CHALLENGES ON VOCATIONAL EDUCATION AND TRAINING – EDUCATION AND SCHOOL POLICY (1rst Seminar-Strôma SE)
Proposals to help to cope with challenges on land-based education due to Climate Change and other environmental problems
JL.Lavilla
Demand from the school
policy/society;
problem to solve
Effect on the school
Objective / Task (how)
Educating children
Low awareness of population
Raising awareness of
climate change and other
environmental problems
among the population
Make the green schools
more sustainable
To adapt / replace the facilities /
machines, etc (infrastructure)
for a more sustainable ones
To adapt the “curricula”
Students of green schools are
not well prepared in
environmental problems
Increase the knowledge
(competences) and
attitudes about
environmental problems
and how to cope with them To adapt the facilities (see
above)
To train trainers
(see below)
Teachers of green schools are
not well prepared in
environmental problems
Nature school: the school could offer visits and practices
(modules) of “discovering the nature” and other subjects to
primary schools and other groups of children
Tools / resources
- programs
- didactical tools
(manual)
- examples from other countries
The students of the green schools could act as a teachers as
well in these “nature school”
Educating other people
Non sustainable green VET
schools
Activities /examples
Increase the knowledge
(competences) and
attitudes about
To train trainers
environmental problems
and how to cope with them
Cooperation with the media
(show the projects of the school)
- good examples national / international level
(Project information / videos / presentations )
Environmental projects
Project information / videos / presentations
“Make a difference day”
Program / videos / presentations
Discussions and displays about the more “sustainable way of
life”, examples from other countries (ex: Africa)
Docs / videos / presentations
Ex: local products markets, how to cultivate
vegetables, etc
Make a study of all the improvement to be introduced in the
infrastructure. Asking the experts of University / NGO /
Advisory service, other, to help the school to do that
Videos / presentations
Game: better project of European green
schools
Replace (if possible) non sustainable facilities / machines for
others that improve efficiency, with less emissions and low
consumption of energy
Videos / presentations of these innovations
- New jobs, new qualifications?. Take information from other
countries /schools, propose your own ministry for new
qualifications if necessary
- Introducing new modules or unities, practical, new projects
- Adapting old modules
Focus on water and energy management
Climate change, etc
- Courses offered by other countries (see
Fancam project)
- Curricula
- projects
- Competition of “sustainability” for students
- Webs of “ecological foot prints”
The school as a example:
- reducing emissions and consumption of energy
- recycling
- “bio” food in the canteen of the school from
- School : solar, biogas, etc energies plants/
- Presentations of the projects
To plan a train trainers course (practical one) about
sustainability (see below)
To plan a train trainers course, practical one (Authentic
Learning), about sustainability
Involve teachers in the sustainable projects of the schools
Cooperate with “sustainable” farmers, experts, advisory
services
Cooperate with other “sustainable” green schools from Europe
- Program
- Didactical materials (tools)
- School and its projects
- Examples from other European schools
CHAVET “Challenges on Vocational Education and Training”
2nd Seminar: “Farms, Industry and Education”
Proposals to cope (or help to cope) with the challenges due to changes in agriculture and industry.
Problem to solve
Effect to the school
Farmers´ income is
decreasing.
If no profit, no
Contribute to improvement of
farmers, so less
farmer's income by good
students because they entrepreneurial training for
can’t see a future in
farmers (adults) and future
agriculture.
farmers (students)
Farmers reputation /image is Students are not being
not good
attracted to
agriculture
Objective/
Task (how)
Improve the image of agriculture
and green sector
Improve the skills and attitudes of
farmers about “holistic point of
view about farming” and
“sustainable farming” and
“preserving nature”
Higher demand for
specialized work (e.g.
water features, lightening
elements, differentiation
landscaping/
maintenance...)
High demand of qualified
workers versus low social
status of the profession
Challenge for schools To promote entrepreneurship
in order they prepare
students for new or
Better prepare the students for the
more specialized jobs future, more specialization, new
in “gardening” or
competences
“landscaping”
Insufficient contact between Difficulties with
companies and schools
training programs,
placements, updating
programs....
Costumers demand more
information from the
Challenge for schools
in order to prepare
To promote networking
By José Luis Lavilla
Activities /examples
Tools / resources
- To update programs in trade and
economy (young)
- To create specific courses for
farmers, “authentic learning”
experiences: workshops, visits, study
cases, trips, panels, etc
- New programs
- Market niche studies
- Study case of “business plans”, young
farmers projects, etc
- European repertoire of “managerial
courses” for farmers and “business plans”
-Marketing plan in cooperation with
the Media and all the stakeholders
- school journal with news
- virtual network with old students and
families
- regular publishing of articles in local and
regional newspapers
- videos about “farming” or green jobs and
disseminate
- open door days to schools and farms for
urban citizens
- fairs, ...
- Updating programs for farmers and
pupils with the new competences in
“sustainability”
- Development of new curricula taking - Survey to firms about what they are
into account the wishes and demands looking for, new competences, so on...(like
of companies
Fancam)
- More competence oriented training
- European repertoire of “specialized
- To create networks with students and courses” for gardeners and landscape
former students (firms)
designer
- Examples of networks around Europe
To have a flexible and open
curricula
- To develop networks with firms
- To carry out educational and training
activities with firms and stakeholders
- Updating curricula and programs
with the help of firms
- Assessment in authentic situation
(firms partnership)
Promotion of the image and status
of horticultural professions
To update curricula and programs with - Examples of new programs and activities
this new competence of
of communication
To increase the involvement of
firms in education and training
- Examples of networks around Europe
- List of activities of networks in gardening
and landscaping
- Examples of good practice (like ALIE)
- Problem-based learning
professional
New needs of the Food
Industry about healthy
products, fairness, quality
assurance such as the
HACCP, traceability, etc
students for this task
of communication
Future workers
(students) must be
trained in these new
competences
communication
Networking
Embracing principles of health,
- Update curriculum and programs
ecology, care and fairness and
- To create new courses for workers of
legislation enforcement along the
the Food Industry
whole food chain such as the
production of meat from the stable We need to have consistent industry
to the table and regarding field
involvement in curricular
crops from farm to fork.
development across borders in EU
countries
- Curriculum more open, flexible and
responsible
- Programs for new courses
- Good examples of cooperation with Food
Industry
- Investments at schools
The economic and financial - Less interest of
Ways to attract students / trainees
- Plan of cooperation with the industry - New programs
global crises leading to the young people for
and to meet the training demands
(Education Advisory Board)
- Curriculums updated
demand of cheap food and these studies, so less
in an ever changing industry.
- Developing new plans, programs,
- Good examples of cooperation with Food
loss of jobs.
students for the
Schools and industry must have
opportunities in cooperation with the
Industry
schools
their policy makers liaising and
industry and other stakeholders
- Less money for
cooperating together to plan future
investment in schools demands of qualified workers.
Bad reputation or bad
knowledge of food
industry by citizens
- Less interest of
young people for
these studies, so less
students for the
schools
There is a need for public
awareness through media. More
TV personalities are doing this
coverage about food production.
Educating the students and the
-Extra and intra - curriculum activities
community in the reality of food
production such as the organization of
fairs, exhibitions etc while these
events serve as positive PR.
Decreasing number of
students
Low status of VET in
some countries
Attract new students to the schools
not only from agricultural areas
Change the picture of the farmer
and green sector
- Involving the relevant industries
- New/other competences
- Promoting lifelong learning
- Promoting attractiveness of “green
sector”
- Networks with all stakeholders of the trade
- Programs with new competences
- Better methods of teaching/learning
- Marketing plan for the trade and studies
Change the mentality of people
See opportunities
Change the mentality of teachers,
principals and country authorities
New curricula
-Examples of curricula and programs
Children should go to farms to
experience life there
Innovative schools and young farmers
-Promote products, safe food, animal care
etc
-“Sell” the landscape, make presentations
about farms
Big competition
between schools
Split of tourism and agrotourism in some countries
Growing mass tourism
Curricula are not
updated
New skills for students and knowledge
of economics and negotiating
CHALLENGES ON VOCATIONAL EDUCATION AND TRAINING – EDUCATION AND SCHOOL POLICY (3th Seminar, La Louvière BE)
Proposals to help to cope with challenges on land-based education due to demands of Education & School Policy
JL.Lavilla / E. Bertrand
Demand from the school
policy/society;
problem to solve
Quality of education
Effect on the school
- low results in terms of
qualifications of adults
and students
- If low results of
education and training,
less students
The offer of studies /
courses is not updated (oldfashioned, not so large or
adapt to respond to the
demand and needs of
society and enterprises
Schools don’t do
correctly their role of
educating and training
for new qualifications
and new jobs
Objective / Task (how)
To improve knowledge, skills, attitudes
of teachers
(How to develop competences as
responsibility, networking,)
Activities /examples
- To train teachers in new technologies, in
project development, in foreign languages, in
new pedagogies, in ICT skills.
- To develop contacts with enterprises and
professionals
Tools / resources
- Personal training programs that meet the
needs of teachers, but taking into account
the school's educational project. Such
training should be facilitated by schools /
Ministry / Institutions and European
programs.
- Mobility projects for teachers
- Exchange of teachers between schools
of the same country as well as other
countries, company visits
To update the offer of courses /
programs their contents and
methodologies in cooperation with
entrepreneurs (trade) as in some
countries do (Ej: DK)
- To implement into the contents of the courses,
new technologies, renewable energies, the ICT,
or to create specific courses about these topics.
Process to be done in cooperation with
entrepreneurs (trade)
- To organize courses in entrepreneurial
competences addressed to students and adults
(ex. Farmers)
- Documents, presentations, programs of
courses of entrepreneurial competences
from different countries to be shared (in a
European Fair of « green education tools
for teaching entrepreneurial
competences»?)
- European conference about « How to
educate in entrepreneurial competences in
green sector? »
Placements of students in
Low skilled students
firms / farms are not enough
good (don’t exist or not
Low motivation of
compulsory, or not enough
students
time)
Low relationship of
school with the trade
and profession
To improve placements (placement to be
implemented in all the European
countries). It involves students, teachers
and entrepreneurs (farmers).
- To be implemented, they need: agreements
between school/society/Ministry. Students must
be prepared for that and be covered by
insurance in case of accident (very important
subject), farmers / employers must be trained to
be « good » professionals-trainers, and also
teachers must be trained.
- Good practices from other countries
(Docs, process, evaluation...), presented in
the form of « Repertoire » or in a Fair or in
a Conference.
- Placements for teachers (experiences,
projects in Europe,..)
Low level of equipments /
machinery at school
- To improve equipments and
technologies, good adapted, sometimes
is necessary to get it by sharing with
other schools or in collaboration with the
profession / enterprises
- To share equipments and machines with other
schools
- To cooperate with farms/firms in order to do
practical works with the students
- When the investments must be concentrate in
one specialized centre in order to avoid
dispersion of resources, agreements of
cooperation and sharing must be passed and
these centres must be open to different users
(students, adults,..)
- Good examples in Europe about sharing
equipment and machines, as those
presented in this seminar :
1- The IPC Centre in The Netherlands
2- The CTA in Belgium
(old fashioned, not enough,
..)
- Low quality of
practical work at school
so less knowledge and
qualifications acquired
by students
- The study of a foreign
language (English is the
most popular) doesn’t exist
in « green » VET schools in
some countries and/or the
results are so weak that
demonstrate that the
learning process is not good
enough
Students couldn’t
- To improve the study of foreign
communicate easily in languages (efficient) in « green » VET
another language, so
schools
it’s very difficult to get a
job or a placement
abroad, or just to
understand some
documents written in a
foreign language
- To increase the number of hours dedicated to
learn a foreign language at school at least to
2h/week
- To implement the study of foreign languages in
the schools/countries where it doesn’t exist
- To train foreign language teachers in new
methods of teaching in order to be more efficient
- To implement the new methods of learning
languages at school
- Exchanges between « green » VET
schools of different countries
(it could be using ICT systems)
- Trips, visits of groups (students/farmers)
from one country to another (mobility
project)
- Projects for placements of students in
other countries (European Net of schools /
firms to do these placements)
- Methods (innovative), experiences in
teaching foreign languages in Europe.
Some examples:
« Learning by immersion » or « training
course of multiple intelligences (Neues
Lernen) »
And why not ?: «Europea training course
for teachers of foreign languages »
The validation and transfer
of « credit unities » in
« green » VET in Europe is
not yet implemented
- The difficulty to
identify / validate the
competences acquired
during placements, real
work or « real life » or
even the training
courses carried out in
another European
country doesn’t facilitate
mobility in Europe
- To structure the courses/programs of « green »
VET studies in ECVET unities
- To establish a process for validation of
competences acquired during placements or
real work and real life
- To train teachers in order to be able to validate
these competences
- European experiences of organization of
courses/programs in ECVET unities and
the process for validation of competences
acquired in real work and real life
experiences – European project addressed
to teachers for elaborating ECVET unities
in one or more specialities of « green »
VET in levels 2 or 3. For example:
* European course for gardeners or
farmers
* European Tree Worker (ETW)
- To create or improve the process of
validation of competences acquired
during practical work or courses carried
out abroad in the « green » sector
CHALLENGES ON VOCATIONAL EDUCATION AND TRAINING – CONSUMERS&SOCIETY (5th Seminar, Kaszo HU)
Proposals to help to cope with challenges on land-based education due to demands of Consumers & Society
JL.Lavilla / E. Hönigsberger
Demand from the school
policy/society;
problem to solve
Need to feed the World,
avoid food shortage
Affordable food
Sustainable production of
food
A considerable number of
Effect on the school
Objective / Task (how)
Challenge / need to
educate people
(students, parents,..) in
this subject
To start (or improve) education and
awareness of young and adults
(students, parents,..) in sustainability,
food and fair trade, taking awareness of
the effects of monoculture,
deforestation, climate change, animal
welfare and other ..
Challenge / need to
educate better future
farmers
To improve education of future farmers
Activities /examples
- To convert the school in a sustainable center
for production and education
- To update programs with new information and
new approaches concerning “World food
security -FAO”, “Food production systems:
industrial one and small farmers one”,
“International large scale operations and niche
(two-tier approach)”, “Farming technology”,
“Trade”, taking conscience of
Tools / resources
-School as example of sustainability:
1- Farm of the school
2- Kitchen and restaurant of the school
3- Projects of renewable energy, energy
efficient, waste treatment, etc
4- Educational activities as courses and
program for young and adults
- Programs of courses / training
- Didactical materials as concerning “food
students are not aware of
environmental problems or
food crisis or “non fair”
techniques used in some
“industrial” farming, or the
waste of food all around the
World.
in sustainable farming: economically,
environmentally and socially
Missing awareness of part of The number of students
the staff of the school
will decrease and the
schools will not any
The school has not a good
long give the services
image as “innovative”,
they were created for.
“environmental friendly” or
engaged in the fight against The challenge / need to
hunger, destruction of
raise awareness on
habitats, bad production
sustainable farming and
techniques in terms of
fair trade products
pollution or efficiency of
energy or non respect for
animal welfare.
To increase awareness among the staff
of the school students and population
about the footprints of food – local –
national – international production
- To update teachers knowledge and
competences and increase good attitudes
- To train farmers and students (future farmers)
using good methods as visiting local businesses
in action
- To educate and inform population in general,
talking about the importance of food and the
need of producing it in a sustainable way, not
wasting resources, not wasting food
- To analyse the situation with scientific and
researchers
- To get information from consumers
- To carry out actions as conferences, fairs
courses about these subjects ("from the farm to
To improve teaching in order to educate the fork" – Animal welfare, food safety and
better future farmers so to contribute to quality,..) in kindergartens and primary schools
provide enough food in terms of quantity - To Integrate the food chain in the curriculum
and quality for everybody (millennium
- To use natural resources for energy an
goals)
watering – energy balance
Under sustainable objectives
- To give responsibility to students to sell school
products “products get a face”
To improve the self sufficient profile of
- To create closer contacts with the industries
the school, working in authentic way,
and farms
related to the real world
- To develop student centred learning. The
school as facilitator
The “agricultural” or “green” school must
be state-of-the-art concerning
environment and good production
- To train managers
To improve good leadership of the
school manager
To improve attitudes and of teachers,
staying updated and in close
relationship with industry
Bad image of industrial food Less students will apply To contribute to convert industrial food
production (farming)
for “agricultural” VET
production into a more sustainable non
studies
pollutant and respecting animal welfare
- To develop teaching skills and competences:
open-mind, pro-active, etc, learning by doing
methods (Authentic Learning)
production”: videos, docs, presentations
from schools, FAO and other institutions,
or made by students, surveys about
production and consumption of food in
different areas / organic vs. non-organic,
transport of food in the World, logistic,
environmental and economical impact of
food trade.
- Study cases: farmers (industrial and
small size), processors, consumers
associations, etc, regions in the world
where farming has resulted in harm to
environment, demographics / economics in
the World.
- Studies, videos, good examples
- Subjects in the curricula: group projects
about production, economics, marketing
and quality
- Repertoire of schools environmental
friendly (cards with brief description of
more innovative European green schools)
Some examples of schools’ initiatives:
AT: farmer’s market where the school
(students) sells its products, ex: cheese
or wine or some services in rural area as
restaurant / cafeteria
ES: students must to elaborate a business
plan in “green” sector
IT: giving help from the firms, practices in
firms / farms
- Some competitions or prizes as:
Prize “the best school food”
Prize “the best environmental
friendly school”
- Programs for managers and teachers
- Documents and didactical materials of
these courses
- Projects carried out by teachers as: solar
energy, rain water for watering the plants,
usage of natural resources for energy and
water, energy balance
- To develop projects and initiatives that will
- School, and its “green” projects
convert the schools in more environmental
- Didactical material: video, docs,
friendly ones and to transfer it into the programs presentation, ..
Not enough information
about small scale production
of quality food, local food,
organic or non organic
production
To contribute to improve the image of
agriculture and farming as well as the
good food and the art of cooking
To raise the status of the green
professions
To make farming sexy
(ex. Organic production). The techniques must
be updated and be in constant process of
change following the transformation of society,
firms and consumer’s expectations
- To help Authorities and other bodies in the
process of changing the image (creating video,
teaching courses, didactical material, receiving
visits of primary and secondary schools,…)
- To start of develop initiatives to promote good
food, tastes, cooking, …using local products,
maybe from the school. To promote the
cooperation between farmers and restaurants
and primary and secondary schools
- To change the discourse (speech) : food
production “from farm to fork”
- Use films to start discussion with
students and children about negative way
of producing and consuming:
 Supersize me
 Meet your meat
 We feed the world
 Jimmy's global harvest or
www.foodwatch.de ,
and others about positive way of producing
and consuming:
- Presentation of environmental friendly
farms, organic or not, small size farms,
local products and how to cook and eat
these quality foods. (from farm to fork and
from stable to the table, initiatives)
- Videos to disseminate the relationship
between agriculture, food and health (we
are what we eat)
- Cooking courses at school?