ETHAZI: The Basque VET Model for Challenge-Based Collaborative Learning

Description

Vocational education faces the constant need to respond to rapidly changing professional, technological, and social contexts.

This course offers VET educators a direct and practical experience of ETHAZI (Etekin Handiko Zikloak, which means High Performance Cycles), the Basque Country’s innovative model for Vocational Education and Training (VET), built around challenge-based and collaborative learning.

Developed within the Basque VET system, the ETHAZI model promotes a profound change in the way of teaching and learning, placing students at the centre of the educational process and fostering their autonomy, collaboration, and responsibility in learning while working on real and meaningful professional challenges.

During the course, participants will explore how ETHAZI is implemented in everyday school practice. Through workshops, school visits, and other participatory activities, they will experience first-hand how collaborative learning environments inspired by this method are designed, and how meaningful challenges are structured, where students work in teams to solve real situations.

A strong emphasis will be placed on practice. Participants will learn to design, guide, and address challenges that support the development of both technical competencies and transversal skills, such as communication, problem-solving, creativity, and responsibility.

The flexibility of the ETHAZI model also allows the integration of fundamental elements for the Vocational Training of the future into the learning process, such as entrepreneurial culture, creative thinking, values training, the development of digital skills, the use of advanced learning tools, and the STEAM approach.

Participants will have the unique opportunity to analyze how the principles of ETHAZI can be adapted to their different educational systems and institutional realities, drawing inspiration from the Basque VET experience – rather than just copying a fixed model.

The course is also designed to foster the exchange of good practices and international dialogue between teachers and educators from different European countries, strengthening educational innovation networks within the Erasmus+ framework.

By the end of the course, participants will leave with a clearer understanding of challenge-based collaborative learning and with concrete ideas for introducing or strengthening this ETHAZI approach in their own VET contexts.

Concept by Javier Escalada Aranguren

Learning outcomes

The course will help participants to:

• Discover the pedagogical and organizational principles of the ETHAZI model as implemented in the Basque VET system;
• Experience challenge-based collaborative learning from a learner’s perspective, working on a complete real-life ETHAZI challenge – from its conception to the assessment of skills in a “three-way” approach between both teacher and student (self and peer);
• Design and structure collaborative challenges that integrate technical competences and transversal skills relevant to VET contexts;
• Reflect on how the Basque ETHAZI approach can be adapted to different Vocational Education Systems and school realities;
• Exchange good practices in methodological and digital innovation in VET among the participants and visiting public and private educational institutions;
• Explore opportunities for collaboration and networking within European education and Erasmus+ frameworks.

Tentative schedule

Day 1 – Introduction to the course

• Introduction to the course, the school, and the external week activities;
• Icebreaker activities;
• Presentations of the participants’ schools.

Introduction to the ETHAZI model

• Overview of the Basque Vocational Education and Training system;
• Introduction to the ETHAZI model and its key principles;
• How to program activities based on intermodular challenges, organizational flexibility, and competence-based assessment;
• Afternoon Gastro-Cultural tour in Bilbao (Old Town, Guggenheim Museum and surroundings).

Day 2 – Designing meaningful and contextualised collaborative challenges

• Warm-up activity: experiencing collaborative challenge design from a learner’s perspective;
• Group discussion: sharing participants’ previous experiences with project-based and collaborative learning;
• Practical workshop: tools to encourage collaboration and active learning in intermodular contexts;
• School Visit: visit to another VET centre in Bilbao.

Day 3 – Facilitation and competency assessment in ETHAZI

• The role of the teacher as facilitator in intermodular collaborative challenges;
• Exploring assessment approaches for technical and transversal skills;
• How to assess skills in challenging environments and progressive evaluation;
• School Visit: visit to another VET centre in Bilbao.

Day 4 – Digitalisation, innovation, and sustainability of the ETHAZI Model

• Integrating collaborative digital tools to support challenge-based learning;
• Strategies for applying ETHAZI in virtual or hybrid environments (AI, VR, 3D, etc.) and examples of good practices integrating STEAM into challenge design;
• School Visit: visit to a citizen laboratory for social innovation and emerging technologies.

Day 5 – Collaborative innovation and full ETHAZI immersion

• Team-based work on collaborative challenges;
• Design and refinement of ETHAZI-inspired challenges in groups;
• Presentation of ETHAZI proposals and challenges by groups;
• Final good practices sharing and challenges designed by participants;
• Sharing good practices and reflections on transferability to different VET contexts.

Day 6 – Course closure and cultural activities

• Course evaluation: round-up of acquired competences, feedback, and discussion;
• Awarding of the course Certificate of Attendance;
• Excursion and other external cultural activities.

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