Project

OJO – Opettajien jatkuva oppiminen

Project sponsors

Abbreviation
OJO
Project type
Development project
Focus area
Other area
Implementation time
1.2.2025 - 31.12.2026
Financing program
European Social Fund Plus (ESF+) 2021-2027
UN Sustainable development goals
Project description

Micro-credentials Supporting Continuous Learning (POKOT) is a collaborative project involving Häme University of Applied Sciences, Haaga-Helia University of Applied Sciences, JAMK University of Applied Sciences, Oulu University of Applied Sciences, and Tampere University ofApplied Sciences. The schools of professional teacher education have combined their expertise to support vocational education and the development of vocational teachers' competencies in the context of the evolving demands of continuous learning for adult learners.

The aim of the project to develop solutions and provide support for the professional development of vocational school staff in a situation where public resources allocated to trainingfor the working-age population are becoming increasingly scarce, while the need to renew the competencies of the adult population is becoming more diverse. The project supports vocational school staff in anticipating and monitoring changes in the labor market.

The project seeks to build a shared understanding of vocational competence pathways aligned with labor market needs and the role of micro-credentials as part of continuous learning services. It implements actions to enhance the capabilities of vocational education staff,enabling them to respond more effectively to the skill demands emerging from the labor marketthrough agile and timely competence development solutions. A key focus is on the unique perspectives and challenges associated with micro-credentials, small competence modules.

To support the development of vocational education staff competencies, the project will producematerials, develop methods, and create operational models that can be utilized even after the project ends as part of professional development efforts. All organizations responsiblefor professional teacher education are involved in the project. This enables the participating organizations to directly integrate the project's outcomes into vocational teacher training and ongoing professional development for teachers throughout their careers.

Project results
The project's specific objectives are:

1. To form an overall picture of the kind of competences that vocational teachers need so that they can implement small competence units with their own working life networks as part of continuous learning services.

2. To find out what kind of practices that prevent and promote small competence units are in vocational education institutions, to evaluate these and to share good practices for everyone to use.

3. To develop the teacher's competence to identify what an employee knows and what the significance of small competence units is in the employee's development path as an expert.

4. To increase the ability of vocational education personnel to identify and anticipate the competence and development needs of vocational education working life partners in a way that utilizes forecasting information.

5. To create an overall picture of what kind of competences, structures and cooperation
forums are needed between vocational education and vocational teacher education,
so that expectations, development needs and
perspectives related to small competence units in particular are taken into account.

6. To strengthen the ability of vocational education personnel to create customer-oriented small competence units for the competence needs of working life and the conditions for teacher education colleges to support vocational education teaching staff in this.

The long-term goal is to produce operating models and recommendations during the project that can be used as part of the everyday life of vocational teacher education colleges and vocational
educational institutions as practical methods in the coming years. The aim is that the competence of vocational education personnel and working life cooperation models serve the development of the competence of the working-age population so that educational institutions can offer employers and employees a customer-oriented and diverse range of training to study alongside their work. The project's measures will help to increase the ability of vocational education providers and teaching staff to respond to the competence needs of working life with small competence units and to change the profile of vocational education provision to a greater extent towards small competence units. 

The POKOT – Small competence units supporting continuous learning project brings together vocational teacher training colleges with their vocational education institution partners to examine what kind of change is needed in the cooperation models with working life partners in vocational education and what this change requires for the development of vocational teachers' competence. The project offers a unique opportunity to bring together actors in a comprehensive manner for joint discussions and activities in order to gain a comprehensive overall understanding of the competence needs of professional teachers. During the project, the target group will also be able to participate in a new type of pedagogical program, where they will gain experience in what practical measures can be used to develop personnel competence so that the educational field can serve its working life partnerships better than before.