COACH@WORK Project – Intellectual output 1
Contract No: 2014-1-BG01-KA202-001529
COACH@WORK:
EQAVET system for recognition, validation and accreditation of Supported
Employment providers of people with disabilities
Comparative report – Executive summary
Intellectual output
1
Activity
A4
Status
Final
Delivery date:
20/04/2015
Author
NAVET
For further information related to the COACH@WORK project please visit:
the project website (www.supportemployment.eu);
Facebook page (www.facebook.com/supportemployment );
Twitter page (twitter.com/zguraprojects).
This project 2014-1-BG01-KA202-001529 is funded under the Erasmus+ programme of the European Commission. This publication reflects
the views only of the author(s), and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained
therein.
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COACH@WORK Project – Intellectual output 1
Contract No: 2014-1-BG01-KA202-001529
Introduction: access to the objectives of the Comparative report
This document represents the conclusive part of the research phase of the COACH@WORK project which
generally aims to develop EQAVET system for recognition, validation and accreditation of knowledge,
skills and competencies gained by job coachers who will participate in its implementation phase. The focus
is placed on learning outcomes - statements of what a learner knows, understands and is able to do on
completion of a learning process defined in terms of knowledge, skills and competencies. Those learning
outcomes will be in connection with the unique ECVET training programme for Supported employment
(SE) providers which will cover different disability related topics in the context of employability. Supported
employment is primarily a policy and a philosophy of employment which leads to securing a job and social
inclusion of people with different type of disabilities. The philosophy of the SE is that everyone could work by performing real work with real pay. The variety of definitions for SE in the literature also includes the
understanding of Supported employment as a method. For the purpose of the present study: “Supported
Employment is a method of working with people with disabilities and other disadvantaged groups to access
and maintain paid employment in the open labour market” (EUSE Toolkit, 2010, p. 9). In addition the
project partners will develop training materials for jobseekers with disabilities related to: preparing for
interview; completion of job applications; disclosure of disability; presenting a professional appearance;
analyzing strengths and weaknesses; accessing further help and resources etc.
Within the first phase of the project the project partners are running a research aimed at identifying and
consolidating national findings related to Supported Employment providers’ training needs and gaps in
provision of SE services as well as in recognition and assessment of their competencies, relevant
methodologies and pedagogical approaches regarding this specific activity.
The main purpose and ambition of the Comparative report is to identify country specific aspects to SE
provision of services, to collect the core aspects of gaps of skills, knowledge and competencies of SE
providers, to indicate common needs and expectations and to describe the ways and opportunities for their
achievement.
The structure of the present Executive summary is as follows:
1. Introduction: access to the objectives of the Comparative report
2. Scope of the research
3. Training needs in terms of SE coachers:
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COACH@WORK Project – Intellectual output 1
Contract No: 2014-1-BG01-KA202-001529
• What knowledge?/ What skills?/ What competencies?
4. Gaps in provision of SE services:
• General gaps in terms of barriers that people with disabilities faced in terms of employment
• Specific gaps in provision of SE services– funding opportunities, how the SE could be included into the
legislation and how the course/ job profile could be accredit per country
5. Evaluation/ assessment of competencies and Quality assurance
6. How the project will address those barriers/ gaps/ weaknesses
7. Readiness of the respondents to participate in the project development and piloting
The Comparative report comprises a qualitative and quantitative analysis of the national findings. All
partners had to identify stakeholders to be involved in the interviews, then to collect and comment the
received information and finally to provide summary data in English of the the national surveys findings
which will facilitate the creation of the professional profile of the future job coacher.
For the purpose of this study it was accepted to work with the common term “Supported employment (SE)
provider” and the concept of “Job coacher” as a specific qualification profile
of SE provider: a
professional who is specially trained to support people with disabilities in the process of seeking and
retaining suitable paid job.
This report is presenting the information gathered through questionnaires sent and completed by predefined
target groups - employer, VET centers, SE providers, non- governmental organizations (NGOs) in the four
partner countries- Bulgaria, Turkey, Austria and Spain. The research which describes and compares the
national particularities and similarities of the needs has been conducted in December 2014- February 2015.
This data analysis (qualitative and quantitative) is related to the gaps, barriers and identified requirements for
the recognition and validation of the skills, knowledge and competencies acquired by SE providers through
VET SE training. The research is made with semi open standardized questionnaires through online form, by
e-mail, with face to face interviews as well in form of focus groups. This quantitative method is useful for
gathering information and opinions and is a combination of an individual in-depth interview and the
quantitative interview with a standardized questionnaire. Adapted to the research question, this method has
the possibility to collect information from different stakeholders and to make them comparable.
The results are summarized on the following pages. This report should be used for dissemination and raising
of awareness. As a result of the study logical framework will be formed for the construction of a variant of a
system for ensuring the quality of training of SE providers.
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COACH@WORK Project – Intellectual output 1
Contract No: 2014-1-BG01-KA202-001529
The comparative report contains six main sections, some of which have subsection, and outlined
conclusions.
1. Scope of the research
This section represents the methodology of the research and the achieved results.
In order to achieve a common understanding of the stakeholder groups in all four partner countries (AT, BG,
ES and TR), the partners defined the specific beneficiaries as part of all six different stakeholder groups.
Actual results achieved per country
Countries
AUSTRIA
BULGARIA
SPAIN
TURKEY
Total
Target groups
Employers
NGOs
10
14
10
10
44
10
12
10
10
42
VET
centers
5
14
10
10
39
SE workers
Policy makers
30
24
19
20
93
Desk research
Desk research
Desk research
Desk research
In the survey were involved in total 218 persons from the previously defined target groups.
2. Training needs in terms of SE coachers - the “BIG question”: What skills/ knowledge/
competences should trainers in the field of Supported Employment have?
For the future recognition and validation of the skills, knowledge and competencies acquired by SE providers
through VET SE training it is beneficial to review how they are perceived in each partner country from the
perspective of the different target groups.
As most important according to the different target groups are outlined: creating networks on different levels
(skill); team supervision (competence); talking about case studies with other colleagues in this working field
(skill); positive reassurance (competence); concrete knowledge of different types of disabilities, the
consequences of the disabilities and health contraindications for practicing certain occupation; selfassessment; self- reflection; to be authentic, realistic and honest towards all possible difficulties (skills); to be
able to express clearly him/ herself and to provide reliable consultancy (competence); communication with
people with disabilities using alternative communication systems (skill); knowledge for assessment of both
the independence with respect to the capacity & ability of the person to perform certain everyday activities;
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COACH@WORK Project – Intellectual output 1
Contract No: 2014-1-BG01-KA202-001529
empathy, understanding of client capabilities and difficulties (personal skills); job analysis (skill); mediation
skills; negotiation of job opportunities (skill) and employers’ engagement (competence) etc. The qualification
level of the job coacher is expected to be at level 4th of the EQF while in Bulgaria it will be 3rd level in
Bulgarian qualification framework.
3. Gaps in provision of SE services:
a). General gaps in terms of barriers that people with disabilities faced in terms of employment and b).
Specific gaps in provision of SE services– funding opportunities, how the SE could be included into the
legislation and how the course/ job profile of “coacher” could be accrediting per country:
The Coach@Work project plans to overcome the above- outlined gaps in all partner countries with the
following main actions:
- to support establishment of a clear legal framework for national inclusion of the Supported employment
around the partner countries;
- to fosters social cohesion and social inclusion to develop solidarity by SE activities which will increase
peoples’ tolerance towards disadvantaged groups in society and help reduce prejudice in all partner countries;
- to increase the level of Corporate Social Responsibility where both the private and public sector can play an
important role in promoting SE activities;
- to increase labour market relevance of learning provision and qualifications and reinforcing links between
VET training and the labour market;
- to improve the capacities of partners organisations active in the fields of SE vocational training provision,
notably in the areas of strategic development, organisational management, leadership, quality of learning
provision, internationalisation, equity and inclusion, qualitative and targeted activities for disabled people;
- to increase participation in learning and employability by developing quality career guidance, counseling
and support services.
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COACH@WORK Project – Intellectual output 1
Contract No: 2014-1-BG01-KA202-001529
Evaluation/ assessment of competencies and quality assurance:
In this section of the Comparative report are described the assessment of SE workers` competences (Austria,
Turkey); the assessment and the quality improvement of the National System for Qualifications and
Vocational Education and Training (Spain); quality assurance in vocational education and training
(Bulgaria).
4. How the project will address those barriers/ gaps / weaknesses
The obtained results which have been achieved on the basis of these findings will have a significant
contribution to the intellectual products under the project activities O2 and O4, respectively EQAVET
system for recognition, validation and certification of SE providers and COACH @ WORK VET training
programme for Supported Employment (SE) providers.
Thanks to research carried out by the partners some valuable trends in current situation, barriers and options
open to SE providers were outlined. The following measures needed to overcome them could be
distinguished: institutionalization of the Supported Employment, motivation of the employers to use the
service and disclosure of mutual benefits, development of the so- called "soft skills", a realistic vision for the
educational level of the future SE providers and others. The effective functioning of the activities of
“coaching” could be guaranteed by the evaluation system based on the principles of EQAVET. It will enable
recognition, monitoring and validation of competencies acquired by Supported employment providers during
their VET training and practice of implementation of SE service. This evaluation system could be used also
by external bodies (VET centres, vocational training providers, employers, third sector organizations etc.) for
an autonomous monitoring of the acquired competencies.
The development of SE should be related with provision of financial resources for payment, training and
regulation of the profession “job coacher”.
In turn, based on the first assessment of the skills, knowledge and competencies by the COACH@WORK
system there will be need for covering training gaps of current SE providers. Actually this product will be the
main training course for those people who would like to become the future SE providers. This is a very
significant product especially for the countries like Bulgaria and Turkey where SE will be piloted for the first
time.
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COACH@WORK Project – Intellectual output 1
Contract No: 2014-1-BG01-KA202-001529
5. Readiness of the respondents to participate in the project development and piloting
All of the respondents want to be informed about the project. They are in favour of accreditation of supported
employment providers. For example the group of employers would use the services of a job coacher in the
case they want to hire a person with disability. The majority of the respondents declared their desire to
support the future sustainability of the project activities.
Final conclusion
This Executive summary presents a study of the contemporary and very important social issue for Supported
Employment, which will address the overcoming of the challenges faced by people with disabilities and the
provision of stable employment services.
The study supports the project's main objective - the promotion of a clearly structured profile of the “job
coacher" at the open labor market who helps people with disabilities seeking employment, according to the
European Quality Assurance Reference Framework (EQARF). The realization of this idea will be achieved
also under the rules of the credits transfer system (ECVET) that will be reflected in the learning outcomes
within the developed training program for professionals in Supported employment.
The topic for the training needs of job coachers and the determination of the qualification profile is at the
center of this study.
Thanks to the outlined results and their analysis, the research plans to overcome the actual gaps in all partner
countries with the following actions:
- to facilitate the formation of the professional profile of the job coacher;
- to support establishment of a clear legal framework for national inclusion of the Supported employment
within the partner countries;
- to fosters social cohesion and social inclusion to develop solidarity by SE activities which will increase
peoples’ tolerance towards disadvantaged groups in society and help reduce prejudice in all partner countries;
- to increase the level of Corporate Social Responsibility where both the private and public sector can play an
important role in promoting SE activities;
- to increase labour market relevance of learning provision and qualifications and reinforcing links between
VET training and the labour market;
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COACH@WORK Project – Intellectual output 1
Contract No: 2014-1-BG01-KA202-001529
- to improve the capacities of partners’ organisations active in the fields of SE VET training provision,
notably in the areas of strategic development, organisational management, leadership, quality of learning
provision, internationalization, equity and inclusion, qualitative and targeted activities for disabled people;
- to increase participation in learning and employability by developing quality career guidance, counseling
and support services.
In general the professional realization of people with disabilities (PwD) at the open labor market is one of
the main tools for the integration of this vulnerable group in all areas of public life.
The employment of PwD is a national priority in all partner countries that requires constant public attention
and a maximum degree of coordination of the related policies.
In this process every participant has its unique role, vision and ways to impact. Each of them certainly plays
an important role in the formation of mechanisms for the labor integration of PwD, which should be done in
a smooth and effective as much as possible manner. In fact, the main aim is to support the working and
functional capacity of people with disabilities and their individual autonomy. Eligibility criteria based on
personal motivation for obtaining a paid job at the labour market should be formulated in services ensured.
The labour market policies in some of the project partner countries give to the Supported Employment a high
priority- the examples of Austria and Spain demonstrate evidence of a more long- term strategic approach to
Supported Employment.
The job coacher is the key actor in making the labor market more flexible and transparent- a real 'mediator'
between supply and demand. The job coacher should ensure a good transition process and serve as a guide
for both employer and employee to the system and its various possibilities.
We could conclude that the covered topics in this summarized Comparative report are some of the areas in
which the future job coachers should possess knowledge, skills and competences to successfully provide the
service Supported employment for people with disabilities across Europe.
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