Specialist
Module 3.2. Expert level
Acting as international project coordinator is one way to gain international experience but it is not the only one. You can develop your skills by participating in Skills Competitions, giving lectures, mentoring or acting as an evaluator in Peer Reviews just to mention a couple of possibilities.
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Definition
The staff member who acts as expert in his or her own field internationally promoting and running new initiatives or for example is responsible of carrying out education export, giving lectures, take part for peer reviewing and or shares certain expertise internationally.
Promoting internationalisation in Vocational Education and Training, VET and giving lectures at home or abroad.
This module is for you if…
You have already experience in international activities and now you want to expand your knowledge and share your expertise internationally. You should also have the ability and capacity to transfer your expertise, by being aware of the context where you are going to work.
What you are going to learn…
After this module you are more aware of lecturing and mentoring other teachers, Peer reviewing and evaluation, managing a team at international Skills competitions.
The topics in this module are:
- Lecturing abroad or in international events
- Peer review and evaluation concerning internationalisation
- International Skills Competitions
Training topics
Topic 1: Lecturing and mentoring in international context
Topic 1.1: Lecturing abroad or in international events
Identify the audience the lecture is directed to and adapt the session to their necessities (language,content,materials,etc.)
Informe yourself about the topic, you must be aware about what topic is the lecture they want you to do.
If there is no specific content, decided in what type of lecture you are going to do, if you are going to be more specific about a concrete point or you are making an overall content about the topic without entering into details.
Informe yourself about the means and tools you will be able to use during your lecture, an interactive presentation will help the audience to keep the attention during your presentation.
Tips for a good lecture
- You can use Kahoot for making questions to the audience. Kahoot is a game based learning platform where you can make a quiz and give several answers. The audience can answer simultaneously and you are able to see the answers.
- You can do icebreakers such as: asking questions about the topics, asking questions about personal things and expectations to keep them engaged.
- Make sure that at the end of the lecture you have some time for the feedback.
- If possible, make a visual presentation to support your lecture, it will help the audience to follow you. The presentation should not have too much text, just put on some concrete ideas that you want to highlight. Some of the most used programs are Power Point and Prezi. Both are available for free.
- Adding videos for your presentation is a good idea, it helps you to take a rest from talking and help the audience to reengage. Make sure the videos don’t last more than two minutes or the audience can lose interest.
- Start your lecture by introducing the topic and giving the audience a context, that will help them to understand what you are going to talk about.
- Ask for the audience beforehand to give you their emails, so you can send them the presentation and extra info if they are interested. Make sure that you ask if they want to receive the info.
- Try to adapt the language to the context and to the nationality, don’t forget that for many participants English or the language you are using might not be their mother tongue, so be careful not to use difficult words or speak too fast.
- Check beforehand the room and the facilities. Having this check in advance gives you an extra time to solve any problems that may occur.
- Support your speech with body language to engage your audience.
- If you have any personal examples that could help, add them in order to make the lecture more attractive.
- A breathing exercise or pronunciation can help you relax before the speech.
- Make sure you bring a bottle of water in case you will need it.
Topic 1.2: Mentoring teachers abroad
- Plan the schedule and the processes of the mentoring together with the participants.
- Make sure you know what is expected from you to mentor and what is the background of the participants.
- Use simple language and explain the specific terminology.
- Make the mentoring personalized for the participants.
- Consider if you can start by making a SWOT analysis for defining Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats to get an overview of the current situation.
- Create comfortable environment and use icebreakers to involve them.
Topic 2: Peer Review and Evaluation Concerning Internationalisation
Continuous quality improvement is important in internationalisation, too. Whether you take care of mobilities, manage a partnership project or make your lessons, you want to do your best. You can improve the quality of international activities for example by using Peer review method. Peer review is a very structured way to evaluate and get feedback from your critical friends, Peers, working in the same field.
You can also act as a Peer in other VET colleges in Europe.
There is a lot of training material made in Erasmus+ Premier project. Have a look and start your journey towards quality.
You can find more info and tips how to organise a Peer visit
Topic 3: Skills Competitions
Through Skills competitions, it is possible to bring teaching and learning environments closer to workplace practices and tasks. Learning in competitions strengthens core competencies through simulated work assignments.
By integrating skills competitions into the curriculum, VET providers can develop their learners more creatively and take advantage of participation in competitions as part of student learning assessment. By implementing different teaching and learning practices according to the needs of employers, the quality and profile of vocational training can also be improved.
For staff, the inclusion of competitive activities in the curriculum provides opportunities for teaching, training and creativity.
Competitions are a great way to increase your own professional development, increase your pedagogical skills, and get new ideas for your own teaching. You can also develop your skills by participating in skill competitions as a judge, coach or expert representative.
Meeting and working with foreign partners also bring you new experiences and added value that you can apply in your own work.
Here you can learn more about World Skills Competitions.
Skills you can improve when working internationally
- Language skills
- Teaching skills
- Presentation skills
- Analytical skills
- Communication skills
- Cultural awareness
- Organizational skills
- Digital skills
- Cooperation
- Coaching and mentoring
- Evaluation skills
- Team working
- Leadership
- Humour
- Problem solving
- Hakuna matata, Flexibility
Show your skills and earn your badge here
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