The Soulbus project was launched in the Netherlands, December 13th 2013. All the working life and higher education institution (HEI) partners were present in Enschede, Holland. The meeting was organized by partner from the Saxion University of Applied Sciences and everything went smoothly during the meeting. Thanks for Wil Dielis and his effective team!
In the meeting partners introduced themselves and their organizations. Each HEI partner presented the work package (WP) they are responsible for and fruitful discussion took place among participants. The first steering group meeting was also held in the end of day. In addition, working life partners shared information concerning the guidance of foreign students.
It was great that all the partners joined in the kick-off meeting so all the travelers are now on board and the Soulbus is ready to take off!
Here’s couple of photos from the kick off:
The conference was held in Brussels 11-12.1.2014 by EACEA link. The representative from the Soulbus project attended the conference. General message in the conference was that work based learning (WBL) is at all levels the best way against unemployment.
The interesting workshops were “Work-based learning and higher education” and “Work-based learning – the role of mentors, teachers, and trainers”.
The themes were:
• Conceptual framework in order to develop a Work-based Learning Programme
• Cooperation between teachers and mentors to support the learning process
• To improve the quality of workplace training in industries in Europe
• Specific training provision for mentors
• Role of supervisor during the training process
• Communication between the professionals and the learner
• Cooperation between regions in Europe NetWBL is a special opportunity to put all the different actors together so as to reinforce WBL and apprenticeship and to attract smaller and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), showing them the benefits of WBL.
The second workshop was focused on the role of the teachers, trainers, mentors in achieving quality work based learning. The themes were:
• Different roles of a mentor
• Competences / skills / qualities that are required to be a mentor in WBL
• Cooperation between teachers and mentors to support the learning process (when both are in the same country / when both are in a different country)
• Role of these professionals as key for quality assurance
• Specific training provision for mentors and recognition of skills
• Role of teachers and mentors in the European Credit system for Vocational Education and Training -ECVET-process
• Communication between the professionals and the learner
Here’s some photos of the conference:
Soulbus is funded by the European Commission’s Lifelong Learning Programme and coordinated by JAMK University of Applied Sciences.