Due to globalisation in general and migration, many European countries nowadays face more cultural diversity with all its benefits and challenges for society. Moreover, especially young people from European countries with instable economies have to be on the move because of reduced job offers in their home countries and high unemployment. According to this, young people of today need to get qualified for everyday life and working in different European countries within different cultures. Communication plays an essential role for both, everyday life and working and is necessary for mutual understanding in culturally mixed societies. To acquire skills, qualification and confidence in communication is indispensible to enable people to face more cultural diversity, to treasure its benefits and to cope with its challenges. About 50 students from schools in Germany, Poland, Turkey and Portugal are participating in this project. They are either visiting vocational schools or secondary schools with vocational courses all providing training in the vocational fields of health or social profession which are characterized by a high intensitiy of contact with people. About 10-12 teachers of all schools will accompany the project. In the project students will gain some knowledge about theoretical models of communication. But more important, they will actively practise communication skills since communication cannot be dealt with only theoretically, it must be put into life. During mobilties students will practise, observe and reflect on effects of non-verbal and verbal communication in appropriate exercises based on drama training methods in culturally mixed groups. A second basis of the project are short-term (1-2 days) work placements in health and social businesses, like e.g. hospitals. Students will form transnational groups of two and will job shadow professionals, e.g. doctors or nurses. During this, students will observe and evaluate the effects of communication in a professional environment with the help of questionnaires. Students will improve their language skills in English during exercises, job shadowing and their stays in host families and they will practise some basics of the language of their host countries. During the whole duration of the project all participants, students as well as teachers, will keep in contact via digital media as means of modern communication. Teachers' visits included in this project provide exchange of best practises in teaching, applying quality measures and ways of using ICT in classrooms. This will be done by job-shadowing, team teaching, holding classes in a foreign classroom and a teacher training in ICT for all participating teachers. Students' enhanced communication skills will be the basis for overcoming prejudice, for mutual understanding and respect for other cultures by triggering changes in thinking and behaviour. The project offers for students to develop communication skills which can later be transferred to several areas (e.g. different cultures, different jobs) and will in this way provide young people with the means for lifelong learning. They will acquire skills which they can use even if the living and working conditions in Europe will undergo more changes in the future. Students will be able to reflect their own communication behaviour and in case of any communication problems adapt their behaviour appropriately. By exchanging best practices of teaching methods, materials, quality systems and the usage of ICT in classrooms, school curricula and teaching methods of the participating schools will enhance. Furthermore, the project will foster more open-mindedness and respect for students with different cultural backgrounds at all participating schools.
Due to globalization in general and migration, many European countries nowadays face more cultural diversity with all its benefits and challenges for society. Moreover, especially young people from European countries with instable economies have to be on the move because of reduced job offers in their home countries and high unemployment. According to this, young people of today need to get qualified for everyday life and working in different European countries within different cultures. Communication plays an essential role for both, everyday life and working and is necessary for mutual understanding in culturally mixed societies. To acquire skills, qualification and confidence in communication is indispensible to enable people to face more cultural diversity, to treasure its benefits and to cope with its challenges. Four schools from Germany, Poland, Turkey and Portugal participated in this project. All schools are either vocational schools or secondary schools, all providing training in the vocational fields of health or social profession which are characterized by a high intensitiy of contact with people. In the project students gained some knowledge about theoretical models of communication. But more important, they actively practised communication skills in everyday life situations and in vocational environments. During the Learning, Teaching and Training Activities students practised, observed and reflected on effects of non-verbal and verbal communication by participating exercises in culturally mixed groups. A second basis of the project was a short-term work placements in vocational institutions, like e.g. hospitals as well as other workplaces. Students performed job shadowing of professionals, e.g. nurses, educators. During this, students observed and evaluated the effects of communication in a professional environment with the help of questionnaires. Students have improved their language skills in English during exercises, job shadowing and their stays in host families and they also practised some basics of the language of their host countries. During the duration of the project all participants, students as well as teachers, kept in contact via digital media as means of modern communication. Teachers' visits included in this project provided exchange of best practices in teaching, applying quality measures and ways of using ICT in classrooms. This was done by job-shadowing, practising the usage of ICT tools and reports by teachers about their usage of ICT tools and exchanging about teaching methods at their schools. In the project students enhanced their general, as well as English, communication skills. This has helped to trigger changes in thinking and behaviour, e.g. to question prejudice and national stereotypes. Students have gained respect for other cultures and different life situations. Therefore, this project helped to enhance mutual understanding between particpants and different cultures. The project helped students to develop communication skills which can now be transferred to several areas (e.g. different cultures, different jobs) and we hope that this has helped to provide young people with the means for lifelong learning. They have acquired some skills which they can use even if the living and working conditions in Europe will undergo more changes in the future. Students have gained an insight in how to reflect their own communication behaviour and in case of any communication problems adapt their behaviour appropriately. By exchanging some best practices of teaching methods, materials, quality systems and the usage of ICT in classrooms, school curricula and teaching methods of the participating schools have enhanced. Furthermore, the project has helped to foster more open-mindedness and respect for students with different cultural backgrounds at all participating schools.