Youth Start Social Entrepreneurship Programme for Kids – UKids Erasmus Project

Project Title

Youth Start Social Entrepreneurship Programme for Kids – UKids

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 for school education

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2017

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: New innovative curricula/educational methods/development of training courses; Entrepreneurial learning – entrepreneurship education; ICT – new technologies – digital competences

Project Summary

In the UKids project, universities and their partner schools from six countries cooperated. The responsibility for the management is assumed by the University of Teacher Education Vienna/Krems. The university partners agreed on applying the distributed leadership concept, spreading the lead as follows:

o University of Oulu (Finland): O1 (the programme for the 3rd and 4th grades with materials for students and teachers at the primary schools),
o UC Absalon (Denmark): O2 (Training programme as a blended learning approach at the university level),
o IFTE (Austria): O3 (digital micro-teaching videos),
o Marnix University (Netherlands): O4 (Online platform to present the results of the trash value and the community challenge of the primary school’s students),
o ELTE University (Hungary): O5 (Action Research programme at the school level),
o IPP University (Portugal): dissemination and extension.

The UKids project has anchored social entrepreneurship education as a transversal competency in the education and training of primary school teachers in the universities’ teaching and learning programmes in initial teacher/trainer education and continuous professional development. The project builds on the Erasmus+ programme Policy Experimentation project “Youth Start Entrepreneurial Challenges”. Within the framework of UKids, parts of the existing programme were developed further and a methodological approach to entrepreneurial learning with gamification for Social Entrepreneurship Education was established. Learning strategies for Social Entrepreneurship were transversally tested and implemented in different learning areas in teacher training.

In the universities’ respective partner schools, the Youth Start programme for primary schools was tested on a regionalised basis and extended by two challenges for children (Community Challenge and Lemonade Stand Challenge). A website was developed to exchange the results of the participating primary schools for the Trash Value Challenge and the Community Challenge: https://ukidsplatform.eu/de-at. For all eight challenges used, explanatory films (micro-teaching) were created and published on the website: http://www.youthstart.eu/en/terms/. The translated videos and materials for Activate and Concentrate are also posted there.

The programme teaches children and students that, as part of civil society, they should take responsibility for more minor social challenges and develop different approaches to solving them. The selected social challenges are based on the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The UKids Social Entrepreneurship Education training programme for teachers uses a blended learning approach. During the Covid-19 crisis, the programmes were entirely digital, using micro-teaching videos and digital platforms.

The UKids Social Entrepreneurship Education project was accompanied scientifically and about twenty scientific articles were published, mostly in the journal “Discourse and Communication for Sustainable Education”, showing different perspectives on the joint research. In an article by Austrian colleagues, the children’s worldview was analysed. In an article by colleagues from Portugal and Austria, the programme’s impact in primary school was surveyed and very positively evaluated. All participating countries present comparable case studies for this field of research. In a Hungarian journal article, the role of parents in strengthening a growth mindset is analysed. In a journal article by Dutch colleagues, the teacher training, especially the entrepreneurial learning approach with gamification, in a Hungarian article, the challenge-based-learning approach and in an Austrian article, the relevance of strengthening potential was analysed. Scientific subject didactic articles show the possibilities of transversal competencies for arts education, for education in mathematics, social science and democracy education. A keynote article emphasises the connection between entrepreneurship and sustainability.

3.638 students and 126 teachers participated at the partner and associated schools, 1.352 students and 126 lecturers attended the lectures at the partner universities. The UKids project’s impact is assessed positively at the partner universities. The Dutch partner university has chosen Social Entrepreneurship Education as a focus for the whole university. The Hungarian partner university has integrated Social Entrepreneurship Education into Bachelor, Master and PhD programmes, a step on which the partner from Portugal is also working. In Austria, entrepreneurship education has been included as a cross-curricular topic in the new primary school curriculum, which will lead to a further strengthening of Social Entrepreneurship Education in teacher training. The cooperation between the partner universities will continue in the future, and other universities interested in Social Entrepreneurship Education in primary teacher training are welcome.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 316200 Eur

Project Coordinator

KIRCHLICHE PÄDAGOGISCHE HOCHSCHULE WIEN / KREMS & Country: AT

Project Partners

• EOTVOS LORAND TUDOMANYEGYETEM
• PROFESSIONSHOJSKOLEN ABSALON S/I
• Klostermarksskolen
• VEREIN INITIATIVE FUR TEACHING ENTREPRENEURSHIP – UNTERNEHMERISCHE HALTUNGEN WECKEN, FORDERN, STARKEN
• Mundos de Vida
• OULUN YLIOPISTO
• INSTITUTO POLITECNICO DO PORTO