Let's get International! - school and the world of work across the European Union

At our school, as well as at the partner schools we believe that a viable curriculum sets the basis for effective and enjoyable education and life-long learning. In designing our school development plan for the next couple of years, we have therefore decided to put a strong focus on curriculum development. Consequently, we want to put more emphasis on career guidance and counselling. In the attempt of preparing our students best for the world of work in the European context, the educators at the participating schools firstly concerned themselves with two main questions: 1) How do we make upper school more appealing to our students (What do we offer them, which makes them want to continue their school career at our school? How can we stay ahead of our competitors? 2) How can we improve our teaching to meet students learning needs better and to prepare them well for their future professions. Based on those two questions we decided to make career guidance more attractive for our students and to offer them an insight into school and work across Europe. There are various reasons to support our decision: For future employers it is of utmost importance to gain experience with school and work in different European countries. In connection with intercultural competences, these experiences support an economic, political and cultural understanding within Europe. Main objectives for working together in a strategic partnership: The participants should work together closely and organise a short-term exchange for their students where they can attend school and gain some work experience in companies in Germany and Austria. Furthermore, the teaching staff should get more skilled, by an intensive exchange of teaching methods concerning career guidance with teachers of their project partners. Participants in this project will be principals, teachers, students and parents at project partners in Graz and Hamburg. This strategic partnership will offer a great variety of opportunities for the school staff and students at the three schools.