduced 'work-oriented training' methods (WBT) in schools and vocational training programs to create a better link between theory-based learning and practical training. This approach is more stimulating to these students and has shown to produce feelings of success for young learners whose skills and capabilities lie to a greater extend in practical work rather than abstract learning. Nowadays, it´s widely recognized that those countries with an integrated work-based vocational preparation and training system and an apprenticeship-oriented approach are doing better with the successful transition from school to work. However, the national transition settings differ from country to country. Furthermore, regardless the national institutional system may be, the same challenge has to be faced everywhere: how to combine theory learning and practice training efficiently in order to produce sustainable learning success with disadvantaged young people.This in fact was the main focus of the WBT strategic partnership. The aim was to discover and examine the various work-based training approaches being used in European countries and to find out 'what works', striving to disseminate good practices and approaches. The overall aim was to find successful ways and strategies for overcoming long standing learning barriers and blockades in order to create sustainable learning success and to secure the successful integration of young students into the labour market.At first, the partnership researched the different transition settings and WBT approaches in the partner countries and illustrated the findings in an overview report. Following, an Online Survey was carried out, addressed to the main relevant stakeholders involved in school-to-work transition: teachers, trainers/instructors and the young learners themselves. The interviews were done through an online questionnaire containing a mix of standardized and open questions. The aim was to find out what were the great advantages of the respective WBT approach in the country; what were the drawbacks; and what kind of improvements can be identified. The online survey collected around 20 interviews from each stakeholder group in each country, producing more than 560 interviews in total. The online survey was evaluated in a Report on Findings and finally lead, as the core product, to a Manual on Work-based Training that illustrates the different approaches of WBT, documents the findings of the survey, and details best practices-by providing descriptions of demonstrative examples.