IAEVG Conference, 3-5 June 2009 Dr. Giulio IANNIS

1. Guidance Advice asQuality Standard for European Mobilitya quality handbook forthe TACTIC European network IAEVG Conference, 3-5 June 2009 Dr. Giulio IANNIS

2. The framework • In the knowledge society the value of informal learning is more and more relevant in the individual career development. • Mobility is one of the best informal learning opportunities and also for this reason it is strongly promoted by the European policy and especially by the Lifelong Learning Programme. • Being able to move around, from one country to another, in order to learn skills and languages could also become a significant experience in the individual guidance process.

3. The framework • In order to reach consistently high quality standards for people taking part in lifelong learning measures, the Commission proposed, as part of the "Education and Training 2010" programme, a charter on the quality of displacements for training purposes. • The charter contains proposals on the different phases of training, and especially it underlines the importance to ensure that participants have access to reliable sources of guidance and information on opportunities and conditions for mobility.

4. The framework • A specific guidance advice, before, during and after the training stays abroad is one of the quality elements recommended by the European Quality Charter for Mobility adopted by the Education and Culture Council in December 2006. • Guidance advice is very important also to draw up a learning plan, able to ensure that the mobility experience contributes to personal and professional development. When drawing up the learning plan, the issues of reintegration into the home country should be borne in mind, to ensure a consistent development in the individual employability.

5. The frameworkPast and likely future qualification structure of jobs, shares in %, EU-25+ Source: Cedefop 2008 -Skill needs in Europe - Focus on 2020

6. The project The main aims of the project are • to define a common code of conduct in managing and mentoring work placement experiences • with an international dimension, • following the European Quality Charter, and • disseminating and exploiting existing good practices and tools among the partners of the consortium and • among all the new users or promoters interested in improving the quality of their work A very important aspect of the project is the training path for tutors and mentors. It was planned as • a blended learning module, • using also ICT tools, • to develop core skills in the field of guidance and mentoring.

7. TACTIC project The pathway

8. The main aim of the TACTIC project • The TACTIC consortium is based in particular on the following qualifying factors: • Quality system based on the European Quality Charter; • Qualified staff in the management of every part of the international mobility experience; • Network facilities for every partner that adheres to the TACTIC manual and guarantees the dynamic system of needs analysis, research into the best mobility opportunities, and the monitoring and peer to peer evaluation of the activities of the partnership itself.

9. Employability and international mobility The benefits of a mobility experience can be guaranteed only if the learning process is not casual but rather the result of several optimal conditions (TACTIC Manual) The FIRST is • a professional network able to prepare and accompany the person to work in social contexts, which are welcoming and orientated to the achievement of the same goals of development and valorization as the experience itself. So, the training of the staff is one of the aims of the TACTIC project

10. The training needs • The tutor as a knowledge worker • The tutor is the practitioner who promotes the achievement of the mobility project as well as the personal aims of each participant concerning the mobility experience

11. Achievement of the mobility project Personal aims • Customer satisfaction • Employment of participants • Improvement of personal employability • Career awareness • Learning achievements • Technical skills • Language skills • Intercultural and social competencies – life skills • …

12. A wider concept of “employability” • “Ability” to be employed • Education • Professional experiences • Skills • Personal network • Curriculum vitae

13. A wider concept of “employability” • The employability concept underlines in particular the responsibility of everyone to manage dynamically and actively his/her own career • Everyone should be able to learn in an independent and proactive way all the professional and personal competences that can determine success or failure in the labor market. • European idea of development (Lisbon Strategy - 2000) concerning the lifelong learning, where everyone should • look almost daily to their Curriculum Vitae, • evaluating the previous experiences and • seeking concrete learning opportunities and strategic competences, • through dynamic access to new professional, educational and personal experiences

14. A wider concept of “employability” The concept of employabilityrefers to • an ability not absolute and definable • connected to the individual characteristic of everyone, in reference to one or more work contexts. • How to acquire then this strategic ability? • How is it possible to increase your own employability?

15. A wider concept of “employability” • How to acquire then this strategic ability? • How is it possible to increase your own employability? Increasing employabilityis possible by identifying experiences to develop skills and strategic knowledge, according to the potential personal and professional development, and where these competences are required and appreciated.

16. Give value to personal experiences Mobility Experience • an experience does not have a value in itself, but • will gain relevance according to the value that the person will attribute to that experience, as a learning tool of new knowledge and moreover as re-orientation of professional life. This is a process of “sense making” What then is the real meaning of employability? We can certainly say that, for people seeking their first job or for people looking for improved career prospects • it is necessary to go through self reflection, evaluation and development of the Curriculum Vitae • to make it the more suitable to the various requirements of several work profiles.

17. A wider concept of “employability”:improving the personal CV • Improving the Curriculum Vitae is not an easy, simple or automatic process. • People are required to deal with complex and competitive levels, and on the top of that they have to avoid staying still for too long on the same professional competences. See also the EU Resolution ‘New skills for new jobs’ (2007/C 290/01) • The editing of a Curriculum Vitae suitable for taking on new work challenges, also goes through self-reflection and career guidance, in which difficult moments should be integrated with new trajectories and development prospects. • The Curriculum Vitae should be developed in an innovative way, but always in keeping with the fundamental coherence of individual’s characteristics.

18. Employability and international mobility In this wider concept of employability, • the choice of a work experience abroad represents a learning and Curriculum Vitae empowering investment. The international work experience opens an important window • on new career prospects and • on multiple learning opportunities of new skills and abilities, thanks to the contact with the new professional context, cultures and social communities. But, the benefits can be guaranteed only if the learning process is not casual but rather the result of several optimal conditions.

19. The value of the mobility experience The value of a mobility as personal experience is not only linked to the individual employability but • leads to wider reflection on personal development through • formal • non-formal • informal learning. • In a mobility experience all the different components of personal identity play a role

20. The value of the mobility experience The international experience allows people • to deeply change all their traditional values and moreover • to rearrange our ambitions while making way for new personal and professional development prospects. But how can all this knowledge become a meaningful part of our Curriculum Vitae?  To transform a personal experience into a concrete value in order to strengthen our personal and professional development it is necessary that the overall experience is “orientated” to meet this specific objective.

21. The experience as a learning event Every experience is a subjective event. Guidance and learning processes should • start from the beneficiary’s personal and professional history, • underline the explicit and implicit motivations for participating in the project

22. The experience as a learning event • Along with the beneficiaries, we have to define precise objectives to be achieved through a personal learning plan. • This plan should take into consideration all the possible ways and opportunities to acquire the sought knowledge and skills. • It is necessary for the beneficiary to be aware of his/her own strategic aims, whether it could be a professional project, stage of learning or professional re-orientation.

23. The experience as a learning event • The international project as a clearly defined learning process which involves the beneficiary in every phase of the process. • For the beneficiary, this will be a challenging and difficult experience that can be strategic and decisive in the development of his/her professional career.

24. The logic of intervention The TACTIC quality procedure is based on strong methodological best practices. • The transversal objective of all the experiences is the significant increase of the beneficiaries employability Through: • a specific tutoring action developed by the tutors, using the EUROPASS as well as the Curriculum Vitae European model. • Increased employability does not only happen through the acquisition of new competences, but it is strictly linked to level of personal awareness of the knowledge and skills possessed.

25. The logic of intervention How to define a learning plan? • In the following chart, competences and awareness are related from the point of view of the individual’s progressive exploration of unaware competences. • If we use this model in the analysis and evaluation of international experiences we can highlight very well the beneficiary’s development plan.

26. The logic of intervention Di Fabio A., Bilancio di competenze e orientamento formativo. ITER Giunti, Firenze, 2002.

27. The main aim of the tutorship • At the end of the experience, all the beneficiaries will have dedicated time and commitment to the re-elaboration of their Curriculum Vitae. • This will allow them to describe the experience, listing even the technical, linguistic and transversal competences acquired.

28. The main aim of the tutorship • This tutorship action will allow the beneficiaries to even clarify, reformulated and confirm their personal development objectives, in order to maximize the valorization of the international experience concluded. • At the end of the mobility experience, the TACTIC consortium could offer to the beneficiaries a support service in the research of the work, by the collection and valorization of all the CVs edited by the beneficiaries.

29. The aims of the training for tutors The initial training also guarantees: • a high level of quality in all the phases of the international mobility project • an efficient and effective management of the relationship between the sending organizations and the hosting ones • the exchange of useful information for the valorization of the experience abroad once the beneficiary returns to the native country and original context

30. The aims of the training The TACTIC quality system also prepares the tutor to cover the following specific activities: Welcome and orientation • candidates pre-selection, • management of the interview and (discussion on) gathering of the international experience motivations. Learning plan • Curriculum Vitae analysis and definition of the development objectives in terms of competences, learning plan elaboration and of the international internship proposal. Tutoring • Guidance; coaching meetings management; work placement management, monitoring activities management, tutorship and social activities. Certification • Follow up, learning valorisation activities, management of the paperwork/documents related to the mobility projects.

31. The structure of the training

32. The e-learning platform

33. Key-words of this presentation • Mobility • Informal learning • Individual guidance process • Quality Standards • European Quality Charter for Mobility • Network and networking • Training for “mobility tutors” • Personal learning plan • Employability • Experience as a learning event • Knowledge and learning processes

34. Thank you! Giulio Iannis orientamento@pluriverum.it