PRACTICE ENTERPRISES ENTREPRENEURSHIP THROUGH PRACTICAL LEARNING

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PRACTICE ENTERPRISES ENTREPRENEURSHIP THROUGH
PRACTICAL LEARNING

• Mika Kananen, FINPEC
• mika.kananen_at_luovi.fi

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Information

• A practice firm is a virtual company that runs
  like a "real" business silhouetting a "real"
  firm's business procedures, products and
  services.
• A Practice Firm is a company set up by
  students/trainees with the assistance of trainers
  
• Each practice firm conducts real business with
  other practice firms, following commercial
  business procedures in the practice firm's
  worldwide economic environment.
• Global network of Practice Enterprises, EUROPEN
• (Over 40 countries, more than 5500 Practice
  Enterprises)

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Target Groups

• Target Groups of Practice Firms
• Unemployed
• Returnees to work
• School/College/University students in every
  sector of education
• Employees for training or retraining
• People wishing to set up their own business
• People with disabilities
• Other disaffected persons
• Future employees being assessed for a job
• Future entrepreneurs

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Connection between education and business life

• Partner companies
• Provide information on technical and management
  issues, for example
• Number of staff, salaries
• Products and services
• Organisational chart
• Mode of operation, business arrangements
• Benefits of Practice Enterprises for Companies
• Get a well trained workforce
• Reduce recruitment costs
• Reduce the settling-in period
• Avoid errors when placing employees
• Effective system of assessment
• Provide good public relations opportunities
• Enable companies to support the community in a
  practical way

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Factors of Success

• Factors of Success of the Practice Firm Concept
• The possibility for student to measure
  him/herself with the work done
• Higher autonomy, motivation and self esteem
  degree
• High level of integration between theory and
  practice
• Training of various skills acquired through the
  rotation of different working places
• Usage of latest equipment and training according
  to the needs of companies
• Versatile method of entrepreneurship teaching /
  learning

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Contribution to entrepreneurship in VET

• Case Luovi Vocational Institute, special VET,
  Finland
• PE method is applied on basic degree in business
  and economics
• PEs are set up by students with disabilities
• Standard courses have been replaced by a Practice
  Enterprises business plan within the curricular
  framework
• First two years are dedicated for planning and
  preparation -gt third year is actual Practice
  Enterprise activity
• Theory lessons are implemented through practice
  and real situations
• Learning by Doing
• Learning in team/group helps the students in
  internalizing meta-knowledge

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Summary

• Joint emphasis
• internationality first-rate and
• sustainable development customer oriented
• entrepreneurship activity
• use of technology consumer knowledge
• and IT minding work safety
• and health

• Joint core knowledge for all branches
• learning skills
• problem solving skills
• interaction and communication skills
• cooperative skills
• ethical and esthetical skills

Controlling work safety
Vocational pragmatics
Mastering information underlying work

• Mastering work processes
• planning tasks
• carrying out tasks
• evaluating work performance and outcome
• developing work assignments

Mastering work methods, -tools and materials