Check list for organising enterprise education

1. Start from the expected results: Are you trying to promote and help participants
   • to start-up or manage their enterprises?
   • to become more entrepreneurial in their lives?
   • to know about entrepreneurship?


2. Move next to the methods for learning and teaching and match them with the expected results. Some rules of thumb:
   
   • At the lower levels of education participants do not need actual skills or information regarding start-up even if it is the ultimate aim.
   • Setting up businesses in enterprise education programmes does not automatically create positive attitudes towards entrepreneurship.
   • Lectures and information about entrepreneurship does not provide students with the actual skills to act as entrepreneurs.
   • Taking responsibility of one's learning is the first step in becoming more entrepreneurial.


3. Identify your audience - what kind of expectations they have for enterprise education and whether you can meet these with one general approach?



4. Key success factors for the enterprise education projects that include action-learning methods (including also setting up businesses in the project curricula):
   • Students should be able to act independently and teachers should offer support and advice when necessary, but limit the authoritative role
   • Student monitoring and feedback during the experience is considered necessary to avoid frustration or work overload
   • Workload for teachers and students may become a problem which may be limited by integrating enterprise education to other subjects and by introducing voluntary seminars and assignments
   • Integrating several subjects into enterprise education creates a need for co-ordination and there may be a need for an appointed project leader
   • If students leave to work outside the school environment they will need to be prepared and coached and support should be provided during the experience not to cause feelings of isolation
   • After-care for the participants is a necessary element to support continuous development (reflection)


5. Key success factor for the enterprise education projects involving mainly traditional teaching methods
   • Enterprise education is interpreted generally to be a practical subject being able to carry the 'being there' experience. In a classroom setting this can be introduced by e.g. having entrepreneurs to appear in the programmes or to have other contacts with the practice of entrepreneurship


6. Key success factors for teacher training and development
   • Teachers should be provided with in-career continuous training to support
     • the introduction of new teaching methods and/or
     • the content-based skills and information
   • The greater the familiarity with entrepreneurship was the better the teaching of entrepreneurship was felt to fit into the teachers own teaching programme and subject of instruction.
   • Teachers could be offered peer groups where experiences can be exchanged among different teachers or a support person outside the school
   • There is a need to create stronger links with the business community in order to further the aims of the programmes.
   • Teachers should be aware of the different aims for enterprise education:
     • to start-up or manage enterprises
     • to become more entrepreneurial
     • to know about entrepreneurship
   • It is suggested that more than one person from an organization or a school participates in the training because
   • the participants could support each other in adapting the enterprise education at their school.
   • the culture and values of schools are a greater hindrance to carrying out enterprise education than the values and attitudes of a single teacher.

The database development was financed by the European Commission (Leonardo da Vinci programme) as part of the Entredu/Entreva/Entlearn projects in 2000–2006.

The database has been updated and its contents will be applied within the transnational project "DIOGENES Supporting the development of industrial reorganisation areas through self-employment and brokerage activities" (diogenes.meliusitaly.org). DIOGENES has been funded with support from the European Commission through the Lifelong Learning Programme 2007–2013 – Leonardo da Vinci – Transfer of Innovation.

This product reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.