The objective of making vocational education and training (VET) globally competitive and attractive by the European Union has put vocational teachers in the spotlight. Teachers and trainers working in VET are key actors to ensure its quality and relevance to today’s demands. They play an essential role in the implementation of reforms that have been part of the EU and national agendas.Preliminary analysis of NEEDS and research among partner organisations have identified the following challenges which will be addressed within this project:-Lack of useful tools for training in rescue, surviving and first aid-Difference in approach of teaching rescue, surviving and first aid depending on the country-Need for firefighters or rescue teachers across Europe to be more acquainted with innovative methods of teaching, share good practise in using them in educational process-Need for providing the practical training of teachers in rescue, surviving and first aid-Interest of VET organisations to be more socially active and provide educational tools related to health and safety to its community-Lack of knowledge in basic steps of rescue, surviving and first aid among peopleIn response to above, “Preparation for emergency situations: teaching rescue, surviving and first aid” (TeachMergency) project have been initiated by 3 partner organisations from the Czech Republic, Lithuania and Slovakia.TeachMergency AIMS to equip teachers/trainers with innovative tools in teaching rescue, survivor and first aid. Partners will focus on exchanging best practice, passing this know-how to colleagues and increasing quality of education of firefighters and rescue professionals. The importance of training cannot be overstated in the world of emergency services. Where life safety is at risk, the competence of the responders should be paramount. When the citizens in the community call for help, they expect and deserve the very best from rescue professionals when they respond.In addition, developed simple online material will reach communities and teach basics in rescuing, survivor and first aid.Further OBJECTIVES of the project are:-To identify and exchange key elements that involve human protection skills: rescuing, surviving and first aid.-To provide VET teachers/ trainers with a tool and a practical platform to increase their professional development.-To contribute to a healthy, safe, prepared for potentially risky situation community creation.The project will be a giant step forward to making sure that firefighters and rescue training organisations have a chance to create a professional, enriched and motivating learning environment for its teachers/ trainers so they can be part of lifelong learning.The focus is on training the teachers/trainers (36 from all partners) and to provide them with the most needed practical environment to exchange the good practice in rescue, surviving and first aid topics. TeachMergency also will involve firefighter students (12 from all partners) who are on the front line to become rescue specialists.Main activities will relate to:-4 transnational partner meetings within the 2-year project duration-Staff training: first aid (Slovakia)-Staff training: water rescue (Lithuania)-Staff training: mountain rescue (Czech Republic)-VET learners blended mobility: competition on rescue, surviving and first aid (Czech Republic).Partners will prepare a Teacher’s Guide to share the accumulation of skills, knowledge and competences acquired during teaching rescue, surviving and first aid.Within the project created short Educational Videos which includes tips on how to rescue, survive and provide first aid, teachers and students will reach out to other members of their local community in the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Lithuania.All results will be created by experience from three different organisations from Northern and Central Europe, but it will influence VET organisations in whole Europe as results will be disseminated within and outside of each of partners network including Associated partners: Slovak Red Cross – Region office Zilina, Pardubice region Fire brigade and Vilnius Fire and Rescue Board.There is no doubt that gained knowledge and developed outcomes will be implemented in VET education as those are directly related to the curriculum of rescue professionals and firefighters. Trained teachers and students will become “ambassadors” of such experience and know-how and developed material will be easily used to teach any member of the community about rescue, surviving and first aid no matter age, background or country.Partners have already discussed potential ideas for the continuation of this project considering the importance of teachers/trainers professional development in regards to the quality of VET education.

According to the European Pillar of Social Rights, everyone has the right to quality and inclusive education, training and lifelong learning to maintain and acquire the skills that will enable him to fully participate in the life of the society and successfully manage the changes in the labor market. Everybody, even a high school graduate, should have a wide range of skills and competences and develop them throughout their lives.The project supports the acquisition of basic skills and wider competence development by enriching academic education with art. Motivation and engagement will be enhanced by active learning methods. The development of competencies will be supported by the use of scientific methods in science, technology, engineering, art and mathematics, STEAM.The project is implemented within the framework of transnational cooperation of Slovak, Czech and Italian schools. The target group is secondary school pupils and teachers. Out of 100 pupils, 54 direct participants will take part on educational activities, others will participate in other project activities. Another target group is science and social science teachers, including 24 teachers directly involved in activities, and 30 teachers using best practices.The development of pupils' competences in secondary education will be achieved through three educational activities that will be implemented as a multidisciplinary blocks, such as Pigments 1, Pigments 2, Pigments 3. Each block is made of two modules focused on Pigments and Dyes for Textiles, Pigments in Coatings and Paints, Pigments in Cosmetics and Pharmaceutical Products, Food Dyes, Pigments on Canvas and Wood Pigments in the manufacture of glass and ceramics.Pupils as direct participants in educational activities and members of the organizational team will acquire the competences necessary for their future social and professional life. These are linguistic competences, mathematical competence and competence in science, technology and engineering, digital competence, personal, social and educational competence, competence in cultural awareness and expression. They gain the ability to think and find innovative solutions. The knowledge and experience of the pupils involved in project will be transferred using peer-to-peer learning and collaborative learning to other school pupils in the same year of study especially in these subjects: English language, chemistry and applied chemistry and technology, biology (toxicology), mathematics, chemical laboratory exercises, economics.The STEAM teachers' experience will be transformed into methodological sheets that will give teachers guidance on how to apply the method in preparing their own lessons. Methodological sheets can be used as a whole, or only its parts can be used, namely in science subjects, in vocational schools as well as in vocational subjects, in extraculricular activities. Teachers who have not yet applied the STEAM method or are a beginner in its application, will gain greater confidence in its application. Teachers will share their experience with teachers of the same subject group, teachers of other subjects within the school. Active teachers can continue in the role of multiplier on regional level methodological meetings. Within the project the online workshops of engaged teachers will be organised. They will serve as a forum for exchanging best practice.Joint project activities will also create a platform for networking of schools that are focused on the same learning methods. Within the project due to the networking the assumption for long-term and successful partnership and increasing the volume of international school cooperation with different focus in the name of European philosophy to connect different groups of people will be created.

The project is the reaction to the necessity of development students´ key competences via active learning. It provides an exchange of good practices in the field of experience-based learning and cooperative learning. The contents of the project was devoted to the topics of 1) culture and arts, 2) environment with activities focused on pollution of water sources in the Central Europe, mainly rivers flowing thorough the town where the school is situated, it means Danube, Moravia, Elbe, Chrudimka, 2) business learning connected with application of mathematics and digital skills, 4) sports like a tool to strengthening of fellowship and fair play. The target group were students of secondary vocational schools. From the total number of 200 students, 101 were direct participants of activities performed by means of Olympic Games. The rest took part in the further project activities as organisational team or audience. Within the project four international meetings were be organised. They lasted 2 days (3 days with travel day) and they were held like European Olympic Games in disciplines due to the main project topics like a triathlon. Within a CULTURAL OLYMPIC GAMES triathlon was organised in disciplines e-quiz Know the famous art work, food art and artistic representation of historical event or famous personality. We created project logo and used it on T-shirts. ENVIRONMENTAL OLYMPIC GAMES were organised like triathlon in water analysis, geocaching and recycling. BUSINESS OLYMPIC GAMES were held like triathlon in the e-quiz about brands, branding, slogans and logos; trading game and creating an advertising campaign and Pitching. SPORT OLYMPIC GAMES took place like triathlon in floorball with limitations, badminton in regional costumes, relay race in masks. We donated the project shirts and collected shirts to socially excluded citizens, each partner school in their local environment. The next target group were teachers of academic subjects, professional chemical, fire protecting, economic subjects and also subjects focused on services, of f them 20 teachers directly took part in these activities, 16 teachers were part of organisational team and 25 other teachers are using good practice procedures. Within the project, the workshops of 34 engaged teachers were organised in Bratislava and Vienna. They served like a field for the exchange of good practices and experiences, evaluation of targets and impact of the project, assessment of utilization the project budget and dissemination of results. The students gained the key competencies via performance of project activities which will enable him/her to utilize educational the whole life educational options, to develop his/her personality whole life, to gain competencies in order to adapt with different social and working situations, to work in teams, to learn to be an active solver of life situations, to learn to decide independently. To live and work with various people, to solve conflicts with respect to of plural values, mutual understanding, tolerance and peace, to respect and tolerate differences of other people, to cooperate with them, not to dominate other people, to behave to others with responsibility, to be authentic personality what he/she wants and this personality manages his/her own life, to be individual, to find the sense of the life, own happiness and identity. They will enable to have ability of self-reflection, autoregulation of behaviour, critical thinking and personal responsibility. The partnership developed school cooperation from cities that are situated near some of the European rivers. The objective was to build the partnership among school, which have the different studying fields, mainly chemistry, business and services. The project offers the platform for exchange of good practices and experiences. Thanks to school network we can share experiences from the innovative teaching methods. Within the project due to the networking, the assumption for long-term and successful partnership and increasing the volume of international school cooperation with different focus in the name of European philosophy to connect different groups of people was created.

<< Background >>During their work with students, teachers noticed challenges students face when it comes to visualization of the structures of chemical compounds. Nowadays, students are dynamic and more visually oriented, but chemistry lessons are still often conducted without the use of digital technology. Although the needs of developing digital competences of teachers are often discussed, there is still a visible lack of opportunities when it comes to possibilities of education in this area. Most teachers point out that nobody prepared them to use digital technologies in their work during their education and that they are not introduced with all possibilities digital technologies offer. The problem also arises when it comes to the way digital tools should be implemented in the teaching process. Curricula in schools are outdated and the advantages of the time we live in are not recognized and used. The question is not whether digital technology and ICT should be implemented in the teaching process; if there ever was any doubt, the events in the last year have exposed the lack of knowledge and understanding of the possibilities digital technology offers in this area.<< Objectives >>The main idea behind this project is the digital transformation of teaching methods in four secondary schools participating in the project by developing and implementing a new curriculum, which will improve the education process by developing digital skills and competences of both teaching staff and students. Furthermore, the aim is to promote a new STEM approach in education by introducing a new and innovative educational practices into the educational process of teaching chemistry. Training, teaching and learning about the use of digital tools and technologies will offer teaching staff the opportunity to improve their skills, as well as offer continuous professional education and development. Furthermore, it will enable visualization of material for students, better understanding of learning goals and outcomes, and improve their competitiveness in the labour market. The implementation of 3D technology and digital tools in the teaching process encourages students to develop their skills when it comes to critical thinking, collaboration skills and the development of visual, social, logical and constructive approaches to learning. Another advantage of this approach to learning and teaching is the possibility of developing the skills necessary for potential future employment, since a large number of companies use 3D modeling in their work. An innovative approach to teaching will increase students' interest in the STEM field.<< Implementation >>In order to successfully achieve our objectives during the creation of the curriculum, applicants defined five project activities. The first project activity are the Transnational Learning, Teaching and Training Activities, which will contain two short-term activities of teaching and training. The second project activity is the development and implementation of the curriculum, i.e. the intellectual result. Transnational project meetings are the third project activity within which 4 such meetings will be held. As the fourth project activity, project management and implementation were identified, including project coordination activities and day-to-day project management activities, supporting all partners involved in project implementation, and collecting and providing documents for the interim and final report to the National Agency. The fifth project activity are dissemination events aimed at increasing the visibility of the project, promoting the results achieved and introducing project activities and results to the public.<< Results >>The main result of the project is a new curriculum in the field of chemistry, with the focus on molecular modelling. The curriculum is based on the latest teaching approaches and techniques, and the digitalization of the teaching process, bringing the teaching content closer to students. The curriculum will enable the systematic use of digital technologies in classrooms and increase the capacity and readiness of institutions for the necessary transition to digital education through innovative approaches to learning, at the same time providing the necessary support to teaching staff. The learning process will be more dynamic and interactive, thereby increasing students' interest in material and the field of STEM. The implementation of 3D technology and digital tools in the teaching process encourages students to develop their skills when it comes to critical thinking, collaboration skills and encourages the development of visual, social, logical and constructive approaches to learning. The project represents an innovation due to its teaching approach, which includes the latest teaching and work methods and the development of digital competences of learners and teachers. Another advantage of this approach to learning and teaching is the possibility of developing the skills necessary for potential future employment, since a large number of companies use 3D modelling in their work. The project will lead to an increased use of visualization of abstract content and the creation of cross-curricular correlations between chemistry, informatics and biology, stimulating the necessary development of digital competences, as well as language competences, since during the work on the project teachers and students will have to use and develop foreign language skills.

<< Background >>Four partner VET schools from Czech Republic, Slovenia, Lithuania and Latvia have joined their interest and motivation to work in “A Star is Born: empowering creative art talents through competitions and with online tools” project.The main idea for this project came out considering these aspects:-the need of collaborative initiative in exchanging good practice and educational tools for VET teachers who supports creative art students, prepares them for competitions, develop their talents and seeks to reach good results-the need of collaboration in Europe facing the significant challenges in youth employment-the importance of building students’ digital skills as ability to prepare and compete in local, national and international labour market-the need to create more opportunities for students from disadvantaged backgrounds to take part in hairdressing competitions-the need to improve image of VET qualification as attractive and appealing to young peopleExploiting the potential of different approaches on preparation of art students for competitions and developing digital skills can best be achieved through strategic partnership of European VET organisations who specialises in creative study programmes and have interest development of students’ talent and their professional skills. The project should be carried out transnationally because the intended results could not be achieved in isolation and reach planned results.Project corresponds strongly to identified priorities at internal strategies, regional, national and European policies. European Skills Agenda clearly shows how important is to develop students personal and professional skills in order to be adaptable in competitive labour market (transversal skills). A Star is Born project also will foster digital skills development of teachers and students.<< Objectives >>Our project will be one of the key solutions for 21st century challenges. Youth unemployment was already and during the coming up economic crisis will increase as a challenge in the whole Europe and beyond. Schools are playing a crucial role in preparation of young talents to be competitive in the local, national and international labour market. Teachers and students are in need to be equipped with digital tools and increase their ability to solve problems with relevance and novelty which is a creativity.A Star is Born project partners have diverse experience in preparing students for competitions. Lithuanian partner has quite good system in supporting students; Latvian – has extensive experience in taking part in competitions; Czech – mainly national competitions, but in Slovenia there are no national competitions for hairdressers. Therefore, there is a gap between partner countries in this area. All partners want to share experience and improve students talent development. One of the main focuses will be to empower creative art students with high levels of skills that are needed to achieve high results not only at the national level, but international one as well.Combination of key elements will be covered within our project: Talent development + Creativity + Digital skillsThe main project objectives:-to motivate students to be active in learning process and to equip them with skill sets to help them to be successful in their future jobs, to become responsible citizens and attractive for international labour market-to empower talented creative art students no matter their background-to increase students’ digital skills-to enhance knowledge and expertise of teachers-to enforce creative and critical thinking and to promote fair competition-to motivate students to take responsibility of their learning and self-evaluating-to support creation of international competitions for hairdressersProject greatly supports Erasmus+ programme objectives for VET schools in a way to help realise the full potential of teachers and students by the use of new ways of learning, technology and digital tools. Creation of competitions is part of skills development agendas in Europe as well.<< Implementation >>In order to achieve these objectives partners have planned: -1 teachers training which will bring teachers who are working with creative art students, on career guidance, support and motivation of students. It will be essential to exchange good practice in cooperative learning methods, to find creative ways of working with students and to support them in the preparation for competitions, to prepare them to work in multicultural teams, to exchange experience in talent development approaches.-4 students exchanges will include international competitions where multicultural teams of students will work online before each mobility (blended). Preparation of their professional digital portfolio will be part of their training during the mobility.-1 Guide for teachers - A Star is Born will be developed and showcase gathered best practice about students preparation for competitions, digital tools for students professional portfolio creation and practical experience in organising international competitions for creative art students.- Local events will be organised in each partner school.During this project we will use methods of cooperative learning (on/offline), multicultural teamwork, problem-based learning and other student-centered approaches, as creating collaborative learning groups, using debates, discussions, workshops and also previous project developed tools. The implemented activities will be a part of schools’ internationalisation strategy that will ensure continuation of work on “A Star is Born” project objectives. Shared experience and presented project outputs in the community and other organisations will ensure the awareness of importance of talent development, digital skills development, preparation for competitions, creativity and impact of trained teachers in quality of education.<< Results >>Project will focus to achieve these results: -12 trained teachers will improve personal and professional competence-4 blended mobilities will be organised for students from creative art study programmes (hairdressing, beauticians, etc.). All 4 partner organisations will have experience in organising these type of mobilities-64 students (16-25 years old) will increase their personal and professional skills -At least 12 students will take part from disadvantaged background-4 blended mobilities will be organise for students from creative art study programmes (hairdressing, beauticians, etc.)-4 VET schools will improve their quality of education for creative art students -1 Guide for teachers will be developed on methods of preparation of creative art student’s for competitions; digital tools to create students’ professional portfolio; sharing best practices from practical cases-At least 4 videos from the learners´ exchanges to inspire peers to make a step and become their own level stars in labour market-Students´ created materials (creative projects, professional digital portfolios, articles) -Teachers and VET schools increase their capacity and knowledge how to organize international competitions for creative art students (e.g. hairdressers) and support student’s skills development-Project outcomes will be disseminated via various on-/offline channels to inspire more teachers and schools to integrate sustainable systems to support talent developmentProject will develop sustainability plan with activities to ensure integration of gained knowledge into practice after project ends. Needless to say that after completion of the project, trained teachers will act as mentors to creative art students to foster their skills for international competitions. They will become “ambassadors” of cooperative online learning and experienced teachers to use digital tools to create one of the essential element for creative art students to become successful in competitive labour market – professional portfolio. Teachers will become advocates on these aspects to make the project sustainable. They will pass the knowledge within and outside the partnership throughout online and offline channels and networks. Students will become examples of raising stars for their peers. Future projects will be discussed and planned during the cooperation.