TEXTILES FOR THE FUTURE - ART OF TEXTILESThis project is following our long-lasting cooperation with the partnering schools in Finland - Tavastia Educational Consortium, Hämeenlinna, and Salpaus Further Education, Lahti, which are similarly focused as our school. This experience, together with our personal knowledge of the participating schools and individual lecturers, provides a solid base for further collaboration. In the past, we have carried out several student exchanges, joint exhibition and workshops. Our project followed the main topics of the Erasmus+ call for proposals - from which the transfer of knowledge and good experience was the most inspiring for us. One of our important aims was to transfer the best ways of teaching and learning methods in textile crafts, fashion design and millinery into our school curricula. The participants - sixteen students from the third and the fourth grade, have gained new practical skills for their own creative activities, improved their language and communication skills especially when using professional language in their respective fields of study, the younger students have strengthened their self-esteem as well as their own self-evaluation in completely different cultural milieu which was extremely beneficial for their further personal development. We could see the evidence of improvement in English communication at graduation exams last year where those students who had participated in Erasmus+ programme showed excellent results, and most of them applied for further studies at university level, one of the participants is following her studies in the UK . Students from our departments New Media and Interior Design, who were appointed to Hämeenlinna, have acquired new skills while working on Jacquard looms using double weave technique, have broadened their knowledge of textile craft techniques by learning the wool reserve-felting technique, have tried their hands at different techniques of weaving, the use of non-traditional materials such as Elephant yarn and paper yarn. Based on their research they have created their own design of an interior accessory, and have processed its realisation. Apart from this they have made number of woven samples using different materials which are now exhibited in our school.Students from our Fashion Design department appointed to Lahti got acquainted with a different approach to art creation in fashion, and different (and for most of them new) textile techniques. The most admired, and immediately used in their design work, was batik with the use of ordinary kitchen flour as a reserve. They made a simple dress or a skirt of their own design. Back in Prague they prepared workshops to show this awesome technique to other students and teachers. Our teacher, Mrs Kobylková, attended her professional training in the millinery department of the textile section of the school in Tavastia, Hämeenlinna. She improved her skills in making traditional fur felt hats, extended her knowledge of hat making materials and prepared their sampler. Her newly acquired skills, experience and methodological records helped us to open a new study field Design of Fashion Accessories. It literary meant transferring the knowledge and a good practise into our school curricula together with practical educational materials.All participants had a chance to test their self-sufficiency while working in a different cultural milieu, they learnt how much they were able to adapt themselves to new conditions, and to what extent they could rely on their communication skills in English. Both, sending and receiving organisations, have gained through the mobilities of their students and teachers deeper mutual understanding, they could compare their, often very different, conceptions of education, as well as their problem solving attitudes.Long planned enrichment of the range of our educational programmes at the higher vocational school - Design of Fashion Accessories - has come true also due to almost direct transfer of knowledge and experience gained at Tavastia school, and has shown an important national impact. It is a great asset mainly because the specific part of the programme- Millinery basics - is not taught anywhere else in the Czech Republic. Indeed, one of our aims was to introduce a programme whose content would be comparable with the programmes abroad such as there are at the British Millinery School or Kensington and Chelsea College in London.Future plansFollowing our long collaboration with Tavastia school, there are 6 students coming to our school for a 4 weeks stay this November. Further, the Solent University in Southampton has offered us collaboration in a link-up one-year study and scholarship ended with a bachelor degree, following the graduation at our higher vocational school programme - Design of Fashion Accessories. This is a concrete example of European cooperation, and the impact of our project which we can be proud of.

"The aim of the project ""EUROPEAN EXPERIENCE IN THE ESTONIAN WORK MARKET (EKET)"" was to provide international students with an international work experience in order to understand rapidly changing and internationalized labor market, to choose the right way of working, to learn new technological techniques and to acquire language, cultural and other useful knowledge, which they could later apply to the Estonian labor market and society.The project had 25 participants, of whom 16 were in Finland and 9 students in the Netherlands. During these six weeks, the participants implemented their professional knowledge and skills in the school and work environment. In the first two weeks, participants from the mobility visited the teaching, (work) culture and language environment of the host school. Students stayed in the company for four weeks. During this time they developed their coping skills with a foreign language work environment, applied their acquired knowledge in the performance of their duties.According to the participants, their self-esteem improved after the mobility, an overview of the demands of the world of work and cultural differences developed, the fear of working or living in a foreign country or multicultural environment disappeared. Participants appreciated their professional skills and social development, including the ability to independently manage and cope.Following the mobility, the participants were motivated and happy because they had acquired new professional knowledge and skills that they can later apply to the labor market. The participants' foreign language skills improved, and they became more confident, open-minded, more entrepreneurial and more responsible.To sum up, we can say that because of the activities in the project, cooperation between partners has become more effective, a network of cooperation been created, because of which the opportunities for studying in vocational education have increased and professional training has become attractive to the students and the public. The project has provided an input on how to develop school program and organization of teaching. Both partners in the project confirmed their readiness to continue cooperation in new projects and outside the project."

According to „The Estonian Lifelong Learning Strategy 2020“, the main attention for the new development period at Haapsalu Vocational Education and Training Centre is focused on the following principles - the change in the approach to learning, the learner’s individual and social development, implementing the digital culture into the learning and teaching environment, the increased participation in lifelong learning and the equivalency between the specialties and the needs of the labour market. The change in the approach to learning presumes the new knowledge from the school management, the teachers and the supportive specialists in education system. One of the most considerable possibilities of gaining new knowledge is learning from the experiences of the other countries. To provide the learning quality in accordance with the contemporary requirements, the school needs an extra knowledge in managing the learning process, arranging the studies, operating the new digital technology and implementing the new curricula. The staff of the vocational school needs new experiences in using the modern active learning methodologies, work-based learning, changes in evaluation of skills and competences and creating the new forms of collaboration to support the reforms in the learning conceptions. For achieving it the school has started a project “The Best Practices from Europe”. The aim of the project is to improve the learning process and enhance the arrangement of students’ placements in the light of the change of the approach to learning and send the students to perform their professional placements in the companies of European countries. The activities during the project are planned to take place on three levels: 1) The mobilities of the school staff, including the vocational teachers, to European vocational schools to gain knowledge and get experiences how to improve the process of updating the learning process and to enhance the practical arrangement of placements (including the work-based learning). 2) The practice of the vocational teachers in the partner companies of our partner schools to complement their skills and competences and get aware of the modern trends in their specialty.3) The placements of the students in the partner companies of our partner schools and the schools’ practicing bases to improve their vocational skills and competencesThe activities of the Project are implemented during 2 years, 2015-2017. There are altogether 166 participants, among them 128 students and 38 staff members and 18 cooperation partners from 12 countries, 14 vocational schools and 3 agencies and 1 tourism farm. The activities are planned as following- 7 one-week long staff mobilites with 28 participants, 4 participants to each country- 2-week long practices for 10 vocational teachers in 3 different countries.- 3 weeks or 1 month long placements of the students, in 10 countriesThe participants to the staff mobilities are chosen due to their responsibilities in their every-day job, the main choosing criteria is their dedication to their work and wish and willingness to take part in the development of the learning process and the improvement of the quality of the vocational education. The criteria for choosing the vocational teachers is the wish and willingness of the teacher to improve his/her knowledge and professional skills and competences, the readiness to practice in the company of another country and the needful language skills for individual succeeding. The criteria for choosing the students for the placement is their willingness and wish to improve their skills and competences, their progress and attitude to their studies, their adaptability, team-working and language skills, and willingness to improve their language skills on the courses before the internship. After every staff mobility or placement of the vocational teacher the school arranges a seminar, where the participants present their knowledge and experiences and and how are they going to implement it into their work. In spring 2016 and 2017 the traditional annual conferences of the school will be held, where all the school staff and the partner enterprises of the school will participate and where the staff members, teachers and students who have taken part in mobilities present their best experiences they have gained. The students who have done their placements abroad share their experiences on public placement presentations where the co-students and vocational teachers take part. The manager of the present project is the Coordinator of External Relations, who is responsible for co-operation, implementation of activities, preparation work with the participants, all the travelling, hosting and insurance questions and project documentation. The project manager co-operates with the school management and the participants.

Boarders of European Union continue to evolve and the development of skills for our European workers is essential for today’s and tomorrow’s challenges. Indeed, crafts and companies are dealing more and more with international exchanges and facing a multinational competition, for both professionals and production technics. Qualifications and skills are therefore need to be updated. In order to move on that direction, it is primordial to provide each apprentice with the possibility to be trained and to work on a European level. Les Compagnons du Devoir et du Tour de France which train apprentices and young professional, by traveling, community living and knowledge transmissions, have always had a strong commitment to European mobility programmes. Long-term mobility projects have always existed in our Association. It is part of our specific professional training “Le Tour de France” to have a one-year experience abroad. So far, almost 7400 of our young graduated have already benefitted from such an amazing experience.Since 2004, more than 17350 apprentices have therefore benefitted from a 3 weeks mobility project in European Union, owing to our trusted partners, in any of our trades (industry, construction, building, baking, leather and textiles trades). Driven by our strong desire to institutionalize the mobility project abroad for our apprentices, we have mention the European mobility period into the training program for all our level 4 apprentices, under the framework agreement signed in 2009 with our ministry of National education.Thanks to Erasmus + agreement for 2017-2019, we exceed our objectives and financed mobility for 1222 apprentices in gathered mobility projects together with their class and their trade teacher (107 teachers in total); 152 young professionals gone for a one-year individual mobility; 8 post-apprentices who went abroad from 6 to 12 months in order to continue their apprenticeship; 39 young participants in a 2 weeks technical training and 4 staff members, gone for a job shadowing or a training.The enhancement of the quality of our project is owing to the pedagogical projects developed by our trainers and hosting partners, who suggest a precise program compatible with the specificities of the host country. This approach is necessary as mobility period are included in our training programs in France and comforts also the employers of our apprentices, worried about this mobility project abroad of their employee. Indeed, the project allowed our participants to acquire professional, language, intercultural and cross-disciplinary skills. Indeed, apprenticeship and trades are different from one country to another. Travelling is also a way to develop its adaptability and flexibility, two qualities required in the labor market. Our partners involved in our projects are training organizations, companies and intermediate organisms in 23 countries. Mobility is more and more recognized in those countries; therefore most of the previous work placements are renewed year after year. Years of experience with our partners allow us to organize those projects in mutual trust and prepare at best each participant for his mobility.Each apprentice’s mobility has been validated and recognized through a Europass, and for our post-apprentices, their skills and competences are highlighted on our online pedagogical platform “Aquisav”. With the mod-term puropose of using ECVET system, our partners already signed the “Memorandum of Understanding”. For this project, the International Service has maintained relationships with partners and developed new partnerships, ensured the administrative and financial monitoring of the fellowships, created necessary tools to help pedagogical teams. The service also helped their training centers in France for organizing the gathered mobility projects if needed and they supported young professional going abroad for one year (individual mobility) and the ones who were following a 2-weeks technical training.This ambitious project couldn’t have been organized without the considerable investment of our staff members involved, in particular educational staffs and trainers, for which we are very grateful.

Boarders of European Union are quickly expanding and the development of skills for our European workers is essential nowadays. Indeed, crafts and companies are now dealing with international exchanges and facing a multinational competition. Qualifications and skills are therefore put into question. In order to contribute to this expansion, it is primordial to provide each apprentice with the possibility to be trained and to work on a European level. It is our duty to offer our learners such training. Les Compagnons du Devoir have always given priority to the long life learning and perform to value on-the-job learning and mobility, mainly through shared experiences, human relations and knowledge transmissions. Long-term mobility projects have always existed in our Association. It is part of our specific professional training “Le Tour de France” to have a one-year experience abroad. So far, almost 7000 of our young graduated have already benefitted from such an experience.Since 2004, more than16120 apprentices have therefore benefitted from a 3 weeks mobility project in European Union, owing to our trusted partners. Our experience allows us to choose the most suitable partners to provide our apprentices quality trainings in any of our 29 trades (industry, construction, building, baking, leather and textiles trades). Thanks to Erasmus + agreement for 2016-2018, we financed mobility for 733 apprentices in gathered mobility projects together with their class and their trade teacher (66 teachers in total); 138 young professionals left for a one-year individual mobility; 24 apprentices and post-apprentices went abroad from 6 to 12 months in order to continue their apprenticeship and 30 young participants in a 2 weeks technical training.In September 2009 we managed to officially join in the learning annex of the apprenticeship contract the 3 week mobility project abroad for all our level 4 apprentices, which show our strong desire to institutionalize the mobility project abroad into the training program of our apprentices.The enhancement of the quality of our project is owing to the developed teaching skills of our partners, who suggest a precise program compatible with our apprentices’ modules in France, with the specificities of the host country. This approach brings a value to our programs in France and comforts the employers of our apprentices, worried about this mobility project abroad of their employee. The project allowed our participants to acquire professional, language, intercultural and cross-disciplinary skills. Indeed, apprenticeship and trades are different from one country to another. Travelling is also a way to develop its adaptability and flexibility, two qualities required in the labor market. Our partners involved in our projects are training organizations, companies, social partners, consular chambers and intermediate organisms in 23 countries. Mobility is more and more recognized in those countries; therefore most of the previous work placements are renewed year after year. Years of experience with our partners allow us to organize those projects in mutual trust and prepare at best each participant for his mobility.Each apprentice’s mobility has been validated and recognized through a Europass, and for our post-apprentices, their skills and competences are highlighted on our online pedagogical platform “Aquisav”. With the idea of using ECVET system, our partners already signed the “Memorandum of Understanding” (MoU). For this project, the International Service has maintained relationships with partners and searched for new ones, ensured the administrative and financial monitoring of the fellowships, prepared and coordinated the pedagogical projects if necessary. The team also helped their training centers in France for organizing the gathered mobility projects and they supported apprentices who were following a 2-weeks technical training or going abroad for one year (individual mobility).This ambitious project couldn’t have been organized without the considerable investment of our staff members involved in those actions, in particular educational staffs and trainers, for which we are grateful.