The issue of the comprehensive language development at vocational training institutions (VTI) as well as the language promotion integrated in the specific vocational subjects has become highly relevant in terms of educational policy nationwide due to the vast heterogeneity in classes during the transition from school to profession and due to the lack of knowledge on the teachers´ side being subject teachers and subject experts. Beyond that, VTI at the international level face similar challenges, not least by the entering of a multitude of young refugees into the vocational education and training (VET) system. In everyday situations of vocational schools, it is particularly the specialized subject teachers who are trained and qualified in terms of the didactics of their professional subject, although lacking concrete potential solutions to ways for promoting the language skills of their students. The key element of the issue is characterized by mutual misunderstandings on both the teachers´ and the students´ side. Studys (for example Baethge 2014, Efing 2014, Siemon et al. 2016) emphasize the positive effect of a direct connection of linguistic and vocational learning processes. On the basis of a pilot project of the EU Service Center of the Münster District Administration having been implemented in November 2018 in cooperation with Stockholm University, our project addresses the problem of relevant language skills both of non-native and native speakers within the context of a professionalization and support of teachers involved in vocational training institutions.
The main objective was to bring German teachers into contact with fresh ideas on language teaching for people with language problems who are about to enter their professional life. This can be the step into vocational training or the transition into employment. In a European comparison, theoretical approaches were discussed for compatibility with the dual system in Germany, ideas for implementation were discussed and the participating teachers were given tips for their daily work at the vocational college. On site, the German teachers were to get an idea of the vocational education work in Sweden, Italy and France and reflect on the German working methods to compare them with those of the European partners. During the study visits, aspects such as digitalisation and the health of vocational education staff were also to be considered as particular challenges. Due to the pandemic, the project partners involved agreed to offer online events instead of the international learning and teaching activities on site. However, this did not have a negative impact on the achievement of the objectives.
The EU Office had already successfully completed an Erasmus project for teachers with international partners (Stockholm, Bordeaux, Verona). It was mainly aimed at teachers who teach pupils with language difficulties, e.g. due to migration or flight. The feedback from the first project mainly represented wishes for improving language support, but also integration and inclusion at the social level, especially in the school and training sector. At the European level, VET institutions were facing similar challenges of integrated language support at the same time. The coordinating unit in the EU office also registered a need for information among subject teachers on strategies and approaches used by international project partners to provide language support to pupils in the transition from school to working life. It was therefore necessary to find out which projects of the international partners could be helpful for the German teachers.