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What kind of international activities your school and/or OAMK has?

In the Kalajoen Lukio we have developed our international activities alot over the last 5 years. We have seen that students and teachers have a genuine interest in international activities. International activities have also become a unique way to attract and provide students with new experiences that other schools in the region cant offer. Currently there is an "international course" which students can attend and at the moment there are 3 classes with about 40 students taking the course. In addition to this we have had assistant teachers from Japan, Canada and Scotland to teach the course and also set up a international club in the neighboring Ylaaste.

But the main bread and butter for our international activities are international exchanges and in particular the good cash cow 'comenius' has been very helpful to meet this need. In the past 5 years we have been part of 6 comenius projects and these international mobility projects have proved to be a huge success with teachers and students, but most students! The comenius programme, now call Erasmus+, was based around schools networking and working on a common themed project between a number of schools, 5 or 6 usually in our case. Over the course of the 2 year project students would then work on the topic and take part in fully funded international exchanges where they would be hosted in partner schools families.

What kind of training on cultural differences your school and/or OAMK provides?

At the moment the lukio does not provide specific training related to cultural differences. However many of the teachers take part in internaitonal exchanges and this practical immersion of teachers has proved very beneficial in relaiton to their understanding and appreciation of cultural topics.

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I am on staff at EIS, a public middle school which follows the International Baccalaureate

Middle Years Program (as well as the Finnish curriculum). The school make-up is quite international,

with some 23 nationalities represented by the roughly 200 students. Most students have lived

in another country during part of, or most of, their lives. Most also have one or both parents who are

Finnish, so their roots are usually here. However, a growing number of our students do not, and have not

yet (or may never, if they move out of Finland) learn the Finnish language. In addition, at least half of the

staff are foreigners, representing a good dozen nationalities. All that is to say that by nature

we are a very culturally diverse school, and cultural diversity is accepted and people are encouraged

to share their cultures informally and through classroom activities. In addition, we do celebrate different

cultures through languages, or a map of the world showing where students are from, or through a

cultural exchange (such as one with Holland right now, and possibly one with Spain next year). However,

I am not aware of any particular training on cultural diversity that our school provides, which is an issue

we should very well address among the staff and students.

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a.) Internationalisation is one of the key development targets of Oulu University of Applied Sciences. Oulu UAS develops itself and new professional know-how in co-operation with domestic and international education and research communities.

Aims of internationalisation at our institution (OAMK) are:

- Creating a genuine international higher education community - Enhancing quality and attractiveness through international activities - Supply of work force trained and capable for international activities to the working life of the region - Supporting multicultural society

In 2012 – 2015 the development actions of Oulu UAS’s interantionalisation are:

1. Deepening and strengthening of international strategic and key partnerships

2. Increasing teaching in English, developing joint studies and degrees together with international partner institutions

3. Increasing student and staff mobility

4. Increasing international project collaboration with companies

5. Increasing internationalisation skills of the staff

6. Increasing integration of international students
The most essential activities for international co-operation include student and staff mobility, development of curriculum and teaching as well as carrying out education and research and development activities in interaction with high-level and versatile international partners. b.) International teams of Oulu UAS’s Student Union OSAKO organise leisure time activities for international and Finnish students and help international students to adapt to the student community and Finnish culture. International exchange students also have the opportunity to acquaint themselves with Finnish culture and language with the help of Oulu UAS's Finnish Survival course. Incoming exchange students are also provided with teacher and student tutors. International relations coordinators, student affairs offices and International Services staff at various schools help and guide students thinking about student exchange and international students. http://www.oamk.fi/english/info/internationalisation/

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Aims of internationalisation at OAMK:
•Creating a genuine international higher education community
•Enhancing quality and attractiveness through international activities
•Supply of work force trained and capable for international activities to the working life of the region
•Supporting multicultural society

Other international activities at OAMK:
•For incoming exchange students
•For incoming staff
•List of Oulu UAS’s partner institutions
•For prospective degree students
•Oulu UAS’s international degree programmes
•For employers interested in taking an international trainee
•For Oulu UAS’s students considering a study abroad period (Students’ Intranet Oiva, requires authoritsation)
•For Oulu UAS’s staff considering an exchange period abroad (Staff’s Intranet Heimo, requires authorization)
More detailed information of each: http://www.oamk.fi/english/info/internationalisation/

There are several courses and projects about cultural differences at OAMK - for example:
•Intercultural Competencies 3 ECTS cr
http://www.oamk.fi/english/exchange_opportunities/ects/course_search/index.php?page=oj&koodi1=T000103&kieli=EN&vuosi=12S13K
•Conflict management course
http://www.oamk.fi/luova/hankkeita/entracop/copack/html/introduction/conflict/elements/index.html

And the shared knowledge from different experiences such as training or studying abroad etc.

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I am currently also working in an IB school and would like to say something about the IB school curriculum as it does encourage students to think in a globally and culturally challenging way.

in the last couple of years I have worked on creating materials and projects that are linked to MYP assessment criteria; together with the main MYP themes (area of interaction) such as environment, human ingenuity, health and social education and community and service.

All of these themes offer opportunities for students to explore ideas around global education and intercultural sensitivity.

Teachers are also supported by the school to participate in International training offered by IB programme, these are related to their area of expertise.

Also recently there are some initiatives among some members of staff to organize trips to other countries for our students, and a stay with students from the host country. So for example we have a group of Dutch students who are coming to our school for a week this month.

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Here in Espoo and Omnia we have big plans to conjoin vocational adult education, senior high school for adults and adult education center in 2015. At the moment senior high school for adults offers not only high school education for adults but also general education and even preparatory training for general education. In 2015 all secondary and lower education for adults is available in one place. This is a huge leap forward.

Omnia has its own international affairs department that controls student and expert exchange programs. It also deals with international projects activities. Omnia invests in exchange projects. I’ve also took part a few international projects. I’ve been in student exchange program in the Netherlands and expert exchange program in Estonia. I’ve also taken part in Nordic project to develop sustainable development education in hair and beauty industry.

In Omnia we don’t have that much training on cultural differences at least concerning hair and beauty department but students participating to exchange programs can took part to language training.

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At OAMK, there are plenty of choices for students to take exchange program with

financial support. This is one of the best opportunities for young students to encounter

different cultures and to open their eyes and minds. There are also many foreign students coming to OAMK each year, from all over the world, either as exchange students, or as

degree program students, bringing various cultures and differences to the school.

At OAMK, there are Finnish language courses for foreign students, not only to learn Finnish

language, but also get to know Finnish culture.

At OAMK, for business students, there are courses designed for cross-cultural considerations, but maybe they should be also provided to non-business students.

In 2012 – 2015 the development actions of Oulu UAS’s interantionalisation are:

1. Deepening and strengthening of international strategic and key partnerships

2. Increasing teaching in English, developing joint studies and degrees together with international partner institutions

3. Increasing student and staff mobility

4. Increasing international project collaboration with companies

5. Increasing internationalisation skills of the staff

6. Increasing integration of international students

The goals are there, actions are aiming to achieve them.

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a) Oamk tries to support its internationalization by deepening the cooperation with foreign partners. For students they are also offering more education in foreign languages and developing studies and degrees together with foreign partner schools. Oamk also wants to increase number of students and teachers going abroad. One important aspect is also increasing international activities with companies. Oamk also wants to improve the quality of exchange period of the foreign students coming to Oulu area. (http://www.oamk.fi/tietoa_oamkista/kansainvalisyys/)
I have understood that almost all students in Oamk have great possibilities to have an exchange period as a part of their studies. It seems that Oamk also wants to integrate exchange students as well as possible to the Finnish everyday life and courses. OSAKO has i.e. an international team which organizes different kind of spare time activities for exchange students. The school also offers a nice Finnish Survival –course which helps foreign people to get used to Finnish life. I think that these kind of activities offer also a great opportunity for Finnish students to participate in international activities in own country.

We have also met the contact person if we are interested in exchange period abroad. There are many people in Oamk working for internationalization. All departments have own contact person but there is also several people working for the bigger picture.

b) Oamk offers a portal where you can find different kind of documents and supporting information when preparing yourself for an exchange period. There are also interesting courses and seminars in which you can participate dealing with cultural differences.

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a) During our studies I have

learned that Oamk encourages

people to go for international

exchanges and has contacts

abroad.

There are named persons for

organising the international exchanges.

Internationality is also a theme

in part of the courses. Some programmes

are totally in English, which also invites

foreign students to join.

At least one staff member (a lecturer) is

from abroad.

b) From the international exchanges one

has to write a diary and a report - that

deepens the insight to the education

given abroad.

Again cultural differences are a theme

in at least part of the studies, if not -in a

way- in all of them, as the students come

from different places!

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a) The international activities for our unit within the broader SATAEDU organisation include mainly sending our own students abroad as well as taking students from other countries.

Up until now, the partnerships have been mostly with European countries (most recently Germany, Holland, Hungary, Norway, Ireland, Iceland and Spain) and have focused on giving our own students the opportunity to perform their job-learning periods abroad.

Luckily, we have been able to secure enough funding to make it a possibility for a large percentage of our students to make this kind of trip at least once during their studies.

When we receive students from abroad, they normally fit into our studying programme and, as much as possible, we get them to work with our local students. This also means that the language of teaching switches entirely to English.

b) When our students are going abroad to study, they have to complete a mandatory online course on multicultural issues before they go. This involves making some investigations into the culture of the land they will visit as well as learning some strategies for dealing with potential challenges that can come up.

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a) each campus arranges international week every year,

we have also an extensive exchange student programme,

exchange programmes for teachers and staff,

visiting lecturers from abroad, study tours, degree programmes in English,

international networks, international advisory board, tutors for incoming

students, international affairs office supporting teachers and students,...

b) training on cultural differences for teachers and other staff, language training,

introduction to multicultural team work for students, broad offering on multicultural

topics for students, training for exchange students (both in-coming and out-going)