Practice Enterprise (PE) is a well known entrepreneurship education tool, used in 20 European countries for more than 60 years for different target groups. PE is a virtual company that is run like a real business company with real company business procedures, products and services. Each PE trades with other PE following commercial business procedures in the PE worldwide network. Practice Enterprise is a practical training tool and training place for trainees to work and learn, using all the documentation, procedures and programmes needed to run a business, but without real money and goods. It is always challenging for the teacher to connect academic content to real-world projects. The PE methodology provides a forum for the student to develop skills in entrepreneurship, problem-solving, decision-making, time management, public speaking, teamwork and technology. Financial literacy is another key skill and very important to learn at a young age, which helps students to understand the value of money, investment, purchase power, negotiating, planning and budgeting. The PE program includes a full financial overview and literacy for students, often their first experience managing money. Perhaps most important, it helps to build awareness about a variety of careers and occupations and to convey the expectations of the workplace and develop professional behaviors. The aim of the project -to create a new Practice Enterprise model that will contribute to the development of entrepreneurship education, combining this model with INSPIRE - 7 strategies for ending violence against children (developed by World Health Organization) at an earlier stage in schools for students, aged 12-15. The project objectives are: 1. To provide general education schools with an innovative framework of Practice enterprise model to develop entrepreneurship competencies to 12-15 years students. 2. To provide general education schools with methodological materials that will help to develop student entrepreneurship competencies through the PE model. 3. To enhance applicability and facilitate transferability of the project innovative approach through the provision of a set of recommendations, strategies and piloting implementation practices. According to the objective 1, the Framework of Practice Enterprise model for general education schools students aged 12-15 will be created using the INSPIRE strategy adaption. According to the objective 2, pedagogical material for PE trainers and students will be created. According to the objective 3, PE trainers and students will be trained, PE will be established and /or developed, the pedagogical material will be piloted and evaluated in the involved schools and according to pilot results -final Practice Enterprise model for general education schools students aged 12-15 will be created. Target group: 1. 12-15 years school pupils learning in general education schools; 2. Teachers from general education schools; Indirect target group: general education schools administration, parents, Practice Enterprise Network, other stakeholders. Project partners: -Vilniaus kolegija/ Lithuanian central Office of Practice Enterprises "Simulith“ (coordinator). -Istituto Don Calabria/ Italian central Office of Practice Enterprises Simulimpresa. -Europen Pen International, world-wide Practice Enterprise network, established in Germany. -Kauno r. Garliavos Jonuciu progimnazija, Lithuanian school. -Istituto Comprensivo "Panfilo Serafini - Lola Di Stefano", Italian school. -Fredrich-Fröbel-Schule, German school. New model of Practice Enterprise would be a solution for early teenagers’ stage to avoid with a complex of problems at the schools and in their future life.
Context/background of the project. The project was based on Practice Enterprise (PE) methodology - well known entrepreneurship education tool, used in 20 European countries for more than 60 years for different target groups. PE is a virtual company that is run like a real business company with real company business procedures, products and services. Each PE trades with other PE following commercial business procedures in the PE worldwide network. So IMPEET project provided a tool for the young 12-15 years students to develop skills in entrepreneurship: problem-solving, decision-making, time management, public speaking, teamwork and technology using. Financial literacy is another key skill and very important to learn at a young age, which helps students to understand the value of money, investment, purchase power, negotiating, planning and budgeting. Learning by doing using PE model included a full financial overview and literacy for students, built awareness about a variety of careers and occupations and to conveyed the expectations of the workplace and developed professional behaviors. The aim - to create a new Practice Enterprise model for development of entrepreneurship skills, combining this model with INSPIRE - 7 strategies for ending violence against children (developed by World Health Organization) for students, aged 12-15. We reached our goals: 1. An innovative Framework of Practice Enterprise concept was created in order to develop entrepreneurship competencies to 12-15 years students. 2. The methodological materials guiding students and teachers were created in order to help them to learn and to teach in PE. 3. A set of recommendations, strategies and piloting implementation practices were described in order to enhance applicability and facilitate transferability of the project innovative approach. Participants: 1. 12-15 years school pupils learned in PE in general education schools: 47 2. Teachers from piloting general education schools: 12, reached during other activities (round tables, testing, dissemination):90 3. Indirect target group: general education schools administration, parents, Practice Enterprise Network, other stakeholders - reached during round tables, testing, dissemination activities: 620 4. Four general education schools, where PEs as a tool and place for entrepreneurship education were created or developed. All foreseen activities were implemented and successfully finished: - PE Competencies Framework was created including: Common Mediation Session for Capacity Building, Working Methodology and Action Plan, the results of Framework testing, feedback incorporation and translation into 3 languages. - Handbook for PE Teachers was created, including organization of teachers training in all countries, feedback from teachers collection, set up/development of PE at piloting schools, feedback incorporation and translation into 3 languages. - Practice Kit for PE Student was created, students learned and worked at PEs, feedback was collected, material translated into 3 languages. - PE Model for Students aged 12-15 was finalized with all partners experiences described, material translated into 3 languages. - 2 Round tables in each country were organized in order to present and evaluate created materials with stakeholders. - Final Conference was organized (online). - 8 partners meetings (4 in person, 4 online) took place. - Students 5 days online learning on theme - preparation and participation at PE Trade Fair was implemented. - Also all planed activities under the lines "Project Management and Coordination", "Project Quality Management" and "Project Dissemination and Exploitation" were realized. Results and impact: - tangible: 4 intellectual outputs. - PE methodology combined with 7 Inspire strategies against children violence and European Commission "EntreComp: The Entrepreneurship Competence Framework“ - Developed students entrepreneurship skills, for example: Creativity, Advertising; Organizational/Managerial skills, such as Teambuilding, Problem solving, Negotiation, etc. Improved presentation skills using MS PowerPoint; Social skills, such as: personality development, self-confidence. excellent communication and financial literacy skills. Longer-term benefits. European and world-wide added value: PE concept expanded by the implementation of the PE model in general schools for such young target group 12-15 years students, as it was major innovation in Germany, Lithuania, Italy and across Europe and the world. Enhanced the teaching offered through Practice Enterprises by providing a piloting experience that was upscaled in Lithuania, Italy and in Germany and beyond through the shared of the resources and guides created during the project. Also there is an increasing focus on early teenagers education at the European level due to the recognition that PE model lay the foundations for later educational success (feedback from students from piloting schools).