Non-formal Learning And The Acquisition Of Skills – How Does The EU Support Youth Employment?

Abstract

<jats:p>In recent years the issue of youth unemployment has been identified as one of the most pressing for young people, who are affected particularly hard by the economic crisis in the European Union. In response, the EU institutions have designed and introduced a complex mix of political instruments, agencies, programmes and studies that are supposed to establish a complementary and systemic approach to education and youth policies. Youth policy, as a socioeconomic field of EU political intervention began in 2014 to be subject to a paradigm of employability and “the economy of fighting the crisis”, including issues such as non-formal and informal learning and youth work outside of schooling systems. Thus the EU policy in question has significantly shifted from “personal and cultural development, and inspiring a sense of active citizenship among young people,” as it was formulated in the Youth in Action Programme 2006-2013, towards “the acquisition of professional skills of youth workers, validation systems of non-formal learning, and greater complementarities with formal education and training”, as it is formulated in the Youth Sector of the EU programme for Education - Erasmus+ 2014-2020. The objective of this article is to provide a comparative insight into the context that frames the design of EU policies aimed at mitigating the phenomenon of unemployment among young people, and to show how this has changed in light of the new EU programming period.</jats:p>

An appraisal of the importance of graduates’ language skills and ERASMUS experiences

“…In addition to supporting arguments from the other interviewees, the IPO interviewee discussed the purpose and history of the ERASMUS programme, saying that its purpose had fundamentally shifted since its launch in 1987 (Wochowska, 2015). The interviewee argued that ERASMUS had originally been intended to promote closer cultural integration and communication, and that it had proven effective in developing flexibility, ambiguity tolerance, courage and self-confidence; this claim is supported by various authors and other primary data.…”

Promoting Youth Entrepreneurship and Employability through Non-Formal and Informal Learning: The Latvia Case

“…Limited employment possibilities and the threat of unemployment, job dissatisfaction or loss of paid jobs are the main 'push factors' which can facilitate youth engagement in entrepreneurial activity (Rastrigina, 2010). Entrepreneurship could be perceived as one of the solutions to tackle youth unemployment (Council of the European Union, 2014;OECD, 2015aOECD, , 2017aOECD, , 2017bWochowska, 2015).…”

“…The critical role of formal, non-formal and informal learning in promoting youth entrepreneurship and employability is widely recognised (Council of the European Union, 2014;European Commission, 2014;OECD, 2017aOECD, , 2017bPīgozne, 2014;SALTO-YOUTH, 2016;Wochowska, 2015). The Council of the European Union (2014, p. 4) has invited the member states 'to recognise the importance of entrepreneurial education from an early age and highlight the role of non-formal and informal learning to ensure a holistic approach to the personal development of young people and facilitate their successful integration into the labour market' .…”

Αξιολόγηση Προγραμμάτων Μη Τυπικής Περιβαλλοντικής Εκπαίδευσης

“…Στην περίπτωση της μη-τυπικής μάθησης, υπάρχουν μεγάλα κενά όσον αφορά την πιστοποίηση των χώρων αυτών ως προς τα μαθησιακά τους αποτελέσματα, την πιστοποίηση των ατόμων που εκτελούν μαθησιακά προγράμματα σε αυτούς τους χώρους και των υποδομών που είναι απαραίτητες για αυτές τις δραστηριότητες λόγω της εφαρμογής της νομοθεσίας. (Wochowska, 2015).…”

“…Χώροι μη-τυπικής μάθησης: πρέπει να παρέχουν διαδραστική μάθηση (Jose et al, 2017) (Χαρατσάρη, 2011: 432) Σύνδεση τυπικής/μη-τυπικής μάθησης Χώροι μη-τυπικής μάθησης: συμβάλλουν στην ερμηνεία δύσκολων επιστημονικών εννοιών (Nobnop et al, 2018;Poudel & Nyaupane, 2013;Serrano-Iglesias et al, 2019) Είναι σημαντική η σύνδεση της κοινωνίας με το σχολείο (Egg et al, 2017;Wochowska, 2015) Χώροι μη-τυπικής μάθησης: συμβάλλουν στην περιβαλλοντική εκπαίδευση (Poudel & Nyaupane, 2013) (Χαρατσάρη, 2011: 433) Η γνώση παρέχεται μόνο μέσα από το σχολείο (Skanavis & Giannoulis, 2009) Χώροι μη-τυπικής μάθησης: αλλάζουν στάσεις, απόψεις και συμπεριφορές για το περιβάλλον (Wochowska, 2015) Χώροι μη-τυπικής μάθησης: πρέπει να εξυπηρετούνται από εξειδικευμένο προσωπικό (Egg et al, 2017;Skanavis & Giannoulis, 2009) η ομάδα: Διατροφή…”