E-DEI IN VET

The Project

Background

While students are typically more receptive of diversity, a recent study reveals that VET instructors are conspicuously  lacking in acceptance rates. According to the “ETUCE Policy Paper on Vocational Education and Training in Europe”:

  1. VET has an essential role in combating social exclusion and marginalisation. It is vital that equality issues are addressed in VET programmes in order not to reproduce the inequalities that exist in the labour market.
  2. It is important that VET programmes be proactive and positive means for combating such discrimination and being a force for social inclusion. VET programmes, including the content, must be sensitive to the requirements of the minority communities. (o.p.)
  3. Some VET systems discriminate against those with previously acquired skills levels and qualifications by viewing those that have been acquired many years before as no longer relevant or appropriate.

Given the changing nature of European societies in general, and the European educational and training space in particular, there is a consequent need for educationalists and trainers to have the skills and competencies to deal effectively with the challenges arising from diversity. Learning and teaching in multicultural/multisexual/ environments poses a major challenge to both trainees and trainers. Research in the USA with racially-mixed learning environments has not only identified similar issues, but found that there was a fear of diversity, stereotypic beliefs and a resistance to dealing with race and racism frequently expressed by trainees in teacher education programmes (see Gay and Howard 2000; Kumar and Hamer 2012). In addition, the Cedefop research as was described On 3 February 2021 in the Cedefop Seminar ‘Making excellence inclusive: towards a new Cedefop survey of VET teachers and trainers’ that took place online in the framework of the new Cedefop project to gather information on teachers in initial vocational education and training “needs to support the implementation of the European Pillar of Social Rights to make quality and inclusive vocational education and training a reality for all learners. Particular attention should be paid to VET teachers and students with special needs and teachers working with them, who according to TALIS 2018 are the most in need of professional training”. While it is also pointed in a common for all countries CEDEFOP paper with the title “shaping diversity and inclusion in VET through action” that “Schools agreed that it is impossible to promote tolerant and democratic attitudes through a set of formal classroom lessons; learning only becomes meaningful when it’s linked to learners’ personal life and practical experiences”.

The E-DEI project focuses exactly on creating experiences through Expansion in VET trainers and it can make a huge  difference in empowering diversity, equity and inclusion in VET trainining.

Objectives

VET is crucial in the fight against social exclusion and marginalization. In order to avoid replicating the disparities that already exist in the labor market with regard to age, gender, racism and discrimination against minority groups, class, and discrimination against those with learning difficulties and/or disabilities, it is crucial that equality issues be addressed in VET programs. DEI stands for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and is a training method that is especially applicated in job environment. The Expansion approach, which is primarily the practice of immersing oneself in the lived experiences of others, expanding one’s social networks beyond the comfortable “us” group, and forging community across the vast landscape of our differences, is the approach that the E-DEI (Expansion for diversity, equity and inclusion), project uses to increase the diversity, equity, and inclusion (D.E.I.) skills of VET trainers. Diversity, equity, and inclusion are interconnected concepts, and expansion is the act of continuously exploring our learning edge. The goal of DEI at education and work requires us to embrace the unique talents, experiences, and needs of different people, and to create workplaces that thrive because of their commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion. To be effective, DEI training should be aligned with strategic organizational goals. It needs to create space for courageous conversations that acknowledge hard truths around systemic inequities and explore real issues that people face in their lives and at work.

The concrete objectives of the project will be as follows:

  • Reduction of discrimination in VET sector
  • Training of trainees in EDEI methodology in VET for the reduction of discrimination in the VET sector and the workspace
  • Reduction of discrimination in workspace for professionals
  • Exchange of good practices and experience between the participating organizations

Results

The expected results of the project are as following:

  • A comprehensive methodology and a practical handbook on how to use DEI in VET training
  • Video training lessons that will be held in the platform
  • An eLearning platform that will hold the results of the project and will freely spread them
  • A pilot workshop that will focus on training VET trainers with the use of the projected methodology.

The results (the methodology-handbook and the workshop) will have an immediate and significant impact on the way VET trainers realize diversity, equity and inclusion and will contribute major to the expansion of tolerance in the VET field.

Target Group

The target groups of the project are:

  • VET trainers that will be trained through the workshops
  • VET students that will gain from the training of their trainers
  • The local community that will widen its tolerance against diversity
  • The European community that will a gain an important tool for its war against discriminations.
  • “Marginalized people”, schools, realities of the education world.
  • Consultants, ministries, stakeholders, influencers, decision-makers, families, etc.