Quality Area 15: Sustainability in VET

The checklist to sustainability in VET

This product is financed by European Commision, Leonardo da Vinci Program 2012-2014 and reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

Introduction This checklist has been developed in the SustainVET project (Sustainable Quality in Vocational Education and Training) which is funded under the EU Lifelong Learning Program (https://sustainvet.wordpress.com/). This project supports the implementation/ use of the European Quality Assurance Reference Framework through the use of self-assessment and peer review in the quality assurance process of VET organisations.

In close cooperation between VET and the world of work the project has developed a set of quality criteria for “Sustainability in VET” that can be used for initial and continuous training of VET teachers, trainers, tutors and VET institution managers as well as for transnational peer reviews.

This checklist is one component of this approach. It is a working document subject to regular reviews and can be used as a résumé of “where you are” when you’re preparing the self-report for a peer review. The checklist can be used as an action list as well.

Goal The goal of this checklist is: • to open discussions within your organisation of how to make your organizations processes, structures and results more sustainable.

• to make you aware on the variety of indicators and the numerous decisions you can take every day towards more sustainability.

• to help you find your own definition of sustainability in VET.

Who should use the checklist?

In order to work with this checklist efficiently, it is recommended that • the management team needs to be involved initially to ensure that the organisation “buys in” to the process.

• the checklist should be used throughout the organisation as it allows everyone, no matter in what position, to recognize and contribute to the discussion and – even more important – action!

This checklist is designed for Vocational Education and Training organisations but the SustainVET project believes it can also be applied to other types of sectors.

How to use the checklist?

It is advisable to take into account the following aspects when you intend to use this checklist: • • • •

Get “buy-in” from across the organisation.

Clearly state what you are doing and why.

Set deadlines for responses.

Set up monitoring and evaluation processes. It needs regular reviews – this is not something that is just ticked and done with but remains a “living” document. Review the responses: o YESES: Check if they are still in place and that changes have happened. o NOES: What should be done? Put in place working agreements to address the issues with follow ups.

Working with booklet has the advantage that you can maintain an overview of the large number of different choices.

Your Checklist for Sustainability in Vocational Education and Training Planning and decision-making Has your organisation explicit and specific ethical policies for sustainability coherent with its organisational vision?

Does the decision making of executives and staff members take into consideration all dimensions of sustainability (ecological, social and economical aspects)?

Are your ecological, social and economical aspects of equal value?

Is specific personnel charged with interpreting and integrating European, national, regional and local policies into the organization’s planning process?

Do regional development activities or tenders include relevant criteria and indicators for sustainability?

Do your training concepts include relevant criteria and indicators for sustainability?

Are your stakeholders consulted as part of the planning and decision-making process by active networking?

Are the needs of your different customer groups (such as young people, adults, apprentices, immigrants, special needs students, unemployed job-seekers, workplaces) taken into account when making decisions concerning teaching?

Are your services based on individual needs?

Is the promotion of sharing integrated in the policy of your VET organisation?

Yes

No

Comments / Your organisation’s evidence

Your Checklist for Sustainability in Vocational Education and Training Finances Are your revenues and expenses well balanced?

Has your organization reserve assets for at least 6 months?

Are your organisations sources of income diversified (customers, public funds, membership dues, private donations, charity donations etc)?

Do you have diverse clients (no client with more than 30% turnover)?

Does a 3-years-annual program exist including the 3-years-budget?

Did you build up a network (of customers, groups, associations, trainers/teachers, other VET-providers, politicians etc) for being able to deal resiliently with a potential crisis?

Do your organizations properties have a low demand on renovations?

Yes

No

Comments / Your organisation’s evidence

Your Checklist for Sustainability in Vocational Education and Training Curricula Does your Senior Management Team communicate to all staff its vision on the embedding of sustainable development into all areas of the curriculum?

Does your Senior Management Team give a mandate to curriculum leaders to implement sustainable development?

Do your curricula promote sustainable development?

Do your curricula include values and principles that are the basis of sustainable development: sense of community, equality, prevention of social exclusion, intergenerational equity, gender parity, social tolerance, poverty reduction, environmental protection and restoration, natural resource conservation, and just and peaceful societies?

Do your staff members feel that their contributions to the embedding of sustainable development into the curriculum are valued?

Do your curricula mirror the real demand on the job market and employer needs?

Do your curricula include key competences?

Do your curricula bring theory and practice together to ensure they meet employer and employees requirements?

Are your curricula future-proving, are they flexible and adaptable to future needs?

Yes

No

Comments / Your organisation’s evidence

Your Checklist for Sustainability in Vocational Education and Training Learning & Teaching1 Does your organization promote interactivity within the learning process to stimulate interest and thus sustainability?

Does your organization promote sharing within the learning process to stimulate interest and thus sustainability?

Are your learners encouraged to suggest developments in resources and to take part in creating learning objects and processes?

Does your organization encourage the use of small learning objects which can be re-utilized more easily in other pedagogical contexts?

Are traditional as well as digital forms of learning and teaching used according to the teaching objectives?

Have your learners and teachers/trainers access to different reusable digitized learning -media and materials?

Are your learning processes supported by use of media?

Are your learning processes outcome-oriented?

1 Additional criteria and indicators for e-learning are described in the e-learning-checklist!

Yes

No

Comments / Your organisation’s evidence

Your Checklist for Sustainability in Vocational Education and Training Learning & Teaching Are your learning processes highly practice-oriented?

Are your learning processes highly activity-oriented?

Are your learning processes highly transfer-oriented?

Are your learners’ objectives compared to teaching objectives?

Do your learning processes aim in various directions?

Do your educational processes include informal learning?

Do you have room for self-directed and self-controlled learning?

Are your learning groups heterogeneous (with respect to religion, gender, IQ, etc.)?

Yes

No

Comments / Your organisation’s evidence

Your Checklist for Sustainability in Vocational Education and Training Evaluation of teaching and learning results Are your learning results based on individual increase of learning, not on class averages?

Are your formative and summative evaluation methods applied separately?

Is there enough room for your evaluation-free processes?

Are individual degrees / certificates possible?

Are your skills-oriented evaluation methods applied to value key-competences and social skills as well, not only knowledge?

Does your learning meet the needs of employers as well employees in the workplace?

Yes

No

Comments / Your organisation’s evidence

Your Checklist for Sustainability in Vocational Education and Training Resources: Energy / CO2 Is your learning venue /education venue easy to reach by public transportation?

Is a transport policy in operation relating to your staff and students to further reduce carbon emissions and conserve energy as well as a more pleasant sustainable environment?

Does your organization have a travel plan?

Are your business trips compensated (e.g. by https://www.atmosfair.de/en/home/ )?

Are your carbon emissions reduced through energy conservation measures in terms of building construction, insulation, regular maintenance / checks and other housekeeping activities?

Are your consumable goods (especially paper) used sparingly?

Do you use regular checks on the use of lighting, ventilation, water heating and electronic equipment to ensure minimum wastage?

Are your CO2-neutral severs used?

Is your electrical equipment chosen for its energy efficiency?

Are your new buildings constructed energy efficiently?

Yes

No

Comments / Your organisation’s evidence

Your Checklist for Sustainability in Vocational Education and Training Resources: Venue Is your learning venue/education venue barrier-free and accessible for handicapped persons (e.g. with wheel chairs or blind persons)?

Do you have a transport policy in operation relating to your staff and students to further reduce carbon emissions and conserve energy as well as a more pleasant sustainable environment?

Are local historical and cultural aspects considered in your learning venue/education venue?

Is your learning venue decentralized?

Is your education coming to the participants?

Are your informal learning venues are used regularly?

Are they regarded just as highly as your official formal place of learning?

Are your digital learning venues frequented just as much as traditional ones?

Are your CO2-neutral learning venues used whenever possible?

Is your building variable in its design and use?

Are constructional changes possible?

Are your beauty, aesthetics, colour and quality of equipment considered?

Yes

No

Comments / Your organisation’s evidence

Your Checklist for Sustainability in Vocational Education and Training Resources: Rooms Are your rooms safe working environments for students and personnel?

Is the size of your rooms adequately proportional to the number of learners and their learning objectives?

Are local historical and cultural aspects considered in your learning venue/education venue?

Do your rooms offer light, air, warmth (no basements, no humidity)?

Is your building is in a good state of repair (no delays in maintenance, no graffiti, etc)?

Is your room variable in its design and use?

Are constructional changes possible?

Resources: Catering Are regional products used?

Are seasonal products used?

Are local historical and cultural aspects considered in learning venue/education venue?

Are no or little meat products used?

Are organic products (milk, cheese, eggs) used?

Are FairTrade products (e.g. coffee and tea) used?

Yes

No

Comments / Your organisation’s evidence

Your Checklist for Sustainability in Vocational Education and Training Resources: Waste Do you have a waste management system and conservation policies in place (and acted upon) based on the 4R-approach (reduce, re-use, recycle, repair)?

Is your waste divided?

Does a plan for waste reduction exist and do is it evaluated regularly?

Does decommissioning of redundant buildings take place with minimum landfill?

Resources: Equipment Is your equipment safe for users?

Is your equipment in appropriate condition?

Is newly bought electric equipment chosen for its energy efficiency (e.g. devices with “Blauer Engel” label and other labels)?

Do you use Open Source software?

Is newly bought furniture chosen for its material, place of production and processing: • regionality (e.g. home-grown instead of tropical wood)?

• wood from FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) stock?

• production under social aspects (e.g. in workshops for the handicapped or from other places for the disadvantaged)?

Is sharing a basic principle: • sharing of offices and conference rooms?

• sharing of equipment: printer, pc, beamer?

• sharing of cars or bikes?

Yes

No

Comments / Your organisation’s evidence

Your Checklist for Sustainability in Vocational Education and Training Resources: Vocational Education and Training System All people have access to education, learning and training.

Does your system support the transition between different educational systems (e. g. school change, access to universities, work-based learning)?

Does your system support learners irrespective of background by providing appropriate support to sustain them in their learning (e. g. single parents, people caring for older family members, people with disabilities)?

Have your VET providers defined co-operation with business life, other sectors of the world of work and other partners and its objectives as part of their strategy or other strategic plans?

Does your entrance qualification for all learning and training – including universities – also cover informally and non-formally acquired competences / records?

Is learning by practical experience equally accepted?

Are individualised courses of education possible?

Is socially sustainable development promoted by attending to the well-being and equality of staff and students, strengthening a sense of community and preventing exclusion and discrimination as well as mental and physical violence?

Is the drop-out rate low?

Yes

No

Comments / Your organisation’s evidence

Your Checklist for Sustainability in Vocational Education and Training People Is there a human resource management (HRM) that takes care of the employees starting from the recruitment process, including motivation systems, well-being, equality, gender mainstreaming and salaries?

Is there a HRM that looks out for suitable candidates and personnel loyalty (no demotivators, respect/ approval, good motivation systems)?

Is socially sustainable development promoted by attending to the well-being and equality of staff and students, strengthening a sense of community and preventing exclusion and discrimination?

Are all personnel in an adequate employment situation with the educational provider (period of contract, job characteristics) according to the national situation?

Is all personnel fairly paid?

Are all educating personnel appropriately qualified according to national standards?

Does all educating personnel have good field competence for their area of teaching / supporting learning?

Does all educating personnel have pedagogical competence?

Yes

No

Comments / Your organisation’s evidence

ACTION When you have completed the checklist

Once you have completed the checklist you’ll have an overview of the criteria already achieved in the organisation and those which are still on the list.

An action checklist is something to work on inside your organisation. In order to have a successful effort, the following elements are worth considering: • Share and communicate the aims, objectives, the work and the results throughout the organisation.

• It may sound obvious but focus on the e-learning activities. Do not be distracted • It is not just the number of yeses that indicate whether you are a sustainable e-learning organisation. Some questions are more important than others but you need to highlight those in the context of your organisations (for example, the availability of the internet or size of bandwidth).

• Above all remember that this should be used to open the discussion in your organisation not to provide definitive answers. It will help highlight the key issues.

• Adopt a “Nibble” strategy. Do not go for Big Wins but address, initially, those areas which can be most easily and effectively changed. Start small and build.

• Start small and build. Your success will whet your appetite for more.

Let’s Go!

This checklist was created within the SustainVET-project by the following consortium of partners PERSPEKTIVwechsel – Institut für Bildung und Beratung Hofaue 54 – 42103 Wuppertal – Germany Phone: +49 202 / 5158 1426 bluemcke@perspektiv-wechsel.de http://pwprojects.wordpress.com Belgian Network for Open & Digital Learning Kongostraat 7 – 9000 Gent – Belgium Phone: +32 (0)9 265 49 04 info@be-odl.org http://www.be-odl.org/ Ylä-Savo Vocational College Asevelikatu 4 –74100 Iisalmi – Finland Phone: +358 (0)400 827 251 Niina.Puumalainen@ysao.fi http://www.ysao.fi/In_English.iw3

EFFICIO Nawojowska 7 – 33-300 Nowy Sacz – Poland Phone: +48 605 087 530 efficiopoland@gmail.com http://www.efficio.pl

MRS Consultancy Ltd 5 Bedale Road, Well, Bedale North Yorkshire, DL8 2PX, United Kingdom Phone: +44 (0) 5602 099019 info@mrsconsultancy.com http://www.mrsconsultancy.com/