Our school project consists of four schools: one each from Greece, Lithuania, Portugal and Germany. It will be a combination of special needs schools and secondary schools. The school from Germany will coordinate the project. The students’ ages will range from 14 to 17 years old. The students will be faced with life questions about self-discovery, orientation and the transition of entering the work force. We would like our project to offer the students guidance, support and a reinforcement of positive self-discovery during the transition of leaving school and entering the work force. In addition, the students would analyze their school and their city, in order to support and strengthen a positive identification. This is why our team agreed on the title “Working for Europe.” Our main element is the understanding of the typical regional fields of work and skilled trade. Included would be the differences between present working conditions and the working conditions of the past. Students would focus on researching various skilled trades and completing an internship in that trade. For our project meetings, we would like to accompany two students from each school. In addition, the students will attend the following workshops: 1. My School – My City 2. What kind of work did my grandparents do? 3. What did my parents do for a living? 4. Because of technological advances over the years, show a comparison between how my grandparents worked and how my parents work. These four topics will be worked on in the workshops. All results will be posted on the internet. The students will visit the hosting schools, attend the workshops, spend two days in a typical skilled work place, and have the possibility to visit the area/city and discover the cultural heritage of the particular region. We are hoping for long-term goals on all different levels, i.e., 1. The contact between the school and the regional skilled working environment will build a long-term relationship for future internships. 2. It will offer the students contacts, help and support during their transition from school to the work force. 3. This first-hand knowledge and experience in another culture will offer the students the ability to discard hearsay, form their own judgments, eliminate anxiety and gain a better understanding of that particular region.
In our project "Working for Europe" schools from Kalambaka, Greece; Kaunas, Lithuania; Peniche, Portugal and Solingen, Germany worked together. The originally planned 24 months have turned into 36. On the one hand, this is due to the special Corona regulations and circumstances, but on the other hand, it also shows the cohesion, the firm will of the group to successfully complete the project work that has been started. Giving up along the way, abandoning the project before it was completely finished in terms of content was out of the question for us. We were so solid as a group, so connected with each other, that the adverse external conditions could force us to extend the project, but not to break off or even give up. Only one mobility we could not carry out physically and had to switch to a digital format. The transition from school to work as a sensitive period in the life of the participating students with the questions of self-discovery, new orientation and professional perspective was a focus of this project. By giving the students an insight into different professions in the respective countries (e.g. bakery in Lithuania, icon manufacture in Greece, blacksmith's shop in Germany and surfing school -virtually- in Portugal), we were able to provide them with guidance in professional matters on the one hand and a deeper insight into the respective culture and living conditions in the countries visited on the other. This had a very positive effect on their self-perception. Another focal point was the examination of the regionally different, typical fields of work and trades in the context of the changes in work in yesterday and today. The planned internships lasting several days were not feasible. Instead, the students got to know a greater variety of typical national professions through several visits and short internships. In addition, the students' positive identification with their own school and city was strengthened. As planned, two students from each country came to each meeting. In addition, the students worked on workshops on the following topics at the respective project meetings: 1. My school - my city 2. How did my grandparents work? 3. How do my parents work? 4. How has the work of my parents changed from the work of my grandparents due to digitalization? In each of these workshops, the students developed theoretical content on the four different topics. All results were published in digital form on the Internet. During the individual mobilities, the students got to know the respective school, worked in the workshops, visited typical trades in the respective region and were given the opportunity to explore the cultural heritage there during a tour of the respective region/city. The hoped-for long-term results on different levels formulated before the implementation of the project, 1. For the school, the work in the craft enterprises (internships) offers the opportunity for close interaction between them and the regional enterprises, which can also extend well beyond the duration of the project and possibly pave the way for long-term cooperation (further school internships or similar). 2. For the students, the project gives them the opportunity to use the contacts made here as a support for the transition between school and work. The knowledge and experience gained in the internship will help them in positioning themselves in the labor market. 3. Through the visits and cooperation between the schools from the participating European countries, the students will gain knowledge about the respective cultural heritage and regional conditions. This should strengthen the awareness of "other cultures" and lead to a reduction of resentment and possibly prevailing prejudices and fears. have come true. Long-term internships have been created for students, and a start has been made on long-term fruitful cooperation with companies. The students have reacted positively to the experience to an extent we could not have predicted. They have clearly exceeded all our expectations and the students have become much stronger in their personalities, more versed in their career ideas and have been strengthened in their European feelings and thinking through the international encounters.