"<< Background >>According OECD report Education at a Glance 2020, in 2018 young teachers (below the age of 30) only account for a small proportion of the teaching population: 10% in lower secondary and 8% in upper secondary, on average across OECD countries. The pattern is particularly striking at the upper secondary level in Project countries - in Lithuania 3,03%, Czech Republic 4,06%, in Latvia 7,8% and in lower secondary level only 3,66% in Lithuania, 7,71% in Latvia, 9,42% in Czech Republic are young teachers (below the age of 30) which is below OECD averages. The ageing of the teaching force has a number of implications for countries’ education systems. Competitive salaries, good working conditions and career development opportunities may have attracted young people to teaching in some countries or helped to retain effective teachers in others. In addition to prompting recruitment and training efforts to replace retiring teachers, it may also affect budgetary decisions.Young professionals are entering general education institutions, but their number is insufficient. This is confirmed by the data on the total length of service of teachers in the school. The results of the TALIS study show that about 13% of teachers have less than 5 years of experience, but twice as many teachers with 6 to 10 years of service. This means that a relatively large number of young professionals start working at school, but in the long run they do not continue to work as teachers. The problem have to be solved urgently and comprehensively, so that countries does not find themself in a situation where there will not be enough teachers in educational institutions.TALIS study in 2018 indicated that the reason for the drop-out of novice teachers is very likely due to insufficient support from the school administration and the municipality. In 2018 LIZDA made research “Evaluation of the Teacher Professional Support System” (n= 1258), and 69.3% of the respondents agree with the statement: “There is no unified and structured support system for novice teachers in Latvia”. The urgen need for building support systems for novice teachers are approved that only 29.2% of novice teachers are satisfied with professional support in an educational institution. This need is emphasized in Latvian education policy planning document ""Education development guidelines 2021-2027""(in Latvian- Izglītības attīstības pamatnostādnes 2021.-2027.gadam) where attracting of new teachers, thus ensuring constant generation of teachers is one of the three most important priority in general education. Priority will be supported by Strengthening a new teacher preparing system (new program, introduction of the year of induction) in 2021-2027. The same problems are facing project partner countries. Attracting new teachers and supporting those in teaching process in first years by building support system for novice teachers are main motivation of all partners organizations to participate in the project. There is need for best practices, experience sharing and knowledge transfer to all countries and organizations.<< Objectives >>Main objectives of the project are: 1) to develop support system framework for novice teachers based on their needs and stakeholders visions 2) to support education policy makers and implementers, novice teachers with information, tools and methods for improvement of support system for novice teachers<< Implementation >>1)Development of 4 country reports about needs of novice teachers in each country, existing support tools, legislation, policy, challenges, best practices, opportunities, conclusions,proposals for support system of novice teachers, surveys of novice teachers (at least 100 respondents per country), and surveys of policy makers and implementers at national level (at least 50 respondents per country) prepared each in ENG and translated to national language: LT, LV, CZ, PL;2) Development of comparative analyses on best practices, challenges, opportunities in ENG;3) development of framework for support system for novice teacher which will includes models: Model 1: Intervention on operative level; Model 2: Intervention on legislative level; Model 3: Path for the futureand themes: existing challenges, future steps, changes needed in legislation and roles of stakeholders in ENG,LT, LV, CZ, PL;4) Organizing national stakeholders discussions about different new models for at least 20 participants in each country (80 in total); 5) Digital handbook for novice teachers covering themes about duties and rights of teacher, social dialogue, the role of teachers in the future, soft skills, working environment with digital tools;6) development of training course ""Professionally supported novice teacher"";7) provided 3 day training of at least 40 trainers who will provide course ""Professionally supported novice teacher"" to novice teachers;8) organized training of course ""Professionally supported novice teacher"" for at least 20 novice teachers in each country (80 in total);9) prepared 2 videos covering theme ""The future prestige of the profession is in the hands of a professionally supported new teacher!"" in each country in national language (8 in total);10) develoment of Policy recommendations for support system for novice teacher at local, national and EU level, and country specific recommendations in ENG,LT, LV, CZ, PL;11) Dissemination activities: at least 12 project promotional events: 7 discussions, 1 final conference, 5 trainings, prepared and distributed 4 project newsletters and at least 8 publications in social media, EPALE, GAteway about project results, publicly accessible materials in all partners homepages, project newsletter distributed to project partners and stakeholders (target groups) four times in project;12) At least 8 project partners meetings, 7 steering board meetings; 13) national meetings, discussions, events with partners, experts and other stakeholders.<< Results >>Project results:1) 4 country reports about needs of novice teachers in each country, existing support tools, legislation, policy, challenges, best practices, opportunities, conclusions,proposals for support system of novice teachers prepared each in ENG and translated to national language: LT, LV, CZ, PL;2) Development of comparative analyses on best practices, challenges, opportunities in ENG;3) development of framework for support system for novice teacher which will includes models: Model 1: Intervention on operative level; Model 2: Intervention on legislative level; Model 3: Path for the futureand themes: existing challenges, future steps, changes needed in legislation and roles of stakeholders in ENG,LT, LV, CZ, PL;4) Digital handbook for novice teachers covering themes about duties and rights of teacher, social dialogue, the role of teachers in the future, soft skills, working environment with digital tools;5) Training course ""Professionally supported novice teacher"";6) Trained 40 trainers who will provide course ""Professionally supported novice teacher"" to novice teachers;7) Trained for at least 20 novice teachers in each country (80 in total) about course ""Professionally supported novice teacher""8) 2 videos covering theme ""The future prestige of the profession is in the hands of a professionally supported new teacher!"" in each country in national language (8 in total);9) Policy recommendations for support system for novice teacher at local, national and EU level, and country specific recommendations in ENG,LT, LV, CZ, PL;10) 7 discussions, 1 final conference, 5 trainings, 4 project newsletters, 8 publications in social mediaThese project results will directly support reaching project objectives - support system framework for novice teachers based on their needs and stakeholders visions wll be developed and recommendations, handbooks, training materials, articles will support education policy makers and implementers, novice teachers with information, tools and methods for improvement of support system for novice teachers as well will help building teachers trade unions capacity in discussions with policy makers in supporting project objectives."

The 2012 Council Recommendation on validation encourages the Member States to put in place national arrangements for validation by 2018. These arrangements will enable individuals to increase the visibility and value of their knowledge, skills and competencies acquired outside formal education and training: at work, at home or in voluntary activities. This project was designed on the request from the real need of partners from Lithuania, Italy, Portugal and Greece. Strong partners with even more solid experiences will share their products developed via PROFI-VNFIL not only nationally but also internationally. The VNFIL process is only starting in Europe, so the products which partners are determined to develop are high at EU agenda. Project participants and beneficiaries: VET/AL providers, learners, teachers, trainers and other professionals involved in VNFIL, policy makers, employment officers, guidance counselors, researchers, regional and national authorities, social partners. Aiming to ensure the professionalization and well functioning of the high-quality system of VNFIL, the project partners have set such objectives: 1. Development of quality digital self-evaluation and self-analysis tool (E-portfolio) for candidates; 2. Professionalization of the VNFIL process – Training Programme for the training of VNFIL professionals; 3. Advocating in society and establishing National Strategy Papers for VNFIL. Quality based education, as well as high-standard and effective training, LLL, up- and re-skilling will be the necessary tools for grasping the job opportunities of the future and fostering competitiveness. The importance to Europe of skilled and knowledgeable citizens extends beyond formal education to learning acquired in non-formal or informal ways. Appropriate validation of competencies acquired through non-formal and informal learning pathways (consisting of identification, documentation, assessment and certification) will bring their added value in the labour market. Short description of the results: 1. Compendium of existing innovative and effective validation practices and tools 2. E-portfolio for VNFIL candidates 3 Training programme for trainers /assessors, guidance counselors 4. National strategy papers (NSP) to support for VNFIL in VET Impact envisaged and the potential longer term benefits: Created tools will remain within the work culture of the organizations involved and will become a new way to implement strategic actions aiming at the building of efficient VNFIL systems. Self-evaluation and self-analysis, training tools will be available on the website and in the community of professionals. They can be used, replicated or adapted to new forms in unpredictable ways, reaching an indefinite number of people. The network of this project will also become a space where the organizations will be able to share its difficulties and its obtained results. Foreseen sustainability on the project: - Training program will be accredited. - E -portfolio will be used by partners and their networks even when the project will be finished. - National strategies and Compendium will be disseminated and use by the partners after the project end, to ensure VNFIL process professionalization. - All information will be published in partners' websites. - Project website with all intellectual outputs will be maintained by LETU at least 5 years.

<< Background >>Given the changed context of Information Society, the demands of early education in adapting to new digital environments have risen. The partners (trade union, ECE and Education and Training institutions, SME) have a mission to contribute to social development by enhancing early learners ability to generate new knowledge, also by supporting teachers to share and distribute best practices among ECEC communities and to find innovative ways to provide and utilize knowledge to further the prosperity of society. Sharing and strengthening the ECE sector teachers knowledge in ICT for the sake of the development of new and modern ways of teaching and learning by using animation is very helpful for pupils personal development. Training programs (in partners countries) could provide the opportunity for the creation of animation for ECE teachers. Also, teachers would be able to create material that will correspond to the existing educational program. The project aim is not to give a final product for the teacher but to encourage them to create individual ones. In this intellectual output, partners will create a Training program and training platform for ECEC teachers on how to create ICT based educational content with a special focus on the creation of animation.We believe in the power of ICT to motivate and challenge children, expand their perception of the world, their language and thinking, and develop their values as being indigenous. We see ICT as an important component of today’s learning process, particularly so in poor surroundings.Teachers should involve young children in activities (practices) that help children to learn how they can gradually become co-regulators of their own digital and cultural development. However, there are some obstacles: (1) pedagogically, despite acknowledgement of its value, ICT does not play a key role in the kindergarten teachers’ education philosophy; (2) didactically, ICT is used mainly as a source of information and for instructional illustration, rather than as a means to new teaching strategies; and (3) developmentally, computer use affects children’s social development, especially those with special needs, but not always positively. The main conclusion is that kindergarten teachers neither overcome these obstacles nor utilize ICT potential to its fullest; hence, teachers should be encouraged to participate in ICT-related professional training to understand the didactic opportunities ICT offers early childhood education and its developmentally related pros and cons and adopt innovative ICT-related pedagogies.Looking at researches and analyses from OECD and the European Commission, it is clear that there is a consensus at the policy level on the fact that Quality Assurance has to be at the centre of the political priorities for Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) in European countries. A lot remains to be done at the implementation level in terms of awareness-raising, development of methodologies and techniques for adequate Quality Assurance management, and competences required for monitoring and assessing the provision among educators, childminders, parents and families to reinforce the educational dimension of the services - too often treated as pure care.Project Target groups: ECE teachers and staff, ECE institutions, kids 4-7 y.o.Indirect target groups: parents, policymakers, continuous professional development institutions.<< Objectives >>Project Aim:Improve digitalization of ECE sector including the creation of animation content and strengthening the quality assurance.Objectives:•Find the best experiences of usage of ICT tools in ECE•Create a training program for ECE teachers on how to create digital content•Create a training program for ECE teachers on how to create animation•Create a training platform for ECE teachers•Provide training for ECE teachers, that they could create their games/tools•Create at least 40 examples of ICT based teaching tools•Create a digitalization framework for better implementation of the EU quality framework for ECEC.Intellectual outputs:•Good experience compendium of ICT tools in ECE sector;•Training program (including training platform) for ECE teachers how to create ICT based educational content with special focus on the creation of animation;•Quality Assurance Framework to assess how digital tools/resources affect the 5 Quality principles.<< Implementation >>Project will organize 4 multiplier events, 4 transnational project meetings also 2 short joint staff training events. Project activities and processes that will help to deliver the planned results:Project ManagementThis activity will be carried out by the Lead Partner from the approval of the project until some months after the end to prepare the final report for the National Agency. This activity will assure effective and smooth cooperation among partners, facilitate prevention and find solutions of possible problems. It will include monitoring of activities and impact assessment of the planned project results. We will use the project Handbook, Project meetings (face-to-face and via Zoom). Transnational meetings will have an important role in communication as the partners will be able to meet face to face and intensively and effectively solve issues that would otherwise take a long time if discussed virtually.Communication and Dissemination PlanThis activity will be coordinated by l/d Ruta which will produce the Dissemination Plan and present it during the Kickoff Meeting for all partners who will agree on it and make necessary adjustments if necessary. Moreover, all partners will have to prepare an annex to the Communication and Dissemination Plan reflecting their country specifics.Stakeholder CommitteesEach country will establish Stakeholder Committee with all relevant stakeholders including local authorities. These Committees will act as external advisers and evaluators for the project outcomes and will help to actively involve other organisations in the project.Risk Management PlanThis activity will be carried out by Quality Management and Evaluation committee, which will present the Plan during the Kick-off Meeting to all partners who will agree on it and make necessary adjustments if needed.National trainingAll partners will provide national training and prepare participants for the piloting.PilotingPiloting will help to test and improve created project outputs and to see how it works in real life.Quality management planThis activity will be carried out by QMEC. The internal evaluation and quality management of the project aim to assure the quality of implementation of the project tasks and results and ensure their continuous improvement.<< Results >>Project results:-Created compendium with god practices;-Created training program and platform for animation creation in ECEC;-Created quality assurance framework for digitalization in ECEC sector;-Created stakeholders committees in each partners country;-Created ICT tools (40);-National pieces of training in each partners country;-Two project piloting reports;-Two transnational joint staff training;-Project website;-Project social media page;-Logo contest;-ICT tools creation contest;-Project leaflets;-Increased ECEC teachers ICT tools;-Increased quality in ECEC partners organizations;-4 multiplier events.

"With the advent of social networks, the percentage of people who read content and who share or comment on it has increased dramatically, but unfortunately this participation has not gone hand in hand with an improvement in the ability to understand the text, in the sense of interpreting it, to be able to read between the lines by drawing up their own conclusions. This is clearly shown by the results of the OECD Pisa tests, which measure reading literacy in order to achieve one's goals, develop one's knowledge and potential and play an active role in society.There is an overload of information, there is still much that is unknown. Digital media allow for the spread of unverified “research” claims and the knowledge base itself is rapidly shifting as we learn more. The stage is set for disinformation and fake news.Education has an important role to play in helping students, teachers and indeed the broader public understand what evidence to trust.As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, so does the volume of related news information, leading to what has been called an “infodemic”. While the issues of misinformation (the spread of false information, regardless of whether there is an intent to deceive) and disinformation (the deliberate spread of false or misleading information with an intent to deceive) have been widely studied and discussed, COVID-19 throws into sharp relief the challenges and consequences of this important policy area. Disinformation and misinformation about COVID-19 is quickly and widely disseminated across the Internet, reaching and potentially influencing many people.The spread of disinformation framing minorities as the cause of the pandemic has fuelled animosity against ethnic groups, motivating a rise in discrimination and incidents of violence in what has been characterised as “coronaracism” (OECD 2020).To face this kind of misinformation, using logical arguments and ""classical"" training , do not seem to be effective strategies against fake news and fake fact that often using other languages, not always consistent and based on the principle of non-contradiction. For this reason this project intends to experiment other languages, always Youth based, to communicate and training on these topics:- Equipping VET trainers with a resource pack on digital practices and tools- Equipping trainees with digital tools, to detect fake news and to promote conscious use of social media, to stand against manipulation- Promoting equity and inclusion by facilitating conscious and critical access to media, social and digital contents, to vulnerable youth against manipulation and misinformation- Contrasting hate speech, racism, sexism, populism, misperception and misrepresentation tackling fake news, “coronaracism” phenomenon and “post-truth” on social mediaThe project will involve trainers from VET sector as well as trainees, also within local and trasnational exchanges and Advisory Groups, as we do believe in co-participation and co-design of new innovative practice in order to tackle disinformation. The project is developed transnationally as media literacy has no boarder. To contrast hate speech, European cooperation in this field enables us to ‘bring to life’ the concept of 'act local, think global' for young people, promoting European values in VET sectors, promoting active citizenship and social inclusion, media educated trainers and trainees able to detect and report fake news.The FAKE project involves 4 VET focused organisations and a technical digital partner from 5 European countries, working together over 24 months. Led by Eurocircle, the main providers of young people international mobilities in Provence Region, with partners from Italy, Germany, Lithuania and the UK, the results of FAKE arise from the co-design, test, validation and production of new curriculum and digital material for trainers and trainees in order to tackle fake news. FAKE is a complex project that will produce 3 substantial and innovative Intellectual Outputs and generate a range of sustainable results for the benefit of its participant organisations, VET trainers and trainees(1) A trainers resources pack, comprising a the most up to date learning material on digital practice and media literacy(2) A digital playground with 3 learning paths (beginner, intermediary, advanced) allowing for co-design and co-production of digital tools (visual novels) among trainers and trainees(3) An online Hackaton, in co-production aiming at deconstructing a maximum of fake news by creating the digital tools to do soAll 3 IOs will be punctuated by trainings: online webinars and local trainings and testing in order to give participants all knowledge to be able to co-design the tools A series of other concrete results accompany the IOs, including:- a transnational joint staff ‘train the trainer’ event - a transnational small exchange for VET trainees- 4 TPMs- 4 multilplier events- a final international conference"

<< Objectives >>The aim of PATHWAYS is to foster a holistic or whole approach to children’s wellbeing through high-quality ECEC services that have the capacity to create inclusive, digital and green environments. The vision is that of acknowledging the uniqueness of each child and who is considered to be an active member of the community. The key message is that “ECEC services can complement the family and offer support as well as additional opportunities to parents and children” (Key Principles, 2014).<< Implementation >>Partners will respond to the need of developing high-quality ECEC systems by 1. enhancing ECEC professionals’ skills and competences to promote parents’ empowerment and engagement in children's education, 2. designing learning activities that foster the inclusion of all children and their holistic development,3. creating synergies with the professional community that gravitates around early childhood development based on cooperation, trust, and solidarity.<< Results >>PAVING THE WAY: online Training Curriculum to improve skills and competences of ECEC professionals in collaborating with parents/guardians;PATHWAYS FOR EDUCATORS AND PARENTS: Compendium of learning activities – a collection of 30 activities to be piloted in 4 countries by ECEC professionals and parents;LESSONS ON THE WAY: Impact Assessment Report analysing the data on the piloting;MULTIPLYING PATHWAYS on how stakeholders can further support the meaningful cooperation between the 2 actors.