Pädagogische Hochschule Wien

Blended Mobilities – a win win situation for diffferent institutions

With the help of blended mobility, the obstacles to participating in a stay abroad are reduced. It is also an option for "fewer opportunity" students.

Objectives

During the pandemic, virtual mobility has helped to overcome lockdowns and difficult times for studying abroad. The aim is to enable as many members of higher education institutions as possible to experience a combined mobility, “Blended Mobility.” Finding your way and organizing your life in an initially unknown environment is a very valuable experience. For this reason, enabling increased participation in a structured mobility programme (ERASMUS+) is a reasonable goal. Among the students - a very heterogeneous group - even more attention must be paid in future to those who, according to social surveys, have so far been underrepresented in terms of mobility: student teachers and working students. The added value brought by teaching experience during the mobility also lies in the further development of their teaching, the option to compare, and in improving their foreign language skills.

Background

Teacher education students are an underrepresented group in the Erasmus+ programme. Long-term stays abroad are made more difficult by the noticeable shortage of teachers in Austria, as students often work in schools under contract from the third semester of their training. Working students are among the disadvantaged groups concerning study abroad mobility (National Strategy for the Social Dimension in Higher Education, BMBWF 2017). With the launch of the new Erasmus+ programme (2021-2027), the so-called "Blended Mobilities" offer an opportunity and a new focus for innovative ideas to bring a larger number of European students (or university staff) abroad. In the coaching events preceding the stay abroad, students are prepared for their stay, get to know their mentors virtually and exchange lesson plans, which can be accessed as required.

(Implemented) Activities

There are different formats of Blended Mobilities, such as short-term mobilities (5-30 days), long-term mobilities (2-12 months), or Blended Intensive Programs (BIP). The exact conditions and benefits of Blended Mobilities depend on the respective university and partner country. The PH Wien therefore started a pilot for Blended Mobilities for students with the Regional Directorate for Primary and Secondary Schools of Crete (Heraklion/GR). The preparations for this began as early as the Winter term 2022/23. In September 2023 (i.e., before the start of studies), seven students went to Heraklion to two schools.

Results

The students successfully completed their teaching internship (funded by Erasmus+ SMP), which will subsequently be recognised for their studies. The students from Vienna, who spent three weeks on site in September, were a great support for the teachers at the schools in Crete. For the students, the blended mobilities offer the unique opportunity of a continuous three-week school placement, whereas only a two-week school placement is possible in the home/study country. The next step for an extension for February 2024 has already been agreed with the school management.

Lessons learned

These fully funded short-term mobilities (covering travel and accommodation costs) could be an excellent example of future co-operation with other schools within the reach of European trains. So, a “Green Erasmus” top-up could make this experience more sustainable. There are plans to broaden the network with other Greek, Italian, and German regions.

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