Fostering Entrepreneurship
Education – a EU perspective
Thessaloniki, 25 November
Simone BALDASSARRI
Unit E.1
Entrepreneurship
Definition of Entrepreneurship
Entrepreneurship refers to an individual’s ability to turn ideas into
action.
It includes
• creativity,
• innovation and
• risk taking,
• as well as the ability to plan and manage projects
in order to achieve objectives.
This
• supports everyone in day-to-day life at home and in society,
• makes employees more aware of the context of their work and better
able to seize opportunities,
• and provides a foundation for entrepreneurs establishing a social or
commercial activity
(2006 Recommendation on Key Competences for Lifelong Learning)
Policy Background
• Recommendation of the European Parliament and the
Council (2006): entrepreneurship a key competence for all.
• Commission
Communication
entrepreneurial mindsets” (2006)
on
“Fostering
• Oslo Agenda on Entrepreneurship Education in Europe
(2007): a detailed menu of actions
• Small Business Act for Europe (2008)
• EU 2020 strategy: focus school curricula on creativity,
innovation and entrepreneurship (2010)
Current State
Mainly individual initiatives, with no coherent framework and
little impact
Most students do not have access to entrepreneurship
courses and programmes.
Entrepreneurship is included in the national curriculum of
general secondary school only in a small minority of countries
In Higher Education the majority of entrepreneurship
courses are offered in business and economic studies
Only 1/4 of specialized and 1/3 of multidisciplinary institutions
without a business school offer entrepreneurship
Vocational Education
• Entrepreneurship is included in the national curricula for
vocational education in a majority of EU countries
• 10 countries report that 90% to 100% of vocational
education students participate to entrepreneurship
programmes at some point in their studies.
However…
• Even where entrepreneurship is included in national
curricula, there a perception of a gap still to be filled.
• Despite some encouraging data, the uptake and
effectiveness of entrepreneurship education in vocational
schools are still far from being fully satisfactory.
Vocational Education
Reasons for the identified gap are:
• ineffective teaching methods;
• entrepreneurship is not included in all parts of the VET
system;
• limited participation of students;
• inadequate teachers’ competence;
• lack of involvement of business people;
• the practical element is missing;
• entrepreneurship is not linked to specific training subjects
on professions.
Vocational Education
• Perception of a gap between teaching methods
used and those considered as the most effective
• Most teachers
entrepreneurship
have
not
been
trained
in
• Cooperation between vocational schools and
enterprises is in general well developed
(particularly in « dual systems »)
• But it is difficult to involve small and micro
enterprises
Schools: Factors of Success in Delivery
•
Well-defined objectives and appropriate evaluations
•
Good balance between theory and practice: programme is
action-oriented, based on experience and project work
•
Teaching adapted to the specific field of vocational studies
•
The institution has external links with enterprises
•
Students take part in extra-curricular activities and events
•
Teachers have a qualification in entrepreneurship
•
Students and teachers are stimulated to look beyond the
borders of school environment
•
Support mechanisms in place for students to start up
Recommendations
Public authorities:
• Set up a national steering committee
• Introduce entrepreneurship in the curriculum
• Make career guidance
entrepreneurship
mandatory,
including
• Provide counselling for schools and teachers in
designing VET curricula
• Improve teachers’ qualifications
Recommendations
Vocational Schools:
• Appoint an enterprise champion or a leader
• Extend entrepreneurship to all fields of study
Business organisations:
• Promote partnerships between VET schools and
enterprises
• Provide expert help with preparing programmes
and cooperate through project work
Activities at EU level
Efforts focus currently
coordination so as to
strategies.
on increasing European
develop more systematic
Present goals:
1) Increase the exchange of experiences and practices
across Europe, particularly among policy makers:
- High Level Reflection Panels on Entrepreneurship
Education (5 Panels from March 2009 to March 2010)
2) Promote European projects that will become a model
or a reference for the multiplication and dissemination of
activities in this field:
- 2009 Call for Proposals (9 European projects
currently funded under the CIP)
High Level Reflection Panels on
Entrepreneurship Education
Two key needs:
1)
Increase co-operation between government
administrations – especially those responsible
for education and enterprise - and with
stakeholders on entrepreneurship education;
2)
Develop more systematic
entrepreneurship education.
strategies
for
Teachers
• High importance of involving teachers (maintain a
broad definition of Entrepreneurship)
 Shift from 'how to run a business' to how to develop a
general set of competences applicable in all walks of life
• Key elements for supporting the role of teachers:
 Develop research on how teachers approach E.E.
 Offer initial and continuous teacher training
 Create and disseminate teaching contents, tools,
methods and materials
 Make space in the curriculum for testing new methods
 Establish support networks
Curriculum
• Make entrepreneurship an integral part of the
Curriculum:
 Key role for ministries of education
 Changes in teaching methods: experiential learning,
teacher as a facilitator, coach, moderator
 Changes in education context: take students out of the
classroom (into local community and real businesses)
 Combine a mandatory cross-curricular approach with a
selectable training as a specific subject
Elements of a strategy (1)
• Agreed definition of entrepreneurship
• Cross-ministry cooperation
• Stakeholder consultation
• Embed core competences into the national
curriculum
• Develop strategic aims and objectives
Elements of a strategy (2)
• Integrate identified good practices (what
works) into the strategy
• Train the teachers
• Develop a logic chain of indicators, outputs,
outcomes and expected impact
• Design and embed coherent progression
from primary to higher education
• Make resources available for the strategy
Building links
• Engage businesses:
 Visits, experiences, case studies and role models
 Student mini-companies with business mentors
• Engage intermediary organizations:
 Many NGOs play already a key role
 External organizations devoted to promoting E.E. can be
effectively associated with national strategies
• Link E.E. into local and regional strategies
 Develop partnerships
 Build local and regional support centres
EU actions in 2011
1) Train, enable and motivate teachers
A European Workshop with policy makers and
experts from all countries (March or April 2011),
followed by specific Laboratories and a practical
guide
2) Evaluation and assessment of impact
entrepreneurship education programmes
Specific studies to be developed
of
Contacts
• Web site:
http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/policies/sme/promotingentrepreneurship/index_en.htm
• E-mail:
[email protected]