[EH-ELL-ENG-01] Preparation and simulation of the expert hearing TEAM1

In order to describe and explain the relevant facts in a clear and situation-specific way with regard to the concept of the expert hearing, it is advantageous to start with the help of a realistic situation/story. Here are the relevant stories in detail:

Story: The teenager Paula Groß has the service idea of offering mobile organic food for offices, day-care centres and old people’s homes and wants to make the entire value chain environmentally friendly. She herself is very interested in agriculture and mobility but knows little about economic aspects. Therefore, she now wants to get feedback on her idea, but is hesitant to do so from her parents, whom she often finds very inflexible and strict towards new ideas. Paula is also afraid to ask for the opinion of experts. They do not want to get into embarrassing situations with the experts. Because of her low self-esteem, she is rather reserved. At the same time, Paula is looking for ways to assess the quality of the feedback she receives from third parties. She is rather critical of the quality of feedback from her parents. She is also reserved about the well-intentioned advice from her teachers. However, her friend Leon tells her about senior economists as mentors. Paula and two other friends want to further elaborate their business idea based on Leon’s persuasions and jointly present their idea to the mentors at an expert hearing. Paula and her friends assume that they will receive high-quality feedback on their business idea in this way.

The aim of the expert hearing is to achieve a matching between the talents and competences of the participants and the employment potential of the local labour market, i.e. the expert hearing serves as a synthesis of the results of the talent diagnosis and the employment radar.

In doing so, the principle of dual expertise can be used (Hartz & Petzold, 2014). On the one hand, the young people are experts “in their own right”. They have already gained a lot of experience regarding their own strengths and weaknesses. They are also able to take responsibility for themselves. On the other hand, the adolescents can make use of external experts (e.g. from the labour market, business seniors etc.) within the framework of the expert hearing or approach them specifically. The young people’s goal is to receive feedback that meets certain quality standards in order to concretize their idea about future development.

In the present context, the perspective of the young person is enriched by the perspective of the experts, which gives the young person a more comprehensive view of their PDP. In the context of critical reflection, different cultural, socio-political and historically developed circumstances are taken up. This form of reflection takes into account the extent to which the previous experiences of the actors, here those of the young people and those of the experts, should be included. As is readily apparent, feedback from third parties is crucial.

By involving experts and supporters, the young people end up with a professional and sustainable basis for the long-term development of their PDP. In summary, it is about answering the question where and how the adolescents can find employment opportunities in their region based on their individual talent diagnosis. As a result of the expert hearing, the PDP is expanded or modified and adapted for each participant. This documents the decisions and agreements made and can later be supplemented with further details. In addition to a concrete vocational goal, it also contains a description of the way: What activities will the young person undertake him/herself? What will others do to support him/her in achieving the goal? Statements about funding opportunities, intentions and commitments are an important part of the PDP. Many of the young person’s goals and plans can hardly be realized without supporters.