Erasmus+ project PAGOSTE

Field monitoring 

On September 18, 2020, the preventive monitoring of the Erasmus+ project “New mechanisms of partnership-based governance and standardization of vocational teacher education in Ukraine (PAGOSTE)” took place on the Zoom platform. The organizer of the event was South Ukrainian National Pedagogical University named after K.D. Ushynsky.

Kyiv National Economic University named after Vadym Hetman as the national coordinator presented the main achievements of the project in terms of implementing the work packages.

The Ukrainian partners presented their own achievements in the project implementation, the activities carried out, the current and expected results:

• Institute of Vocational Education and Training of the National Academy of Pedagogical Sciences of Ukraine
• Kyiv National Economic University named after Vadym Hetman
• South Ukrainian National Pedagogical University named after K.D. Ushynsky
• National Transport University
• Ukrainian Engineering Pedagogics Academy of NAES of Ukraine.

The following participants joined the discussion on the implementation of the PAGOSTE project:

• the grantholder of the project (University of Konstanz)
• the representatives of management of the educational establishments (rectors, vice-rectors, directors) 
• the administrators of the Ukrainian partners responsible for financial management of the project
• the main stakeholders (students studying on speciality “Vocational Education”, teachers involved in the training of future teachers of vocational education and training, teachers of postgraduate educational establishments).

The programme is available here (ukr.)

The project consortium is sincerely grateful to the representatives of the National Erasmus+ Office, Zhanna Talanova, Ivana Atamanchuk and Petro Krainik, for the useful recommendations on improving the project implementation, increasing the quality and ensuring the sustainability of results.

Critical friend´s visit: Workshop 4 at Roma Tre University

On November 2-5, 2022, the project workshop 4 on the topic "Implementation results at partner-HEIs and national level of governance" was hosted by Roma Tre University. The gathering aimed to scrutinize various critical areas of the ongoing projects and to facilitate open dialogue among the stakeholders.

The primary objectives of this assembly were to discuss the current state of PBG structures (WP2) implementation at each HEI-institution and analyze the progress of the PBG deployment at the national level. Additionally, participants were offered a unique opportunity to visit a vocational school and Uni Roma Tre to gain firsthand insights into the practical aspects of the Italian VET system.

Other pivotal agendas included catching up with the project issues that were delayed due to the war, discussing the implementation strategies of the dissemination WP, and sharing updates on the overall progress and results of the project with the critical friend.

Towards the end of the meeting, a comprehensive report was drafted by the critical friend, capturing the essence of the discussions, recommendations, and way forward for the project.  The report is available at this link (eng.)

Critical friend´s visit: Workshop 5 at University of Konstanz

On June 5-7, 2023 the project workshop took place at the University of Kostanz. The topic of the workshop was "National level of governance and sustainability of project results".

The project workshop consisted of two parts: presenting and interactive. During the first part the project parners presented their quantative and qualitative results of partnership-based governance at the institutational and at the national levels. During the second part, the partners took part in the round table with students of the University of Konstanz and brain stroming sessions on the sustainability of the project results on the national level and the session with the critical friend of the project, Dr. Lena Freidorfer from the Unviersity of Zürich. The critical friend remarked that it is also noticeable in a positive sense, as was already the case at the meeting in Rome, that the Ukrainian partners can learn and experience a lot of new things from the accompanying universities, the people involved in them and their insights into the respective countryspecific vocational education and training structures. The accompanying partners strongly contribute their expertise and a view of the respective country-specific vocational and educational system in Germany, Austria, and Italy. In the course of the last project meeting, for example, students or prospective VET teachers were invited to a panel discussion. This gave the Ukrainian partners the opportunity to learn more about VET teachers in Germany from a student perspective.

Towards the end of the meeting, a comprehensive report was drafted by the critical friend, capturing the essence of the discussions, recommendations, and way forward for the project. The report is available at this link (eng.).

Critical friend´s visit: Workshop 6 at Roma Tre University

On October 5-6, 2023, the final meeting and sixth workshop of the Erasmus+ project "New Mechanisms of Partnership-Based Governance and Standardization of Vocational Teacher Education in Ukraine (PAGOSTE)" took place at Roma Tre University in Rome.

The aim of the meeting was to discuss the implementation of concepts for the development of vocational teacher education based on standardization and partnership at Ukrainian partner universities, directions for implementing partnership-based governance at the national level, as well as the implementation of dissemination strategies and project management specifics.

The event program is available at the following link (eng.)

The final project workshop was attended by the cirtical friend of the project, Dr. Lena Freidorfer from the University of Zürich. During one of the sessions she conducted a reflective discussion with the partners providing the contructive feedback and helpful improvement suggestions. Her findings were summarised in a written report. Dr. Lena Freidorfer remarked that  it can be said that all partners involved in the project are making efforts to bring the project to a successful conclusion. Regular exchange meetings between the partners continue to take place. In addition, a final conference is being planned at the Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration in the beginning of November 2023. This seems to be particularly important for the project's conclusion, as it will provide an opportunity to present and discuss key findings from the project. In addition, the conference will be another important platform to promote and publicize the project in Austria. As already mentioned above, the publication of a joint book in English is planned for the near future. The contributions in this book will give an insight into the VET teacher system in Ukraine. The book will be an important source of information on the Ukrainian education and training system for VET researchers and practitioners as well as for other interested parties from other countries and thus certainly offers potential for the
implementation of further cross-country comparative studies with Ukraine.

The full report is available at the link (eng.).

Quality assurance strategy and tools

• On 01.07.2020  the project consortium agreed the quality assurance strategy of the project (eng.).
• The collection of templates and annexes (eng.) contains the instruments mentioned  in the quality assurance strategy.
• Quality assurance table with milestones and indicators. Amendment (eng.)

Event evaluations by participants

• Event evaluation by participants: Round Table 1 on 15.09.2020, organised by the National Transport University (eng.)
• Event evaluation by participants: Round Table 2 on 11-12.03.2021, organised by the Ukrainian Engineering Pedagogics Academy (eng.)
• Event evaluation by participants: Staff Training 1 on 30.11-01.12.2020, conducted by the University of Konstanz (eng.)
• Event evaluation by participants: Staff Training 2 on 03.-04.12.2020, conducted by the Vienna University of Economics and Business (eng.)
• Event evaluation by participants: Staff Training 3 on 22-23.06.2021, conducted by the Vienna University of Economics and Business (eng.)
• Event evaluation by participants: Staff Training 4 on 21-22.09.2021, conducted by the Vienna University of Economics and Business (eng.)
• Event evaluation by participants: Staff Training 5 on 05.,12.,18.10.2021, conducted by the Kyiv National Economic University (eng.)
• Event evaluation by participants: Staff Training 6 on 17.,18.,19.10.2022, conducted by the the University of Konstanz (eng.)
• Event evaluation by participants: Staff Training 7 on 25-26.04.2023, conducted by the the University of Konstanz (eng.)
• Event evaluation by participants: Staff Training 8 on 06-07.07.2023, organised by the University of Konstanz and Vienna University of Economics and Business (eng.)
• Event evaluation by participants: Distanace online course 06-10.2021, conducted by Roma Tre University (eng. and it.)

Reports by Critical Friend on the project implementation

• Report on the project implementation produced by critical friend Lena Freidorfer and based on document analysis and observation during PAGOSTE project workshop from 2.- 5.11.2022 at the Roma Tre University (­eng.) 
• Report on the project implementation produced by critical friend Lena Freidorfer and based on document analysis and observation during PAGOSTE project workshop from 5.-7.6.2023 at the University of Konstanz (eng.)
• Report on the project implementation produced by critical friend Lena Freidorfer and based on document analysis and observation during PAGOSTE project workshop from 5.-6.10.2023 at the Roma Tre University (eng.)