Report on the Project Meeting

From March 25th until April 1st 2015 the first project meeting of our international cooperation took place in Prešov, Slovakia. We, five teachers from the BeruflichenSchulenLandsberg am Lech (Germany),were meetingourcolleagues of the Gymnasium Konstatinova 2 in Prešov, Slovakia.

In my point of view, the main interesting topics of this meeting were

  1. The way of organizing the lessons
  2. Economic situation in Slovakia especially of the younger people
  3. Common rootsofEasternSlovakia and Bavaria

Summary 1)

I was attending classes in Mathematics, Computer Science (in Slovak language), German- and English Language. In all lessons, the students behave very well and disciplined due to the rather reserved and severe role the teachers took in class.

With the exception ofthe Computer Science lessons,the communication between the teachers and the students were only instructions or questions and answers. There were no phases of self-studying integrated. The students were neither learning at their own speed and with their own methods or structure nor solving problems in a small student team. Thus, the lessons gave an impression to me of an outmoded conception.

The lesson in Computer-Science wasvery similar to my own way of teaching. The teacher gave an example how to solve a problem and afterwards the students got a new task to use this new knowledge. The students helped each other and discussed alternative approaches.

What was very impressive for was the fact that teachers and students were working with a very modern equipment we would not find in all schools in Germany.Apart from that, in this school there was a limit of 15 students for one computer science lesson. In comparison with my Informatics class with 27 students, this is a limit, which makes sense, becauseyou cansupport the studentsindividually.

Summary 2)

We learned that the unemployment rate is higher in Slovakia than in Germany. Especially the youth unemployment ratedecreased since January 2014 to March 2015 from over 32% to 26%. (Comparing with Germany in the same time the youth unemployment rate decreased from 7.9% to 7.2%). While visiting the company HinrichsSlovakia, we learned that the most companies in Slovakia do not offer a dual vocational training to the youth since the seperation of Czeck Republic in 1993. However, the Slovak companies are searching for well-qualified workers. In 2014, the Slovak government initiated a cooperation with the Austrian Economic Chamber to build up a new dual vocational training in Slovakia.

Summary 3)

Visiting some old towns in Eastern Slovakia like Prešov, Košice, Bardejov andBardejovskéKúpele we saw that the market square and the surrounding houses in the very immediate centre of thesetowns were similar to old towns of Germany or Austria. The monument of the empress “Sissi” of the Austrian and HungarianMonarchy showed us the cultural influence. At last we discovered that the traditional Slovak food “Halušky” is the equivalent of the traditional Bavarian “Kässpatzen” and “Pirohy” is similar to the Swabian delicacy “Maultaschen”.

After this trip, I concluded Bavaria and EasternSlovakia have a lot in common. In the future we have to show our students and the Slovak ones thesesimilarities, although there is a distance of 1000km between both districts.

Therefore, I am looking forward to meeting our Slovak friends and their students again in Landsberg.

Heinz Wagner