About
What is 'PADAWAN Generation'?
The PADAWAN GENERATION project is designed to benefit VET learners (improving quality & relevance of their soft skills through training), business (improving trainees’ competencies) and society (promoting youth employability).
The main objective is to develop new protocols / methodologies among the different actors that participate in work-based learning in the hospitality sector (apprentice, company tutor and VET trainer) aimed at improving the employability of young people from different countries, especially those with lower qualifications, and focusing on the special characteristics of the hospitality sector.
The innovative methodology of the PADAWAN project is, on the one hand, to make the apprentice a proactive person during his/her apprenticeship in the company and throughout his/her life; facilitating a virtual space where he/she can structure and organize all online resources availability in internet with different training contents in the world of hospitality and providing soft competences to apply in his/her workplace. On the other hand, the PADAWAN project proposes an innovative methodology in the way in which the VET trainer and company tutor of the company interact when monitoring and evaluating the apprentice's learning both in the training center and in the workplace, facilitating a personalized virtual space for each training itinerary and where all the comments to the training plan of each one of the apprentices are registered in a simple and visual way.
Why and for whom is “PADAWAN Generation” relevant?
All existing studies that include elements of VET-business cooperation show that the link between the world of education and the world of work is one important axis for VET-quality and attractiveness.
And more specifically, Work-based learning and apprenticeships are at the core of VET, where the systematic cooperation between VET schools and companies is one of the identified principles to ensure high performing apprenticeships and work-based learning. The PADAWAN project develops a useful tool to facilitate cooperation and communication between VET providers and companies: the Collaborative virtual environment – European Apprenticeship School PADAWAN. Due to the expertise of the participating organizations, we have specifically addressed the hospitality sector in the PADAWAN project, but the software and methodology developed in this project can be exported to other sectors where education is work-based learning.
According to this description the following target groups can benefit from the results developed in this project:
- Educational institutions offering training according to work-based learning systems
- Culinary and restaurant as well as hospitality businesses
- Young people and unemployed persons interested in hospitality sector
- Professional associations of the hospitality sector
- Policy-makers with emphasis on VET, particularly work-based learning systems
Which ones are the activities to implement within 'PADAWAN Generation'?
The planned activities are divided into 2 phases (preparation and exploitation) with several activities incorporating consecutively as research and analysis, design and development, testing and implementation, validation, communication and exploitation.
Activities during the Preparation phase: Implementation of 3 deliverables
- Output 1: Collaborative virtual environment – European Apprenticeship School PADAWAN and PADAWAN Community;
- Output 2: Transversal training module for the development of SOFT key-competences in hospitality sector;
- Output 3: Handbook for company tutors in hospitality sector to face the training process and to have a clear vision of their role and their tasks
- 4 national conferences for promoting the deliverables in Spain, Italy, Germany and Bulgaria
- 1 mobility – Short-term joint staff training event with 12 international and 6 local participants