Entrepreneurship Education in Vocational Training

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Gain Creators / Outcomes

Students have a better understanding of “how a business works” and show improvements in:
- ‘soft’ skills like self-confidence, creativity, taking initiative, teamwork, resourcefulness, taking responsibility and perseverance;
- ‘hard’ competences like assembling products, critical thinking, math computation, interpreting data, negotiation, financial skills, communication skills, time management.
Correlates well to curriculum standards and requirements in social studies, language and maths
Teachers become more entrepreneurial and learn more about EE
Flexible time commitment through blended learning

Gains / Needs

Teachers need:

approaches that effectively combine learning of practical skills as well as knowledge; hands-on, practical and integrated in the main subject.
practical learning-by-doing approaches in the classroom that will expose young people to real-world situations and get them thinking constructively about the future.
easy-to-implement activities that fit well within the curriculum
content that is relevant and challenging for students aged 15-19
time flexibility to deliver another course

Target Group

Educators in vocational training (students aged 15-19) who want to practise entrepreneurial learning among their students. Review from teachers here

Implementation Method

Distribution

Through the JA network
The programme’s educational kit is distributed to participating schools for the preparation of teachers and volunteers

Implementation

The programme is delivered in collaboration with national partners from public and business sector;
JA provides training and support for educators and volunteers to deliver the programme in the classroom.

Entrepreneurship Education in Vocational Training – innovation and mini companies

Vocational Education and Training are at the centre of the international and national education policy. Policy makers are convinced of the necessity to make vocational systems more responsive to labour market needs and boost economic growth. Many of the students in VET will set up their own company in their near future or they will work in a SME. To learn about entrepreneurship and to set up a company should be mandatory for the students. At the same time, it is important that such learning is delivered in an enterprising way, students should learn through entrepreneurship and for entrepreneurship.

The JA Company Programme is a perfect fit for vocational training and can be integrated in most subjects. By using established and well-tested entrepreneurship education tools, teachers can offer students more motivational learning situations to reach both theoretical and practical goals. Teachers and JA have developed many add-ons to the CP which makes flexible and possible to implement in short term or over a full year.

Activities

VET teachers with experience from their own company in the past, normally need a short introduction course to start using the program and the activities. Less experienced teachers can get training and support from JA organisations.

Programme delivery through Blended Learning in 5 steps:

Motivation & ideation
Organising the team
Shaping up and establishing the mini-company
Implementation
Competing & closing

Optional: o evaluation and validation of the students’ knowledge through the Entrepreneurial Skills Pass (ESP) [link]; or national and international Competitions and Trade Fairs [link]

Resources

Curricula , training and support for educators & business volunteers:

Company Programme Education Kit: Guide for teachers, Guide for Business Volunteers, Students’ manual and materials (paper-based or online) *
Training session for teachers and volunteers
JA follow-up and support

Manpower:

Business volunteers – recruited by JA,
Support staff from JA side

Pain Relievers / Solutions

Provide ready-to-go easy-to-use materials for teachers; digital options available
Activities that are hands-on; student-centred
Use interaction with business volunteers who bring real-world perspective when they present the content and add a ‘cool factor’

Use the practical entrepreneurship experience as a way to build confidence, change attitudes and behaviours

Pains / Challenges

Sometimes students in VET are a difficult age-group to motivate/satisfy, and there are lack of good content/materials activities in EE for this age group, in perticular content combining theoretical subjects and the practical content.
In many countries the teachers lack training in learning-by-doing ‘entrepreneurial’ methods.
It is difficult to find practical and learning by doing approaches which covers the diiiferent goals in the curriculum.

Additional information

Launched in 1919, the JA Company Programme is the flagship programme of JA and it is implemented successfully worldwide. More information here.

Company Programme impact on alumni:

More likely to start their own business. The Study “Experiences from participating in JA-YE Company Programme” revealed that Company Programme alumni demonstrate start-up rates which are three times as high (15%) than among the average population in Europe (5%-6%).
Alumni companies tend to be more successful. In a study conducted by Kingston University Business School, “50 Year of Young Enterprise” the key findings around Company Programme alumni-run companies showed that they tend to have a higher turnover, employ more people, are more innovative and diverse.
Developed employability skills and attitudes and are more successful in their careers. In a study conducted by BCG (Boston Consulting Group), “Making an Impact”, JA alumni cited JA participation as a significant source of impact on their ability to get a job, performance success at work, and personal network.
Better future earnings. In Canada, the average income for JA alumni is 50% higher than non-alumni (Making an Impact, BCG study Assessing Junior Achievement of Canada’s Value Creation)

The Company Programme can be centered on a specific topic/industry:

Social Entrepreneurship: Social Enterprise 360 project, developed through a strategic partnership between organizations from 8 countries and co-funded by the European Commission through Erasmus+, is based on a comprehensive educational approach of social entrepreneurship, combining learning outcomes with assessment, formal methods with informal activities implemented in-school and out-of-school, participants engagement at local and international level, interaction within activities developed for teachers and mentors. Read more here.
STEM focus: Skills for the Future – JA Europe is partnering with Hyundai Motor Europe to promote greater understanding and awareness among young people about Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) skills, entrepreneurship and skills for their future employability. During the 3-year initiative, 10,000 young people between the ages of 15 and 18, in 15 European countries will have the opportunity to try their hand at enterprise, learn valuable STEM skills and apply their knowledge in new ways. With support from their teachers, they will be exposed to a variety of learning-by-doing approaches and work with Hyundai business volunteers from all over Europe. Over 400 employees from the business community will volunteer. Read more here.

The programme is also developed further, aiming to create cross-border international partnerships and mutual benefits for students around the world, as part of their JA experience through Enterprise without Borders.

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