Final report - European Commission - Europa

BUSINESS@SCHOOL:FOSTERING ENTREPRENEURIAL THINKING AT HIGH-SCHOOLSBabette Claas, Boston Consulting Group, GermanyThe aim of business@school is to bring business to life for students at schools in Germany, Austria, Italy, Switzerland,and Singapore. Roughly 390 volunteers (from BCG and 19 other companies) adopt a school every year and coach atotal of 1,800 students through the program over the course of one school year. To ensure quality, current and futureinterested schools must apply to participate. A continuous flow of information between the business@school projectoffice and project participants (students, teachers, and coaches) is also a source of numerous ideas.Over the last eight years, business@school has given over 6,500 young people from 250 schools firsthand experiencewith business and enabled them to practice key skills. The initiative provides numerous opportunities to learn in aproject-based context, encouraging students to work independently and serving as an alternative to teacher-centeredinstruction at schools. Students retain what they learn during project work because they conceive and developcontent on their own in group work. Other than business basics, participating students learn skills that go far beyondwhat regular school education generally has to offer.Project success documented by survey-based evaluationHow do former business@school participants judge the project? To evaluate its activities, business@school conductssurveys regularly. At the end of each project year, student participants and project-leader teachers are surveyed withan online questionnaire. Also once a year, participants from previous years are surveyed on the significance ofbusiness@school participation for their further education and careers.These surveys show that eight of ten business@school participants have a better grasp of the abstract concept of"business" after having talked under the auspices of business@school with the owner of the "bakery on the corner,"for example, about the challenges of starting one's own business. And every fifth former business@schoolparticipant now reads the business section of newspapers.Seminars close gaps in business knowledgeAnother component of the program is business seminars for teachers and coaches. These are offered at thebeginning of the project for training and quality assurance purposes. Experience is also shared at a three-daybusiness seminar for teachers and at various workshops with coaches over the course of the school year. One teacherat each participating school may take part in the three-day business seminar, which is led by an experiencedtrainer. The focus is on business topics that are given scant attention in Germany's standard teacher training, evenfor economics teachers. Teachers who participate in the business seminar then take over the role of multiplicator attheir schools, sharing their newly acquired knowledge with colleagues.Volunteers provide access to real-life know-howAnother form of quality assurance is the involvement of experienced people from the world of business. These volunteersserve as coaches at the participating schools, sharing their expertise and insight on daily business practices.In this way, business@school gives participating students access to real-life business know-how.60Entrepreneurship Education in Europe: Fostering Entrepreneurial Mindsets through Education and Learning