The project will be set up in a German vocational college and in a Czech vocational secondary school. The project is aimed at imparting practical professional experiences in Europe. The seven learning/teaching/training activities of our project simulate typical situations in an international company. The students will realize the problematic nature of decision making in a global, european context. Moreover, knowledge about information and communication technology, interpersonal skills and language ability will be broadened. The participants will 1. found a company with branches in Germany and the Czech Republic, which develops and merchandises board games. 2. investigate differences and similarities of the German and Czech laws governing contracts of sale, regulations of international transactions and sales contracts via Internet and rights of the customer when contractual obligations are not fulfilled. 3. design a board game and conduct a market analysis to identify the demand and merchantability/marketability/ market viability in Germany and the Czech Republic for their product. 4. evaluate the data of the market analysis and develop an advertising schedule and calculate the advertising budget. 5. define marketing strategies for the Czech and the German market (advertisement, distribution, price, sales and promotion, public relations). 6. make a website for their company. There the students have to consider the regulations for publications of each country and they have to use appropriate programming languages and tools for modelling the design. 7. develop and program a game for mobile phones. In every learning/teaching/training activity there will be factory tours according to the topic of the activity and ten German and ten Czech students will take part in each activity. The whole project will last three years. The students’ age and department of trainee (management, IT, marketing, office) vary according to the topic of the unit. The students are about 16 to 20 years of age. The Czech students are taught full-time, the German students are taught 1.5 days per week in school, according to the German dual school system. The rest of the week they work in the company where they do their apprenticeship. Three students suffering from psychosis and spastic paralysis will also participate. The students will be supported by two teachers in every country, who are specialized in the topic of the learning/teaching/training activity. Every student has to take part in an activity in the Czech Republic and in Germany. The languages used in the project are German and English. Every participant is able to speak English; the Czech students have a basic knowledge of German. The project is divided in different sequences: At first there will be an interchange per email and eTwinning about the specific contents of the learning/teaching/training activities. Then there will be a meeting of the participating teachers to determine tasks for the students during the first four learning/teaching/training activities. Now the students receive the relevant tasks, which are verbalized openly. They have to prepare a schedule showing how they are going to solve the task, then deadlines for presenting their partial results are set. At the end of each learning/teaching/training activity, there will be a presentation of the results of the activity. The students have to give reasons for their decisions and answer the questions of their teachers. The students also have to hand in a handout showing the results. This handout will also be the basis of the task for the next learning/teaching/training activity therefore the task of the next learning/teaching/training activity will be checked and maybe revised after every preceding activity. After completing the first four learning/teaching/training activities, there will be a meeting to define the next tasks during the last three learning/teaching/training activities. There will also be a final meeting after completing the last learning/teaching/training activity to reflect on the results and to put the results down in writing. During the project the German and Czech teachers communicate with each other per email and eTwinning, to adjust the tasks if changes have to be made. The pupils will also communicate with each other. This ensures that the activities and results are advanced in the lessons and the exchange student benefits from that. This project has enhancing effects on motivation, language skills and expert knowledge, more than claimed in the curriculum. Moreover the project could also have long-term effects. - Internalization of the common idea of Europe. - The students acquire skills in strategic thinking and decision making on an European level. - The students gain an insight into routines of companies in Germany and the Czech Republic and realize that the countries of the European Union are a potential job market. - Improvement of interpersonal skills and soft skills
Background/Institutions/Profile The project was executed in the field of vocational education at a German vocational school (150 faculty members – roughly 3500 trainees) and a Czech vocational institution – the students obtain vocational and general education with university entrance qualification – (110 faculty members – 1200 trainees). The schools are cooperating successfully during the past 10 years in various projects. The Czech trainees are from a full-time institution – the German counterparts are involved in vocational training with two parties (the schools and the contracting companies of the apprentices) – they attend vocational school 1 ½ days, the remaining days of the week they will work and study with the contracting companies. The project lasts three years all together. In each mobility term roughly 10 Czech and 10 German trainees were engaged. Fields of specialisation (management, IT, office, and marketing) and year of education varied according to the topic. The age of the participants ranged from 16 to 25. They were accompanied by two instructors – one specialised in the topic – the other one brought the language skills into the project. Setting of the goal/aim Apart from developing so-called soft skills and strengthening the European idea of the trainees, gaining practical vocational experience in a European context was most important. Business situations of an internationally operating company were “acted out” in 7 sequences each one based on the one before. The trainees were made aware of the decision making process on a European level. Their IT, civics and language skill were honed. It was aimed to provide the trainees with “contact opportunities” in Europe, to get them exposed to differences and common grounds in reference to training, qualification etc. Company tours should open up Europe as a labour market. Finally we wanted to strengthen understanding for one another within Europe. The trainees should get to know one region of Europe and its particularities. They should enjoy young adults of the same age group. Main activities After exchange of emails to arrange the contents of each mobility stage, a Meeting of the instructors involved took place in order to fix the tasks for the first three stages. The facts – background information – were presented in traditional lessons. Then, the trainees received their tasks which were covered by them independently and self-guided. At the end of each stage, there was an oral presentation – backed up by a hand-out. The trainees had to give reasons why they decided the way they did and answer questions of the instructors. Their results served as a basis for the work of the next stage. In each stage of mobility suitable company tours, lectures by external speakers and visits of museums were offered. After the first three stages a further meeting took place, when to arrange the other meetings. Then, things were executed as described above. After the last stage, the third meeting happened in order to discuss the project, fix the results in a report and talk about future cooperation. In particular the trainees 1. founded a company 2. researched the differences and common grounds of the German and the Czech law governing a sales contract, regulations of cross border transactions, Internet sales contracts and the laws in case of mal services 3. did market research concerning the demand for board games and the target audience in Germany and the Czech Rep. 4. created board games ( a prototype – the rules of the game plus an attractive package) 5./6.created an on-line version for the games under item 4. (GUI with multi-user functionality, database, program logic, web-based programming) 7. set up a advertisement plan for the game Barmania and developed suitable marketing measures Results The participating trainees could augment their skills and knowledge far beyond the syllabus. They improved their IT skills because of actively applying IT skills and/or independently drafting presentations of the appropriate software. When following group work interpersonal skills, conflict solving skills and the ability of finding a compromise were trained and language skills improved, because the trainees mainly communicated in English. It turned out that the trainees became more aware of the topic Europe. They perceive the positive aspects of the EU and understand the inherent European potential. In social study classes they got ambassadors of Europe. The participants are now more self-confident and open for foreigners. In the long term that will be useful for the society, p.e. with the integration of refugees. Finally the participants have forked closer links with their school. Thereby schools value as cooperation partner for enterprises increased.