Title of the project: workABLE -developing competences of adult educators to support the employment of persons with mental disabilities
Funding program: Erasmus +
Description:
The right of people with disabilities to be integrated into working life and to be an active part of the production world is stated and regulated by European laws and the Italian state. The integration process can be truly respectful of the dignity of the disabled person, only if a full satisfaction of both the worker and his employer is pursued. In Europe there is a lack of specific training /curricula for programme in Job Coaching of persons with
intellectual disabilities, which require wide and specific range of skills.
The objective of the project will be thus the development of a pedagogy on “Job Coaching for people with mental disabilities», which will result from the capitalization of previous experiences in Europe and of the reference model of the Individual Placement Support (developed at the New Hampshire Dartmouth Psychiatric Research Center, US) on the one hand and from the specific expertise of the participating organizations in dealing with PMD social inclusion from different perspectives on the other hand.
The methodology developed will represent an extension and an adaptation to the European context of the US “Supported Employment” approach and which will update the competencies and skills of adult educators, mentors and job coaches and provide them with a sound pedagogical tool.
The project will lay foundation for the definition of educational contents and learning outcomes in order to upgrade these modules, after the project completion, into a new VET Curriculum.
Therefore in the long term the project will contribute to the creation of a workforce of qualified “Job Coaches “, whose skills are recognized and able to operate at European level.
Overall objective
Strengthening capacities of adult educators/mentors working with persons with mental disabilities (PMD) to offer supportive, tailored and effective support to PMD to gain autonomy, self-confidence and enter the labour market;
Specific objective:
- Development of training modules and mentoring methods (in particular addressed to adult educators/mentors, coaches, as well as to people graduated in Educational Science or similar majors
and people working in the field of support to people with intellectual disabilities) in “Job coaching for people with mental disabilities”. - Launch of a pilot open source training with the support of ICT tool: the workABLE platform will gater the realised training modules and will offer a track of task-based mentoring support for adult educators having completed the modules which can support real life work on training-on the job in Job Coaching for PMD. They will have access to a monitoring tool with indication of the different phases of Job Coaching for PMD and relative tasks and they will be supported in their completion.
Results: - New training course launched for adult educators
- Acquisition /improvement of new transversal skills which will enable the adult educators to accompany persons with mental disability – PMD into the job market.
In particular: - -recognition of PMD skills and aptitudes;
- -identification of the most effective approach to train the detected skills;
- liaise with employers and job offers;
- accompany and prepare the PMD to the impact with the employment;
- Improved self-confidence and autonomy among PMD;
- Increased number of PMD in the labour market;
Activities : - Analysis and assessment of the needs in terms of support of PMD;
- Analysis and assessment of gaps of knowledges among trainers and mentors working with PMD;
- Analysis and assessment of employers/ private sector needs in terms of support in recruiting PMD;
- Design of training modules for the adult educators and development of the workABLE platform;
- Launch of a pilot blended training;
- Design of an impact evaluation tool for the training;
- Improvement and dissemination of the course.
Duration: 1/09/2019-30/8/2021
Website: https://workableproject.eu/
Partner organisations:
OZARA storitveno in invalidsko podjetje d.o.o.
Pro ACT Suport
SYNTHESIS CENTER FOR RESEARCH AND EDUCATION LIMITED
GRIFO MULTIMEDIA SRL
