We wanted to broaden the horizon of young people, intensify their language skills and enable them, to get to know the economy of another country in order to enable them to maybe work there one day.
The programme „Comparing economies“ has been developed in order to motivate young people that are interested in pursuing a career in economics/health to broaden their view in the field of international economics or health systems, improve their language skills and to acquire knowledge about other countries in general. It is important these days to widen ones horizon in a world that becomes more and more international. Young people, which aim at completing their professional training to become a "staatlich geprüfter Wirtschaftsassistent/In" (officially recognised assistant in economics), experienced a two-week stay abroad. They were accompagnied by four members of staff (teachers) in Malta and 4 in Málaga. Every morning, the young people received four hours of intensive language course in Spanish and English respectively in certified language schools, and in the afternoons, participants went on company visits and cultural excursions. The project started with an intensive preparation within their school subjects Economics/Health Systems and English or Spanish respectively, and in additionally held workshops, in which they had the chance to organise the trips within the country they visited. The organisation of the cultural programme abroad and the company visits was part of participants responsibility as they planned - together with the accompanying members of staff - within a given budget and within a given form and Content, the excursions. Through this, an emphasis will was on the autonomy and the organizational skills of the participants. Also, a broad knowledge of the country Spain/Malta and its inhabitants was developed as participants, as part of their project, undertook extensive researches about the Spanish/Maltese economy, Health system, culture and mentality in the weeks before their travel experience. The direct contact to the Spanish/Maltese people were of high importance during their stay. Inspection trips to companies in and around Malaga/Malta helped to improve the understanding for people, culture and economy. Contacts between the participants and young Spanish/Maltese people were fostered during the visit of Malaga University and the University of Malta. All these activities aimed at improving participants` language skills significantly; widening their organisational skills and own initivative; increasing their chances on the job market; participating in society in Germany and abroad and - hopefully - to motivate them to encourage other young people to broaden their international competences as well. Their level of English and Spanish respectively was tested and certified at the end of their stay abroad. The post-processing of the travel experience played an essential role within the project. Participants worked on their experiences and learnings that they had collected during their stay in Spain and Malta respectively. Together with their teachers, they evaluated their learning experience in every direction and got the task to prepare a presentation for other your people within the Angell Akademie Freiburg in order to show the importance and meaning of going abroad and to motivate others to do the same. In addition to that, the experiences were be published on the acadamy`s Homepage and shared with memers of staff of other Schools in Freiburg.