On Friday, May 12th, 2023, the Consensus Conference “Out of Our Minds – Socio-Emotional Education in VET” was held at the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart in Brescia, Italy. The event, organised by the consortium of the 3H project – was attended by trainers, educators, teachers, principals, managers and other stakeholders active in the VET sector.
During the morning session, a panel of expert discussed about the risk in VET, and more generally in the entire education system, to design curriculum that privileges cognitive aspects, underestimating the importance of the harmony among cognitive-practical and emotional skills or, as Pope Francis said, “the three languages that a mature person should know: the language of the mind, the language of the heart and the language of the hands”. The panel involved important expert of the Italian scenario: Domenico Simeone, Dean of the Faculty of Education UCSC, Alfonso Rubinacci Scientific Director Tuttoscuola, Roberto Franchini UCSC Professor and ENDOFAP President, Emmanuele Crispolti INAPP Training Systems Structure Manager, Cristina Grieco INDIRE President, Damiano Previtali MIM National Evaluation System Manager and Emmanuele Serrelli UCSC Researcher. In the afternoon all participants took part in workshops dedicated to the different topics addressed in the Guideline: Organization; Pedagogy; Didactics; Competencies, Selection and Teacher Training. After hours of work, discussion and interactions, the Guidelines were validated and they are now available on the 3H project website to be shared with the entire educational community. This output is the result of different points of view, different experiences and took into consideration the feedback of several trainers of VET Centres and teachers from secondary schools, as well as educators and pedagogues. The guideline will be used during the piloting phase of the project, starting from September 2023.