Entrepreneurial classroom activities: Part 2

As I explained in a previous post, this year our school created a new space, the entrepreneurial classroom, to train and develop entrepreneurial skills in our students, according to the EntreComp definition: spotting opportunities and acting on them to create value for others, should this value be cultural, social or economical. I believe this new space and the activities and methodologies suggested to use in this entrepreneurial classroom have ignited a spark that will lead to a more entrepreneurial school in general terms. I wanted to share with you some of those activities and would love to hear about any suggestions you might have. Some of these activities I have shared in a different post since they were too complex to explain here. You can find here our I virtual and face-to-face practice enterprise fair, and our social entrepreneurship project ExpODS. Also, you can read here the post Entrepreneurial classroom activities: Part 1

In addition to encouraging entrepreneurship and promoting the acquisition of entrepreneurial skills in students, according to EntreComp, and creating an ecosystem of collaboration between schools and business organizations, we had another goal: to offer a business incubator space for former students, where they can work on their business projects, receive assessment and facilitate the creation of microenterprises. So a month ago we have started offering our former students the possibility to use the entrepreneurial classroom and all the equipment included. They will have WIFI, a laptop, a 3D printer, a 3D scanner, VR glasses, SmartBoard, and a very creative space where you can let your imagination fly. In addition to that, we will offer advice and assessment to help them develop their business plan. Once the COVID situation gets more normal, we intend to open the classroom to our community, as well, and help next-door entrepreneurs to develop their entrepreneurial projects.

As I mentioned in previous posts, as a project coordinator I needed to get more teachers on board, to use new methodologies with their students to promote entrepreneurship.

So my colleague Carmen Rojas, with our second-year students of the Administrative Management took part in the Young Business Talents and will compete next April 29th in the National Final of the XI edition. It is a business game that allows young people to manage their own companies thanks to virtual simulators, accurately emulating what happens in the business world: analysis of competition, decision making, human resources policies, teamwork, etc., are fundamental elements that will be applied so that their company achieves better results than the rest and triumphs in this competition. We wish them luck for the finals, but the important part is that the students got to develop their entrepreneurial and digital skills. 

In addition to that, our students of Economics and Initiative (secondary school) with their teacher Tania Revert started this year a project to promote our school since we are losing students in the secondary area. The project aims to develop the entrepreneurial skills of students, giving them the principal role to be creative, make decisions, take the initiative. The general objective is to carry out activities that increase the visibility of the center, its interaction with the environment (neighborhood, schools in the area...), and enhance the image of IES ARCA REAL.  

The students began with a brainstorming session from which many creative ideas emerged, which were evaluated and transferred to the school's management team. And from there, they began to put some of these ideas into practice. First of all, the students themselves prepared a presentation of the IES and the bilingual section to present our school in talks for 6th-grade primary students from other schools.

Secondly, the students proposed to carry out workshops in which they themselves would play a very active role so that students from other schools could visit us. They visited different schools to introduce them to this workshop initiative, explain the idea and encourage them to come. In the last two weeks, these workshops have been carried out: languages, economics, science, chemistry, technology ...  One of the workshops, for example, was organized, with a lot of hard work and motivation, by the students of Economics of the 1st Baccalaureate. The workshop consisted of a game about how barter exchanges were organized. The schools had a great time, and the students who organized it have grown personally in motivation, self-confidence, and self-knowledge.

So as you can see, the creation of the entrepreneurial classroom has started a movement towards our center being more entrepreneurial, with many teachers and students involved. Currently, the students are still planning many entrepreneurial proposals that will create value for other people, which we will tell you about soon, so stay tuned!