From Comenius to Grundtvig (and beyond!)

With lifelong learning being at the very core of our programmes, I was really encouraged to hear about one of our participants Michael Mohebbi, who after writing a successful bid for a Comenius project in 2011, decided to build on his own lifelong learning journey. After becoming familiar with the range of benefits offered to students taking part in the Comenius programme, Michael, who works for the University of Liverpool, was inspired to take part in a 3 month Grundtvig Assistantship to experience the benefits first hand. Michael’s Assistantship was at the same organisation, the North Karelia University of Applied Sciences in Finland, that he was first in contact with through writing the Comenius bid (both Institutions supported the project),  illustrating that our funding can interlink whatever your stage of learning. Here he describes why this placement was right for him:

My overall aim and motivation for getting involved was to accelerate my personal and professional development by adding an aspect of European experience to my CV. On a personal level, I really wanted to test myself as a person by taking myself out of my comfort zone and learning to survive alone, as it were, in a different country. My strategy was to undertake a work placement over a significant period of time at a European institution, gaining innumerable experiences, competencies and skills along the way, immersing myself into a new culture and adapting to a new job. Read the rest of this entry »