Description
School teachers often think that teaching entrepreneurship is not an educational responsibility, as it would transform schools into business academies. And yet, the EU institutions highly encourage the promotion of entrepreneurship in the European educational systems.
Indeed, once it is properly understood, everyone can see that entrepreneurship is a fundamental competence for all members of a knowledge society.
Shouldn’t schools care about entrepreneurship, then, and take responsibility for raising students’ entrepreneurial capacities?
The course will clarify why entrepreneurship is vital for students’ life, and exploit board game-based learning (BGBL) to show how to train entrepreneurial skills.
Participants in the course will discover the many facets and benefits of entrepreneurship by discussing the EntreComp – i.e., the competency framework provided by the European Commission to develop curricula and learning activities that promote entrepreneurship.
Broadly conceived, entrepreneurship includes the sense of initiative and refers to the capacity to turn into action ideas that generate (cultural, social, or economic) value for someone other than oneself. It thus requires many fundamental soft skills such as creativity, teamwork, resource management, and strategic planning.
As a transversal key competence so defined, entrepreneurship applies to all spheres of life – and it is one of the key competencies for lifelong learning. It enables citizens to nurture their personal growth, actively contribute to social development, enter the job market as an employee or as self-employed, and start up or scale up ventures which may have a cultural, social, or commercial motive.
Participants will learn to use board games, game-based learning (GBL), and gamification to foster the entrepreneurial skills of their students, focusing each day on different soft skills that compose entrepreneurship.
Thus, they will discover and play different board games they can use back in their school to promote creativity, collaboration, communication, resource management, and strategic planning.
Each gaming session will be accompanied by clear and practical instructions on how to facilitate a gaming activity in the classroom. Accordingly, participants will learn how to introduce a board game in the classroom, how to learn and teach game rules, how to bend these rules to make board gaming more inclusive for everyone, and how to debrief a gaming activity.
By the end of the course, participants will have acquired a novel exciting teaching methodology to promote student engagement and motivation and feel confident in nurturing the entrepreneurial skills of their learners.
Note: The course is particularly indicated for educators and teachers working in after-school care (e.g., Swedish fritids), or for teachers interested in the transition from the subject- to competency-based teaching (e.g., Spanish teachers working in the LOMLOE framework).
Learning outcomes
The course will help the participants to:
- Teach by competencies rather than by subject;
- Inspire their learners with engaging learning activities;
- Design and conduct game-based learning activities;
- Help students develop creativity, teamwork, resource management, and strategic planning;
- Promote entrepreneurship among their learners;
- Gather ideas to start a board game club at their school library.
Tentative schedule
Day 1 – Entrepreneurship and Board game-based learning (BGBL)
- Introduction to the course, the school, and the external week activities;
- Icebreaker activities;
- Presentations of the participants’ schools;
- What is entrepreneurship?
- Gamification, Game-Based Learning, and Learning with Board Games;
- Entrepreneurial skills;
- Board gaming session.
Day 2 – Creativity, sustainable thinking, and teamwork
- Soft skills: creativity and generating innovative ideas;
- Board gaming session;
- Debriefing and sharing;
- Focus: How to debrief a gaming activity.
Day 3 – Mobilizing resources
- Soft skills: managing resources and people;
- Board gaming session;
- Debriefing and sharing;
- Focus: How to explain game rules, and adapt them to your setting.
Day 4 – Planning for action
- Soft skills: dealing with uncertainty and risk, and strategic thinking;
- Board gaming session;
- Debriefing and sharing;
- Focus: How to plan a gaming activity, and select board games.
Day 5 – Entrepreneurship in the classroom
- Playing in the classroom;
- Activity: Writing a lesson plan to promote entrepreneurial skills.
Day 6 – Course closure and cultural activities
- Course evaluation: round-up of acquired competencies, feedback, and discussion;
- Awarding of the course Certificate of Attendance;
- Excursion and other external cultural activities.