Cosmopolitanism means for us, above all, that the pupils of our school have the opportunity of establishing personal contact with young people of the same age in other countries and can meet them and enter into an exchange with them. We consider this important because we are convinced that in future the ability to engage in peaceful cooperation in our global village will be rendered easier when the decision-makers of tomorrow have learned through practical experience to cooperate with each other beyond borders. Shared experience leads to the kind of mutual respect and regard for specific features that are indispensable in any process of peaceful cooperation.

The Kleine private Lehrinstitut Derksen has, in conformity with this basic view, for many years now maintained school partnerships with schools in France and in the USA. By this means, pupils from both sides are given the opportunity to visit the other country for two to three weeks. Getting to know the customs and traditions of the host school and the host country is of primary importance. The pupils of the 9th Class participate in the exchange with France, while the 11th Class is involved in the mutual visits to and from the USA.

Of great importance from our point of view is also the contact to neighbours in the East. We lay great stress on seeing our pupils make use of the possibility of exchanging opinions with their contemporaries in Eastern Europe. Since the end of the 1980s we have cultivated a regular exchange with School No. 1259 in Moscow. Originally, the pupils of the 10^th Class participated in the approximately 14-day exchange but since the school year 2003/04 it has been carried out together with pupils of the 8^th Class.

In addition to the traditional exchange of students we have also been involved in various cooperation projects together with suitable partners. Such activities are, as a rule, organized in the form of Three-Countries-Meetings. In the past we have taken part in such joint undertakings together with Polish, Ukranian and Russian partners. The previous trilateral meetings took place in Wildbad Kreuth, where we were supported by the Hanns-Seidl-Foundation, with the help of the Karl-Arnold-Foundation in Bad-Godesberg and the DPJW and the Happy Childhood Foundation in Lublin and Krasnystaw.

Since November 2006 we also maintain good contacts to China. After a long-standing school partnership between the Kleines privates Lehrinstitut Derksen and a Chinese high school, a new school partnership with the Yuhang High School in Hangzhou was established in the school year 2018/19. We are looking forward to regular mutual visits.

With the help of these school partnerships we hope to establish firm feelings of cosmopolitanism and tolerance and enable the acquisition of important experience and competence that might prove beneficial for a later career.

Neben dem herkömmlichen Schüleraustausch verwirklichen wir gemeinsam mit geeigneten Partnern auch projektbezogene Kooperationsvorhaben. Diese Aktivitäten werden in der Regel in Form von Drei-Länder-Treffen organisiert. In der Vergangenheit haben wir derartige gemeinsame Vorhaben unter Beteiligung unserer polnischen, ukrainischen und russischen Partner durchgeführt. Die bisherigen trilateralen Treffen haben stattgefunden in Wildbad Kreuth, wo wir durch die Hanns-Seidel-Stiftung unterstützt wurden, mit Hilfe der Karl-Arnold-Stiftung in Bad-Godesberg und dank der Förderung des DPJW und der Stiftung Glückliche Kindheit in Lublin und Krasnystaw.

Seit November 2006 pflegen wir auch nach China gute Kontakte. Nach einer langjährigen Schulpartnerschaft zwischen dem Kleinen privaten Lehrinstitut Derksen und einer chinesischen Highschool wurde im Schuljahr 2018/19 eine neue Schulpartnerschaft mit der Yuhang Highschool in Hangzhou geschlossen. Wir freuen uns auf regelmäßige gegenseitige Besuche. Mit dieser Schulpartnerschaft sollen Weltoffenheit und Toleranz unserer Schülerinnen und Schüler gefördert sowie wichtige Erfahrungen und Kompetenzen für den späteren Beruf aufgebaut werden.