Extending Horizons
Start date: Jul 1, 2014,
End date: Jun 30, 2016
PROJECT
FINISHED
Context/background: Our two first Leonardo projects ”Expanding Horizons” 2006 and ”Exploring horizons” 2008 included one school. “Experiencing Horizons” 2010 – 2014 (LLP-LdV-MC-10/S/689) covered three schools which merged into two. Now we apply for one more school in order to benefit from our joint experiences and strengths and to help each other.
We are three consortium members: The applying Allvar Gullstrand together with Selma Lagerlöf and Svalöfs gymnasium. Selma and Svalöf keep the contact with the two municipalities Landskrona and Svalöv for a joint and collected dissemination of our results. Svalöf also has a long experience from ECVET knowledges.
Objectives and impacts, organization level: We want to establish a placement network for the upper secondary schools in Landskrona and Svalöv. This is our main objective. Furthermore as a sidetrack we want to give our teachers an extended international school- and professional perspective that the students may benefit from.
Landskrona and its vicinity is a region with high youth employment and many of our students are second/third generation immigrants so the project is a possible way to reduce the employment through enhanced European mobility and thereby increase the knowledge about EU/what EU can offer young people in our region. For the municipalities of Landskrona/Svalöv it is importantant that we keep the education on a high level, fight the segregation between natives and immigrants, offer our students a future without unemployment and counter the student migration from us to the big school cities in south: Lund, Malmö and Helsingborg.
Objectives and impacts, students: It is important for the students to see more of the outside world to create user friendly, ergonomically correct and competitive products and services and moreover to attune their professional skills and experiences to European demands and values. We want to increase their innovation abilities, strengthen their vocational qualifications and their employability in a mobile world where competition no longer has any geographical, cultural and language borders.
Results and longer term benefits: The students should feel that the whole of Europe is their future labour market and that their products and services should have an international imprint to be able to match different needs in different countries. Instead of practicing for the third time at a local company we give the students the possibility to “Extend their Horizons”. To encounter this students will enhance their language skills. Young people who have been practicing abroad bring back more experience and a broad, international perspective that together with increased quality awareness, level of creativity and entrepreneurship are welcome contributions for future employments in companies in Landskrona and elsewhere, which adds to the Swedish initiative.
The placement experiences of the students form the basis for future education and placements at a local level.
Context/Background, students: All the students come from the third year vocational programs. They have during their first two years been practicing at local companies as a complement to their theoretical studies in their vocational subjects. Abroad they use the skills they have acquired during their upper secondary school years and learn new curricular skills.
Methodology: We intend to use ECVET, which means a written Memorandum of Understanding and a Learning Agreement. Through ECVET we hope even better to be able to document and identify what results each student should achieve abroad, how to assess, validate and quality ensure and in what way the new skills can be incorporated in their individual education plan.
Profile, activities, impact, staff: Concerning the staff who are to participate in the staff training we intend the teachers who are directly involved in the students who are sent abroad, but not strictly vocational teachers but also others as language teachers, social sciences teachers etc. as they all partake in the teaching of our vocational students.
Activities and number of participants: We apply for 81 students and 7 assistants on placements abroad and 10 teachers for staff training. The students are selected; they write their CVs, are prepared linguistically and intercultural, enter agreements and contracts concerning future placement.
Abroad the students take part in practical modules with an educated monitor at their hand, as a part of their theoretical and practical education. The monitor will be present during all the three weeks.
After the placement period the students get written assessments, the result is validated, and is credited in the students´ education plan. Europasses are issued as an evidence of the placement periods abroad.
The teachers on staff training discuss with their colleagues abroad during during two working days school issues, exchange experiences and solve common problems. At home they share with their Swedish colleagues.