International comparison of social and job-related..
International comparison of social and job-related life in Germany and Great Britain
Start date: Sep 1, 2014,
End date: Aug 31, 2016
PROJECT
FINISHED
Since 2007 Leo-von-lenze-Schule Staatliche Berufsschule II has been doing mobility projects under the Eu funded programmes Leonardo da Vinci and Erasmus+ as part of ist internationalisation strategy.
In the last two flows of the project, i.e. 2015 and 2016, 69 students ( one student was not able to start the trip due to a severe illness; see medical certificate enclosed) were doing apprenticeships to become office management assistants and industrial management assistants. The participating students worked on the project „International comparison of social and job-related life in Germany and the UK“. The major part of the group is simultaneously doing a second qualification to become a foreign language correspondent. This course is run at our school in cooperation with the chamber of commerce and industry. In the final flow some vacancies could additionally be given to students doing apprenticeships as legal assistant, assistant tax consultant as well as IT consultant.
This group of participants resulted from the various needs of the economic area Ingolstadt and surroundings. Audi, EADS and mediasaturn approached us to prepare their apprentices more intensively as regards increased international mobility. As a vocational school cannot provide more than a weekly job-related English lesson we can hardly meet these requirements. Therefore it is a major concern of both Leo-von-Klenze vocational school and the training companies to take into account increasing internationalisation by offering an additional qualification to our students. The
above-mentioned companies support the trainees both financially and timewise by partly meeting the costs of this qualification scheme as well as by releasing them from regular working hours. Due to the good experiences with the project run by Leo-von-Klenze-Schule they already have expressed their willingness to encourage future trainees to also take part in the Erasmus+ mobility programme.
Much to our delight we also noted that an increasing number of small and medium sized local companies support the idea of internationalisation and encourage their apprentices to participate in our project.
A purpose of our project „International comparison of social and job-related life in Germany and the UK“ was that the students analyse and reflect on their private and occupational environment in order to compare the results with the experiences they gained in England at the college, in their host families and during their internships. As a result they should be able to distinguish differences in the English way of life which enables them to act appropriately in different situations, like dealing with English speaking customers.
In order to achieve the intended results the participants worked in five preparation workshops on their task and established a basis of comparison in accordance with the project title by reflecting their daily experiences (from their home towns, training companies etc.) as well as doing a research on the Internet. On that basis they collected impressions of the college, British companies, host families and what life in England is about. In the final presentation at Sussex Downs College the participants highlighted similarities and differences between Germany and Great Britain.
The students‘ stay in England was set up in three phases: During the first and the third week lessons were held at the Sussex Downs College to improve the students‘ language skills as well as to do project work.During the second week the students did their internships at various local companies and in administrative departments at the college.
Our students have benefitted from this stay at Eastbourne in many different ways: Apart from enhancing their speaking and communication skills as regards active vocabulary and expressiveness the students experienced the characteristics of British business culture in theory at Sussex Downs College as well as in practice during their internships with companies in Eastbourne and its environs. Besides the participants had the opportunity to gain experiences and impressions of British life and traditions in the host families as well as in their spare time which has helped them to distract fears or to overcome prejudices and inhibitions.
In the closing ceremony at Leo-von-Klenze vocational school in Ingolstadt to which parents, representatives of the companies involved as well as the local press were invited, the europass was handed over to the participants.
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