Erasmus+ Strategy Statement

IEPSCF Morlanwelz Mobility Strategy

Office of International Relations

Mr. Olivier Piesens (Director)

Ms. Moïra Gasperat (Quality Coordinator)

Mr Philippe Dreze (ERASMUS coordinator)

Contact of the Erasmus unit: erasmus@eafcmlz.be

1) Preamble

It was during the year 2020-2021 that we had the idea of ​​opening up to the International, under the impetus of the language teachers and with the support of our director Mr. Olivier Piesens.

Our school has three bachelor's degrees: two economic bachelor's degrees (Accounting and Executive Assistant) and one technical bachelor's degree (Construction).

Regarding the construction bachelor's degree, the section coordinator already has experience in organizing certain exchanges through trips to other countries of the European Union as well as to third countries (Italy, Morocco).

Regarding this program, we felt it appropriate to build upon the work already undertaken by the section coordinator, thereby enabling students in the section to also complete internships abroad during their studies. However, this bachelor's degree does not include language courses, so we will not take this aspect into consideration unless specifically requested by the students.

For our two economics graduates, the "language skills" aspect, along with the possibility of completing internships abroad, seemed like obvious reasons to enroll them in the ERASMUS program. Regarding the Executive Assistant degree, the final internship includes the use of languages ​​throughout the entire internship period. Furthermore, the accounting degree includes a course in European taxation, providing a genuine European perspective. Therefore, here too, the benefit of an international perspective, combining accounting and language skills, seemed entirely clear.

Here are our detailed motivations.

2) Actions

Higher education is key to innovation and improved performance. The relevance of training programs also requires collaboration with civil society stakeholders, including businesses, through the development of internships and the facilitation of career opportunities. Thanks to Erasmus, IEPSCF Morlanwelz will be able to significantly expand its professional training programs and encourage internships abroad. These international opportunities enhance the relevance of higher education and promote its modernization through an analysis of the training offerings (including those offered in languages ​​other than French) and the development of new teaching tools (e-learning). There is a need to embrace an international perspective, which manifests itself in various ways. First, the quality of teaching is necessarily dependent on the quality of the ongoing professional development of teaching staff. Implementing an international approach, giving students the opportunity to participate in mobility projects and learn from the experiences, knowledge, and perspectives of their peers, can only contribute to high-quality education that must keep pace with the evolution and innovations of its fields of study. Furthermore, our priority is to guarantee quality training for our students, which means providing them with the opportunity to learn in a different educational and cultural context to strengthen their disciplinary as well as transferable skills. Moreover, international exposure is particularly relevant for the three Bachelor's degree programs offered by the institute: "Executive Assistant," "Accounting," and "Construction." Graduates of these programs who have benefited from an international experience will have numerous additional advantages that will enhance their employability when they enter the job market. We also hope to achieve significant results in terms of outgoing student mobility for studies or internships, which could give our institution the image of an internationally open institution with a certain dynamism in this area.

The institution's strategy for the organization and implementation of mobility projects focuses on two main areas, in order of priority for their implementation:

Key Action 1:
Student internship mobility for those completing their final internship to promote the development of their disciplinary and transversal skills, particularly in terms of language skills.

Key Action 1:
Staff mobility to promote the development of their academic and teaching skills

Key Action 2
Strategic partnerships to foster structured and sustainable cooperation with relevant stakeholders;

For teachers, the open and dynamic exchange of practices will allow each stakeholder to reassure themselves, develop critical thinking, innovate, adapt, regain strength, but above all to realize that cultural contexts different from our own necessarily generate different approaches and that, where we may sometimes fail by going around in circles, another perspective can show us a parallel path, a path we would not necessarily have thought of.

Furthermore, the opportunity to practice the languages ​​being studied with native speakers is an undeniable advantage for students, significantly improving their linguistic skills. In addition, we hope that internships abroad will foster critical thinking and initiative.

Finally, since teachers have a mission to promote autonomy in their students and to make them citizens of the world, the need for European registration is self-evident.

1. Partner selection

Within the framework of Key Action 1 for student and staff mobility, we are considering the selection of our partners in the following way:

The criteria for choosing our partners depend on several factors:

• Regarding bachelor's degrees in accounting and executive assistance: the language usually spoken in the host country in relation to the language(s) studied by the students/spoken by the staff being hosted

• For the three bachelor's degree holders: The sector of activity must meet the framework and the practical and educational requirements of our three bachelor's degree holders

• the quality of the reception for students/staff

• the shared desire to enrich and energize a team / students

 the prospect of collaborative, cooperative, and constant exchanges on our respective practices (not limited to moments of “physical presence”) for both our students and our teachers.

B. Choice of geographical regions

We do not have a preferred geographical area. Our primary objective is to foster a multicultural environment, which will involve interacting with a linguistically and culturally diverse population—an undeniable asset for our institution. However, as mentioned above, linguistic criteria (French, English, and Dutch) may initially guide our choice of partners.

However, we have already explored some possibilities. In fact, we already have some contacts with the LEXEMA school in Malta.

Language policy

We plan to schedule a preliminary interview. During the individual interview with the participating candidate, the issue of language preparation needs will be assessed.

The language policy for preparing participants for mobility is based on the following structure: language teachers will be responsible for the language preparation of each candidate. First, we will request access to Erasmus+ Online Linguistic Support (OLS) for participants who request it, and we will ensure that these individuals have the necessary equipment and access codes to benefit from this additional language support before and during their mobility. Secondly, we have made a section on our Moodle platform dedicated to language support for our language courses (French, English, and Dutch). This tool could also allow participating candidates to prepare and maintain their language skills.

Furthermore, incoming students could also benefit from the same services as those provided to our current students: coaching for all administrative documents, reception and information in various languages ​​(French, Dutch, English, German, Spanish), etc. In accordance with the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages ​​(CEFR), all courses will be taught in French. Therefore, a minimum level of B2 in French is required to fully benefit from the institute's courses. To this end, enhanced language support can easily be offered to incoming mobility participants, who will have access to French as a Foreign Language (FLE) courses organized at the institute. If incoming participants also have access to the OLS (Online Language Space), the institute will ensure that they have the necessary equipment and access codes to benefit from this additional language support before and during their mobility period.

2. Improve the quality and relevance of higher education

Our three bachelor's degree graduates are at level 6 of the European Qualifications Framework. This means that our students must be able to take initiative, potentially manage teams, handle complex situations, etc. Therefore, we believe that sharing experiences beyond our borders is a crucial factor in improving our practices: our students and teaching staff can build a truly permanent and regularly enriched network of diverse practices that they can adapt to their professional realities.

Returning to the courses themselves at the Institute, we use an e-learning platform that facilitates student monitoring, in a context where it is not always easy to reconcile studies, practical internships, couple life, children, professional life, etc. This platform offers, in particular, downloadable syllabi, online exercises and learning paths, discussion forums, etc. As we mentioned above, we have also created language support resources (English and Dutch as a Foreign Language). We make available for consultation high-quality Integrated Assessments (final projects) which constitute inspiring models for our future graduates. The administrative aspect is also present: downloadable current documents, information on courses, downloadable course sheets, etc. However, we consider that direct contact is essential and that nothing can replace it, but digital tools and remote work are certainly valuable allies, available 24/7 regardless of the time and place in the world.

Credit transfer system and recognition of results achieved

ECTS (European Credit Transfer System) credits represent the volume of learning based on defined learning outcomes and the associated workload. 60 ECTS credits correspond to the learning outcomes and workload associated with one year of full-time bachelor's studies, typically comprised of a number of teaching units or modules to which credits are assigned based on learning outcomes and workload. ECTS credits are expressed as whole numbers.

In the context of student mobility, credit transfer is the possibility of obtaining ECTS credits at a recognized host higher education institution and transferring them to the home institution. The ECTS Guide developed by the European Commission contains all the information on this system. We will, of course, base our work on this system to facilitate student mobility.

Furthermore, we pay particular attention to the recognitions (formal, informal, non-formal knowledge) provided for by our legislation: validation of acquired experience (VAE) for students who come to us from other establishments for example, or for students who can attest to field practice (Belgium and abroad) such that it exempts them from certain Teaching Units.

Students who complete an internship as part of an Erasmus+ mobility program will receive formal recognition of their internship abroad through a decision by the academic board. This recognition will be based on the evaluation by the internship supervisor, the student's internship report, the objectives set out in the signed internship agreement, the learning outcomes identified at the end of the internship by all stakeholders, and the internship certificate. This opportunity will be available to students in all three Bachelor's degree programs who are required to complete their final internship.

In concrete terms, this corresponds to the following for each of the sectors:

-Bachelor's degree "Executive Assistant": the final internship is entitled "Professional Training Activities"; it comprises 120 periods, i.e., it lasts 3 weeks. This internship represents 8 ECTS credits.

-Bachelor's degree in accounting: the final internship is entitled "professional training activities"; it comprises 120 periods, meaning it lasts 6 weeks. This internship is worth 8 ECTS credits.

-Bachelor's degree in Construction: the internship is entitled "professional training activities"; it comprises 120 periods, i.e., it lasts for 3 weeks. This internship represents 8 ECTS credits.

IEPSCF Morlanwelz mobility strategy

International Relations Office:

Mr. Olivier PIESENS (Director)

Ms. Moïra Gasperat (Quality Coordinator)

Mr. Philippe DREZE (Erasmus coordinator)

1. Preamble

It was during the year 2020-2021 that we had the idea of ​​opening up internationally, under the leadership of language teachers and with the support of our director Mr. Olivier Piesens.

Our school has three baccalaureate holders: two economic graduates (accounting and management assistant) and a technical bachelor (construction).

With regard to the bachelor under construction, the section coordinator already has experience with regard to the organization of certain exchanges through travel in other countries of the European Union as well as in third countries (Italy, Morocco)

With regard to this training, it seemed appropriate to work as a continuation of the actions undertaken by the section coordinator, and thus allow students of the section to also carry out internships abroad during their studies. However, this bachelor has no language courses so we will not take this aspect into consideration, unless a special request for students.

As for our two economic graduates, the “linguistic knowledge” aspect as well as the possibility of carrying out internships abroad appeared to us completely obvious to register in the Erasmus program. With regard to the Bachelor of Management Assistant, the end -of -studies internship provides for the use of languages ​​throughout the period of the internship. In addition, the Bachelor in Accounts has a European taxation course, a real opening on Europe. So there too, the interest of an international opening seemed completely obvious to us by combining knowledge in accounting and linguistic materials

Here are our detailed motivations

2) Actions

Higher education is a key to innovation and performance improvement. The relevance of training also involves an articulation with actors of civil society, including companies with the development of internships and the facilitation of professional outlets. The IEPSCF Morlanwelz, thanks to Erasmus, will be able to strongly develop professional training and encourage internships abroad. These international openings increase the relevance of higher education and encourage its modernization with an analysis of the training offer (including the offer in a different language from French) and the development of new educational tools (e-learning). There is a need to open up internationally, it revolves in different ways. First, the quality of education is necessarily dependent on the quality of the continuing education of teaching teams. The implementation of international opening giving them the possibility of registering in mobility projects to meet experiences, knowledge and reflections of their peers can only contribute to a qualitative education that must follow The developments and innovations of its study sectors. Then, our concern is to guarantee the organization of quality training for our students, which implies being able to give them the opportunity to train in another educational and cultural context in order to strengthen their disciplinary but also transversal skills. In addition, the international opening is particularly relevant for the 3 graduate sectors which are organized by the Institute: “Management assistant”, “accounting” and “construction”. Graduates of these sectors who have benefited from experience abroad will have many additional advantages that will strengthen their employability when they enter the labor market. We also hope to obtain significant results in terms of outgoing mobility of studies in studies or internships which could give our establishment the image of an establishment open to the international benefiting from a certain dynamism on this level.

The establishment's strategy for the organization and implementation of mobility projects relates to 2 axes, in order of priority of their implementation:

Key action 1
The internship mobility of students who present their end -of -studies internship to promote the development of their disciplinary and transversal skills, particularly in terms of linguistic knowledge

Key action 1
Staff mobility to promote the development of their academic and educational skills

Key action 2
Strategic partnerships to promote structured and sustainable cooperation with relevant stakeholders;

For teachers, the exchange of practices in an open and dynamic way will allow each stakeholder to reassure themselves, to develop the critical mind, to innovate, to adapt, to restore force but above all to realize that cultural contexts different from ours necessarily cause different approaches and that, where we can sometimes fail by turning into a vacuum, another look can show us a parallel path, a path of which we would not necessarily have thought.

Furthermore, the fact of providing the languages ​​that we study with “native speakers” is an undeniable added value for students who will evolve more in their linguistic knowledge. In addition, we hope, thanks to internships abroad, to develop the critical spirit and the spirit of initiative.

Finally, since teachers are responsible for promoting autonomy among their students and making them citizens of the world, the need for European registration goes without saying.

A. Choice of partners

As part of key action 1 for the mobility of students and staff, we are considering the choice of our partners as follows:

The criteria for choosing our partners depend on several factors:

With regard to baccalaureate holders in accounting and executive assistant,: the language usually practiced in the host country with regard to that (s) studied by students/ practiced by the staff welcomed (s)

For the three graduates: the sector of activity will have to meet the framework and the practical and educational requirements of our three graduates

The quality of the reception of students/staff

The shared desire to enrich and energize a team/students

The prospect of collaborative, cooperative, and constant exchanges on our respective practices (not limited to moments of “physical presence”) both for our students and our teachers.

B Choice of geographic regions

We do not have a geographic area of ​​favorite. What we want above all, is to favor the multicultural dimension which will result in the presence of a heterogeneous population in linguistic and cultural levels which will be an undeniable asset for our establishment. However, as we mentioned above, the linguistic criteria could first guide the choice of our collaborations (French, English and Dutch)

However, we have already explored certain possibilities. Indeed, we already have certain contacts with the Lexema school in Malta.

Linguistic policy

We plan to plan a preliminary interview during the individual interview with the participating candidate, the question of the needs in linguistic preparation will be evaluated.

The linguistic policy to prepare for mobility participants is based on the following structure: language teachers will be in charge of the linguistic preparation of each candidate. First we will make the request for access to the Erasmus+ Online Linguistic Support (OLS) for participants who request it and we will make sure that these people have the necessary equipment and access codes to benefit from this additional language support before and during mobility. On the other hand, we have put a game on our Moodle platform on linguistic support for our language courses (English and Dutch French). This tool could also allow participating candidates to prepare and keep in touch with their linguistic skills.

On the other hand, “incoming” students could also benefit from the same services as those devoted to our students: “coaching” for all administrative documents, reception and information in various languages ​​(French, Dutch, English, German, Spanish), … referring to the common European framework of reference for languages, all courses will be given in French. Consequently, a level B2 in French is required at least in order to be able to fully benefit from the courses of the Institute. For this purpose, reinforced language support can easily be offered to incoming mobility participants who will be able to benefit.

​2. Improve the quality and relevance of higher education

Our three baccalaureate holders appear at level 6 of the European certification scale. This means that our students must know how to take initiatives, possibly manage teams, manage complex situations, etc. So we think that thus, it seems obvious to us that the sharing of experiences that goes beyond our borders is an important factor in improving our practices: our students and our teaching staff can constitute a real permanent network and regularly enriched with various practices that they can adapt to their professional reality.

To return to the training themselves at the Institute, we use an e-learning platform which facilitates the follow-up of students, in a context where it is not always easy to reconcile studies, practical internships, couple life, children, Professional life, … This platform offers in particular the syllabus for download, online exercises and educational courses, exchange forums, … As we have said above, we have also created support resources Linguistics (English and Dutch FLE) We place it in consultation with integrated quality (end of studies) of quality models constituting inspiring models for our future graduates. The administrative aspect is also present: downloadable running documents, courses, downloadable course sheets, etc. However, we consider that direct relationships are essential and

that nothing can replace it, but the digital tool and work to work Distance are certainly precious allies, available 24/24 hours whatever the moment and the place of the world where we are.

             Credit transfer system and recognition of the results obtained

The ECTS (European Credit Transfer System) credits express the learning volume on the basis of defined learning results and the workload associated with it. 60 ECTS credits correspond to the learning results and the workload associated with a full-time bachelor year, normally composed of a number of teaching units or modules with which credits are associated on the basis of learning and workload results. ECTS credits are expressed in whole numbers.

As part of mobility, credit transfer is the possibility of obtaining ECTS credits in a recognized higher education reception establishment and of transferring them to the original establishment. The ECTS guide developed by the European Commission includes all the information on this system. We will obviously base ourselves on this system to facilitate the mobility of students

Furthermore, we take particular care for recognitions (formal, informal, non-formal knowledge) provided for by our legislation: valuation of experience acquired (VAE) for students who arrive from other establishments for example, or for Students who can attest to a field practice (Belgium and Abroad) such as it dispenses with certain teaching units.

Students who will benefit from an internship as part of an Erasmus+ mobility will obtain formal recognition by deliberation of the council of studies of their internship carried out abroad, on the basis of the evaluation of the internship master, of the internship report of the student, objectives set in the signed internship agreement, learning skills identified at the end of the internship by stakeholders and the internship certificate. This possibility will be offered to students of the 3 baccalaureate sectors who must present their end -of -studies internship.

Concretely, this corresponds for each of the sectors:

-Bachelor “Management assistant”: the end -of-studies internship is entitled “Professional training activities”; It includes 120 periods, that is to say that it is 3 weeks old. This internship represents 8 ECTS.

-Bachelor in accounting: The end -of-studies internship is entitled “Professional training activities”; It includes 120 periods, that is to say that it is 6 weeks old. This internship represents 8 ECTS

-Bachelor under construction: The internship is entitled “Professional training activities”; It includes 120 periods, that is to say that it is 3 weeks old. This internship represents 8 ECTS.

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