Summary
The aim of the project is to develop a process for
quality improvement and enhancement of learner
experience in a workplace environment within the
hospitality and food sectors across Europe
Workplace training is becoming increasingly important in
Europe workforce development plans, vocational education
and training curricula and lifelong learning strategies.
The hospitality and food sectors are dynamic industries
of importance tot the economic development of the
partner countries and they are reliant on the flow of
people with the right competences to deliver products
and services to a high standard. The flow of people from
business to business and country to country is
increasing the need for transparency of qualifications.
Industry and education partners recognise the need to
work together to improve the quality of workplace
training. This project therefore seeks to identify
general quality indicators for vocational education from
which it will develop a set of specific quality
indicators for the workplace learning community. This
project propose a collaboration among partners from
industry and education sectors within five partner
countries to address quality and transparency by
creating a common set of tools and evaluating them.
Key stakeholders from industry and education have
acknowledged the need for better quality workplace
learning and better quality trainers from within
industry. However, a process to deal with both does not
currently exist. To date, much of the workplace learning
has been measured quantitatively but has not addressed
qualitative and support issues. If workplace learning is
to become more valuable then trainers and learners will
require a set of tools to support them in key areas
which to date have not been addressed by traditional
workplace training. Quality indicators such as personal
development, learning purpose and context, rights and
obligations, cultural tolerance and self-evaluation are
examples of areas that have not been effectively
addressed in workplace learning. Communication between
trainer and learner is an essential part of the process.
The process will follow a series of stages: initial des
research to establish existing workplace learning
practices; creation of quality indicators and a
guidebook for trainers and learners; production of a
training programme for identified trainers,
implementation of a pilot study to test the process,
evaluation, amendment and launch of final product.
A set of criteria will be produced for the selection of
trainers. A specific training programme will be
developed and implemented to enable trainers to deliver
the identified quality indicators. The guide both for
learners and workplace learners will cover the essential
quality indicators and ensure effective communication
between trainer and learner. The pilot study will be
made in each of the partner countries to test the
process; The project will be disseminated among local
and national government agencies and industry
representatives within each of the partner countries.
By achieving the aims of the project a number of
positive outcomes are envisaged as follows:
-
A product which can be adopted by other industry
sectors
-
Increased motivation and empowerment for the learner
-
A set of standardised quality indicators which will
promote transparency of competences among employers
across Europe
-
Improved quality of workforce skills and competences
in the food and hospitality sector.
-
Improved image of the food and hospitality sector as
attractive career choice.
-
Greater number of recruits attracted to the
vocational education sector
-
Improved industry-education links
-
Better retention rats in both industry and education
-
The formation of new relationships among partners
could generate new developments in the future.
-
Dissemination of the project results to government
organisations and industry representatives could
encourage greater support for workplace learning in
each of the partner countries.
-
Contribution to the economic development and
competitiveness of the partner countries
|