entrepreneurship education

2 Apr 2020

PIETE Magazine Issue 3 is Out!

The PIETE consortium welcomes the beginning of spring 2020 with a brand-new issue of the PIETE magazine, dedicated to exploring the concepts of entrepreneurship education for (aspiring and practicing) school teachers. Since our last publication, substantial progress has been made on the development of the project’s outputs and resources – please, stay tuned for the updates!

In the meantime, open this issue and dive into the exploration of the skills necessary for teachers to succeed in their work; get a glimpse of the entrepreneurship education examples in the context of initial teacher training as well as initiatives instilling entrepreneurial values among young learners around Europe. In the first section of the magazine, we invite you to get familiar with our results of the PIETE workshop series held in Austria, Hungary and Poland. Also, we are happy to share two new resources with you – PIETE Online Survey Instrument and PIETE Initial Teacher Education Methodological Framework. Further, our selection of the blog articles from the partners feature the examples of entrepreneurship education in Finland and Poland. We also offer you to discover an ample variety of entrepreneurship initiatives for kids and their teachers launched in Austria and Germany. Additionally, in this issue we introduce you to two books written for kids to understand complex economic issues but in a simple and engaging manner. On top, we will offer you insightful cases on developing and honing entrepreneurial skills offered to university students of different study areas in Germany and UK. The final section of the magazine brings you the selection of upcoming events that will welcome teachers and entrepreneurs in 2020, as well as the selection of recently released books on entrepreneurship education.

We hope the insights you will get after reading the recent issue will not only ignite your interest but provide you with some inspiration to integrate entrepreneurial skills development in your (maybe future) classroom!

We wish you a pleasant reading!

Download PIETE Magazine Issue 3 here

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10 Mar 2020

PIETE Online Survey Instrument – Understanding of Entrepreneurship Education in Initial Teacher Education

PIETE Awareness Test Center (survey) provides means to assess EE conception of ITE educators, with the end goal of raising their awareness for the added-values of EntreComp for the teaching profession.

The survey will serve as the main data collection instrument for PIETE Discussion Paper. You can already access the survey in 4 languages (English, German, Polisn and Hungarian) online at:

PIETE Awareness Test Center

If you would like to recieve an offline version of the survey in the above-mentioned languages, please contact the leader of the PIETE consortium and this intellectual output – Florian Bratzke at bratzke[at]univations.de

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2 Apr 2019

“My Father does not Have a Job, He is Just an Entrepreneur” – the Controversial Perception of Entrepreneurship Education in Hungary

In Hungary, prior to the regime change of 1989, there were almost no possibilities to start a private venture beside solely public employment, thus the private business sector was virtually missing in the country. As a consequence, there was hardly any trace of transferring modern marketing and management knowledge in higher education. Instead, business knowledge was transferred in the framework of the subject called Business Economics. It was present only in economics training; furthermore, it contained theories almost exclusively on large enterprises. Based on this we can conclude that we could not see even a sign of either the concept of entrepreneurship or entrepreneurship education in Hungary when western authors had already been conducting extensive research in the topic.

After the regime change, if it is possible to say that, the situation got even worse. Although it was allowed to start a business, but it resulted in a large number of enterprises established by people without either qualifications or knowledge in business. They were adventurers, much rather than business experts. However, as adventurers would normally do, they tried to exploit the opportunities, which were in abundance, as the new rule of law had several legally unregulated areas. In Hungary, the entrepreneurs of the 90s were characterised by rapidly making vast fortunes while circumventing legal frameworks. It meant that the social perception of “entrepreneur” was on the level of “maverick” and “mountebank”. At that time children used to say “My father does not have a job, he is just an entrepreneur”.

It all clearly shows that the education of entrepreneurship was an indefinable category in Hungary, since it was like wanting to teach “how to be the bad boy”. The first educational initiatives at university level can be found within the Faculties of Economics. However, it still was not called “entrepreneurship education”, but much rather “business development” (these two expressions sound similar in Hungarian, but have a slightly different meaning). In 2006, we can already find “Business Development” specialisations within economics courses. It is important to note that the education of Business Studies and Economics Studies are not separated in Hungary, the two areas are combined within the same training courses, and all of them equally give an “economist degree”.

Regarding the perception of the concept of entrepreneurship, the start-up ecosystem was the first to bring a substantially positive change in Hungary. By the 2010s, some globally successful Hungarian start-ups (e.g. Prezi.com) put the concept of entrepreneurship into a new perspective. Now it was no longer the dubious practices of “mavericks” but the creative activity of young, ambitious people. As the popularity of the start-up world grew rapidly, so did the interest increase among young people in related courses and knowledge. Entrepreneurship appeared first in the private sector, and then in tertiary education. Initially it was present only in Economics Faculties, and it has also gained ground in other fields – primarily in Engineering and Informatics – in the past years.

The PIETE project opens a gate to the next level of development in such environment. At this level we not only present the skills required for entrepreneurial life for today’s youth but we also provide the teachers of the future generation with such knowledge. The emergence of entrepreneurship in the Hungarian initial teacher education is a new chapter in the turbulently changing entrepreneurial history of the past 30 years. We hope that this chapter will be the first part of the success story of entrepreneurship.

Provided by: University of Szeged
Image credit: UIIN

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1 Mar 2019

Entrepreneurial Mindset Development at Schools – the Case of Futurego Sachsen-Anhalt

In schools, the topics entrepreneurial thinking and acting often receive little attention and are usually dealt with in a rather theoretical than practical manner. External support offered to schools can make up for this “gap” by allowing pupils to pursue action-based approaches that go beyond typical classroom settings of learning. This rational underlies the project futurego which addresses all schools located in the state of Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It focusses on entrepreneurial mindset development among pupils from 8th to 12th grade by allowing them to employ relevant skills in the basis of self-initiated, venture driven endeavours. In the school context, this is usually realized by establishing so called “mini-companies”. Hence, futurego operationally integrates entrepreneurship education into schools – a fusion also articulated in the project’s leitmotif “school your idea”. The project is realized within a state-wide competition for the best ideas, creating an additional incentive for participation among young learners. However, pupils need professional guidance on their way to establish their own company. This is also why futurego offers a variety of training formats along three inter-dependent project stages that are offered free of charge over the course of an entire school year.

During the first stage, participating teams develop their own business ideas and narrow it down in a two-page idea paper. They fundamentals allowing them to do so are taught within 90-minute workshops based on the “Business Model Canvas” tool.

The second stage deals with the extension of the idea to a thorough concept paper which also includes a three-minute video and the creation of a first prototype. During individual coaching sessions the teams receive helpful tips and advice from tutors. In addition, the practical day “Heute Schüler morgen Chef ” (Pupil today, boss tomorrow) offers the opportunity to gain exciting insights into regional companies experiencing actual business routines. As a matter of fact, participants accompany founders or business leaders during a work day. Through this first-hand impression, they gain valuable insights for their own business idea as well as additional motivation for the final spurt of their concept papers.

In the third and final stage, the best business ideas are awarded (material and cash prizes up to 1.000 €) on a prominent closing event with over 350 guests. Moreover, the five best teams get the opportunity to pitch their business idea in front of an independent jury which also selects the winners of the competition. In addition, the best 20 teams (selected prior to the final event) are given chance to present their business ideas, also showcasing respective prototypes and promotion videos on the events’ idea exhibition.

futurego Sachsen-Anhalt is realised within the context of the “start-up offensive ego. Saxony-Anhalt” and coordinated by Univations GmbH – Institute for Knowledge and Technology Transfer at Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg. The project is funded by the Ministry of Economy, Science and Digitalisation of the State of Saxony-Anhalt and the European Social Fund (ESF).

Want to know more about the project? Follow futurego on Facebook and Instagram.

Image credit: Belle Co via www.pexels.com

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13 Feb 2019

Cultivating Entrepreneurial Mindset among the Future Generation of Teachers: Defining the Grounds

Over the past decade, the need to ‘mobilise the brainpower’ and entrepreneurship education into school programs as early as possible has become a ground for a lively discussion in Europe. To recognize and empower the European entrepreneurial talent from the early age, we primarily need teachers who, apart from knowing their subject enclave inside out, can instill the idea of entrepreneurism into the classroom routine. For current and future teachers, developing entrepreneurial mindset and gaining deeper understanding of the basic tenets of entrepreneurship stretches beyond the ability to transmit this specific knowledge to their students. This training can have a favorable impact on their entire life.

 

Making a difference

Who are the people who choose teaching as their profession for life? The ones who want to create an impact in this world via helping younger generations discover their numerous talents and make the best out of them. When embedding entrepreneurial elements into school programs, no doubt, that the main lever to do so is by hiring a suitable teacher. The one who has nuanced understanding of what entrepreneurship is, who can maintain kids’ natural curiosity and foster their ability to face and solve problems.

The current state of affairs was aptly framed by Pasi Sahlberg, a well-known Finnish educator, who stated that ‘we still educate children with the mindset that there is a job for you; another option is to think ‘create a job for yourself’.’ In this light, future teachers are expected to infuse kids with solid awareness that future is uncertain, risks are something to live with, and failure is not a life sentence. It will rest in teacher’s hands to develop kids’ drive to innovate and think outside the box. To do so, they should be ‘live’ representations of what they actually convey in their classrooms.

 

Raising the level of employability

Training future teachers to think and act entrepreneurially does not only entail the transaction benefits gained from sharing knowledge with students, but also acquiring important transversal skills, e.g. exercising initiative, creative thinking, decision-making, spotting and implementing opportunities, etc. These skills are highly sought-after by employers in different areas these days, and can be of good use in our rapidly changing world. What is more, entrepreneurial philosophy, once properly understood and grasped, set one on the pathway of lifelong learning to constantly check their professional flair and hone relevant skills.

 

Nurturing personal growth

An important reason why cultivating entrepreneurial mindset among future teachers is beneficial for them personally refers to the acquisition and full understanding of their inner core. They need to gain the sense of confidence in their own capabilities even when turbulent times are on the doorstep. Since stability is believed to be relative, the new generation of teachers will have to have an ability to generate unconventional solutions both in their teaching practices and beyond. Having put constant vigilance on the autopilot mode will make them seize opportunities even in the most inopportune times.

All in all, introducing entrepreneurship education in teacher training programs will enable to grow a generation of doers, makers and creative thinkers who can maneuver in the unstable and fragile environment. Creating innovative classroom environment where their students can feel safe to experiment in a try-fail-persist mode, the teachers will expand their socio-economic contribution to their nations and worldwide and raise economically self-reliant and socially responsible citizens.

 

Written by: Alina Meloyan, UIIN

Image credit: pixabay.com via www.pexels.com

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7 Jan 2012