Hilkka Rajakorpi - Comenius Co-ordinator

Hilkka Rajakorpi

Co-ordinator?s e-mail hilkka.rajakorpi@kopteri.net

I have supervised international co-operation in Vammalan lukio since 1998 when we started both with the Kilakala High School, Tanzania and Peebles High School, Scotland.  The first one is a development-aid project launched by our head teacher and with the Scottish school we have had two Lingua E projects in 1998 (local services, industries and culture) and 2000 (sustainable development) with two-week student exchanges supported by Socrates/Cimo.

After these successful projects with Scotland, it was decided to  co-operate with more European schools.  This idea was reinforced by students coming to me in autumn 2001 asking if any international co-operation was proposed.

A Contact Seminar at Maastricht in November 2001 brought us together with an Italian school.  A German school already had an exchange programme with the Scottish school and decided to enhance that link by joining the Comenius project.

I have always been interested in international co-operation and one of my aims has been to connect my students with students in other countries.  Computers and the use of the Internet have also been sources of inspiration.  Using them as means of communication (including video conferencing equipment) would teach the students skills that would be useful to them in their future lives.  Teachers also need these skills.

Meaningful international co-operation not only helps students to use English but also boosts and improves the teacher?s language skills.  As a teacher of English I have found this kind of work extremely useful. This is why I would like to encourage all my students and colleagues to take the opportunity to improve their language skills, not only in English but also in other languages such as German, French (common to 3 of the partner schools) or Italian. The current project is likely to lead to other student exchanges between the partner schools.

When, for the first time, I took my pupils to places in Scotland that I had visited as a young student, it felt like completing something I had started a long time ago.