Improving the employability for the European labour market is one of the main goals the four schools from Poland, Italy, Spain and Germany want to achieve for their students with the project "Working in Europe- Europolitan Ways into the Future". In project course, the 15-18-year-old students work alternately in intercultural or national teams, get to know the conditions of the different labour markets and expand their skills relevant for being a member of the European manpower one day. During the 2-year project, the project ambassadors from all countries will meet four times, once in every country, learn about theoretical aspects such as the different educational systems, and together work on their required skills. In between the transnational training/learning activities, the students from each country will focus on individual topics and prepare them for other students within the school and for the other countries. The highlight will certainly be the opportunity of an internship abroad. We all agreed on selection criteria and a process of how we choose the participants and project ambassadors (5 from each country for each personal meeting), motivation is supposed to play a bigger role than grades. Yet, our German school as the only vocational school, has an additional challenge. We want to fight heterogeneity not only within classes as the other three general schools, but also between the different school types we offer. Thus, we will open this project to all full-time students. Because of this, a methodical guiding idea of our project is to encourage students to train other students (train-the-trainer approach). All schools have different strengths and different growth potentials, in addition, each country faces different challenges regarding the labour markets. Thus, each country will bring in different aspects: The school in Poland is proficient in the use of ICT as a means of supporting teaching and the teachers constantly seek to expand their skills in the field of digital education. Yet, the students often do not know how to choose the right profession and find a good job, vocational guidance cannot be offered. The school in Spain can provide classrooms with digital whiteboards and the teachers are currently working on an ICT project. Yet, youth unemployment is high and the teachers want to support their students by providing them with the skills needed for the job market. The students attending the school in Italy come from socially and economically disadvantaged areas. The teachers have strategies to work in challenging situations, yet there are early school dropouts. As a vocational school, we in Germany strive to easen the transition from school to work life and have close links to our education partners such as E. Breuninger GmbH & Co., Brillux or the Kreissparkasse, who have already confirmed their support for this Erasmus+ project. Yet, there is a great need for realistic intercultural teaching and digital education. In the first year, the students become aware of application guidelines according to the European standard, create their own portfolio and attend an application workshop in Germany. In addition, each country will focus on individual topics dealing with the options after school and the general perspectives for young people regarding finding a job. In Poland, they will also learn how to create a successful application video. In between, there will always be experiences-sharing phases. By comparing the different labour market situations and job requirements, the students will be made aware of the current situations in other European countries. The focus of the second year will be the legal frameworks of the different labour markets, one aspect which will be relevant for a discussion with a professional from a trade union which will be held with project ambassadors in Spain. Future developments of the European labour market will be the last topic the project will deal with. The results will be presented in Italy where also the final evaluation of the project will be done. In May 2019, students will get the opportunity to do the one-week internships. With all these little steps we are convinced that our students can improve their skills the European labour market requires from them such as media literacy or intercultural competence, all contributing to action competence, and they will be made aware of the strengths and weaknesses the different countries offer. The booklet “European Ways into the Future” and the webinars that the students will create in addition to radio threads and roll-up displays will not only summarize the main results but also be available for the education of the next generation and the dissemination of the project. We will share our results not only with students and colleagues at our schools but also with other schools in the region, companies, the employment centres or the chambers of industry and commerce, thus promote the European spirit.
Improving the employability for the European labor market was one of the main objectives that the four schools from Poland, Italy, Spain and Germany wanted to achieve for their pupils through the project "Working in Europe - Europolitan Ways into the Future". In the project, 15-18 year-olds alternately worked in intercultural or national teams, acquired knowledge of European-standard application guidelines, created their own portfolio and attended an English language application workshop during the first project meeting in Germany. At a second project meeting in Poland they learned how to create a successful application video. This knowledge was helpful in applying for the internships offered in the Erasmus + project. But before the internship could start, the project participants learned about the possibilities of school leavers, as well as the labor law conditions in the comparison of the countries. By comparing the different labor market situations, especially the existing youth unemployment, pupils were sensitized to the current situation in other European countries. "Current problems for young people" was also the big topic of the project meeting in Spain. The future developments in the European labor market, changing demands on the employee and thechanching role of work was the last topic of our Erasmus + project and also of our last project meeting in Rome. During the two-year project, project ambassadors from all countries met four times, once in every country, got to know theoretical aspects and worked together on their required skills. In between transnational training / learning activities, the students from each country focused on individual topics and prepared them for other students within the school (train-the-trainer approach) and for other countries. The highlight was certainly the internship abroad. The aim of our project was to make it easier for students to move from school to work by making initial contacts with companies and improving the skills that the European labor market expects from them, such as media literacy or intercultural and linguistic competence. They should also become aware of the opportunities and risks that the labour markets in the various countries face. The booklets "European Ways into the Future", brochures, videos, posters, teaching materials, PowerPiontPresentations, etc. that the students have created, not only summarize the most important results, but also serve to train the next generation and disseminate the results. We will share our results not only with students and colleagues in our schools, but also with our co-operation schools and interested companies.