Heike Theurich has been teaching at the Reinhard-Mohn-Berufskolleg in Gütersloh/Germany since 2005 with 20+ years of professional experience teaching in vocational education and training.
She has worked with a broad range of stakeholders in the field of vocational education, business, district government, organisations and networks, especially for EU programmes and international Erasmus+ projects within the field of Vocational Education and Training.
She is particularly interested in European and global education policy, lifelong learning, European competence development, sustainability, climate change and the further development of the understanding of democracy in Europe.
Erasmus+ Programme as a Sustainable Way of Lifelong Learning
Presentation
Co-presenting with Rudolf Göstenkors
The internationalisation of VET is a challenge for the German VET system. At the same time, in the sense of lifelong learning, it also goes hand in hand with the consequences for European VET systems and VET systems worldwide. In this context, findings on transfer possibilities of the dual system of vocational education and training in the Federal Republic of Germany to other countries take on a particularly important significance.
Societal and economic changes that affect education and skills for the world of work show a high transformation potential for lifelong learning. One challenge is the lack of personnel in Europe’s companies. At the same time, the expanded modern occupation and the ability of occupations to change due to the transformation of the world of work determine the further development of holistic competence approaches and qualifications. They give rise to transformation processes with further reform and modernisation concepts in vocational education and strengthen the Europeanisation of education.
In her State of the European Union (SOTEU) speech on September 14th, 2022, the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen declared 2023 the European Year of Skills. The focus is on education and training as well as lifelong learning. This fresh impetus of lifelong learning will address the skills shortage. It sets new opportunities in the labour market, especially for green and digital transformation and economic recovery attracts skills and talents from third countries, including by strengthening learning opportunities and mobilities and facilitating the recognition of qualifications including European Skills.
After a short presentation of VET in the German education and training system, the learning of competences mainly in the secondary level of the Reinhard-Mohn-Berufskolleg in Gütersloh/Germany will be explained as an example. The vocational college is advised on EU projects by the „EU-Geschäftsstelle für Wirtschaft und Berufsbildung“ of the Detmold District Government, Detmold/Germany. The special focus is on the successful personal, cultural and digital exchanges of students with students from six European project partner schools and the personal exchanges of trainees in companies placements abroad in Europe within the framework of two different Erasmus+ projects:
- “Wonders of Webless World – Shiny Object Syndrome (WWW.SOS)”
- “Fit for Europe”.
But the basis for today’s Erasmus+ programme, which was established 35 years ago on June 15th, 1987 from Decision 87/327/EEC of the Council of the European Union, encompasses all areas of education and stands for peace work in Europe in addition to cultural awareness:
In addition to digital and intercultural learning in the European school network “eTwinning”, insights into collaborative learning and working through the digital exchanges of students in the context of participation in a joint “Music Fest: I sing you sing we communicate” as part of Erasmus Day 2021 and through the design of Europe Days 2022 in Reinhard-Mohn Berufskolleg/Germany and in the district of Gütersloh/Germany are also shown here.
Finally, the awarding of the “Europass Mobility” as an official international certification and qualification instrument for the proof of mobilities with learning and training experiences in Europe within the framework of the Erasmus + project “Fit for Europe” to two students of the Reinhard-Mohn-Berufskolleg will be presented.
Would you like to participate in the Erasmus+ Programme for lifelong learning?
