Gimnazija Celje – Center, Slovenia
The planned timeline of the YESSS project was interrupted in the spring of 2020 by the corona virus pandemic. All participating partners immediately adapted to the new conditions and with the consent of the Slovenian national agency extended the project duration by one year. In the meantime, all the activities were moved to the safe environment of the world wide web. These experiences also greatly contributed to the project work itself, and the manual presented has become richer for some additional content which had not been foreseen at first.
At Gimnazija Celje – Center we are proud and happy to have been able to coordinate this project along with our exceptional partners. We look forward to future collaborations and believe that the effect of the project will exceed our expectations, as the contents and the final result – our Handbook, are highly relevant for the times we live in. Entrepreneurship expands beyond the narrow limits of the liberal market economy and returns, in our opinion, the economics of society to its basics – serving the community and the household. Our goal is to transfer this mindset to the activities and culture of our organizations and enrich the school system with it. The soft skills of the 20th century are becoming crucial for much-needed changes in the 21st century, and a common consideration which will enable students, and consequently the society of the future, to cope with structural challenges in the field of the composition and logic of operation of modern forms of government, the restructuring of modern economy and the impasses of political economy, which has been creating greater and greater inequalities in society, the ecological crisis that has reached the level of danger of destroying the planet, the potential and challenges of new technologies, reflection on the question of the relationship between artificial intelligence and humans, on new conceptions and practices of subjectivity and ways of coexistence of individuals, groups and societies.
In this way, we will be able to contribute actively and with a formative intergenerational dialogue to the creation of a transition from the societies of the present to a world which will give more concern to the well-being of people instead of worrying about making profit for a few; the world which will be devoted to the meaningful arrangement of coexistence in the concern for sustainable ways of life, while remaining loyal to the enlightenment belief in the importance and power of knowledge, and the importance of developing a system of upbringing and education, which enables the creation of a cultivated human being with a broad perspective, capable of making decisions in favour of the quality of a free, thinking personality and meaningful coexistence with nature, of our and future generations. Because the future is not tomorrow… The future is now!
National management school (Bulgaria)
As one of the authors of the Handbook and a trainer of multipliers on its use, I feel satisfaction – our intention to provide two integrated effective approaches to developing students’ entrepreneurial thinking in one synthesized book has come to life. Teacher training and the pilot phase have shown that this Handbook is useful and user-friendly. Moreover, its promotion and use in the real school environment had a positive impact on the relationships between the teachers involved, between teachers and students, and on the climate in the participating schools in general.
Meram Anadolu Lisesi (Turkey)
This Handbook is a product that has emerged as a result of joint work of 5 different organizations from 4 different countries that came together within the scope of the YESSS project for the next generation teacher skills in order to create and develop the entrepreneurial mindset of the students in secondary schools in the current century. We would like to thank everyone who took part in the project, and we wish that this intellectual output prepared for the teachers, who will raise the 21st century generation as individuals equipped with the skills required by the 21st century, will be useful in terms of guiding them and gaining new generation teacher skills. As Meram Anatolian High School teachers and students, we would like to state that we take great pleasure in project work and its implementation. We hope and are confident that the positive effects of these studies will continue to increase in the future.
32 Secondary School “St. Kliment Ohridski” (Bulgaria)
A first-year teacher: „As a first-year teacher I enjoyed the great benefits of the training here, as getting to know my colleagues thoroughly, receiving useful guidelines and advice for the educational process and teacher-student communication, as well as I got equipped with a set of tools for an appropriate reaction in more complex school life situations.” A first-year teacher: “I think that the training was very good and well held! The entire organization and the goals’ conception behind the activities impressed me enormously. I do consider the training an effective means of creating a close-knit school community.” A senior teacher with 35 years of work experience: „The training I was involved in gives participants the opportunity both to refresh some of the well-known educational paradigms and methods and to consider the most recent ones. The industriously prepared educators managed to create a wave of enthusiasm. All participants seemed deeply engaged and actively dedicated to the activities. Moreover, the working ambiance was quite friendly and warm. I had the pleasure to communicate with my colleagues in a spontaneous way while expanding the horizon of the new professional ideas.” A teacher with 3 years of work experience: “The training benefits are endless – I had the opportunity to acquire some new skills, get to know my colleagues better, and to have a lot of fun! I truly appreciate the meticulous organizational work and the time we all shared. The innovative knowledge will be immediately applied in my work with the students.” A teacher successively combining the roles of a trainee and a trainer: “In the shoes of a trainee I mostly enjoyed the subtle transmission of an effective communication ideas and tools through game-based and entertaining activities. Last year’s training made it possible to get to know my colleagues easily and provided smooth involvement in the stuff community. During the actual training I enjoy sharing my experience with others as an educator as well as facilitating my colleagues’ first steps both in the professional field and in our school.” 10th grade students: “YESSS project training has defenitely made our everyday communication as classmates deeper and more authentic. The Innerview activity revealed some hidden personal traits and turned to be an awareness-raising condition for a more attentive and fruitful communication. We had been classmates for three years, yet the training turned out to be a revelatory experience for who we really were.”
Gimnazija Kruševac (Serbia)
YESSS project, research, cooperation with colleagues from partner schools, trainings, preparation of the Handbook, enthusiasm on the colleagues’ faces and satisfaction of students was a valuable experience for us. We hope that the Handbook and new methodology will help teachers to develop soft skills and entrepreneurial way of thinking with their students. Impressions and comments of the participating teachers speak best about the project. Teachers – multipliers: “I entered the project with suspicion, and I came out of it with new friends and enriched knowledge. I am much richer for sure.” “The project has helped me realiesed how important soft skills are in the modern society, as well as that there is a way for their development and strengthening in schools.” Teachers who participated in piloting: “The training in which we participated within the project has helped me improve my work in curricular and extracurricular activities. The seminar, which was interesting and well organized, reminded me of the importance of lesson planning and organization. The possibility of creativity and introduction of new and interesting methods function effectively even with difficult tasks. Positive relationship and empathy among the members yield best results.” “The training showed us what good organization is. It gave us a lot of positive energy and élan and it broadened our horizons. The newly-acquired skills and everything that we experienced and learned has enriched and refreshed us and it has modernized our lessons. The activities are very applicable for any subjects. The students accepted them great and in that way they actively and creatively developed their competencies.” “In order to live and work in modern, global society, it is becoming increasingly important to develop social skills that will develop build entrepreneurial spirit. Through the Handbook and training the teachers were systematically shown how to spur on and awaken the skills with students or to clearly spot the skills that the students have and in that way encourage and motivate them to develop their entrepreneurial spirit.”