1. Description of the realised program.
The last short-term exchange for pupils was hosted by Liceul Teoretic Avram Iancu in
Cluj-Napoca on 3-5 May 2022, with arrival on the 2nd of may and departure on the 6th May.
The general topic agreed between the partners involved Ecotourism & Handmade pottery,
ceramics and textiles, based on Romania’s long lasting tradition in these areas.
The specific practical topic of this exchange was: job interviews, internship programmes and
volunteering.
The very first day of the exchange, 3 May, was dedicated to official ceremonies under the
title ‘‘Erasmus+ Day’’. A dissemination session in school was held for maximum impact and
dissemination. Various stakeholders were invited: local entrepreneurs, teachers, parents,
students from various classes. The visiting guests had the opportunity to become familiar with
the achievements and the good practices of the hosting school, which is one of the top 10
schools in Romania in terms of achievements in the national exams.
Another important event was pupils’ presentations of their business proposals for tourism
companies in front of an audience that consisted not only of students and teachers, but also of
local entrepreneurs, CEOs, artists, businessmen.
A study-vist and a presentation of the local company NTT DATA offered the pupils the
possibility to meet one of the most successful IT companies in Romania and in the world.
In the afternoon, the Romanian students acted as local guides and offered the delegations a
tour of the City Centre using AR – each landmark had its own QR code that led to a digital
presentation.
The second day of the mobility consisted of a round table and an interactive presentation on the importance of the internship period that was organized for the pupils together with EVOCARIERA company. Beside various stakeholders, several alumni of these programmes were invited to share their experience. This important activity served two aims: (1) to address the internship issue and to find some relevant guidelines for pupils and companies involved, and, (2) to share success stories of alumni. The second part of the day a Business Speed Dating activity was organised: students were split in 7 multinational teams and 7 various stakeholders were invited (companies offering internships, NGOs, young entrepreneurs, freelancers, artists) to share their expertise and experience for 15 minutes at each table. They provided useful feedback and also contributed to creating the final product – Guide to a Successful Internship. We also invited the successful local artist Adi Hunyadi (painter) and a local entrepreneur Cipriana (who specializes in authentic Romanian blouses) to talk about art and entrepreneurship in art. Students interviewed them and they shared their experience. In the afternoon, we worked on the topic: Pottery, ceramics and textile work as a traditional
niche tourism in Romania. We organised a study-visit to the local artist Liviu Mocan who works with traditional, authentic materials and craftsmanship.
The 3rd day of the exchange included a meeting with the General School Inspector, where we
talked about educational entrepreneurship and the vision of Cluj County School Inspectorate
to support programmes like Erasmus+ to reach as many people as possible. The day also included a study-visit to Turda Saltmine, a local example of accessing EU funds to increase the main tourism attraction in the region and a very good example of niche tourism. In the evening, we organised a festive dinner and awarded the certificates. The program of this exchange was extremely interesting and varied. The students not only
made friends and had a lot of fun during all the activities of C6, but also learned a lot about
their hosts‘ local community and country. They gained valuable skills in this cross-culture
exchange and significantly improved their oral practice in the official language of the project
– English.
All the participants in the last short-term exchange of groups of pupils became acquainted
with the Romanian educational system and with innovative approaches in school
management, as well as with the local culture, folk crafts and customs, cuisine and lifestyle of
Romania. Students and teachers alike improved their communication skills in English, and
their interpersonal abilities, promoted their own cultural and educational achievements, got a
stronger sense of European belonging, and became part of the E-mates family.
2. Acquired competences and skills.
During this physical mobility, the students acquired many useful competences, such as:
getting a better idea of what entrepreneurship is all about, strengthening their creative and
critical thinking skills, being open-minded towards inclusion, cultural diversity and tolerance
in education, improving their leadership skills, and their ability to work in transnational
teams. As a result of taking part in this learning/teaching/training activity, the teachers shared
good practices with their foreign colleagues, developed their ability to identify and seize
various opportunities, and became familiar with methods of promoting and assessing the
students’ soft skills in the field of democratic citizenship, human rights and intercultural
understanding. School administrators learned how to promote the outward-looking approach
in school, and improved their managing skills in project-based transnational learning.
Throughout the exchange, parents, local entrepreneurs and members of the local community
became an integral part of the e-Mates spectacular activities.
Pupils worked in mixed teams to exchange ideas about what skills are necessary for different
job interviews, act them out and produce videos. Before this mobility pupils used eTwinning
project page to communicate, exchange ideas about the topic, and work on the ideas they
wished to discuss during the mobility to Romania. After the mobility, they will continue to
work on the final product, to brush their videos and GUIDE but also to keep in touch and
socialise. Pupils learnt through their own experience that negotiation skills are important in
every aspect of human interaction. By organizing a round table and moderating it, by
producing job interviews, videos and collecting information for the GUIDE they draw from
the practices and experiences of their guests from companies and NGOs. They had access to
multiple success stories but also lessons learned. They produced multimedia presentations
containing different video clips, sound effects etc. During the main event parents, teachers and other stakeholders were invited and given the opportunity to ask questions, exchange various ideas and views. The workshop-seminar and the actual visits to places that can be a paradigm of development from EU funding were a firsthand experience and they saw the actual implementations of original ideas, thus making them brave enough to do it in the future.
Another aim of this physical mobility was to engage pupils in a specific workshop where
they will not only learn a lot about internship programmes and volunteering in the tourism sector, but were also informed about partners’ successful practices and their success story.
Upon returning home, they will continue to find local success stories and exchange them via
the eTwinning page. Pupils worked in mixed teams to exchange ideas about what skills are
necessary for different job interviews; they acted these out and produced videos that they will
share on eTwinning and in the newsletter.
3. Conclusion. How is participation in this activity going to benefit the involved
participants?
All in all, the last physical exchange of representatives of the six partner schools did achieve
its main goal – to mark the completion of a fruitful future cooperation via lessons learned and
good practices shared. All the activities were carried out according to the updated action plan
and the program of C6. The coordinators of the partner schools were determined to apply the
best of their professional skills and competences in order to achieve the project final goals
and objectives, in spite of all the obstacles imposed by the pandemic. All end results were
carried out and completed in a professional manner.
Throughout the exchange, the school community, parents, and local authorities provided a
warm welcoming to the guests. Students spent time together in various activities thus getting to know the reality of living in a Romanian city. They improved their social skills, language
skills and life skills. By working in multinational teams they learnt how to be more tolerant
and act democratic. After the exchange, the project activities were analyzed, and their positive
outcomes were shared with the partner organizations via the project channels, thus serving as success stories and lessons learned for future projects.
Andreea-Daniela Suciu
Romanian coordinator of the E-Mates project