In Äänekoski, the school doors are open to the surrounding society
Entrepreneurship education is attitude and working life skills
Äänekoski city's entrepreneurship curriculum, Entrepreneurship education path, has been completed and the city's Board of Education approved it at its September meeting. Few cities or municipalities have a separate entrepreneurship curriculum emphasizing entrepreneurship education, so the city of Äänekoski is a pioneer in entrepreneurship education in Finland.
- The goal of entrepreneurship education is by no means that everyone is wanted to become entrepreneurs of the future. Various work life skills and training for inner entrepreneurship will become part of the everyday life of Äänekoski schools. Skills can be, for example, being able to identify and talk about one's own strengths and skills. You can recognize in yourself, for example, that you are not suitable to be an entrepreneur, Responsibility Teacher of Äänekoski Entrepreneurship Education Mika Matilainen describes.
Building the future starts at school
With entrepreneurship education, we want above all to support children and young people in building a future of their own, and help everyone find their own strengths, foster a positive entrepreneurial attitude and promote the emergence of internal entrepreneurship.
- We also look to the future with sound eyes. Entrepreneurship education is also based on the needs of large factories and SMEs in our region, and we work closely with companies. Young people are also supported in finding summer jobs and finding employment. The school is not a separate island and we want the doors open to the rest of society, says Matilainen.
- We do this in cooperation. Everyone's common goal is that the people of Aunekoski do well, high school principal Jaana Tani thinking.
- Building the future starts at school. By teaching working life skills and entrepreneurial skills and attitudes, the vitality of not only Äänekoski, but also the entire province is supported. We also want children and young people to have a good image of Äänekoski and to be proud of being from Äänekoski. Later, they could come back here, buy a summer house here or speak well of us to others, Matilainen sees.
Consistent and long-term entrepreneurship education
In accordance with the national curriculum, entrepreneurship and working life skills must be taught in all schools in Finland. Äänekoski's entrepreneurship curriculum supports the national curriculum - it works a bit like an Äänekoski supplement. At Äänekoski, they want to do a little more than elsewhere and invest in entrepreneurship education in a planned and long-term way. Entrepreneurship education also supports other learning and enlivens different subjects.
- At Äänekoski, entrepreneurship education has been taken seriously and we invest in it more than the basic level. There has been plenty of entrepreneurship education in high school before, but now it is being added from pre-school onwards, says Jaana Tani.
In Äänekoski, entrepreneurship education is now a central and functional part of the everyday life of every Äänekoski school - every subject and every school level, regardless of the teacher. The new curriculum is binding and it also makes it easier for new teachers coming to Äänekoski to get started with entrepreneurship education.
The curriculum has concretely listed various functional teaching contents for different grade levels, from preschool to high school. In addition to theory, the schools also go outside the school walls, get to know the business field of Äänekoski and learn important networking skills in working life.
– This is our thing and we have done this ourselves! The entrepreneurship curriculum has been made among the teachers and good practices that have already been implemented in Äänekoski's schools have been compiled into it. The preparation of the curriculum has started from a practical need and it has been started with the content first, says Matilainen.
- With the new curriculum, Äänekoski's entrepreneurship education will be harmonized in all our schools.
There is strength in cooperation
The city of Äänekoski also supports business development financially. In accordance with the new entrepreneurship curriculum, at least one teacher responsible for entrepreneurship will be appointed to each school, who will receive a separate compensation for the work and time will be arranged for them in the lesson schedule.
The entrepreneurship education path is also in line with Äänekoski's city strategy, when one of the main goals of the strategy is effective livelihoods, which are also implemented with comprehensive entrepreneurship education.
The entrepreneurship curriculum will be updated annually to keep up with the times. In order to monitor and develop the work, the entrepreneurship education steering group "Yrkkänyrkki" will be established, which includes representatives of the city's education, vitality and employment unit, the city's management and representatives of local entrepreneurs.
Next, the entrepreneurship curriculum will be put into practice and it is important that every teacher takes the new curriculum as part of their teaching. It will take place on Saturday 29.10.2022 October XNUMX From school to the future -training day to mark the official announcement of the new study plan. 250 teachers from Äänekoski, from early childhood education teachers to high school teachers, participate in the training. In the workshops, teachers get to make their own plans for the coming spring. Trustees, local companies and people from the vitality unit of the city of Äänekoski are also involved.
Rarely is anything achieved alone and everything starts with cooperation - also in entrepreneurship education and in all new learning. The back cover of the curriculum also reads: "Everyone can hone a diamond out of themselves - together with others."
For more information:
Entrepreneurship Education Responsibility Teacher Mika Matilainen, 040 624 0406, mika.matilainen@aanekoski.fi
News published 28.10.2022, modified 4.1.2024/09/55 at XNUMX:XNUMX