The European project Working In Soft Skills for Employment will get together from April 4th to the 7th in Biscay to highlight the educational models of the Basque public Vocational Training System. The focus of this meeting will be on the Ethazi methodology of collaborative learning based on challenges, and how this model has been integrated into the VET cycles.
Within its framework of action for the exchange of good practice initiatives among VET organizations, the WISE project will bring together representatives of its 9 participating entities from Portugal, Italy, Finland, Norway, Estonia and Denmark in the Basque Country. This meeting will take place over four days, and its goal is to share the methodologies and tools used by the Basque public VET system to improve students’ social skills in order to further connect them to real working conditions.
The public VET schools in Biscay have been integrating the Ethazi methodology in their curricula for years now, a model based on learning through challenges that teachers propose to students for the development of the competencies associated with each cycle. The face-to-face meeting of WISE includes visits to several schools of the Ikaslan Bizkaia network that implement this educational model, starting with CIFP San Jorge, where all the activities of the first day will take place, followed by CIFP Tartanga, CIFP Nicolás Larburu and CIFP Emilio Campuzano.
Finally, attendees will get the chance to visit companies that work closely with Ikaslan Bizkaia’s schools during the last day, such as Lantegi Batuak in Abadiano (CIFP Construcción Bizkaia) and in SestaoBarri (CIFP Tartanga), Oja-rem in Boroa (IES Barrutialde), Gaursa in Bilbao (CIFP Emilio Campuzano) or Izar in Boroa (CIFP Zornotza). Likewise, the meeting will be attended by entities linked to the world of business, for example, the Basque employers’ association, Confebask, or the Employment and Entrepreneurship Agency of Biscay DEMA, which will present its ENPRESARI program for the promotion of entrepreneurship.
This is the second time that the WISE project meets face-to-face after the gathering held in Turin last October, where the team prepared for this learning session on the methodologies applied in the public VET centers of Biscay. Together with the well recognized Finnish educational model, the Basque public VET is a reference in innovation and efficiency for the European project, and the exchange of good practices with the rest of the WISE organizations is expected to continue until September 2022.
