Partners from five countries came together to reflect on how best to secure the integration of socially disadvantaged youth into vocational training and apprenticeship programmes, resulting in the development of a series of reports, tools and materials for those working in the design and development of all such programmes. As a part of this, partners considered the process of selecting fields and learning stations (exemplary work processes) best suited to socially inclusive vocational education and training (VET) with many of the associated steps and process brought together in a single report. The report comprises four distinct parts and covers: expert workshops on how to select fields for vocational integration [Part 1]; a framework of criteria for selecting learning stations suitable for vocational integration [Part 2]; a procedure for learning station analysis with a view to aiding alignment with work processes [Part 3]; and, examples of work process and learning station descriptions for the fields of floristry, welding, aircraft mechanics and printing [Part 4].
Whilst inclusive education and training is hardly novel, the benefits of identifying and reporting on specific areas of VET best suited to the vocational integration of social disadvantaged groups are clear and it is positive to see that both the process and the eventual modules are brought forth by partners (the latter separately presented in the WBL Toolkit). The report itself is available for download in both long form (Parts 1-4; EN only) and short form (Parts 1 and 4 only; EN, DE, ES, IT and LT). The audience of these reports, tools and materials is clearly those professionals involved in the design and development of programmes rather than those involved in frontline delivery. Whilst there were specific sectors targeted during initial project delivery, the broader methodological basis is easily able to be adapted for use in wider vocational fields. For those wishing to replicate, adapt or make use of the presented frameworks, tools or exemplars there is a requirement to seek written permission from the original APPRENTSOD consortium.