This project was intended to kick off the school's Erasmus+ work. It should anchor the European idea in the school community, Europeanize core areas of the school in their orientation and motivate and train the staff. In the short term, individual teachers were to be trained in the core and required areas in other European countries so that they could pass on their experience and knowledge to the students and staff. At the same time, the courses abroad enabled the teachers to gain intercultural experience themselves and to establish contacts with European colleagues. Accordingly, the motivation of the staff to get more in touch with Europe, to establish exchanges and to live the European idea could be increased. In order to achieve these goals, eight teachers from the school, including the school management, took part in six different training courses. It was important for the school management to gain Erasmus+ experience themselves in order to be able to authentically promote the Europeanization of the school. The other six colleagues represent a cross-section in terms of age, subjects and focus of work.
We are a grammar school in the Ruhr area that aims to Europeanize the school and establish European exchanges in the long term. We are known for our bilingual teaching. Accordingly, interculturality plays a major role in our daily life. However, the school community lacks the focus to perceive itself as a European school and to deal with being part of Europe. Accordingly, this project aimed to train the staff to Europeanize the core areas of the school and to gain experience abroad themselves. There was a need to deal with European values, to establish contacts with schools and teachers in other European countries and to get to know innovative teaching methods from a European perspective. Due to the pandemic, the project had to be extended by one year. Most of the advanced trainings could only take place in the last months. In addition to the technical (bilingual) work, it became apparent, especially in the return to face-to-face teaching after the lockdowns, that mental health and dealing with pressure and stress are a current great need at the school.