Our main goal was to participate in methodology courses abroad and to do job shadowing at foreign schools. This way we wanted to gain new experience, ideas, and materials that we could use in improving the quality of our school, the effectiveness of teaching, in enhancing language, management, intercultural, and methodological competencies, and in increasing the interest of students in studying languages so they would face no problems studying at universities in Slovakia or abroad. Moreover, we wanted to get in touch with potential partners for closer cooperation on projects in the future. In addition to professional growth, the participants in the courses and job shadowing also used this experience to expand their intercultural competencies, improve their knowledge of foreign languages, and finally, establish contacts with European partner schools. The teachers who participated in the project act as catalysts for other colleagues and thereby contribute to the further development of the school and to greater flexibility and skills when working with European partners and partner schools. The European idea is the cornerstone of our school’s philosophy. The opportunity to present itself to the public with international projects increased the interest in our school and the annual number of enrolled students. We also expected better academic results of students, better attendance, improvement of problem-solving skills (critical and creative thinking) and civic competencies.
Our school is one of the oldest schools in the east of Slovakia, a socially and economically disadvantaged area with high levels of unemployment. At the time of writing the Erasmus+ application, the school was undergoing major changes. The school employs 39 qualified teachers and is attended by 580 students (15 to 19-year-olds, both from the town itself and the surrounding areas). Some of the students receive a low-income scholarship. At the school, we have classes with extended English, German, and computer science instruction and general education classes. The school management constantly tries to introduce new methods and supports European projects. That is why we decided to join the Erasmus+ project. The teachers were happy to get involved and were interested in mobilities. They are fluent in languages and regularly expand their education, and they expressed an interest to further their knowledge via structured courses as well as through job shadowing at foreign schools where they could develop their competencies and find new inspiration. One of the main reasons was our candidacy to become an IB school. For several years, our teachers have been preparing for this program, and we wanted to use the opportunity to visit a partner IB school, which was very inspiring and important in the process of applying to become such a school.