First of all we wanted some of our staff to get a reboost of their English language and teaching skills and meet colleagues from other European countries to learn from best practice examples, to discuss current developments in English language teaching and to create a network for future class projects. Moreover, we were interested in an update on the British vocational education system and on the possibilities for VET learners to do work placements in the UK. Last but not least, our participants were able to encounter Scottish culture first-hand. We aimed at adding new teaching ideas and authentic material to our classes in order to motivate our pupils to learn English, to be part of "the European Community of People" and to spend some time abroad during their studies, apprenticeships or future jobs.
Our institution applied for this project, firstly because the topics of the advanced training course sounded extremely gainful for our English language teaching team. Secondly, meeting colleagues from other European countries and learning from their best practice examples appeared to be highly beneficial. Our goal was to keep up-to-date with new teaching methods. Thirdly, gaining intercultural experience and refreshing our teachers' knowledge about every-day English and Scottish lifestyle on site should assist them in motivating their students and providing authentic examples for their language lessons. They are supposed to pass their experiences on to our students and apply new methods to improve their language skills and to motivate them to learn English as the world language number one. Finally, we intended to use the personal contacts with the participating teachers from various European countries and with our partner organisation Confluence for an ongoing exchange of school projects and for student exchanges.