Vocational student exchange received top marks
Shyness faded along the way when two vocational schools visited each other with a shared focus on learning through language, culture and professional growth. The travel time between Växjö and Helsinki is short – but for the young people who took part, it gave them life-changing insights they might never have gained otherwise.
By Joan Rask, journalist
Students and teachers in vocational education rarely get the chance to be part of international projects. Two teachers set out to change that. Both work at Perho Culinary, Tourism & Business College in Finland. One of them is Marian Paloheimo, who mainly teaches Swedish. She’s an experienced teacher and has worked at the school since 1996.
- Being a teacher here has been really empowering, but I’ve never been part of any international projects before, and I felt like I had missed out on the opportunities that come with that. I could also see how little our students knew about working with others abroad – and how hesitant they were about using their language skills,” she says.
The other teacher is Leni Palminkoski-Pihlamo, who holds a Master’s degree in Business Administration. She has extensive experience with Erasmus and other international projects, and has studied in both the US and Australia. She had no doubt about the aims when the two colleagues launched the project they called ‘Good Service’.
- Our first-year students have no international experience, and it’s a real loss that their teachers don’t have the opportunity either. That’s why we set up this project – we wanted to give students an easy entry point into international cooperation. We called the project ’Good Service’ and targeted it at first-year retail students, as they’re often quite nervous – especially about travelling, but also about using foreign languages, says Leni Palminkoski-Pihlamo.
From Idea to Reality
The two teachers reached out to the Swedish vocational school Praktiska Gymnasium in Växjö – and together, the schools wrote a Nordplus application. Suddenly, the project was real and Perho Culinary, Tourism & Business College was the coordinating institution.
Marian Paloheimo explains that their students come from very different schools. Many have immigrant backgrounds, tend to be reserved – and some are quite shy.
- It was really lovely to see the students’ enthusiasm for the project and the eagerness they showed. It was so clear that having this kind of shared experience made them more self- assured and, of course, they also bonded as a group while travelling. For me, it was wonderful to experience them actually opening their mouths and speaking in Swedish, says Marian Paloheimo.
She explains that although Swedish is one of Finland’s two official languages, it’s generally difficult to get their students to use it – even though they’ve learned it from an early age.
Leni Palminkoski-Pihlamo recognises that picture. She points out that many of the students at both vocational schools have immigrant backgrounds. Several of the Finnish students juggle their parents’ language alongside Finnish, Swedish and English.
- We wanted to show the students that they are much more capable than they think, says Leni Palminkoski-Pihlamo.
The students are training for careers in retail and tourism, so being able to speak with guests from neighbouring countries – in both English and Swedish – is often essential in their future jobs.
- Many students think they’re just not capable of using Swedish in a real work setting but when they do their customer service skills assessment, there’s always a part where they’re expected to use both English and Swedish. After this trip, the students said that they felt much more confident, and they were actually happy with their Swedish skills. That was really lovely to see,” says Leni Palminkoski-Pihlamo.
First, the Swedish students and their teachers visited Helsinki – and then later it was the other way round. A classic exchange format, but with a twist: the themes were directly linked to retail and tourism in both countries. As part of the preparation, everyone had to take part in online meetings. That’s where the first challenges began, explains Marian Paloheimo.
Växjö – Helsinki – round trip
- In the first meeting the students had to present a video introduction of themselves - like a CV. That was both new and quite unfamiliar for them. But they did it!, she says.
One of the aims of the project was to introduce new teaching methods, and as part of that, students were asked to produce learning videos in real customer situations. Even Leni Palminkoski-Pihlamo, who has extensive international experience, was moved when the group visited real grocery stores and shopping centres in Växjö.
- The students were so engaged – they filmed product presentations where they took turns showing the items to each other, and they made fantastic videos. For us, it was amazing to see how the Swedish and Finnish students collaborated and used both their language skills and their abilities in business and customer service, says Leni Palminkoski-Pihlamo.
Teachers Found Their Courage
For Marian Paloheimo, the trip to Sweden with the Finnish students was also a personal challenge.
- At first, I was a bit nervous about being responsible for a group of young people abroad, who are usually quite critical. But they really listened to us when we asked them to do something. For example, when we were visiting museums, they actually went in, asked questions and showed genuine interest, she says.
And Leni Palminkoski-Pihlamo adds:
- It was just a trip to Sweden – our neighbouring country. Nothing big or far away. But the important part was that we went together. And the students discovered that there’s life in Sweden too – that you don’t have to travel all over Europe. Sweden is actually really interesting.
Should we – shouldn’t we – should we... The return flight gave the Finnish group a five-hour layover in Copenhagen. They could have stayed safely inside the airport – but on the other hand there was also time to explore the city. With butterflies in their stomachs, the two Finnish teachers let the students go off on their own.
- What really surprised us was how they paired up, went out together, explored the city and saw the sights. Their eyes were shining. They managed Copenhagen – a big city – on their own. They found their way around, located the places they wanted to visit, and it was just wonderful to see how proud they were of themselves. You could really see in their eyes that they had achieved something big.
Marian Paloheimo’s first international project turned out to be far more successful than she had dared hope for. The collaboration with the Swedish teachers was smooth and brought lots of new inspiration – even the students evaluations and feedback were sky-high.
- In a way or another, the trip to Växjö was something new for all of us – both teachers and students. In a way it turned into a once-in-a-lifetime experience. One student said: ‘I would never have had the chance to travel abroad without this project’ – and honestly, neither would we at the two vocational schools,” she says.
Read the article in Nordic (Danish)
Coordination Institution
- Perho Culinary, Tourism and Business College, Helsinki, Finland
Partner Institutions
- Praktiska gymnasium, Växjö, Sweden