I’m a Star Erasmus Project

Project Title

I’m a Star

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: Early School Leaving / combating failure in education; Labour market issues incl. career guidance / youth unemployment; Teaching and learning of foreign languages

Project Summary

The purpose of the project was to bring together students and teachers in technical fields to work on a specific project called ‘I’m a STAR’. The acronym STAR stands for Situation Task Action Result/Reflection. The reasoning behind the acronym is that for any given Situation, one has to think about the Task required, the Action that follows to lead to a desired Result. Students were encouraged through a succession of activities during their program, to apply this thinking process either in a working environment or to improve their personal skills. In addition, the acronym had an underlying meaning, a positive and related to the inner-strength of each student: they are STARS that could shine, should they be aware of their strengths and how to overcome their weaknesses. The activities offered were also geared-up towards this objective – creating further awareness by coaching students on lifelong learning perspective by answering questions such as: which of these competences do I possess and which ones do I need to learn in order to secure an employment in my desired learned profession? The rational of the project is that every youngster gets the opportunity to discover and explore his/her talents optimally in order to develop into an independent, socially skilled and healthy citizen with a good knowledge and perspective on the labour market.The project provided the right process and tools to students to find out for themselves what their future employment could be on an international scale and which work skills they need to acquire to lead to a successful and fulfilling employment. The project provided the right platform to help those youngsters gain more awareness about what they could do, what they could improve, what they could inspire to be, where to find the information, how to apply for the right job, and most importantly, to realise the importance of education. The Erasmus+ two-years project offered 60 students, mainly from socio-economic disadvantaged regions, the possibility to increase their chances to find their dream jobs or those jobs that fit best their skills and aptitudes. For this project, 15 students representatives of all graduation courses, were selected from each participating school/country and enrolled into the two-years transnational educational program. Each school, identified a group of students from each working field available at the different schools (electronics, ICT, beauty and care, woodworking, cooking) to create a mix of competences and facilitate the exchange among different competences. The participants extended their information on an international level but they shared their knowledge at a local level with their peers. Local entrepreneurs and their personnel were asked to open their doors and knowledge to the students. Government institutions and parents, benefited from this project as they were indirectly involved by being a host family or opening their businesses to internships. At the beginning of the project, we made an inventory about the students’ awareness concerning employment. At the end of the project, one student told us “The project inspired me to do better in life!”. Students had four Transnational Learning/Teaching/Training opportunities abroad. They experienced different cultures, customs, mini-internships in foreign organisations, lived with host-families, used their newly acquired knowledge and made new friendships. Taking part in the development of an online portfolio – which was the foundation of this project, provided them with tangible, practical and useful tools, which represented the innovative part of this collaboration. Along the way, they discovered their own skills and talents. For example, they were thought how to write a CV or what employers seek in future employees. The compulsory internships during the exchanges abroad provided the students with a clearer perception of what’s ‘really happening in a working environment’ and inspired them to do better at school as a result. The Erasmus+ project has certainly helped the participants get out of their comfort zone. They were challenged, inspired, encouraged to be more communicative by presenting their work to a wider audience (i.e. abroad, at school, with their peers, etc). they learned new IT skills like how to develop websites, blogs or design a brochure. By learning about the partners’ countries, cultures, ways of life through their mobilities and school-exchanges, students were able to improve significantly their communication skills in English. For example, in the Netherlands, students enrolled in the Erasmus+ program, achieved higher grades in English than their peer students. A qualitative research across the four schools, allowed us to establish that “I’m a Star” project had a tangible positive impact on 60 youngsters. The completed online portfolio is now a useful tool to help students anywhere in the world to find the right employment – a positive legacy of this strategic partnership.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 60225 Eur

Project Coordinator

Pax Christi College & Country: NL

Project Partners

• Fondazione Mons. Giulio Parmigiani
• Zespol Szkol Zawodowych Nr 2 im. kpt. Wladyslawa Wysockiego w Bialymstoku
• VYSSI ODBORNA SKOLA, OBCHODNI AKADEMIE A STREDNI ODBORNE UCILISTE TECHNICKE CHOTEBOR