The project "Being a European: Find your way to the future - School , Job and Life in Europe - Meine Zukunft in Europa: Schule schaffen - Beruf finden - als Europäer leben" is based on the Paris-declaration of 2005 and its demand for diversity in the range of Education and the development of social and intercultural competencies as well as media competence. The project idea refers to the Europe 2020 strategy focusing the target of reducing the rates of early school leaving and enabling young Europeans to lifelong learning and participation in Europe.In our schools we teach students with very heterogeneous backgrounds and different needs raising from students with a very high performance potential, who need exceptional educational challenges via average pupils through to students with special needs due to special educational needs or migration (refugees).In all partner countries the participating schools developed strategies to cover that pluralism among the students by providing them methods for a successful career choice with due regard to the particular economical conditions. The main goals of the project are developing or expanding the students‘entrepreneurial skills on the one hand and raising awareness for claims and competition of the European job market on the other hand. Furthermore, the students will assess and improve their own marketability in terms of flexibility, longlife learning, professional change and capacity for teamwork on the European job market. To achieve these goals the learners will be pointedly supported in compiling their online application documents and preparing different job interviews as well as in optimizing their job market chances. Within the project, the students should be enabled to actively proceed with the European idea and obtain already created structures to support a strong Europe. In order to qualify the students to participate in the European job market and to implement the European idea, the focus of the project aims at developing the learners‘intellectual, moral, social and cultural competencies within the project for themselves and therewith for a strong Europe on the long run. Students and teachers from all participating countries (the Netherlands, Greece, Sweden, Portugal and Germany) take part in the learning activities during the project visits and act as multipliers at their home schools afterwards. Erasmus+ lessons and clubs take place in all countries whereby between 20 and 60 students per country are involved. These learners learn on different levels from special needs classes to grammar school level. All students who aim for a professional career are the target group of the project. Students who want to take part in the visits have to hand in an application and will be selected on the basis of pedagogical aspects. Within in the frame of the kick-off-meeting, the basement of the project work for the following two years will be concretely defined. A concrete to-do-list for all participants has to be documented and will be reflected at the evaluation meeting in the end of the project. The transnational learning activities are structured in the following way: basic knowledge – company visit in a European company – Europe as apprenticeship place – professional training in the school curriculum – evaluation and dissemination. We use different measures and media for our project realization and work diversely with the Think-Pair-Share principle on the ‘it’s me boxes’, the posters, the e-twinning entries, the online application and the European section of the particular school homepages. The overarching method ‘Entreprenasiums’ will offer our students a special space for representing themselves as young Europeans and their innovative ideas. The results and impacts of the project are independence in view of a strong student personality, a growing language and speaking awareness among the learners, the improvement of their social and multimedia (ICT) competencies and their active citizenship (and workforce) in Europe. These results are visible for themselves through individual application documents and for the society in the form of manuals and vocabulary trainer. A sustainable benefit occurs through the dissemination of the project results in the local media, the Internet as well as the development of the school curricula and concepts, which will be promoted by communication and exchange of experiences among the partner countries. In the long run, the project will reduce school dropout and increase the direct crossover from school to professional training at the participating schools.
The project "Being a European: Find your way to the future - School , Job and Life in Europe - Meine Zukunft in Europa: Schule schaffen - Beruf finden - als Europäer leben" is based on the Paris-Declaration of 2005 and its demand for diversity in the range of Education and the development of social and intercultural competencies as well as media competence. In our schools we teach students with very heterogeneous backgrounds and different needs: students with a very high performance potential, average pupils, students with special needs due to special educational needs or migration (refugees). In all partner countries (Sweden, Portugal, Greece, The Netherlands, Germany) the participating schools (Hammerskolan, Agrupamento Escolas Marinha Grande Poente, Gymnasio Agrias, Copernicus SG, Oberschule Westercelle) developed strategies to cover that pluralism among the students by providing them methods for a successful career choice with regard to the particular economical conditions. As well as developing or expanding the students‘entrepreneurial skills the main goal was to raise awareness for claims and the competition principles of the European job market. To achieve this, students were systemically supported in creating their online application, in preparing for different job interviews and optimizing their labor market chances. During the project the young EU citizens learned how to work actively on the European idea and to preserve existing structures in order to foster a strong Europe. Having involved 20 and 60 students per country Erasmus+ lessons and clubs took place in all countries. These learners learned on different levels - ranging from special needs classes to grammar school level. They broadened their knowledge of the EU and the possible educational and professional pathways within the EU. The students got informed about the partner countries and the activities of the project group by the Erasmus + corner. By it’s me boxes, which were designed in all eighth classes, the students were strengthened in their self-perception and trained in their self-presentation. By integrating the English lessons, the students were supported in enhancing their speech skills. A wide range of media was used - from the tangible it’s me box to posters, eTwinning contributions, online applications and the creation of a personal 5-year plan. The methodical form of the entreprenasium was tested. Results and effects of the project were independent working, a strong student personality, speech and language awareness of the participants, their social and multimedia (ICT) competences and their active citizenship (and workforce) in Europe. They benefited by self-designed applications and contributed to society by guides and vocabulary trainers . The results of the project led to the online portal https://apprenticeship2020portal.wordpress.com. The students experienced themselves as hosts and reported on their school system and the possibilities of professional careers in their country. By the positive self-confidence, which was improved by their own knowledge growth, the students got prepared for an applying in other European countries. By designing autonomously their personal five-year plans, the students were able to increase their self-reflection and life-purpose perception. By this the participants of the exchange showed their classmates that it is worth to become part of a family in the partner country and that everybody ought to take the risk. Spreading the content and results of the meetings in their countries, the students acted as multipliers. By reports in the lessons and on the homepage of the school, they could also share their experiences with other students and the school public. The regional media also reported on the visit of the partner schools in Celle as well as on the project.