Students at a further education college in Birmingham are being made aware of their European neighbours, with a view to enhancing their employability.
Matthew Boulton College is a European Vocational College, the second of its kind in the country.
Set up with the co-operation of the French and German chambers of commerce in the UK, a European Vocational College allows students to gain course accreditation that is accepted in other countries.
"This means that students can become highly mobile and employable within Europe," says Matthew Boulton vice-principal Hilary Rimmer.
Broadening horizons
The college aims to send about 140 full-time students into Europe each year to take part in work experience and cultural exchanges.
The college has designed its own European Awareness course which all students are encouraged to take before they venture abroad.
The course is run at three levels and covers travel, currency, language, culture and a basic understanding of economics.
More than 90% of Matthew Boulton students come from ethnic minority backgrounds.
"The knowledge that our students possess about cultures beyond Birmingham is limited," says Rimmer.
"They have amazing language capabilities, but their understanding of European life remains a mystery."
Shared practices
The college is actively seeking to raise awareness of the customs of other European countries by organising national dish offerings in the canteen and staging an annual European Day, involving music and quizzes.
There is a strong link with the city of Leipzig, allowing German visitors to share life in Birmingham with the culturally-mixed Matthew Boulton students.
"From a teaching point of view we've shared lots of good practice with Leipzig," said the college's director of quality assurance, Steve Porter.
"We've helped them to catch up with ideas in the delivery of vocational education."
Porter said that despite Germany's reputation for advanced technology, the UK's methods of further education were more flexible.
He has recently returned form taking information technology students to Leipzig on an exchange visit.
Quick hits
"In both countries colleges respond to the skills needs of the local economy, but the courses in Germany seem to be very detailed and take a lot of time," Mr Porter said.
He feels that vocational courses in France and Italy, as well as Germany, are focused on skills and are very time-consuming.
Putting the emphasis on skills is undoubtedly good but for him, British further education is stronger on delivering shorter, modular courses without a loss of quality.
"German colleges are certainly taking on board ideas from us, like the use of drop-in centres for students to use at their own pace," he said.
Staff develop too
Experiencing how post-compulsory education is delivered in other European countries is also an important part of the exchange visit schemes that staff at Matthew Boulton take part in.
Having a strong European dimension means that opportunities for staff development are good, and allow for reflection on practices abroad.
Mr Porter has seen, for example, further education in Reggio Emilia, Italy, tied in with regional government planning.
Although this is what the relatively new Learning and Skills Councils in England are aiming to establish, embedding vocational education firmly in the local economy is something the Italians have valued for some time.
But vice-principal Hilary Rimmer values most highly the students' experience.
If she can get more young people tasting life and work outside Britain then she feels her college is really living up to its European Vocational College title.
