On 15 March 2023, the exchange IE3 was closed. In Hasselt Belgium, all partners met for the last time. Some representatives of other institutes were also present. They were interested in the final results as presented by the individual participating institutes.
Habib El Ouakili, alderman of the city of Hasselt, opened the meeting and emphasized the importance of this exchange. Early school leaving is a major and universal problem. Embedding emotional intelligence in the guidance and curriculum of the schools has an undeniable added value. He turned out to be a strong supporter of rolling out this intervention across all Hasselt schools.
Stefan Homeyer of the EU-Geschäftsstelle Köln once again stressed the importance of euregional cooperation and the role of the EU-Geschäftsstelle in it.
The IE3 partners then presented the final results of the exchange for their institute. Because the implementation of EI is highly dependent on what is possible in one’s own organization, the results diverged. Without detracting from the quality! One of the main goals of the exchange was to realize a train-the-trainer trajectory in each partner’s institute. Here too, there is a limit to what the organization can handle! In each institute, the importance of EI in guidance was recognized. Fellow teachers and supervisors have been included in the implementation process. This was done through plenary information sessions in thematic meetings, job-shadowing, peer consultation and the transmission of techniques to colleagues during training courses. Furthermore, special rooms have been set up for student training around EI. A teaching method for students and a manual for colleagues were also developed.
In short, a very positive conclusion to a successful exchange.