Description
The objective of the project is to build and develop bilateral institutional cooperation between upper secondary schools in Slovakia and in the donor country Norway. The project will focus on cooperation in education in particular fields - subjects, using distance cooperation of students on common assignments using ICT, as well as excursions. Both institutions will be able to enrich their actual knowledge and experiences with new information about the use of marketing tools, as well as forms of company management in the market economy in Norway and Slovakia. Exchange of teaching methods will prove interesting and rewarding both for teachers and students. Participation in the project will give the students an advantage in the labour market when job searching. They might be able to establish their own firm or they might work as employees in travel agencies. The teachers will gain information about teaching methods used in economic subjects at the partner school. The project will enhance the reputation of both schools, as well as strengthen their position in a competitive landscape in area of upper secondary vocational education.
Summary of project results
The main reason of the project was that students of both schools needed some more practice and international experiences in field of tourism. Sustainability of the project results will be ensured by the use of project outputs in English and Economics lessons. One of the main objectives was to show Senec in Slovakia and Bergen in Norway as regions rich in natural beauties, history, customs and traditions. Work was divided into some basic fields: widen the portfolio of the Training Firm on cooperation with Norway, elaborate segmentation of the market and marketing mix, gain skills in communication in foreign language. The objectives were fully reached. The project had remarkable impact; students utilized skills learnt during the project implementation in taking part in compulsory training in different firms focused on the field of tourism. The most important outcome of the project was both students and teachers have learnt a lot about possibilities that Norway and Slovakia have in area of tourism. This outcome was based on a mutual exchange of experience in real conditions abroad and it was reached as far as possible. There were several project outputs, for instance: questionnaires to ascertain interest of people in Norwegian and Slovak destinations, catalogues, promotional CDs, innovated portfolio of the travel agency, a handbook of basic phrases useful for a tourist, presentations on Project Method of teaching. The beneficiaries were involved to the project equally. Students and teachers carried out activities on both schools and together during mutual visits. An important benefit was strengthening the position of both schools in a competitive landscape in area of upper-secondary vocational education. The donor partnership achieved a lot of educational ideas in teaching process. Norwegian teachers will implement some of the teaching methods seen at SOŠ Senec, Slovakia including more practical work in the classroom, teachers will benefit from additional value of teamwork.
Summary of bilateral results
We highly appreciate the donor project partner’s professional contribution. Students of SOŠ Senec, Slovakia learnt new knowledge, gained experiences and skills in Marketing and Management and became familiar with lessons in Norwegian school and the atmosphere of partner school. Teachers gained new information and experiences in Marketing and Management teaching from their colleagues in Åsane VGS, Norway and became familiar with teaching methods in other subjects. As a very interesting and important outcome of the partnership we consider the fact that both students and teachers have learnt a lot about two partner countries and about the possibilities these countries have in field of tourism. Partnership achieved important outputs relating to tourism which was a common interest of both schools. The portfolio of the travel agency as a main project output was widened on cooperation with Norway. Practical training of both students and teachers in has enriched their knowledge, experience and skills. Bilateral partnership was successful. We focused on cooperation in education, we solved common topics. We put to use excursions and students used distance cooperation on common assignments using ICT. We learnt some basic expressions in Norwegian/Slovak to strengthen bilateral relations, to get closer to each other. We learnt about the culture, customs and traditions of the partner country. Most of results of the project lie in the heads and hearts of the students and teachers. The partnership has had some wider effects through dissemination of gained knowledge in taking part in the International Trade Fairs of Training Firms and on work meetings of secondary school pedagogues in Senec and Bergen regions. It is important to say that in Europe which during our project has changed dramatically, the way to peaceful coexistence between nations and people depends on our ability to treat each other with compassion and respect regardless of cultural background, beliefs and convictions.