Since 2003 Helen-Keller-School in Weinheim has enabled students to go abroad for an internship during their last year of their apprenticeship to become educators. Due to the fact that interested students attend a (mandatory) preparatory course called “International Elementary pedagogics“, it is save to apply for six “Leonardo-da-Vinci“-scholarships. This year‘s project is titled "Learning opportunities for children in elementary education - a European comparison“ and project partners are our long-term partner Vestfold Fylkeskommune in Tonsberg (Norway) and the privately owned kindergarten Alt-Wien in Vienna (Austria), which cooperates with us since 2012. Reasons for participation: - supporting the European initiative to promote mobility in vocational education - in accordance with § 39 of the Baden-Wuerttemberg exam regulations: offering the chance to fulfil parts of their final year in other European countries - putting contents of the Baden-Wuerttemberg kindergarten curriculum regarding „Educational offerings in the elementary sector“ into action - learning and/or improving language skills in the respective national language, plus improvement of English as link language - deepening of professionalism, subsequently leading to a higher professional standard in general Goals, expected results and effects as well as long-term benefits: - attainment of intercultural performance skills, including a positive long-term effect on the participant‘s (professional) personality - deepening of professional self-confidence and assurance how to act in various professional situations - getting to know different structural prerequisites in the partner institutions - actively participating in the organisation of the daily routine in the partner institutions - Experiencing and reflecting different professional personalities (based on the respective concepts) - gaining experiences regarding the work with children, parents, colleagues, supervisors and agencies in the partner institutions - acquisition of a basic pedagogical vocabulary in the respective national language and/or English - getting to know the importance of bilingualism - comparing, reflecting, presenting and spreading of gained experiences - thus widening the willingness of other students to go abroad - widening the acceptance of German agencies to allow their interns to go abroad for four weeks - orientation for other colleges for social education through planned publication of internship curriculum units and „europass“-samples Project phases: - 7 month preparatory phase at Helen-Keller-School in Weinheim - internship in one of the aforementioned partner institutions in May/June 2015 - evaluation phase including a closing presentation at Helen-Keller-School A written curriculum for the internship - based on ECVET principals and instruments - will be drawn up together with each participant. The curriculum will be matched with the project partner‘s expectations in a kind of “Memorandum of Understanding“. The „europass Mobilität“ will ensure validation and acknowledgement of learning achievements.