Project “Fuori Scuola” - against drop out of young adults
Location:
Padua, Italy
Period of implementation:
2017-2019
Field of activity – formal/informal/non-formal:
Formal education, informal education:
- integrating institutional re-educational programs¨
- promoting education and inclusion¨
- boosting individual competences¨
- improving students motivation and self-esteem¨
- developing social and language skills
- developing professional skills
Funding sources:
Regional (Veneto Region)
Overall cost/budget:
N/A
Target group:
Unemployed men and women over 16 years old: They are boys and girls, but especially males, to whom the school and training system cannot provide adequate answers.
Implementing organization/lead organization:
Province of Padua (specifically, the Work Centre for unemployed men and women over 16 years old)
Contact info:
- Prof. Chiara Pasquato and Sarah Corelli:
- tel: +39049 8206705
- email: pdmm25500L@istruzione.it
Challenge or social need:
The project intends to direct the target group towards a scholastic, training or working path, recovering motivation and developing the personal, social, cultural and disciplinary skills needed.
Description:
The project had the main goal to let students join their fulfillment of the basic training and certification of skills. For this purpose, it provides:
- 400 hours per year of teaching activities by CPIA
- 80 hours per year of vocational training by Vocational schools
- 50 hours per year of artistic and self expressive activities by Vocational schools
- 50 hours per year of sport activities (rugby)
- 40 hours of theatre course.
Activities
Active, experiential teaching, experiences of service learning, constructivism, assembly as a place for comparison and decision making.
Methodology and phases
September 2017-december 2017 → meetings among partners of the project to design the school path; collection of student reports in conditions of dropout; interviews and selections;
2017 first year of the project → during the mornings from Monday to Friday from 9am to 12am students attend classes of Italian, English, Mathematics, Science, History and Social studies, plus sport activities once a week; several visits to the territory;
Every week teachers of the CPIA meet to evaluate the week activities and to program the following week; every 15 days all the actors of the network have a meeting to evaluate the progress of the project;
Students attend, in the afternoon, 80 hours workshop of cooking in a dedicated vocational school, and 50 hours workshop of digital and multimedia photography in another vocational school.
Twice a week, the counselor and the psychologist go to school to meet students.
Second year of the project → some improvements as
classes from 8.30am to 11.30 ot 13 am to train students to respect work and school times;
80 hours workshop on building construction; theatre course; three students work 20 hours a week in stage in
small companies or in the school;
Students attend classes also in a vocational school where they
would like to be admitted next school year to end their educational path with a diploma.
Benefits/success factors/ measurement of success:
The core of the good practice can be summarize in two parts:
- The value of the territorial network, above all the integrated path between vocational school and CPIA that connects our school with vocational schools to allow students to obtain a license to the school and entry into vocational training (to purse at the same time basic school level and training/vocational certification)
- The didactic and education approach of the teaching by CPIA: students are involved in an active learning strategy, lead by a constructivist approach where almost all the activities are developed together among teachers and students; great importance of education to the word (student voice), listening, thanks to the momentary meetings where students and teachers assume, choose and plan together experiential activities (guided tours, trips, care and design of the classroom, tasks of reality)
- Teaching in pairs (always two teacher together during the lessons).
Measurement of success:
Self assessment and evaluation to educate students to observe and analyze by themselves their process. Related Continuous assessment through observation grids, evaluation columns for the analysis of processes and products.
Critical points/weaknesses:
- Drug assumption by some of the students
- Lack of stable educators
- Lack of spaces designed specifically for these guys
Sustainability characteristics:
Training initiative have been consolidated after the experimentation phase in the provincial territory.
Sustainability has been ensuhred by the actors of the network involved both insititutional (Local and regional Autorities, educational bodies, etc) and the ONGs. In particular:
- CPIA (Centro Provinciale di Istruzione degli Adulti) dealt with the fulfillment of the training obligation and the certification of skills.
- 4 vocational schools worked on orientation and training on different professional fields.
- Padua University offered theoretical competencies, students that can follow the project as part of their training (stage), the possibility to reflect on practices and approach.
- ULSS (Health and Sanitarian Services) can be activated on specific needes, like for students with drug problems.
- Padova municipality, specifically the Social Departement, collaborates providing the spaces where the project take place.
Transferability characteristics:
This action does not require extra budget financial resources. On the other hand, suitable spaces (i.e. for sport, teatre, etc.) are needed.
Inclusive characteristics/Innovative elements:
Inclusive characteristics are related to the target group and the purpose of the project that is: develop personal, social and cultural skills of students, to help them enter the labour market or “drop in” educational or vocational schools.
Mostly, students of this project present problems on personal and social skills (violence, aggression, anger, substance abuse, fragile and disrupted family contexts), the reasons that made them to be excluded by educational systems not prepared to include them (not prepared because without enough resources to face the problems these students express with their behaviours and actions).
In terms of innovation:
- Definition and development of a large and effective territorial network to meet the needs of individual students
- Personalization of individual paths based on choice, motivation and interest
- Development of personal and social skills, which however requires long time frames
