FINAL EVALUATION
TRADE AND TOURISM
*****
The idea of what was later to become the project called “Trade and Tourism” was first discussed with the Romanian partner in a contact seminar in Alden Biesen in 2001.
In a project like this it is necessary to have at least three partners. Every partner knew another one … so we easily found 6 partners to work together on the project. The Belgian team also knew the French team who on their turn knew the Hungarian school. The Romanian partner knew the Austrian school who had connections with the Slovakian partner. It was a match by luck … but from the beginning we all got along very well.
The project was very intensely prepared through email for months… Due to this thorough preparation we had a very solid base to go ahead with this project …
The application for the six partners was sent in the beginning of year 2003, and the project called “T&T, Trade and Tourism” was accepted.
The project was given its final form during the first meeting in Sint-Niklaas in October 2003.
For all the meetings, ''Agendas'' and ''Agreements'' were drawn up at the end of each meeting in order to pass on information and to remind each partner of what exactly they were supposed to achieve between meetings.
A basic idea of the project is to use the Internet, so we decided to create our own web-site for the project. We also agreed to have a competition among the students to design a logo and we got a logo we are proud of.
Through all the project meetings we worked on the final e-commerce site … everything was prepared step by step … First we introduced each country. Then we promoted regional products … We visited local producers of products. Products for the final e-commerce site were chosen. Layout of the website and forms were decided upon and the several steps of the buying and selling were planned.
At the final meeting in Tokaj, all the partners were present, the final evaluation was on the agenda and everyone was given the opportunity to evaluate the project personally. In addition all partners could send an official final evaluation to the main coordinator.
It goes without saying that all the partners have participated marvelously in the project. They have contributed to work in various degrees of quantity or quality. There have also been differences in the involvement of the students from the different schools. On the whole, the students did an excellent job.
Development usually is a key concept word in a project like this. Plans have to be discussed, changed and all the partners have to agree to the proposed changes. All the partners should then try to put into practice everything they have agreed upon doing.
Different educational approach of the different countries makes it sometimes difficult to match curricula and the project and to integrate the project into the curricula.
Another problem has been the change of students each year and the schedules of students and teachers as well.
When the different schools were invited to take part in the project, they were perhaps not aware of the workload and the consequences. On the whole, it has been a good experience of working together in such a project for all of the participants.
The buying and selling was a wonderful experience … all the partners did their best to surprise the partners with their order. Even payment was original and creative!
We have all, teachers as well as students, learned a lot by participating in Trade and Tourism . Moreover, we have gotten a deeper understanding of the different philosophies of education, the different types of schools and the different ways of running those schools in the six countries that have contributed to the project. We have also had the opportunity to visit each other’s schools and appreciate education in other countries.
Tokaj, May 2007
F.Chris Van Cauwenberg
Main coordinator
Belgium
