eTwinning and KA1: ‘Job Shadowing in Action!’ Project

Tuesday June 21st, 2016Monday September 18th, 2017 by Cesar Herrero

By promoting synergies efficiently in Erasmus+, a group of teachers from Szkoła Podstawowa no. 6 in Zabrze (Poland) and the FEDAC Prats de Lluçanès school (Spain) have shared an enriching ‘Job Shadowing’ experience through the eTwinning platform. Carme Pellicer, project coordinator at the Spanish school, tells us how this experience has been developed, and its benefits for the entire educational community.

It all started when I received an email from Joanna from the ZP6 school in Zabrze, Poland, on the eTwinningLive desktop. In it she explained her Job Shadowing project and the desire of her team of teachers to carry it out at our school: FEDAC Prats. Its main aims were to learn another language (Spanish), another culture and to observe and learn about new teaching methods to apply at their school.

Once I’d shared the idea with my colleagues, we didn’t hesitate a moment to launch into a new European adventure. It would be our first contact with Erasmus+ after many eTwinning projects. We were absolutely determined to go one step further. We thought, and we were right, that it offered us a great opportunity to give a meaning to one of our school’s goals: achieving a European dimension. An excellent chance to share experiences, discuss ideas, collaborate and learn among peers in person with teachers from Zabrze.

During the second term of 2014-2015 I maintained constant contact and communication with Joanna, the coordinator at the school in Poland. There was a lot to do: project organization, planning the stay…

When we were organizing the 2015-16 year, the FEDAC Prats staff unanimously agreed that although it was Job Shadowing, our pupils would also be very directly involved in the project. Thus, we decided to plan the Job Shadowing as a School Project for the 2015-16 year and to integrate it into the curriculum with the appropriate competence aims. We also want to emphasize that the project included two school training courses: a Spanish course for teachers from Zabrze and an eTwinning Workshop for teachers from FEDAC Prats.

That was how we informed our students that there would be a Job Shadowing at our school: First, Surprise! Then, Excitement!

 

The project gradually grew and took shape. It was like a puzzle in which all the parts are essential to achieving the desired result. We constructed a reality from an idea.

We created the eTwinning project: Job Shadowing in Action! https://twinspace.etwinning.net/8439/home (link to the TwinSpace) associated with the Erasmus+. An ideal space for gathering together the activities that pupils did with excitement, and no less enthusiasm, and conducted an ideal place for communication among teachers, to share experiences, collaborate, discuss and manage the project.

The Job Shadowing week finally arrived in February. We’d meet each other in person! It was a highly anticipated event for everyone. The mobilization was complete, not only by the entire school community, but also by the Department of Education of the Generalitat de Catalunya, the FEDAC management team, the Town Council, different cultural associations in Prats de Lluçanès, regional television channels and the press. It received a great reception. We’d also like to mention the video conference between NSS representatives in Spain and Poland, the management teams and project coordinators from both schools, it was very interesting. We must thank everyone for their support and generous collaboration.

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It’s difficult to find words to describe what we felt when we had the first meeting with 20 teachers from the Zabrze SP6 school. We were all very excited. It was magical and intense. It immediately caused a mutual sense of affection and harmony. We were all very motivated to ensure the observation period at our FEDAC Prats school would be a highly enriching experience for both sides. And it was.

The Polish teachers were from different primary specialties. In addition to observing, they prepared classes for our pupils. A source of inspiration for everyone. The European dimension was thereby assured. Language wasn’t a great problem because we communicated in Spanish (they’d taken a course) and English. In addition, their Spanish teacher acted as a translator when needed.

This is a brief summary of what happened during the Polish teachers’ visit.

It’s so different being able to talk and discuss a subject in person! When the collaborative activities take place in a real class and not a virtual one. This is the good thing about the Erasmus+ programme.

The project hasn’t finished yet. Communication is not diminishing and neither are the activities. Everyone, teachers and pupils, eagerly look forward to the regular video conferencing that takes place. The friendship and good memories are wonderful.

An experience shared intensely by everyone. A great opportunity to learn from our peers. Totally recommended!!!

As one of the objectives of the Job Shadowing was the observation of learning methodologies at FEDAC Prats, here’s Iza speaking on behalf of her colleagues from SP6 in Zabrze. A few words that, once again, thrilled and moved us. We hope to do many more projects together.

Image source: TwinSpace from the ‘Job Shadowing in Action!’ project

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