Haarlem – Erasmus+ Programme, staff mobility
In May 2022, a seemingly diverse group of vocational education and training professionals took part in an Erasmus+ staff mobility programme for a guided tour of Nova College in Haarlem, the Netherlands. Trainers, adult education operators and project managers, a total of eight members working in Canossian educational institutions, travelled to the Dutch town with the aim of observing the management of a large training centre, different from ours, which is part of a school system that differs from the national/regional one, in order to learn good practices that could be scaled up in our local contexts.
Many aspects of Nova College in Haarlem immediately appeared innovative:
Each sector dedicated to professional training has a specific building with modern, technologically advanced equipment.
The organisational chart of roles and job descriptions for employees is defined and structured in such a way that the “teachers” committee’ and “students” committee’ also play an essential role in defining programmes and development strategies for the complex, in addition to the board of directors.
Great attention is paid to the student, with training that “encourages” the process of individual empowerment, appropriately supported by different levels of coaching, mentorship and peer education.
Last but not least are the internship and internationalisation programmes, which aim to make users increasingly autonomous in their professional choices and capable of meeting the expectations of employers.
Everything is integrated with synergy and synchronism in a swarm of ideas, relationships and “horizontal” experiences, where the creative power of the student is no less considered than the more conservative experience of the trainer. As a corollary to the travel programme, there is an excursion outside the city strictly by bicycle, a visit to some museums in Amsterdam, the freckles of the people and excellent beer accompanied by sweet French fries.
Tot snel Holland!
