Susanne Laugesen is the Erasmus coordinator at HF & VUC Klar and has been running the Erasmus+ project since early 2019. We managed to touch base with her between coming back from a visit to Valencia in Spain and heading off on her next trip to Dublin. Prior to the school getting involved with Erasmus+, she always felt hesitant whenever she came across the term 'EU project’:

“Any time I’d been involved in something EU-related before, it had always been challenging.  You have to collect signatures and ensure every last minute is recorded. And even though it did indeed take some time to get things up and running, it wasn’t actually administration that took up the most of it,” Susanne Laugesen explained.

Sanne Laugesen, Erasmus coordinator at HF & VUC Klar

“The most time-consuming activity initially was getting in touch with foreign partners. We had to find them – and just how do you get started with something like that?” So Susanne went on Facebook.

“I came across some Erasmus groups on Facebook and posted a small advert on behalf of the school expressing our interest in collaborating with other institutions,” Susanne recalled.

This worked a charm, and she was soon inundated with enquiries. She received requests from both schools and trainers who were interested in the visits. What took her by surprise was the remarkable receptiveness in the responses she received:

“Educational institutions in the Nordic countries are always popular partners, so it wasn’t a surprise that people would be interested in coming to visit us. But the number of people who wrote ‘just come’, without expecting to visit us in return, really took me by surprise,” Susanne went on to say.

A challenging start

A lot has happened since the beginning of 2022.  It was in 2023 that we here at HF & VUC Klar really got going in terms of travel and organising visits. Both for students and teachers alike.

However, even if an inspirational week spent in Italy with colleagues and foreign peers may sound like an appealing prospect, the fact is that at HF & VUC Klar, getting teachers to participate is not without its challenges.

“We’ve all been there. You sign up for a fantastic course, but when the time comes, you just sit there pulling your hair out and thinking, how am I ever going to manage three days away from my desk?” said Hanne Normann Michelsen, Principal of HF & VUC Klar in Slagelse, Korsør and Ringsted. 
 

Hanne Normann Michelsen, Principal of HF & VUC Klar

That’s why it’s important to have support from within the organisation and to plan meetings with the programme managers.

“It might be possible to swap some lessons with another teacher and pick up some of theirs on your return. It's essential that the programme managers help to ensure that everything runs smoothly so that it doesn't become a source of stress for the teachers involved,” the principal elaborated.

Another important factor is to maintain an element of academic focus across the trips. Teachers will only be interested in participating if the study trips offer clear academic learning opportunities.

“In the beginning, I was responsible for compiling all the content, and we also reached out to other teachers for trip ideas. It did take some time, but it really helped when they got to see their colleagues return from having been on a successful trip,” explained Susanne Laugesen.

“And currently, there is a lot of interest in finding new ways of working with things such as AI and numerical illiteracy, for example,” added Hanne Normann Michelsen.

Erasmus promotes equality

Cille Ibsgaard Christensen, who teaches psychology and social sciences at HF in Slagelse and Ringsted, is among those who have greatly benefited from the Erasmus+ programme.

Cille Ibsgaard Christensen, teacher in psychology and social sciences at HF i Slagelse og Ringsted.

In December 2023, she went to Prague with five other colleagues to attend a course on teaching students with autism. In her view, continuous training comes with a significantly distinct advantage when it takes place abroad:

“When you’re at home, everyday life takes over and it’s simply not possible to maintain the same level of focus as when you’re away. While in Prague, we were able to dedicate five days to a specific subject. You get a real boost from the wealth of input and from being able to share experiences in a fresh environment,” she explained.

Currently, Cille is putting the final preparations together for a study trip for 48 students from Slagelse. They had actually been studying the UN's Sustainable Development Goals, and now they are able to put their knowledge into practice by organising a sustainable study trip.  In her experience, the Erasmus+ trips promote equality amongst the students:

“We’ll be taking the coach down to Berlin and almost everyone has signed up. In my opinion, that's the great thing about Erasmus+. The fact that we can make this kind of experience possible for our students, some of whom may not otherwise have the financial means to travel,” she said.

Erasmus coordinator Susanne Laugesen agreed:

“What is fundamentally different about the Erasmus programme is its approach in terms of being inclusive and open, and we really try to include everyone and to get everybody on board – even those who might be struggling financially. With Erasmus, I am able to apply for additional funding for those who have different challenges, whether social or financial,” she said.

Trips organised through Erasmus+ also tend to be of a higher standard, in addition to being more academic, according to Susanne Laugesen:

“With Erasmus, it is a requirement that the trip needs to be in line with the school's objectives, and this leads to study trips with a greater level of academic focus compared to typical school trips, which primarily involve visiting tourist attractions,” she went on to explain.

Four more trips involving travel to Germany, Spain, Italy, Portugal and Greece have been added to the spring calendar for both staff and students at HF & VUC Klar in Slagelse, Ringsted and Korsør.

As for the advice that coordinator Susanne Laugesen would give to others preparing for an Erasmus+ programme, it's simply to seize the opportunity and leverage your network. Also, be sure to familiarise yourself with what she calls the jungle of course providers. She herself is involved with a network for other coordinators from Zealand-based VUCs (adult education centres), where they exchange new ideas as well as positive and negative experiences.

Beyond that, she is confident that there are no other causes for concern. Both the coordinator and the principal concur that the rewards outweigh the effort.

“We definitely have a more global outlook. We are part of Europe which is inspiring, but we now also have a greater level of appreciation for the education system we have here in Denmark,” said Susanne Laugesen.

Hanne Normann Michelsen continued:
“We see the positive impact it has on our academic departments, it strengthens dialogue and the ability to collaborate across disciplines,” she said.