Go International Erasmus Project

Project Title

Go International

Project Key Action

This project related with these key action: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices

Project Action Type

This project related with this action type : Strategic Partnerships for Schools Only

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2017

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Gender equality / equal opportunities; Social dialogue; Environment and climate change

Project Summary

Context of the project

The idea for this project was initially developed during a job-shadowing visit in the Norwegian province of Nordland in April/May 2016. It intends to build on the existing link between the two participating schools, AHS Rahlgasse and Sortland VGS in order to intensify co-operation and activities. During the preceding years, a few select students had the chance to travel to Vienna for two to three days. The idea was to offer a somewhat larger, yet manageable group of motivated students the chance to participate in a bilateral exchange and regard themselves as European citizens. In an increasingly globalized world this is a valuable experience to have made for one’s future.

Aims

The top priority of this project was to foster the intercultural dialogue of the youth and to strengthen their sense of being part of the European community. As concerns the teachers, the goal was to get to know the other school system, i.e. to facilitate the exchange of ideas and best-practice examples on the didactics of second language teaching.
This intercultural dialogue was not intended to be achieved solely by the exchange visits, but especially by the students’ work on the research questions they specifically designed for their chosen topics. These revolved around the school’s focus: gender, environment and social issues.

The students worked in small groups of 4-6 people, in which they compared Austria and Norway as regards the following topics:
Political system
Gender
Fashion and society
Youth culture
Social structure
Ecological footprint

Furthermore, the project was supposed to develop and train students’ organizational skills; i.e. on the one hand the ability to work in a team; on the other hand taking responsibility in planning and executing specific tasks in the context of working on the project itself as well as planning the stay of the guests.

Number and profile of participants

The participants were those 15 Austrian students who attended the module „Go International“ and those Norwegian students who take higher German classes, respectively. The Austrians were between 15 and 17 years of age, while the Norwegians were slightly older, between 16 and 18. They all showed the willingness to host students from another country and to participate in the intercultural exchange.

Activities carried out during class and the two weeks spent together

Introduction to the topic
Preparation of the stay in Vienna and Sortland regarding content and organization
Defining the topics to be worked on in small groups (see above)
Developing questionnaires and conducting interviews to collect empirical data
Researching background information on the topic
Continuous evaluation during school meetings
Preparation of presentations (working with ICT)
Presenting the final results during the last two days in Sortland
Creating a blog (gointernational2018.blogspot.com), working on the TwinSpace, creating an exhibition
Cultural activities (Volksoper, Schönbrunn, reindeer farm, visiting an agricultural school etc.)
Staying with host families

Results and achieved impact

The results of the project are to be found not only on the TwinSpace but also on a blog created specifically for that purpose: gointernational2018.blogspot.com.
Concerning the teachers, there has been a short-term co-operation, which will continue to exist for further exchanges. Another finding is that Norwegian schools have a far larger budget at hand, which means that Norwegian colleagues have a much better infrastructure they can work with (support personnel, ICT etc.). What stood out was the use of a software designed to detect plagiarism, which in Norway is common also in secondary school. This would also be desirable for Austria.

Last but not least, real friendships have developed over the course of the co-operation, which in turn positively affect the people surrounding the participating students. It enforces intercultural exchange and thus promotes understanding for different values, ways of thinking and realities of life. It also enhances the sense of being part of the European community. Some students stay in contact, they visit each other regularly and travel around Europe together, which clearly reflects the European spirit.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 35590 Eur

Project Coordinator

GRg6, Rahlgasse & Country: AT

Project Partners

• Sortland videregaaende skole avd Sortland