Best Practices in the Development of Transversal Competences among Youths in Vulnerable Situations

Abstract

(1) Background: The aim of Second Chance Schools (E2Cs) is to provide employment-focused training for young people who left compulsory education without any formal qualifications by encouraging them to pursue initial vocational training. Transversal Competences (TCs) are important for enabling the social inclusion of young people in vulnerable situations by promoting their entry into the labour market. However, TCs are not always systematically developed. The objective of this study is to analyse good practices in inculcating these skills in this group of young people. (2) Methods: In-depth case studies were conducted in six best-practice schools. The following methods were used in the studies: questionnaires to school; a checklist to analyse the teaching materials used: an interview with the people responsible for the programme; an interview with students; and a questionnaire to representatives from the business sector. (3) Results: The six E2Cs attached great importance to TCs, which were taught specifically through a student-centred, active, varied and collaborative methodology that was periodically reviewed and adapted to students’ needs. TCs were evaluated before, during, and after the process was completed. (4) Conclusions: The results identified specific key elements for promoting the development of TCs that could be transferred to other schools and, consequently, could have implications for education policies in this field.

“Laying bricks to build integrated career guidance plans”: Best practices in vocational education and training in Andalusia, Spain

“…Future research should use other complementary strategies to identify good practices, as well as using complementary information gathering procedures (interviews with different stakeholders, focus groups, analysis of documents and productions produced by the centres). We consider that the findings of Villardón-Gallego et al (2020) in their review of six E2Os (Second Chance Schools) in which several key aspects were identified that could be useful for the development of transversal competencies, would be extensible to the development of career competencies in VET as a whole and open avenue for future research. We look at these experiences, considering that they cater for young people who have dropped out of school prior to completing their education.…”

“…We consider that the findings of Villardón-Gallego et al (2020) in their review of six E2Os (Second Chance Schools) in which several key aspects were identified that could be useful for the development of transversal competencies, would be extensible to the development of career competencies in VET as a whole and open avenue for future research. We look at these experiences, considering that they cater for young people who have dropped out of school prior to completing their education.…”

Students’ Perception of Elementary School Teachers’ Competency: Indonesian Education Sustainability

“…In addition, social skills can be seen in empathy, leadership, emotional control, assertiveness, and proactivity [41]. Social skills in the career and work performance influence the design of educational curricula, and social skills in the general public as citizens influence general compulsory education and post-compulsory education [42].…”

Egalitarian Dialogue Enriches Both Social Impact and Research Methodologies

“…This fact is an essential step in the research process for achieving social impact. Under this approach, participants participate in the interpretation and discussion of findings through an egalitarian dialogue (Villardón-Gallego et al, 2020). The use of transformative and exclusionary dimensions of analysis in the Communicative Methodology allows for an in-depth analysis of social inequalities and the detection of new potential social problems by identifying barriers and difficulties.…”