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Meeting, Gdask, Poland

May 21 22, 2009

Leonardo da Vinci Partnership Project2008 - 2010

Building the Best2008 - 1 - EE1 LEO 04 - 00067 6

On Wednesday the 21st of May 2009, the meeting of the Leonardo da Vinci ProjectBuilding the Best as written in the work schedule took place in Gdansk, at PanstwoweSzkoy Budownictwa. Organizations represented included Jrva County Vocational

Training Center Estonia, Panstwowe Szkoly Budownictwa Poland; Lepido RoccoAssociation - Italy and Wisamar GbR Germany. Not present was N.E.T Association Italy and Institute for Support of Education and Entrepreneurship BONUM - Poland.

The headmaster of Panstwowe Szkoy Budownictwa opened the conference and MonikaBiekowska, the school representative provided an overview of the meetings programand gave a short presentation about the host organization, since it was not present atthe first transnational conference in Estonia.

She presented teaching methods used by vocational education teachers at PanstwoweSzkoy Budownictwa including: project methods, a multimedia presentation (the slidesshow), lecture methods using construction models. She talked about ways of consolidating practical skills by showing films and slides of the construction site andabout professional tours, but was limited to showing existing facilities, new settlementsetc. at the building site . At PSB students can attend additional lessons in order toconsolidate and enhance knowledge, solve issues that go beyond the curriculum andsolve tasks in various fields of construction. Teachers conduct after class training inpreparation for the exam. During such classes students solve tasks tests and engage inpractical discussions on specific subjects. The last three months before the exam aredevoted to review of the entire material.

Another issue Monika reported on were the positive and negative aspects of the currenteducational system as seen by practicing teachers and vocational trainers. The mostimportant information from this presentation is summarized below.

The cons of the vocational education system:

In the case of unemployment, inexperienced workers are not in demand becausethere are already professional workers in the job market seeking employment;

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The pay level for an inexperienced worker is relatively low (4%). He works for 3years practically for free. This situation doesnt encourage workers to get aprofession;

That is why most students choose a general education, because there are noobligatory enrolment points (except at very famous comprehensive schools);

The system is lacking in investment. The lack of workshops, those which exist atschool are at a low level in comparison with advanced technologies in the jobmarket. A student faces the same problem at work. Equipment in small firms israther poor;

The educational period is very long and as a result it is very expensive (3 years vocational school, 4 years technical school);

The possibility for changing the profession after such long time of education isdifficult from the human psyche point of view; it is very expensive and time-consuming.

The pros

The educational system for professions is carried out in two ways: schooleducation and education as a trainee. Because of this there is higher educationalcompetitiveness and more possibilities for a student to make a choice in the kindof education they desire;

Students of the present educational system have acquired a good education fromboth a professional and general point of view. This allows them to retrain (thestudents of the evening classes) and adjust themselves to job market conditions.

Partners visited school workshops to learn more about practice and trainingapplications. Students acquire practice on school premises and later attend practicein construction companies. They can also acquire knowledge and are trained inspecific sectors of construction, for example: BRASS - tiles and their installation,ICOPALL asphalt roofing - applying the latest technologies. After such training theygain a certificate that makes it easier for them to find a job .

At school workshops three partnering construction enterprises shared informationabout the schools student apprenticeship program as carried out in enterprises, andgave information on new technologies, machinery, and training practices.Presentations were conducted by construction enterprises where PSB teachersreceive on-going training : BRASS, KNAUF, GEBERIT. These enterprises equip theworkshops to enable students to learn new technologies and solutions in differentconstruction fields.

Discussion between participants lasted throughout the conference. They hadadditional time to share their point of view concerning vocational education system inPoland.

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The second day of the Gdask meeting was devoted to visits at a cooperating firm inorder to learn about new machines used at the construction site. These machinesare often presented to students during the school day, during which time they learnhow to operate them. The second destination was Szymbark, which is the best placefor students to make a vocational trip not only to learn how to build wooden houses,but also to see the Guinness record the longest board in the world and the housestanding on the roof.

A cultural program was held every evening and consisted of a tour of Old Town inGdask and a tour of Sopot.

Below is a summary concentrating on 7 main points agreed during the FirstTransnational Conference in Paide, Estonia:

1. apprenticeship system

2. level of cooperation between schools and firms3. connection with construction unions4. training of enterprise trainers5. teaching materials/curriculum6. continuing education program for teachers to gain new skills7. feedback loop

The apprenticeship system is carried out in two ways: at the school workshops and inenterprises. The problem that students face is that the apprenticeship carried out insmall firms are often not well equipped. Not every school can boast about its ownworkshops; they are too expensive for local authorities. This is the reason why someschools use its private connections to encourage well known construction enterprises toinvest in the equipment at school workshops. For companies it is also advantageous asthey can prepare students to use the companys own technologies. They also carry outtraining for vocational trainers to ensure that the student will be well taught how to usethe machines and technologies properly. In this way they are sure to gain a qualifiedworker in the future without much expenditure.

The connection with construction unions is very limited and the representatives serveonly as advisers in some issues.

Nowadays the curriculum in vocational secondary schools is overloaded. During thewhole education, which lasts 4 years, the students are learning over 30 subjects andspend 8 or 9 hours a day at school; and every subject is important from the teacherspoint of view.

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Teachers who want to gain new skills have only to apply for an appropriate trainingcarried out either by the construction enterprise or educational institution and fill in aform to get the refund from school (local authorities), a minimum of 50%.

During the third meeting organized in Gdansk we learned about teaching methods andtraining practices. We had an opportunity to learn the points of view of experiencedteachers and vocational trainers. We could see that the school premises are not the onlyplace where you can learn. Close connections with construction enterprises can be onlyan advantage.

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