In the light of varying rates of youth unemployment in the countries of the European Union, the today’s students’ freedom of movement claims transparency concerning their educational and vocational qualifications in other European countries in order to enhance the opportunities of access to the domestic labour market. Using the EU-core countries Italy, France and Germany as an example, the aim of the project is to provide the participating students with the respective necessary knowledge of the different systems of vocational training and the conditions of the job market, and, at the same time, to improve their language skills and intercultural competences needed for a successful vocational mobility abroad. A total of approximately 45 students of three vocational partner colleges, namely I.I.S.S. Amerigo Vespucci in Gallipolli, Italy, Campus La Salle in St. Etienne, France, and Berufskolleg Suedstadt in Cologne, Germany, belonging to the level of upper secondary education with a focus on (international) commerce will take part in the project, having knowledge of one or both partner languages already. The project will be embedded into the weekly schedule of all partner schools as a special-areas course called European Studies. After a preparatory meeting of 6 (primarily responsible) teachers, students will continually work on the project on the basis of different learning situations within the framework of vocational education as well as of access to the labour markets of Italy, France and Germany. In continuous co-operation and permanent exchange, these learning situations will be developed and tested by the participating teachers of the partner schools. Three one-week meetings for the exchange of information and experiences in Cologne, St. Etienne and Gallipolli will complete the realisation of the individual learning situations. In the final stage of the meetings, the students will carry out counselling interviews with distributed roles concerning a future vocational EU-mobility. In order to communicate between the meetings and to file the working results, the portal of eTwinning will be used. The major final product will be a student-oriented multimedia mobility guide for coming first-time employees in other European countries which will be published in the three respective languages as well as in English. The survey results of local experts in occupational choice and labour market will also be incorporated into this guideline. The learning situations will be integrated into the partner schools’ European curricula. Concerning the evaluation of performance, the teachers of the partner schools will collectively develop a competency grid for self- and external assessment serving as a basis of the appraisal interviews. Whether the intended aims have been reached or not will be determined, inter alia, by means of written exams but also through the counselling interviews mentioned above. For the purposes of a final evaluation, the students will finally fill in an online feedback form drafted by the teachers. In the coming year, the subject of European Studies will be continued at the partner schools as a cross-border course within the framework of an e-Twinning project. Internally, all students will be able to use the guideline prior to an EU-mobility and all teachers can use the learning situations including all working materials for their future lessons; externally, the data can be obtained via the partner schools’ homepages. The project and its findings will be made use of by a follow-up project, i.e. the training as a EU-mobility scout. The contents and results of the project will be published as an example of best-practice in the partner schools’ European networks and in national specialist journals. Apart from publishing the entire project documentation on the Erasmus+ platform for project results, it will also be made available to all interested platform participants by placing it on the eTwinning project gallery.
Viewed in the context of different levels of youth unemployment among European countries, it is necessary to provide transparency in acknowledging educational certificates and qualifications for students in order to increase career prospects on national labour markets. The main aim of the project is to provide the participating students with the essential knowledge about the manifold vocational training systems and conditions on the labour market. The EU core countries Italy, France and Germany serve as an example. At the same time, the aim is to improve the foreign language and intercultural competences required for successful job mobility in other EU countries. A total of 45 pupils from the three vocational partner schools I.I.S.S. Amerigo Vespucci in Gallipoli, Campus La Salle in St. Etienne and Berufskolleg Südstadt in Cologne from the upper secondary level with a focus on (foreign) trade took part in the project. The pupils had previous knowledge n one or both of the partner languages. The project was embedded into the weekly teaching organisation at the coordinating vocational college in Cologne as a European course in the area of differentiation, and integrated into the ongoing foreign language teaching at the two partner schools. After a preparatory meeting of 5 (mainly responsible) teachers, the pupils worked continuously on the project over the entire duration on the basis of three learning situations for vocational training and labour market access in Italy, France and Germany. The learning situations were developed and tested in continuous cooperation and exchange by the participating teachers of the partner schools. Three one-week exchange meetings in Cologne, St. Etienne and Gallipoli took place after completing the the individual learning situations. At the end of the meetings, business leaders, trade councils and external mobility experts held consultations with a view to future professional EU mobility. Communication between meetings was via e-mail, and the results of the work were also posted on the eTwinning portal. A digital end product is an up-to-date mobility guide for job starters abroad in the EU, which answers important questions in the three national languages as well as in English. The guide incorporates the survey results of local career choice and labour market experts. The learning situations are to be included in the European curricula of the partner schools. The successful cooperation and participation in this Erasmus+ project was confirmed to the pupils by a trinational certificate specially developed by the partner schools. Whether the intended goals were achieved could be evaluated on the basis of the quality of the work results and a feedback questionnaire developed by the teachers. At the end of the project, the pupils completed the feedback form as part of the final evaluation. The anonymously completed student feedback forms were statistically evaluated using software. The cooperation will be continued in the coming school year at the partner schools in the form of internship exchanges. Internally, all pupils will be able to use the guide in the run-up to EU mobility and all teachers of the partner schools will be able to use the learning situations, including all working materials, in future lessons, externally via the websites of the partner schools. The project and its results can be used for a possible follow-up project, the EU Mobility Scout Training. Project content and results will be published in the European networks of the partner schools, at the Erasmus+ project results platform as well as in national journals.