Pro-VET – Enhancing the Professional Development of Vocational Education Teachers in Russia and Serbia with European Practices
A major reason for the different quality and appreciation of vocational education and training in the countries of Europe and beyond lies in the teachers. Selection, training and further education as well as the working conditions of vocational school teachers differ considerably. PRO-VET project focuses on the development of respective uniform teacher training objectives in Serbia and Russia and online-supported materials to achieve them. The methodological approach is "policy learning", i.e. the aim cannot be to export European solutions (which do not exist in this form anyway), but to further develop the existing teacher training systems in Serbia and Russia with reference to examples of good practice in selected EU countries.
Pro-VET is a co-funded project with the EU through its ERASMUS+ programme. The project's overarching aim is to develop VET teachers' professional skills in Russia and Serbia. This will be achieved through four specific objectives (deliverables):
- by training HE (Higher Education) teachers in European VET pedagogical initiatives and proven best practices,
- by upgrading technology e-labs to produce & disseminate VOOC courses (Vocational Open Online Courses),
- by creating online in-service training courses for VET teachers, and
- by setting up a VET-ETN (Educator Trainer Network) to consolidate the role of VET teachers in VET development and to co-design roadmaps for VET development in cooperation with respective Ministries of Education in Russia and Serbia.
The project will be carried out over a three-year period beginning in mid November 2018 by twelve partner institutions from Finland, Netherlands, Ireland, Germany, Russia (4) and Serbia (4).
The first phase of work will concentrate on preparing the environment by considering what VET legislation is already in place in the partner countries and what kind of practices are employed. A review of proven European VET pedagogical initiatives and best practices will produce options which can be adopted by the partner countries to form a new framework of VET teacher training in Serbia and Russia.
The next phase of work will be an upgrading of technical resources to create e-labs at Russian and Serbian partner institutions. These e-labs will enable VET teachers to produce and develop VOOCs, through which other Russian and Serbian VET teachers can upgrade their professional skills. Continual review and development cycles of this deliverable will ensure the legacy of the Pro-VET project.
Dissemination will follow by each key partner in Russia and Serbia arranging and hosting a series of roadshow events throughout their home countries in collaboration with their respective Ministries of Education. In these roadshow events the new e-labs and the possibilities they offer will be showcased to VET teachers from other institutions and various stakeholders. This action will be supported at the European level by presentations of the project at conferences and the publication of a number of articles in professional journals.