SUMMARY OF THE PARTNERSHIP

There is a growing awareness that cross-cultural skills development is needed to face the challenges of globalisation on labour markets. To succeed in a work place abroad, no matter if it is during studies or later as a job seeker in a foreign environment can be very challenging. In order to succeed in both, knowledge about working cultures is a necessity.

During work placements abroad, students get to see different habits, customs, ways to communicate, values, ways to approach things, occupational health care, after-work activities etc at work places. These and many more make up what is called Working Culture.

The students at our schools would benefit greatly if they could enlarge their own thinking, i.e. realise that the way how things are done in their own country is not the only way, but that there are many possible approaches. It would be good to help them be open to new things and ways, to differences, to help them not be ethnocentric.

Our partnership is composed of organisations in vocational education, and working culture is connected very closely to the colleges’ every day life. Each partner will take on a specific area of the work according to the common plan made in the kick off meeting in Finland.

The starting point is that students and teachers visit a work place – including schools – in a foreign country, keeping their eyes and minds open. Also, we have to bear in mind that there are differences in working cultures within one and the same country. In this project we are, however, more interested in whether there are typical, culturally bound features in working cultures.

The aim in this project is that some of the features to be studied, will be already defined at the time of applying, but our purpose is also to be open for the fact that during the process, participating teachers and students introduce factors that are essential from their point of view. By doing like this, Finns as the coordinator, try to make sure that there is room for cultural diversity.

The tangible outcome of the project (DVD, brochure or equivalent) can be utilised as material in language and cultural preparation for students who will have their work placement abroad. This is very much needed at least in Finland. Intangible outcomes would include an increase in cultural knowledge and experience, the ability to implement cultural knowledge within organisations, developed communication, tolerance towards cultural diversity and differences, and better quality of on-the-job periods abroad and at home.

PARTNERS' TASKS

- Each participating institution selects students and teachers for the project.
- During the first project meeting, where only teachers participate, a list is compiled of themes that come under the heading Working Culture. Each student group in participating institutions makes a list of factors that they think come under the heading Working Culture based on discussions at school and interviews at work places during work placement.
- Each partner school arranges a one-week project meeting including a visit to a work place
- During the first year, the theme Working Culture is explored at participating schools
- During the second year, the outcome is collected and compared to see if cultural differences occur

Coordinating school (Finland)
- is responsible for planning the first project meeting and visit program. This will then be copied and improved by partners when it is their turn to receive visitors from participating institutions
- is responsible for collecting data from each participating institution through Moodle learning environment

Hungary
- is responsible for collecting the evaluation data of the project from the participating institutions

Italy
- is responsible for collecting the material (for example Power Point presentations, posters or equivalent) for the dissemination of the project output, The output can then be freely accessed by anybody, and disseminated in participating countries.

Course Management system (CMS) Moodle will be set up by the coordinator and available for the project group at the beginning of the project. It will be tailored for the needs of the project.

ICT will be utilised throughout the project. Our aim is to utilise a course management system (CMS) Moodle - a free, open source software package designed using sound pedagogical principles, to help educators create effective online learning communities. South Savo Vocational College (the coordinator) has used Moodle as a cooperation tool in a Grundtvig project "EuroTools" and Leonardo project "DiDE". We use a programme that is flexible, and our aim would be to build conversation areas, areas for different subjects (folders, files), utilize it for questionnaires, add links to web pages, pictures, videos etc. The programme operates in many languages, but the co-operation language will be English. The aim would be to use IT for the development of the partnership between project meetings and gatherings as well as for making available the various project "products" for all partners. Partners will make use of it for communication and co-operation e.g. ideas, concepts, reports, monitoring and virtual discussions. The co-ordinator will use Moodle for steering the project, announcements, agreements, notes of meetings, programmes of meetings/visits etc.
dátum: 9/02/2009

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