tools for learning and development of entrepreneurial competencies

usiness contacts to the newcomers. This creates a solid operational context for simulation and
students integrate in a more complex environment that allows them to get closer to real life situations.
The traditional role of the teacher, within practice firms, changes and the educational priorities become
more obvious.
The practical training can be based on three design models:
- The learning office; simulation of economic activities based on a closed didactic
model;
- The practice firm, a model of simulation for the real economic process in a real
company;
- The junior firm, activates in the store, laboratory, consultancy office in the school.
In order to carry out the processes required within a training firm, it is necessary to provide a
laboratory with the economic, theoretical and practical conditions students need to activate. In this
environment, the training firm:
- Carries put its activity as a real company, but with virtual goods and money,
according to the national legislation in force;
- Implement knowledge on a real working place, under the methodological management
of the teacher;
- Carries out the connection between the educational and the professional environment;
- Provides the opportunity to involve experts from the practical area;
- Eliminates important problems that would have appeared based on wrong decisionmaking,
if operating in a real environment.
- realizează legătura între şcoală şi mediul profesional;
2.2 Educational purpose and tasks of training firms
The teachers play a crucial role in preparing the Company or throughout the exercise. They
must have skills and knowledge of commerce and management. Diverse training firms are consultants
and organizers of the training process and must master the principle of the practice-oriented training.
They offer consultations and foster independence in training firms, verify the knowledge and skills
acquired by students, motivate, activate and guide the work of students.
The teachers sustain students to assume responsibilities, to make decisions, to participate
within the team, to think critically, to solve unexpected problems that might occur. The teachers act
both like active moderators and co-participants. They will encourage self-management, initiative and
students’ self-evaluation, and boost work team. They will be both consultants and instructors, acting
towards the immediate improvement of work and solving conflict situations.
Working in a training firm brings new opportunities and challenges for teachers as well:
- Teamwork requires qualities such as responsibility, organizational skills, exactness,
precision, accuracy, conflict-solving skills.
- Training firms involve knowledge from various domains of activity, such as
accounting, law, information technology, or social science, and this is a demanding
work that implies the teacher must have extra knowledge in these fields.
- Training firms study and apply the norms .established for its activity (laws,
government decisions, emergency government decisions and so on); the teacher must
constantly update his/ her knowledge.
- By simulating real situations, the students become aware of the specific objectives of
enterprises, and they understand its organization structure. This requires that the
teacher maintains a close relationship with the real enterprise correspondent to the
virtual one.
- The role the teacher is different. S/he supports the activity, coordinates and controls it.
This makes his/ her work more complex and difficult, but also more interesting.
The training firms implies the use of diverse methodologies, of simulation, individual and
team work, imaginary discussions, presentations and case studies. The experience of students and
teachers within the firm of exercise resulted in numerous awards received by the Economic College
"Ion Ghica" Târgovişte at international expositions concerning training firms.