07+Dissemination+and+collaboration

By now the rough ideas about the projects are getting more and more clear. -You have decided on a topic. -You have formulated goals/aims, activities and looked at the way you would evaluate the project. Now it might be a good idea to start working on your ‘marketing plan’.

Often international project work starts as a personal ‘enterprise’. As a teacher you attend a conference where you hear about this kind of work or you meet with colleagues from abroad approaching you with the question if you are interested in doing an international project or even on holiday, while sitting at the beach, you might make your first contact. Knowing your partners is always best, as you might know by now. So don’t hesitate to take part in any occasion where you can meet potential partners. Have a look at the list below.



//International conferences:// 1 The annual [|**ESPA**]conferences 2 Contact Seminars contact your [|National Agency] (n ew lists are probably published in autumn) 3 eTwinning Professional Development Workshops, see the eTwinning website. [|Here you find the agenda of the Dutch NSS eTwinning website]. 4 The annual[| I*EARN] conferences

Through the Internet you probably could find more. Mind however to stay working in this solitary, kind of ‘stand alone’ way. In the long run you won’t be able to continue or make your work sustainable. So you need to involve people from around your school organisation into your international project work.

First of all is your head of school. He or she should support your ideas about international project work. Actually he or she should be able to make your work visible in school by allowing you to start a project group. Even better is that international project work is mentioned as one of the mission goals for your school, and seen as a part of the curriculum and/or lesson plan. One of the arguments to make international project work part of the school mission lies within the future. School is preparing students for a international future.
 * Head of school**

Second step is to involve your colleagues. Probably you will find some colleagues who are interested right from the start. Try to involve them straight away by sending them as much information as you can share. From that time on keep them updated on a regular basis (actually you should do the same with the head of school). Being informed is the key to success. You also will find colleagues who are not interested, even against this line of working. Never mind them. It is not your job trying to change them; that’s up to the head of school if needed. In between you have quite a large group who is somewhat hesitating about this (new) way of working. You might find some positive reactions later on from this group if you start informing them by all means available in school, like meetings, local networks, in the staffroom, etc. If you can find at least one person to cooperate with the chances of getting international project work on a sustainable level will largely increase. There is somebody to take over in case….
 * Colleagues**

Whenever you start a project don’t forget to inform the parents as well. They might be able to support you, especially those parents who are already working in an international environment. Later on, when you might start thinking of getting a Comenius project started, you need the parents for housing your guests. In between you can always use them as a source of information, but that is not restricted to international project work only. Another effect is what your students tell about the project to the other students. From that, other students could start asking questions why it is not their class getting involved in a international project. This might help convincing your colleagues to support you.
 * Students and their parents**

Key place here is the school website. Here you can publish and work on your marketing; getting the good news out.
 * Website**

Last but not least (especially in the eyes of the head of school) you should inform everybody near the school about what you are doing, like representatives from the local community (could be helpful raising funds), local newspapers (extra PR for the school), etc.
 * Around the school**

Make a SWOT-analysis (see also: [|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SWOT_analysis)] of your school in order to get a picture, an idea of your working situation in regards to the changes, possibilities and threats. The outcome might give you a picture, an idea of what you might expect the coming years, what you should and could do to improve the position of international project work.
 * Assignment 7**


 * **++Strength** ||  **+-Weaknesses**  ||
 * **-+Opportunities** ||  **--Threats**  ||
 * **-+Opportunities** ||  **--Threats**  ||