Our project aims at building and expanding the participants' intercultural skills and reducing the fear of mobility and experience abroad. It is both about a professional context, but also about personal development, which goes beyond the pure "utilizability approach" and which strengthens the European sense of togetherness according to the European motto "United in Diversity". The European background is an invaluable source of student motivation. Participants are supposed to expand their intercultural competences in a guided process. Without a management of this process, prejudices and stereotypes, experiences of strangeness, and fears of mobility are often reinforced rather than eliminated. In addition, students are supposed to use and to improve their language skills. Cooperative, self-organized learning is an important part of the project as it is the only way to initialize a lifelong learning process. The project is divided into four parts, each of which focuses on a common goal of conscious awareness ("awareness") as a leitmotif. They learn to consciously perceive their own and foreign cultures and discriminations of various kinds as well as to recognize, accept and appreciate various forms of communication. Learner-active methods that make one's own experience and experience possible are, as mentioned, in the foreground in all project parts. The aspect of conscious, reflective and self-competent perception runs through all parts of the project. First of all, the participants learn to recognize and classify different influencing factors on cultures. The conscious perception of different aspects - visible and invisible - is the basis for acceptance and appreciation. In the second part, the participants deal with various types of discrimination and recognize them as an essential part of misunderstandings, conflicts and arguments. The third and fourth parts of the project are about raising awareness of the elements of verbal and non-verbal communication that we all always carry with us. In particular, the conflict potential contained will be addressed in order to prepare the students for future situations, to prevent conflicts or to facilitate conflict resolution. Surveys, observations, role-plays and simulations that give rise to possible conflicts, solutions and reflections are in the foreground. We make sure that each part of the project meets the criteria of a complete action and includes planning, execution and evaluation, and thus is self-contained. In particular, during the implementation phase, care is also taken to move from observation to reflection and understanding in order to seek internalization. The aim is to take away the fear of diversity and mobility from pupils and enable them to deal with each other in a reflective, purposeful and profitable way.
Constant accessibility, the ability to connect with the whole world, the mobility of goods, services and people characterize our world. Young people today open horizons that no other generation had before them. However, this leads to hopes, but also fuels fears. These can be fears about one's own professional opportunities, but also fears about the loss of cultural identity. In turn an increasing defensive attitude might develop, in society and in private. Protectionism, xenophobia, (indifference to) discrimination, demarcation and rejection of “being different” are the consequences. Many young people do not take up the opportunities that are offered to them. Often, they see threats rather than opportunities - born out of these fears. In contrast, intercultural skills are now required at all levels - from employers when working with colleagues, with suppliers and customers all over the world, in private life, in clubs, in the neighbourhood, etc. Our project aimed at developing and expanding the intercultural skills of the participants and at reducing the fear of mobility and international experience. It was about a professional context, but also about personal development, and intended to strengthen the European sense of unity in the sense of the European motto “United in Diversity”. Knowledge and acceptance of other ways of life and cultural identities cannot be taken for granted concerning young people; rather, there are often biases and experiences of foreignness. If increasing international interdependence is to lead to mutual understanding, a conscious dialogue between cultures and the desire to learn from one another must be encouraged. “Awareness” in the sense of conscious perception is the essential basis of a successful intercultural dialogue and an associated learning from one another. The participants expanded their intercultural skills in a guided process. They reflected upon prejudices and stereotypes, experiences of foreignness and fears of being mobile. In addition, the students have lost their shyness to apply and improve their language skills. Cooperative, self-organized learning was an important part of the project to initiate a lifelong learning process. The project was originally divided into four parts, each of which was to focus on one goal under the common issue of conscious perception ("awareness") as a central theme. Due to the current situation, the last part could no longer be carried out. In the first three parts, the participants learned to be aware of their own and of foreign cultures and of ways of discrimination, and they learnt to recognize, accept and appreciate different forms of communication. Student-centred methods that made it possible to experience and experience themselves were the focus in all parts of the project. The aspect of conscious, reflective, and self-competent perception ran through all three parts of the project. At first, the participants learned to recognize and classify different factors influencing cultures. The conscious perception of different aspects - visible and invisible - forms the basis for acceptance and appreciation. In the second part, they dealt with various types of discrimination and recognized them as an essential part of misunderstandings, conflicts and disputes. The third and fourth part was meant to be about the awareness of the elements of verbal and non-verbal communication that we all always carry with us. Unfortunately, only the third part, which dealt with non-verbal communication, could be carried out. In particular, the potential for conflict contained in non-verbal communication was addressed to prepare the students for future situations, to prevent conflicts or to enable conflict resolution. Surveys, observations, role plays and simulations, which gave rise to possible conflicts, solutions and reflections, were the focus of all three project parts. Each part of the project corresponded to the criteria of a complete action from planning, implementation and checking. Particularly in the implementation phases, care was taken to ensure that the participants went from observation to reflection and understanding to internalize the findings. The last part of the project, which would have dealt with verbal communication, could no longer be carried out due to the current situation - even when the project was extended by six months.