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Coneixement d’Oficis (Knowledge of Professions)

Title

Coneixement d’Oficis (Knowledge of Professions)

Affiliation(s)/ Institution

Ajuntament de Sabadell

Email addresses

amonterde@ajsabadell.cat

Project funded by

Diputació de Barcelona i Ajuntament de Sabadell

Promoter name and country

Ajuntament de Sabadell – Promoció Econòmica Sabadell, SL (Spain)

Partner(s) name and country (if applicable)

Professional and/or business associations operating in the city. (Spain)

Type of provider

public/private

Area of implementation

  • urban
  • local

Context and motivation of the project - legislative background/obligations, institutional policy, institutional structures

The project was created to respond to the lack of motivational resources in schools for students in the third and fourth years of compulsory secondary education (ESO) who may leave school at the age of 16 without having obtained a diploma. An experimental project was launched together with another four councils, and it was seen that the young people who took part were subsequently more motivated in class to learn basic concepts that could be applied to developing a profession and increasing their self-esteem; these young people who previously had low self-esteem due to their academic performance now feel they have greater self-worth thanks to what they produced during the project. The schools that originally formed part of the project have continued to participate over the past 14 years, and all the city’s public schools have gradually joined the initiative, reaching a total of 1,804 students.

Aims of the project

Provide support to schools by means of a project that offers unmotivated young people at risk of dropping out the possibility of gaining practical experience of different professions, in order to guide their personal pathways.

Target group

  • students

Description of the target group

Students in the upper years of compulsory secondary education (third and fourth years of ESO) who have difficulties in defining their professional pathways, who are unaware of the possibilities offered by the local job market and who are at risk of dropping out of school.

Staff (selection, evaluation, training, promotion)

The project’s technical team consists of: a municipal technician who manages and coordinates the project; tutors from the schools who support the students and monitor and assess their progress; and workers from the different professions proposed by the professional associations that organise the occupational workshops.

Methodological approach, activities implemented

The project is offered in all the city’s schools. From January to June, each group attends seven different workshops with a total duration of 70 hours, divided into three sessions of 3.5 hours. Before starting the workshops, the students attend a welcome session and sign a form that sets out the commitment of the student and the services, so as to the practices of the world of work. The students go to the Vapor Llonch centre to take part in the workshops. Coordination meetings are held with the associations, tutors and technicians both at the beginning and the end of the programme, to assess the programme and apply corrective measures.

Results and impact - data of program internal/ external evaluation, beneficiary satisfaction, the impact of the didactical practices at individual and institutional level

1,804 young people in the third and fourth years of ESO from 16 schools took part in the programme between the 2001-2002 academic year and the 2014-2015 academic year. The questionnaires completed by the students, tutors and experts from the associations (around 900 each year) show an average of 90% satisfaction and 82.2% academic success (six months after completing the workshops, the participants are either studying or working).

Conclusions, lessons learned

The students especially value the practical and manual activities in which they can gauge their skills and ability in a certain profession. The tutors value being able to provide students with significant learning, improve expectations and offer other opportunities in a setting other than a strictly academic one. The associations value the fact that they can raise awareness of their sectors and work on professions with young people. For the Council, it has become a project created by the city and for the city. If the project were to be discontinued, no other body would be in a position to implement it.

Directions of further development/ Transferability, replicability

We have received visits from other councils in Catalonia, and the project has been presented in different regions in Spain and Europe. The project model has also been transferred to other vulnerable groups of people.

Type of ESL (early school leaving) practice

  • Prevention
  • Intervention
  • Compensation

Web references (url, social media presence)

www.sabadelltreball.cat/busques-feina/pla-joves-a-la-feina

Parameters on which the practice is applicable (check those appropriate)

  • Governance and coordination
  • Methodologies of provision
  • Measures and profiles
  • Objectives and needs
  • Competences and skills for practitioners
  • Common framework and quality standards
  • Evaluation of performance and effectiveness

Bibliography

Monterde, A (2009).Coneixement d’oficis: la trajectòria des d’un projecte pilot per a joves fins a un servei consolida, . Revista d’intervenció Socioeducativa gener/abril 2009. n41 Pere Tallres/revista d’educació social.
Imatges gràfiques de cada edició (darrera edició: 2014-2015: www.youtube.com/watch?v=X6suBTHN74w )

 

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