For the second meeting, we had the pleasant task of introducing us to one another once more - since we had new members from our partner in The Netherlands as well as a completely new partner organisation from Malta - the College of Arts, Science and Technology in Paola!

Apart from this, our main objectives were:
- Better understanding of what SEL is and how it works
- Gaining an overview of the German school system & vocational education
- Playing and understanding The Real Game™
- Preparing our next tasks and the work on the SELVET Toolkit.

The Volkshochschule Göttingen provided us with a great setting and splendid service for studying and exchanging ideas.
On the first day we got an overview on the German school system and understood its complexity and how difficult it is for children to change their initial decisions on what kind of education they go for at the age of 10...

School teachers from different school types gave a lively insight into their everyday work and how they cope with social and emotional issues in education. For instance an English teacher from the Hainberg-Gymnasium, a UNESCO partnership school presented their numerous activities on top of the regular school tasks, such as visits in Tansania or their UNESCO project weeks. An overview on how various SEL methods are put into practice in Germany and the screening of the movie Freedom Writers closed the day.

On the second day we had a visit from one of the teachers and coaches from the vocational school BBS2 in Göttingen. Again, a model of SEL was being presented. This was put into perspective by an excellent and long overdue presentation on SEL itself by our future host from The Netherlands, René Diekstra. The afternoon was spent examining the methods used by a very promising role-playing game for kids who are facing their decision in vocational education: The Real Game (tm), a set of materials used in schools all over the world for over 20 years now.

On the third day another two projects were presented: Xenos/Fit for Life, available for pupils of the Volkshochschule Göttingen who make a second run on their education, and the immensly popular Lion´s Quest programme by the Lion´s Club organisation of Germany.

Some operational tasks and preparations for the next meetings took place in the afternoon before we closed a very successful meeting.

On top of the regular activities, every evening we´ve had wonderful dinners at different venues in Göttingen, and the members of the group came even closer.

We all are very much looking forward our next meetings - see you in September in The Hague! :)

As June is at our doorsteps, we´ve put together some informations on Göttingen and will post these soon to our partners. Venue of the event will be the Volkshochschule Göttingen, the schedule includes both practical parts with visits from and to vocational schools as theoretical background on SEL-related issues.

See you soon! :)

Our initially expected partner Malta informed us, that - being first on the reserve list - they finally got funding pledge and are officially part now of our project!

This will not only lead to inclusion of a very important member from the field of vocational education with an immense background and practical experiences but also an extra field trip in March 2015 to Malta for all of us.

WELCOME, Malta College of Arts, Science and Technology!

Due to some changes in the schedule of the Dutch partner, we postponed the meeting in The Hague to September 2014. Next meeting is in June 2014 in Göttingen.

In the meantime, we carry on with our scheduled tasks and dissemination of the results of the initial meeting in Budapest.

We had our first partner meeting in Hungary, between 14-16 November 2013.  After a long preparation, the partnership finally started with a kick-off in the beautiful capital of Hungary.

The prime objectives of the first SELVET meeting in Budapest were to:

• introduce and get to know each other
• participate in lectures12 and fields trips3 with organisations involved in the theory or practice of social skills training/mental health education in VET,
• to review and revise project activities, the work plan, distribution of tasks and decide on exact dates for the next partner meetings,
• to participate in cultural activities and finally, to
• evaluate the meeting.

Overall, the bringing together of a diverse group of knowledgeable people with differing backgrounds, skills and experiences left a very positive impression on all. The members of the participating organisations managed to create a very open and productive atmosphere by being willing to listen to, and encourage each other, and by being flexible and adaptable. The discussions were interesting and meaningful. 

The most captivating event was surely the visit to the vocational school Bercsényi Dániel. As the comments below show, this was a revealing and somewhat troubling experience:
-  “The clash between the stunning architecture and warmth of the central city and the bleakness of both the area and school itself on the outskirts”
-  “the visit to the VET school (Bercsényi) - heartbreaking and inspiring”
-  “The visit in the school. Middle of suburb-nowhere, walls unpainted for decades, a director struggling with lack of means necessary and lots and lots of young people heading into an uncertain future”

Others chose the realisation of the importance of the Social and Emotional Learning (SEL), the range of the field and how relevant it is in the field of Vocational Education and Training (VET). The visit to the Invisible Exhibition was seen as a metaphor for our journey – starting out in darkness, trying to find a way through life...

The whole kick-off meeting was a success and helped shaping things to come. The consensus was that the meeting objectives were met i.e.
-  “to get to know each other, to think about what we would like to achieve by this project, to get an impression of VET and SEL programmes in Hungary”

We started to build trust and respect in the group and a level of comfort in working together. We highlighted and identified what each brings to the partnership, although more work is needed to clarify exactly how this will be used in the project implementation. We clarified the project vision and goals, and agreed on the objectives and an initial timetable of activities. The presentation and lectures helped us to understand the situation of VET in Hungary. 
People went away feeling motivated, inspired and optimistic about the project.

See you again in The Hague... :)

Meeting report:

Presentations:

At a first meeting the members of AKUT Alapítvány (Hungary) and the Volkshochschule Göttingen (Germany) met between the 13th and 16th October 2013 for the preparation of ongoing and future tasks. Apart from setting up the idea and structure of the project homepage, the possible elements of the first partnership meeting in November in Budapest have been laid down.

See you all in 4 weeks... :)