EMMT

Dissemination conference

Participants:
Steering Committee: Marian de Villenueva ES, Alan Ormerod UK, Ole Holst DK, Louise Rosthøj DK
Expert Committee: Jorge Luengo ES, Wilhelm Kirsch DE, Miroslav Nikolov BG, Piotr Dudek PL, Kim von Bülow DK
Course participants: Rasa Zygmantaite LT, Michal Hampala CZ, Ove Jensen DK, Anna Drzewicka PL.
Guests: Albert Schweigert DE, Rotislav Smid CZ, Udo Lut NL, Richard van der Molen NL

1) Welcome/Louise Rosthøj, project manager

2) A brief survey of the project/Ole Holst, project co-ordinator
The main aims of the project are to set up guidelines for a teacher to become a manager and a transition from market orientation to managerial professionalism. The concept is that it is a special task being a manager in a teaching organisation vs. in a trade company. We create a competence profile of the future manager, but not in the American style with total focus on the bottom line. The project builds on common European values and gives a balanced model: room for all/education and training for all. The experts set up a number of competences based on mutual European agreement as VET differs a lot in the countries. A new concept was introduced: the managers must be open minded. They should not blindly follow dictations of the ministry, but be open for the needs of the society (markets, industry) which they serve. So we talk about a constant change and a need to adapt to new conditions.
Ole Holst went through the ways the seminars were built up and then turned to the evaluation. The language preparation was essential but there were problems that Jorge Luengo will talk about later. Some participants were middle managers, others were team coordinators. The latter had probably been appointed by their principals as potential middle managers. This created some confusion at the beginning, as staff and economic policy is a major issue for middle managers. The European approach was really an eye opener to many of the participants. Doing the seminars in four different countries, other VET-systems, other ways of working and meeting other cultures went very well for the participants. It was also nice work on known issues – sort of practical work/hands on – instead of listening to lectures on management theory. They also appreciated room for individual reflection on roles and tasks. “If you want to learn then skip the idea of just receiving and work instead”, which we teach our students, also applies to adults on the “school bench”. The participants design their own learning paths. Teambuilding was a very popular concept.

3) Evaluation of the project/Wilhelm Kirsch and Jorge Luengo on behalf of the expert committee.
Wilhelm Kirsch was very pleased when Denmark approached his college with this middle management training concept as colleges in Germany are very much directed by the regional governments. He explained how the expert group set up the curriculum based on the ideas of the steering committee, and how they grouped the issues in the four seminars. There were assignments between the seminars that the participants had to work out with their mentor at the home school (the principal or a senior manager), and also some that should be done in a national group and some in trans national groups via e-mail. It is essential for the project outcome that the school management is involved, otherwise the results cannot be implemented. As an example of good practise, Wilhelm Kirsch mentioned that all over Europe we still have teachers, who lock the door of the class room. This must be stopped! We must have open doors and team discussions. The language preparation helped a lot compared to EMMT1. We introduced a log book to keep discipline in working, reflection and evaluation, but it was not used much. The attitude of the experts towards the participants was deliberately colleague based in order to avoid a teacher-student atmosphere and it worked wonders in discussions.
Jorge Luengo presented a Power Point show on the evaluations from the participants on the language preparation. The impression of the procedure was useful and effective. Unfortunately some participants lacked the support of their mentors, so they could not spend so much time on the preparation. A few of the participants had very small communication skills but they worked hard to make themselves understood. At the beginning you could, however, wonder that they had been picked by their superiors. Everybody enjoyed the European approach and there has been lots of contacts between the participants in between the seminars and after the training was done. We have established an innovative approach to language preparation with “self directed learning” as the key word.

4) “What did we learn and how can we use it?”/Three project participants on behalf of the group.
The participants had not found time to plan this presentation, but as they said, during the seminars they had been trained in improvising! Ove Jensen (DK) said that the outcome was very individual. Across border you could find very similar things but also lots of things that were different. The basic human values are very European, but traditions and cultures differ. Rasa Zygmantaite (LT) claimed that Jorge Luengo loaded the participants with work – it was frustrating at the moment but gratifying in the end. EMMT2 was like flying in a balloon – you saw things in a new perspective. She found it very rewarding to work on school philosophy: We train, we educate, and we guide. Evaluation is normally shown in products, but in EMMT it is the development of peoples’ minds! She herself has been promoted to a senior manager now. Michal Hampala (CZ) had the same positive experience as Ove and Rasa. He met new people from different countries and was forced to think about organisation structure and middle management compared to other countries. It was no problem for him to change his mind and he is now working on changing the minds of his colleagues – with the backing of his director – and hopefully the ministry of education will also be changed one day. He has got new ideas on how to work with companies, a new structure at the school and is very happy to have found connections all over Europe. His school will work on being involved in more EU projects. Anna Drzewicka (PL) added that Poland like The Czech Republic is years behind the development in western Europe, but that they work hard on catching up and have been very inspired by EMMT2 and the discussions with colleagues from other countries. Carmen Domenech (ES) was unable to attend but had sent a small show in which she recalled many of the social events but also what she had learned through her participation. She has been doing evening classes in English since the project started and is set on continuing this as she would like to be in other European projects. On behalf of the Bulgarian participants Miroslav Nikolov said that they were very happy with the project and the outcome. He suggested that a “virtual campus” is established so that people will keep up contact.

5) The future of EMMT/Alan Ormerod on behalf of the steering and expert committee
Alan Ormerod gave a Power Point presentation and steered us through the history of his college as it is the background for his experience and the development of the college, i.e. “The future is based on the past”. It is crucial that leaders head experiments, and that they support both senior and junior managers. In the EMMT context this means that the mentor of the participant has a crucial role and must make a clear explanation of the purpose and the process before the project begins. Unfortunately this was missed in some countries. He gave us an example on “change management”: His college has to save ½ million € out of a 10 million budget for 2006/07. He also recommended that a possible new EMMT should have more case stories not only on education but also experiences from effective strategies in the industry. He also told the stories of the three English participants in the first EMMT project – how they had developed a European mind and how some of them had ended up with promotion.

6) How to write the best project application/Ole Holst, consultant, shares his abilities.
Ole Holst (DK) took the audience through the new LifeLongLearning programme and gave us a number of tools to use when we write project applications.

7) Chaos-navigation and Improvised Management – the Paradox of Change/Kim von Bülow.
Kim von Bülow (DK) established a connection between management, pedagogy and the theatre in order to further the ability to change and release potential in these three areas. How do we navigate in a world that is running faster and faster and is getting increasingly more incomprehensible – where changes happen without explanations and thus leave us in a value vacuum?