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Mobility counselling – from

information provision to Motivation

and Quality assurance

Over the last decades, we have been witnessing an accelerated proportional
shift in mobility activities away from individually conceived “adventures” to more
institutionalised programmes, involving new target groups, actors and modes of

organisation and execution.

Many institutions and programmes now offer a stay abroad as an integral part of
the learning trajectory. Often it is a “package” where practical issues are settled in
advance and do not trouble either the participant or the guidance counsellor. This
does not mean that the guidance counsellor has become superfluous in connection
with learning mobility; rather the focus of the work is being moved to other aspects
of these activities.

Author:

Søren Kristensen at a very general level, the shift in the nature
phD, techne, Denmark of mobility has to do with its acceptance as a
pedagogical tool in a broader context of edu-
cation and training. it is indicated by the fact
that in the last few years we have started using
a term “learning mobility”, thereby positioning
mobility squarely in the pedagogical land-
scape (rather than, for example, “transnational
mobility” which relates it to geography).

now we have evidence from research which
has proved its versatility not just as a means
of acquiring “intercultural skills” but also in
connection with the development of personal
competences, like innovation and entrepre-
neurship, adaptability, and self-reliance, as well
as more hard-nosed educational and vocation-
al learning outcomes. as a result, the formal
recognition of knowledge, skills, and compe-
tences acquired during stays abroad has been
made considerably easier.

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