The Pledge conference organised by D’EP Institut was given the title “Guidance and Early School Leaving: how do we put into play new guidance methodologies to tackle Early School Leaving?” and was held on 22 March 2024 at Hub Social in Barcelona, in collaboration with “Zero Abandonament” Platform of Fundació Bofill and ACPO (Associació Catalana de Psicopedagogia i Orientació Educativa i Professional). The supporting organisations gave support in dissemination and the space for the conference.
The conference was attended by 39 professionals which included local education technicians, teachers and guidance practitioners. In addition to those face to face – about 100 participants also connected to the online streaming of the event. The conference began with a roundtable about the themes and priorities of the Pledge project – guidance and reducing Early School Leaving and included interventions from Montserrat Oliveras, from D’EP Institut as well as Maria do Déu Taveira from the University of Minho (the Pledge partner with a video contribution), Laura Serra from Barcelona Activa as well as Anna Casadesús and Nayra Paella from the City of Viladecans. In the round table, the Pledge results methodology and response to the challenges around Early School Leaving were shared.
Cristina Caldas, guidance practitioner from D’EP Institut then presented each of the Pledge results and how they were developed. The session then became participatory as all participants were divided into six groups, according to the 6 areas of Career Management Skills that Pledge results are structured around and tested and used in small groups. After their work and testing of the tools, supported by the guidance practitioners from D’EP Institut, their feedback and response was collected in a closing session.