TEACHING ENTREPRENEURSHIP-LEARNING ENTREPRENEURSHIP Erasmus Project

Project Title

TEACHING ENTREPRENEURSHIP-LEARNING ENTREPRENEURSHIP

Project Key Action

This project related with these key action: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices

Project Action Type

This project related with this action type : Strategic Partnerships addressing more than one field

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2014

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Early School Leaving / combating failure in education; Entrepreneurial learning – entrepreneurship education

Project Summary

The average rate of early drop-outs, i.e. students leaving school before finishing the secondary level and having no vocational training, is currently over 15% in the European Union. In some member states, the figure is even higher. This situation causes huge problems for the present and future labour markets. With increasing requirements for highly trained personnel and subsequently less need for unqualified or lowly qualified workers, people without qualification have the least opportunities in the labour market, which makes them a group with high risk of unemployment. In structurally weaker regions, it is especially tempting for young people to look for opportunities elsewhere, like in bigger cities or abroad.

The TELE project was reacting to the concrete need of involving groups with low or no qualifications in educational activities and measures. There is an increasing demand in the current economy for people who possess skills such as motivation, initiative, responsibility and entrepreneurial thinking. Most upper secondary schools, Lifelong Learning Centers and vocational training institutes do not have entrepreneurship teaching on their agenda. The partner organizations of the project were planning to develop and test Entrepreneurship Workshops that can be used by teachers in different educational centers and employment services measures, in order to motivate the jobless, mainly young, people to do something, to be active and to turn ideas into action. Entrepreneurship workshops are a strong tool for motivation and focus on local opportunities.

The main objectives of the TELE project were:
– to reduce school dropouts
– to reduce emigration from the regions
– to reduce the unemployment rate.

The goal of the partnership was to give young people the opportunity to experience success through creative work and through their own initiatives. They learn that every person is capable of achieving something and has interest in something, and also, that nobody can do everything. Thus they overcome gradually the negative feelings about being useless and worthless, and at the same time they discover their skills and interests, of which they had been unaware before. With the help of the Entrepreneurship workshops and training methods we can reach, motivate and activate young, low skilled, disadvantaged unemployed people to start further education and/or find a job or/and create their own job possibilities, following up on their own interests and ideas.

The five partner organizations were selected with the cross-sectoral nature of the project in mind, including: a non-governmental migrant organization from Germany, a lifelong learning center from Iceland, the municipal council of Malpils from Latvia, an association of vocational secondary school teachers from Romania and a public body of employment services from Spain.

The TELE project was built on the following main activities:
1. Analyzing phase. Entrepreneurship workshops and training courses were analyzed and defined in the partner countries. We studied the similarities and the differences, as well as the factors of success, what works and what needs to be changed. We also examined the target groups and possible strategies on how to reach these groups. We collected material (partly from our own teaching experience) to interactive teaching methods, cooperative learning, intercultural training methods, etc.
2. Development phase. Based on concrete problems defined in the national research reports, we developed three training modules: a 12-hour, a one-week and a three-week model. Teaching material to be used in the modules was also developed and then tested with experienced trainers.
3. Training the trainers. Each partner organization took part with 4 trainers on a one-week training workshop. The trainers learnt how to run entrepreneurship courses for young adult participants, and they also gave feedback on necessary changes in the training material.
4. Pilot workshops. The participating trainers tested the activating methods in their own local classes and evaluated the results together with their participants. Following the Workshops some participants had the opportunity to travel to Latvia in a Blended Mobility and exchange experience with fellow participants from all 5 partner countries.
5. Handbook. The concept of entrepreneurial training, the description of training contents and the respective methods were put together by the partners in a Handbook. The partnership has a special focus on raising awareness and sharing the project results among educational staff in vocational education and adult education as well as decision makers.
6. Short film. All workshops and activities were filmed by the partnership. We interviewed the trainers and the participants. The material was edited into a 30-minute film, subtitled in English, in order to help future trainers with their preparation.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 184910,05 Eur

Project Coordinator

CHANCENGLEICH in Europa e.V. & Country: DE

Project Partners

• Malpils novada dome
• AMICII COLEGIULUI PETRU PONI
• PATER
• Simenntunarmidstodin a Vesturlandi