"The State Institute of Higher Education ""E. Corbino"" from Contursi Terme (in the province of Salerno) undertook its teachers' professional background empowerment strategy in order to properly sustain the development of its students' skills, granting better employment possibilities than the actual ones. The implementation of the project ""I.D.E.A. - Improvement and Development of Educational Activities"" - 2018-1-IT02-KA101-046867 was part of this strategy through the participation of 20 teachers to a mobility experience abroad of 15 days, enhancing their teaching skills.The project represented a fundamental tool of training for the school's staff; 10 teachers attended a structured course in Ireland regarding the use of ICTs within the classroom, while other 10 teachers took part in job shadowing activities in Finland, learning new teaching methodologies and techniques.The ""I.D.E.A."" project originates by the School's willing to:- improving teaching tools and methods by fortifying staff's skills, also aiming to increase the training through the whole lifetime and particularly to plan specific, inclusive, personalized and innovative didactic actions to stem the tendency emerged by RAV's data;- placing the ""E. Corbino"" Institute within a network of schools and training schools, both in Italy and abroad, to give the school a more international status capable of creating a proper internationalizing strategic plan;The 10 teachers who attended the structured course on the ICT usage, obtained techniques able to create learning environments supporting the using of software within the didactics. Moreover, they improved their skills adaptation of didactic methodologies like peer mentoring, role playing and CLIL to the technological tools provided by the School;The 10 teachers who took part in mobilities in Finland directly experienced those techniques and methodologies needed to drive the learners to ""learn to learn"", taking them to develop the critical approach to the studying method and the learning effectiveness.All the teachers, independently from the mobility abroad, improved their soft skills useful in every professional context such as working in team and efficiently communicating with the colleagues, nonetheless improving their problem-solving attitude, particularly useful in critical conditions and to face difficulties with students. The training abroad has surely been useful to grant a greater richness in terms of an intercultural point of view that can be used to initiate new international cooperation.The action of the I.D.E.A. project had strong consequences on several factors:- beneficiaries expressing their satisfaction through the drafting of final reports originated by the Mobility Tool and by the monitoring questionnaires, for having took part to mobilities in Ireland and Finland. About the 78% of the participants declared that the obtained skills will be useful to improve their work and usable in their school;- the school staff deepening the knowledge of the ICTs and the most innovative learning methodologies use through the dissemination action. The dissemination gave the chance to show the wide range of opportunities offered by the cooperation of European bodies, encouraging school's resources to create cooperation that could benefit of a learning development that fits the standards of the European Union and aimed to promote a more innovative, inclusive and international school;- the students benefitting of a new educational implant thanks to the teachers' improvement of professional skills that will strengthen their formative baggage;In the long-term the impact of the project will be measured through the growth of didactic activities related to those methodologic approaches acquired abroad; specifically the amount of the students group involved with CLIL activities, flipped classrooms, ICTs activity laboratories and the planning of peer mentoring paths will increase."

"The Municipality of Bitonto (Apulia) has promoted the project ""SMART PUGLIA - Support students' Mobility in the Automation and eneRgy secTor in PUGLIA"" (project code: 2018-1-IT01-KA102-006375) from 01-10 -2018 until last 08/30/2021. The project aimed at 103 recent graduates in the professional fields of mechanics, energy and IT, selected to carry out a long-term mobility (4 months) in United Kingdom, Germany, Ireland, Belgium and Malta.The project ""SMART PUGLIA"" has contributed to the achievement of the following objectives:•It has favored the job placement of Apulian graduates in the mechanical, energy and IT sectors thanks to the training experiences abroad, the validation/recognition of all the skills acquired, and the collaboration between European institutes and companies; in fact, 20-30% of the beneficiaries participating in the mobility received a job offer from a European company, increasing their employability at an international level. Furthermore, the participation in the project favored the development of “skills” and “relationships” which became part of the participants’ renewed European identity. The project offered the learners an “open space” for self-expression and improvement, for socio-cultural dialogue and inclusion at all levels.•It has trained professional figures in line with the implementation of the regional specialization strategy to support companies in the Apulian and Southern area for their further internationalization and innovation; in this regard, 10% of the participants, at the end of their internship, started working for local companies while 40% decided to enroll in higher professional training courses to be able to further professionalize their profile.•It has improved the Coordinator’s (Municipality of Bitonto) managerial and planning skills, strengthening local collaborations with citizens, companies, and schools. At the same time, the Municipality has had the chance to start a process of internationalization and modernization, improving its ability to network and generate changes and impacts for local generations.•It has involved Secondary Schools from Apulia (IISS ""Bachelet - Galilei""; IISS ""Panetti-Pitagora""; IISS ""Guglielmo-Marconi""; ITT ""Alessandro Volta""; IISS ""Agherbino""; Liceo Scientifico Statale ""G. Galilei""; ITET “Salvemini-Molfetta”) in a process of renewal and internationalization of their educational offer, in response to the training demands of the modern market; in addition, by witnessing the organization and assessment of internships abroad, the Schools have had the opportunity to renew teaching methods and training experiences in non-formal contexts, with the use of on-the-job models.•It has allowed the improvement of other members of the Consortium (Federimimpresa and GAL Conca Barese) in terms of their ability to network and collaborate with foreign actors, exploring new models of local development and professional upskilling.•It has allowed the Consortium to cooperate with other Member States, creating joint opportunities for collaboration and business, promoting dialogue and exchange of good practices on relevant topics related to new information technologies and energy efficiency solutions in the mechanical sector."

"The regional Calabrian context, where the school is located, presents a level of youth unemployment equal to 58.7% (according to Eurostat 2017) and certifies itself as a third European area for unemployment. The 611 students of the Institute come from a social-economic context of middle-low level. The economic fabric production in the territory has structural weaknesses in terms of average companies, which should constitute the main framework, and is characterized by the presence of small entrepreneurial family-run realities that does not respond adequately to the needs of employment and work-related learning of the pupils of the school. The Institute has the need to enhance the skills of the students and teachers in the perspective of the work that is related to the territory and of the business world and the jobs; to develop concrete actions for the improvement of employment opportunities for their students. The project ""R.U.N. U.P. – Rethink and Update vocatioNal training of stUdents and school staff through euroPean mobility"", lasting for 12 months, envisages the participation of: 50 students of the junior and fourth classes ( according to high school) in following addresses of the Malafarina Institute (Electronics and Electrotechnics; Information Technology and Telecommunications; Construction, Environment and Territory) and they will spend a period of training abroad that will last for 30 days (excluding travel days), at some companies that operate in sectors that correspond to the background of the students; 10 teachers of the Institute of the subjects that teach techniques according to the 3 departments will be engaged in activities of job shadowing for a duration of 7 days excluding travel days. The involved countries will be Belgium, Ireland and Malta for students; Malta and Ireland for teachers. The general objectives of the project are: • to strengthen the language skills of both students and teachers; • to foster intercultural dialogue, for a greater understanding and awareness of social, cultural, and linguistic diversities; • to ensure the recognition of acquired skills through national certifications and communities; • to consolidate the process of modernisation and internationalisation of the school, making possible the implementation of best educational practices. The main objectives are: •to develop the skills of school staff in order to improve the quality of education; •to motivate and reward the teachers, and strengthen the capacity to act for the development of the Institute; •to let the participating students play an experience abroad that could promote the acquisition of practical skills and motivate them more in the study; • to improve and enhance the activity of young apprenticeship programmes of the Institute; •to raise the possibility of training success of students in the labor market; • to facilitate the awareness orientation because of keeping on with the studies for the career choices, through the knowledge of job opportunities according to different sectors; • to enhance the quality of the courses of the Institute through inner comparison training and collaboration with the different educational systems of educational institutions in the partner countries; • to encourage the use of tools of certification and validation of skills; • to build an horizontal formative network in virtue of a broader involvement of territorial governance, widening understanding agreement for the participation of students to study activities, in-depth analysis through extra-curricular internships, but also using strategies and innovative methodologies. The project will allow the following positive consequences for participants: - improvement of professional skills; - development of both skills and communication skills in foreign language. Participating students, thanks to the carried out experience, will succeed, once they will be graduated, to increase their employability. It is estimated that, within the 12 months following the high school degree, at least 30% of the participants will have a work experience in Italy or abroad, and another 30% will continue their path of education at university level or in vocational training. The teachers will expand the skills for the use of the teaching workshop and adopt new strategies for improving the quality of teaching and the organization of the paths of the alternation school-work. The project will increase long-term benefits that relate to: - the improvement of the activities of the Institute, with a specific reference to the organization of young apprenticeship programme; - the increase of the dialogue with the other technical institutes of the territory; - the strengthening of collaboration with the enterprises of the territory."

"""IN.TE.R.N.AT.IONAL. S.M.E. - INternational inTErnships foR iNnovATive educatIONAL activitieS in labor MarkEt ""(n. 2018-1-IT01-KA102-006424) was a project developed over 35 months. The project promoted the mobility of 104 VET Learners to improve their orientation and insertion into the labor market, fostering their European openness as professionals and citizens of tomorrow. The Project was also created to respond to the European development goals of the 4 schools involved and the improvement objectives set at the basis of the European Development Plan jointly developed to increase the level of internationalization of their educational plans.The leader of the action was the vocational school ""Bachelet-Galilei"" who coordinated a national consortium made up of 3 other Apulian vocational centres (I.I.S.S. ""Lotti-Umberto I"" of Andria; I.I.S.S. ""Colamonico-Chiarulli"" of Acquaviva delle Fonti; I.T.E.T ""De Viti-De Marco"" of Triggiano). These educational institutions were united by specific vocational curricula: tourism and economic-commercial services, hence sharing the same needs and development objectives. The operating context of reference was the Apulian territory, with its needs to face new employment and production pressures to face the emerging challenges of innovation and globalization of local medium and small enterprises.Through “IN.TE.R.N.AT.IONAL. S.M.E."" and the transnational activities carried out in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Belgium, France and Germany, the Consortium addressed 2 types of VET Learners:1. students attending the final courses (corresponding to the classes IV and V in the Italian system) of their vocational curriculum, who participated in a short-term transnational mobility paths (32 days) to develop technical and transversal skills necessary to complete their educational background, to better orient themselves and enter the labor market immediately after their diploma; they experimented professional practices within a real business abroad, developing the ""professional attitude"" required by employers (they were also accompanied by 2 teachers for each destination);2. recent graduates in tourism, technical-commercial and marketing who have carried out an ErasmusPro work experience (122 days, equal to approximately 4 months) within host companies in line with their VET profile. Long-term mobility has proved effective with respect to the project objectives of facilitating the transition from school to work, especially regarding the experimentation of professional profiles aligned with the Italian (and Apulian) and European employment market.Some of the mobilities have necessarily undergone changes in the peak of the recent Covid pandemic.The Mobility had a central work-based component, according to a matching based on the combination of learners’ profile, their professional aptitudes and aspirations and type of host companies. The Consortium had previously identified specific Competence Units for mobility (EQF 3 for students, 4 for recent graduates), drawn from the Regional Qualifications Framework to ensure coherence and adherence of the training courses with the learning outcomes expected for each participant.Transversely, the mobility experience has allowed the development of better autonomy, intercultural dialogue, organization, the ability to communicate in the workplace, to solve problems and perform the assigned tasks respecting deadlines. These skills, combined with technical-practical competences, linguistic improvement and knowledge of company organizational procedures and behavioral dynamics, helped participants make their profile more appealing for their employability.Positive impact was also recorded on the Consortium's schools which had the opportunity to interact with other European organizations, exchanging ideas and experiences, acquiring new methodologies and tools to update, modernize and internationalize their training offer, as well as curricular and extra-curricular activities, focusing their attention on a competence-based curriculum and a deeper interaction with local and European professional stakeholders."

"The ""Staff Go"" project was addressed to the school staff of ""Da Vinci-Nitti"" Higher Education Institute. The beneficiaries, after the publication of the call and the related requirements for the participation, submitted their application and were selected through an interview.The training path had foreseen the mobility of 20 participants. Each mobility was developed in the following ways:- 10 participants went to Ireland where they attended a CLIL structured course about ""Advertising graphics and digital communication"";- 10 beneficiaries carried out in France job shadowing activities with their foreign counterparts, with a particular focus on laboratory activities, the optimization of administrative processes and the use of participatory teaching methods.The project saw a close cooperation between Italy, Ireland and France in the definition of the logistic organization of the stay abroad and the activities programme also due to the support of the local partners. At the end of each training course, after verifying that the required formalities were doublechecked, certificated were delivered. The project involved different types of subjects, each of them with specific roles and functions:- the applicant (""Vinci-Nitti"" Higher Education Institute);- the participants: teachers and school staff;- the foreign training partners (for the hospitality, the organization of training activities and the logistic accommodation of the participants).The project had a duration of 12 months (from July 2018 to June 2019) and each mobility had a duration of 15 days with 2 travel days.In order to meet the needs for the improvement of the Institute and the international development and opening strategies, ""Staff Go"" achieved the following specific objectives:- the development of the ""operating and functional"" abilities of the school staff in the reference subjects, through the use of new teaching methods (CLIL, use of laboratory methods);- the improvement of ""analysis"", ""problem solving"", ""communication"" and work organization in the classroom and at administrative level;- the increase and enhancement of skills and linguistic knowledge and the boost of the cultural heritage of school staff, growing their professional profile and the quality and efficiency of daily work.In addition to the professional goals, the project encouraged the development of the ability to ""adapt"" to the work context and to new realities; therefore, it contributed to improve the ""readiness to change"", which is fundamental, more than ever before, in any work context as well as in the schools.The information, awareness and dissemination actions of the activities and the results achieved were meticulous and continuous, thanks also to the active involvement of the project partners, in order to promote the best practices developed on the widest range and provide models and positive examples of paths functional and vocational training courses.Also constant were the monitoring and evaluation activities not only of the project but also above all of the learning results acquired by the participants during the mobility. Mentoring and evaluation activities, in addition to the use of the Mobility Tool platform, provided:- the assignment of specific surveys and the compilation of a final report by both the participant and the host institute, from which the satisfaction of the participants and the foreign partners in carrying out the mobility activities was highlighted.All this produced significant impacts on:- PARTICIPANTS: use of the CLIL methodology for teaching subjects; improvement of the language skills and the proactive approach to lessons. Six months after the end of the mobility experience, it was expected that 5% more students would have shown an improvement in the level of learning linked to the use of new teaching methods;- INSTITUTE: introduction of innovative teaching methods that foresaw the enhancement of students' attitudes and skills. The project spread the sense of belonging to the European Union in most of the school staff: the teachers and the administrative department shared the activities, promoting their desire to participate in future experiences of foreign mobility. The development of relational, communicative and organizational skills was also widespread, aimed at solving problems and improving linguistic and IT skills and knowledge;- TERRITORY: the mobility experience of the Institute and the consequent results led other Institutes of the territory, operating in the same socio-economic context, to invest in the qualification of their educational offer through the Erasmus+ program and the training of school staff."