The aim of our project was to enable our participants to gain practical work experience outside of Germany in a way that promotes learning and is based on real working life. This was meant to take place in the context of various workshops on a wide variety of business-related topics. We hoped for a beneficial development in the general areas of technical and social skills. Specialist content learned in class should be experienced and deepened in practical operating cycles, while the participants would gain insights into the organizational structures abroad. This should be accompanied by qualified professional competence and the strengthening of the participants’ social competence. Foreign language skills should be promoted by immersing oneself in another culture. Experience has shown that at a multicultural school like ours, strengthened intercultural and social skills help in dealing candidly with one another. In addition, we hoped that the experience and qualifications gained abroad (e.g. Europass) would support the participants' career choice process, show up international opportunities to them and increase their employment and career opportunities.
It is important to our school to place the educational focus not solely on imparting knowledge and fostering personality development, but also on preparing our students for today's and tomorrow's professional world in an international and digital age. As "Schule ohne Rassismus – Schule mit Courage" ("School without Racism - School with Courage": programme and nationwide network of schools in which pupils actively fight discrimination), not only teaching but also experiencing respectful cooperation in a multicultural and international context takes on an important role. Actually living and experiencing this as part of the project abroad is an incredible opportunity for our school community. As part of the realignment of our school type, the commercial school, aiming at a teaching concept "on the pulse of time", we want to ensure that our students are well-prepared for the requirements of the modern business world. Particularly skills-based working and language competence based on the sub-subject Business English (e.g. business letters, answering a phone call, application, cultural differences between Americans, Britains and Germans) should be deepened and expanded as part of the project in an international working environment.