Our goal was to develop tools that would contribute to a better adjustment of VET to the needs of the labor market in Poland and the Netherlands in terms of communication skills in a multicultural environment. We wanted to prepare tools for us (for the POLPROM Foundation, whose trainers work with students, and for the UP educatie company, which provides vocational training). Our goal was also to pay attention to this problem and to include this topic in the social discussion. We wanted to disseminate information about the developed tools and encourage their use. The implementation of this project enabled us to prepare an attractive and expected workshop offer to be implemented in schools and at the request of employers. We want to use it and we are looking for imitators among other organizations. An important effect of the implementation of this project is also the opportunity to learn the principles of implementing ERASMUS+ projects, because we plan to prepare further applications. It is also important for us to establish partnerships with a Dutch company, meet new potential partners and participate in discussions about the challenges of vocational education.
Graduates of vocational schools and participants of vocational training are often members of multicultural teams in the workplace. Many of them do not have developed communication skills in such an environment. Employers, who have problems with building multicultural teams, pay a lot of attention to how the employee has developed skills regarding multiculturalism, communication and teamwork. In Poland, the lack of these skills reduces the chances of professional promotion. When a young man (or women) goes abroad (e.g. to the Netherlands), the lack of these skills makes it impossible for him to work. We have heard many times that it is important including tools to develop communication skills in a multicultural environment in the vocational education program. The UP educatie company from the Netherlands pointed to the desirability of including information and exercises that develop these skills in the training offer. Without it, many people coming from other countries, cannot meet the expectations of Dutch employers. Demographic conditions (also in Poland) and the external situation (including the war in Ukraine) make these needs more and more visible.