SMART – Second Chance Schools Working with Systematic Measurement of Outcomes is a project funded by the European Commission in the framework of Erasmus+ Key Action 2 Strategic Partnerships for Adult Education. The project promoted the development of a quality measurement system, the Systematic Measurement System (SMS), for providers of non-formal and informal learning so as to enable them to evidence their success factors, enhancing the quality and relevance of learning offers in education, training and youth work. The SMS is an online platform that will make it possible to create questionnaires to fill in order to evaluate the learners’ soft skills that the teacher/trainer would like to measure.
Within the SMART project, two a training modules for teachers and youth workers were held: the first one organized by LCETB in Ennis, Ireland, from 4th to 8th of April, and the second one, organized by CESIE in Palermo from the 18th April to the 22nd. During the training event in Palermo, the SMART project and the SMS were presented to professionals using non-formal teaching and training methods, aiming at understanding how informal learning can be evidenced and justified through self-monitoring and self-evaluation, using a bottom-up approach to monitoring and evaluation of the teaching and learning process.
The training was delivered by trainers from CESIE, Euricon (Netherlands), and Esbjerg Ungdomsskolen (Denmark), and it was structured in seven sessions: Introduction to the SMART project and Initiation to the reflective practice and how to structure the reflecting process, the use of the logic model created during the project in order to identify the strategic objectives and outcomes, collection and use of the data gained through the SMS, use of the SMS online platform, implementation of the SMS in a school or an organisation using non-formal education, and evaluation of the week of training. The training was supported by one of the project outputs, the “Teacher’s handbook”, a guideline for teachers and trainers that allowed them to reflect on the knowledge they gained throughout the week.
This training was a chance for participants to acquire new theoretical knowledge and practical tools to measure soft skills, to develop their critical thinking skills, to be able to bring and manage change within their own organisations, to be able to implement a new system in a school/organization, to develop their problem solving skills, and to use the newly-acquired tools in their teaching process.
The next and final meeting of the project will be held in Copenhagen on 30th of May 2016, followed by the final multiplier event on 31st of May 2016. For further information, please, visit the project website:
www.edu-smart.eu, like us on Facebook or write to: francesca.vacanti@cesie.org
