Our project aims at developing the entrepreneurial skills of students by means of the method “learning through making”, as well as raising the level of financial literacy, communication and presentation skills and the abilities to work as part of a team or the so called “soft skills”. This is a project that will encourage the study of professional English language in the sphere of entrepreneurship through creating the textbook “Successful steps in Entrepreneurship” and the use of English as a working language with students from partner countries. We have put entrepreneurship in the centre of our project in order to be in unison with European tendencies. The project will implement its activities and products mainly in 2017 which is announced a European year of entrepreneurship. We want to give our students opportunities for development of entrepreneurial skills and at the same time to face them with social realities which will motivate them for volunteering. We will also try to develop self-consciousness for tolerance to differences, empathy towards the suffering and desire to spread the value of helping each other. That’s why, volunteering is the second important point which will also be present in our project. We believe that if a person is surrounded with models which express desire to help others, the chances of adopting these models are quite high.The main aim of the project, which includes 5 schools from 5 different countries, is to establish the criteria for successful implementation of an entrepreneurial idea on the European market.To achieve the goal of the project, the following activities will be organized: a competition, called “Business incubator” on a given topic in every country; “Entrepreneurial market”- when students meet and they will also be supported by mentors, business representatives and NGOs. The final product will be a handbook “Successful steps in Entrepreneurship”. This handbook will present all mandatory stages that every entrepreneurial idea goes through from its origin to its fulfillment. We are 5 schools from different countries and we have planned to make two training meetings in the middle of each year. At these meetings the participating teachers and students will discuss the criteria and features that every successful entrepreneurial idea should conform to. During these training meetings voluntary initiatives, aiming at solving both a social and ecological issue, will also be organized. The voluntary initiative with eco focus will be “Plant a tree, save the Earth”- cleaning a particular region, collecting waste, planting trees and from the waste collected- making an art product. The voluntary initiative solving a social issue will be called “Dance with me”- a dance lesson in SOS children’s villages/ family-type accommodation centers/ nursing homes.The ideas, participating in “Entrepreneurial market”, will be presented to business representatives, other students and educational institutions, too. Thus, the participants in the project will become part of global education, aimed at performing the goals of sustainable development. These goals will definitely be a priority in the next 15 years. Entrepreneurship and initiative, one of the key competences mentioned in the European Framework of Reference, can solve one of the global problems- youth unemployment. Project activities will be based on what labor market requires and that is flexibility. That is why, students will combine knowledge in ICT, foreign languages, entrepreneurship, business research, geography and even psychology. Good practices and innovation will also be applied in the curriculum. We will cooperate with non-governmental organizations, local formal and informal institutions, similar schools and schools in the region to distribute products and project results. This synergy is shown in the fact that the project unites students with different interests, coming from different socio-economic environments. Our aim is to define common points of interest and create products which will be a symbol of cross-border cooperation through entrepreneurial skills. One of the best activities will be the organization of voluntary initiatives. The best art products will be awarded and long-lasting dissemination will be ensured.We will achieve project sustainability by making films for each stage on CDs. The handbook “Successful steps in Entrepreneurship “ will be presented to each partner country on paper and uploaded online on project’s page.Partners will prepare and publish two issues of magazines. Number of people involved: Mobility of teachers: 96 Mobility of students: 144People, accompanying students: 96 Total number of participants: 336
In the current project 5 different schools from 5 countries participated. Solski Center Slovenj Gradec, EK Kavalas (School Workshops Centre) in Greece, The Comprehensive School “Don Milani” in Italy, EYÜP İMKB MESLEKİ VE TEKNİK ANADOLU LİSESİ in Turkey, Puka Secondary School in Estonia. The goal of the project was improving students’ skills of entrepreneurship through practical activities. This involves yet again the improving of related skills such as knowledge in English and IT related know-how which in turn opens up more possibilities for presentation and teamwork that help practicing the financial abilities. The goal was to create an educational film “The Market of Entrepreneurship” with all the five schools working together. During the first meeting we agreed on criteria we had to follow and every school came up with their own business ideas. After that the best ideas were chosen while we took students’ age differences in consideration. After that we held a large project meeting while consulting with the specialists. The film was created successfully and the experience was valuable as every student of all ages learned something about the cultural differences and the process of media creation. The other goal was the creation of handbook “Successful Steps in Entrepreneurship”. The handbook gives a detailed overview of how to start and lead a company in five different countries. This covers the starting steps and initiation process and also tax system differences while going all the way to business liquidation. Every school had a big opportunity to learn from this as business related vocabulary is very specific and it required necessary research which the specialists helped with. Some of them are from respective agencies and they gave us an overview how the level of unemployment in our five countries are actually quite high. The experience of starting a business during school years is invaluable as that gives students a head start. This idea goes together well with the fact that the year 2017 was the European Year of Entrepreneurship. The voluntary work each school did before and during each meeting had to be creative. Taking part in sports events, cleaning trash in nature and working in animal shelters was one large part, but there was also a focus on recycling which involved creating art from reusable materials. During these activities schools had to introduce each other what their options are. Every partner school also prepared something creative such as dance act, song, a piece of music or made a handicraft project. Students and teachers did it together. Students from different age groups and cultures realized their wide options of voluntary work and are now able to continue it after the project ends. Two magazines were created of all the activities which are uploaded on www.puka.edu.ee and on the project’s website. A lot of effort was put into spreading the info and other schools introduced it to other projects too. Estonia currently has no active projects, but we made sure the info spreads in local area and also to nearby larger areas. The specific project corners will remain in schools for visitors to read about and familiarize themselves with the activities. Our school’s museum room will also be updated and added to and it was presented to a competition called “Success and Act”. The excitement of the project is still in air and everyone is asking when the next similar project starts.The title: "A teacher of the year 2018" was attributed to the coordinator of the whole project by local authorities and leading this project was one of the criteria. Students continue to communicate with other schools both in the school and outside and can share their knowledge as schools have also integrated entrepreneurship related studies to their programmes. Their courage to communicate and appear in public have increased which makes them much more confident with managing their time and talking to new people. They are now much more prepared to enter the future job market.