Assess Well
Assessment and enhancement of vocational language skills in the wellness sector
English language is used as a common language all over the world. Especially in the tourist sector English is usually the main means of communication. English will be spoken not only with guests from UK and the USA but also with clients from other countries. As a result English language knowledge is an inevitable competence people working in the tourist sector should have.
Many hotels include a spa which is available for use by guests, and services available may include massages, facials and cosmetic treatments. The “wellness hotels” have recently become a popular holiday destination. To enable appropriate communication in this sector, employees need to have not only general English language knowledge but also professional language knowledge (for example names of body parts and injuries, description of treatments and health problems in English) is very important.
The project Assess Well (“Assessment and enhancement of vocational language skills in the wellness sector”) aims to develop videos based on real life situations and exercises for learning English language specifically related to the wellness sector.
Many people working in the wellness sector are migrants and bring their qualifications and experiences from abroad. Therefore, the outputs will include theoretical knowledge as well as testing portion which will assess employees intercultural competences, ability to converse professionally with customers, ability to follow the correct steps when performing treatments etc. The tools help employers to assess the level of competences of future employees.
News
Final Meeting in Cham
During the final phase of Assess Well the project partners met once again in Cham (Germany). The meeting in July was a great occasion to discuss the future use of the Assess Well teaching materials, including videos covering communication skills and professional situations for those working in the wellness sector. The partners also talked about the planning and content of their respective multiplier events which will be carried out to disseminate the findings of the project, raise awareness of the curriculum, assessment tool and materials.
4th Meeting Assess Well Telford
The University of Wolverhampton welcomed partners to the Telford Campus for the fourth Assess Well Meeting. The partners discussed the finalization of the learning materials and videos. The draft version of the assessment tool was presented and will be put into practice by experts in the partner countries at the end of the year. Further details were discussed for the mobility activity which will take place in 2018 in the United Kingdom e.g. criteria for participant selection, training agendas, the Memorandum of Understanding and so on.
Training Week in the UK
Partners in Germany, Italy and Spain are recruiting people who either possess a qualification or have experience in the wellness sector and are interested in attending a training week in the UK. The trainees are required to complete preparation work prior to attending. The training will include occupation specific language training, raising intercultural awareness, expanding on skills and competences through authentic simulations and work-based learning and include job-shadowing in a wellness centre in England.
Assess Well Filming
Over the course of a month the Coordinator was busy producing the language videos to accompany the learning materials. The filming took place in the Beauty and Wellness School of Bad Kötzting and the Wellness Hotel Randsbergerhof with the help of experts in the field of wellness.
3rd Meeting Assess Well
Partners met to discuss the further development of the language learning materials. The agreed on a framework of exercises which is based on the Common European Framework of References for Languages (CEFR). Exercises will also focus specifically on grammar, vocabulary and intercultural awareness.
2nd meeting Assess Well in Ayamonte
The VHS Cham team together with partners from Italy, Spain and UK met in Spain, in Ayamonte for their second meeting, hosted by EOI Do Mundo Lume. The partners discussed the development of the learning units for the wellness sector and development of the work-based learning materials for English language.
The kick-off meeting in Cham
The partners met on the 27th-28th of January 2016 in Cham (Germany). During two meeting days the partners discussed the results of the carried research and the next steps in the project development.
The kick-off meeting was held in Cham (Germany) on the 27th-28th of January 2016. The partners met in order to discuss the results of the research and interviewing of employees, employers, VET providers and English teachers in the wellness sector. The partners worked on the development of the new vocational curriculum for the English language teaching targeting people working in the wellness sector. The head of the Tourismusakademie Ostbayern, Alfons Klostermayer, and the head of the Wellness-Kosmetikschule Bad Kötzing, experts VHS Cham collaborate with during the development, dissemination and exploitation of the materials, also greeted the partners.
Resources
The curriculum will provide you with an overview about vocational and intercultural components contained in the learning materials. All exercises are structured in different thematic units, with each one of them including a description of learning outcomes (knowledge, skills, competences). Under the term knowledge it is described what the learner will know after studying the materials, whereas skills and competences explain precisely what the learner will be able to do and implement after completing the corresponding exercises.
With the Assessment Tool English teachers and wellness experts can validate and recognize the knowledge, skills and competences of their students and give recommendations for specific fields that need improvement. It offers a variety of exercises and work-based activities to assess professional and linguistic skills.
The training concept for the mobility programme has been developed on the basis of the activities carried out in the project Assess Well. It explains the most important steps for the preparation of the programme and provides guidance on how to organise and implement it while taking quality issues into account. The training concept is available in English, German, Spanish and Italian.
Learning materials
In the following sections you will find the developed materials. For each unit you can download a PDF document with exercises and sample answers. Furthermore, you can watch the corresponding videos on YouTube. Each learning unit is accompanied by a dialogue video and a technical video.
| Unit | Youtube Link |
|---|---|
| |
Unit 1 - Hygiene, equipment, risk prevention | |
Unit 2 - Principles of dermatology, nutrition | |
Unit 3 - Facial treatment | |
Unit 4 - Decorative cosmetics | |
Unit 5 - Hand and foot care | |
Unit 6 - Whole body treatment | |
Unit 7 - Sport and free time activities |
Findings in the Wellness Sector
Before starting with the development of the learning materials, the project partners analysed the current situation in the wellness sector. Each participating country carried out internet researches and conducted questionnaires and interviews to receive a comprehensive overview of the necessary qualifications and competences needed for wellness sector employees. The findings were compiled in the “Research Summary” document, which is available in English, German, Spanish and Italian.
Newsletter
Partners
Five Partners from four different European countries, including Germany, Spain, Italy and UK developed the project to design a new vocational curriculum for English language, specifically targeting people working in the wellness sector. The project is Co-ordinated by VHS Cham, based in Germany, who have a range of experience of developing European-wide projects. Partners include: University of Wolverhampton from the UK, Cooperativa Monte Patino from Italy, EOI Do Mundo Lume and Ayuntamiento de Ayamonte from Spain are also working on the project.
The Volkshochschule im Landkreis Cham e.V. (VHS Cham) is the largest educational institution in Cham region, Germany. The VHS provides both language and vocational courses. VHS Cham has a range of experience in developing European-wide projects geared toward second language learners in adult, vocational or high education and migrant language learners.
The University of Wolverhampton (UoW) is a large UK Higher Educational Education Institution. The international Academy (IA) within UoW delivers English-language support to international students, who are studying courses at the University or elsewhere, as well as providing quality training in several different languages to people from both the UK and overseas. The IA has considerable experience in providing courses for learners of all ages and offering special vocational language training.
EOI Do Mundo Lume is a public language school located in Ayamonte, a picturesque village on the coast of Huelva (Spain) neighbouring the famous Portuguese Algarve region. Tourism is one of the main industries in our region, as Ayamonte is an increasingly popular holiday destination for domestic and European tourists. In our school, we strive to offer quality language training in English, German, Portuguese and French for both general and specific purposes, so as to develop the employability of our students, particularly with the tourism industry in mind, as it has been recruiting qualified professionals with good communication skills who can cater for foreign guests’ needs and expectations.
The Ayamonte Town Council is the governing body of Ayamonte. Its Department of Local Community Development has endorsed numerous territorial cooperation initiatives, such as the EURORREGION Alentejo-Algarve-Andalusia project based on “Europe in my Region 2014”, the Mundialito International Youth Football Tournament.
The Cooperativa Monte Patino works in the field of vocational and managerial training, post-diploma and post-degree, in tourism and related sectors. It offers training, update, counseling and research services. Monte Patino is accredited at the Region of Umbria as a training agency for advanced training, continuous training and compulsory training.
The European Commission support for the production of this publication does not constitute an endorsement of the contents which reflects the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.
Co-funded by the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Union.
Project N° 2015-1-DE02-KA202-002462
