Job Shadowing and Peer Learning in Chios

Overview

Job shadowing is a placement, not a taught course: you spend working days alongside a host in Chios, observing practice directly rather than attending sessions about it. It suits people who already know what they want to look at and who learn better from watching and discussing than from a classroom.

The shape is the same regardless of length: pre-arrival matching against your objectives, an induction day that sets clear observation ground rules, shadowing days built around daily reflection, a dedicated peer-learning meeting with host staff, and a debrief that turns what you saw into a transfer plan.

Hosting is subject to confirmed capacity and partner availability, and no external organisation is named as a host until it has confirmed in writing [TO CONFIRM: host organisations]. Any accommodation, transport or cultural element arranged alongside the placement is described and priced separately from the placement itself.

Who it works best for

Teachers, trainers and school or VET staff who have a specific practice in mind — small-group teaching, community cooperation, digital collaboration, inclusion methods — and want to see it running in a real setting before deciding whether to adopt it.

Learning outcomes

• Observe and document teaching, management or organisational practice in a Chios host setting relevant to your own role.
• Compare one specific practice — such as small-group teaching, school-community cooperation or digital collaboration — against the approach used at your own institution.
• Hold a structured peer-learning conversation with local staff on a topic agreed before arrival.
• Produce a written observation log that can serve as mobility evidence.
• Identify at least one practice worth piloting at your own institution.
• Complete a transfer plan setting out how, and when, you will test it.

Day-by-day programme

1. Before arrival — Matching and objectives

   A pre-arrival questionnaire establishes your role, professional interests and what you want to observe. Polymathia matches this against confirmed host capacity and agrees a realistic placement focus, host and schedule with you in writing before the mobility is booked. [TO CONFIRM: host organisations] once written confirmation is in place.

2. Day 1 — Induction and observation protocol

   Arrival briefing with the local contact person: the context of the host, the people, the daily routine and any access or safeguarding rules. Agreement on what you will observe, what you may record, and how findings will be written up. A short observation protocol is set before shadowing begins.

3. Days 2–4 — Shadowing and daily reflection

   Structured time alongside host staff during their normal working days, following the agreed focus rather than a fixed script. Each day closes with a short written reflection: what was observed, what was surprising, and what would or would not transfer to your own setting.

4. Peer-learning meeting with local staff

   A dedicated session, arranged in advance, where you and host staff compare practice directly: what each side does differently and why, the constraints on each side, and where a shared method might work in both settings. Notes from this meeting feed the transfer plan.

5. Debrief and transfer plan

   Closing meeting with the local contact person to review the observation log and agree what is realistic to take home. You leave with a written transfer plan: the practice you will pilot, a rough timeline, and how you will know whether it worked.

Who it is for

• Primary and secondary teachers seeking direct observation of practice in an island-community school
• Vocational education and training staff placed with a matching host activity
• School leaders and education coordinators comparing organisational and management models
• Adult educators and trainers on placement with a relevant local host

Methodology

Job shadowing is placement-based rather than taught: the value sits in structured observation, not in sessions delivered to you. Matching happens before arrival, the first day sets clear observation ground rules, and daily reflection turns what you see into something usable. Content, host and duration are confirmed in writing before booking, and depend on confirmed host capacity.

Erasmus+ priorities addressed

• Inclusion and diversity

What's included

• Pre-arrival matching questionnaire and placement briefing
• Structured induction and observation protocol on arrival
• Daily reflection log template and guidance
• One arranged peer-learning meeting with local staff
• Certificate of attendance and Europass Mobility support
• Local contact person for the duration of the placement