The students come from the Bielefeld region and have not had much experience abroad beyond short vacation trips. Therefore, they had significant learning needs in expanding their intercultural competences, as these will be required in their future profession as educators. It was also important to us that our students, through their international internship, get to know other cultures and work methods, in order to be better prepared for their future professional life. Furthermore, the stay abroad was relevant for them to experience different concepts in early childhood education and their implementation in a German-speaking kindergarten abroad. The participants found themselves in a foreign country with a different language. They gained the experience that parents, children, and colleagues communicate with each other in ways they cannot understand. They learned strategies to deal with this situation and then rediscovered these strategies when communicating with parents and children in Germany. This also led to an expansion of their intercultural competence. The goal was also to reflect on the parenting goals and styles in the host country, as well as their own expectations, in order to become aware of their own reference framework.
The objective of the project was to enhance intercultural competence, learn about different educational concepts in early childhood education, and experience that early childhood educators are also available as a workforce in Europe. Especially in light of the current societal developments, driven by globalization and immigration, intercultural competences are becoming increasingly important even in our own country. The concept of "Europe" was also intended to be conveyed to our students. Participants also had the opportunity to further their education in a foreign language (English, Danish).