Integrating socio-economic education in general education schools

Our modern society is characterized by a far-reaching economization of all areas of life, so that a basic understanding of economic contexts has become a central prerequisite for professional development for almost all occupational groups. Nevertheless, in practice we can often observe serious deficits with regard to economic ways of thinking and acting as well as economic cultural techniques - not least because, due to the lack of an independent subject "economics", economic issues are only dealt with sporadically and in isolation in conventional subjects. Univ. Prof. Dr. Andreas Liening and Dr. Ewald Mitttelstädt developed an innovative concept at the TU Dortmund to combine economic ways of thinking and acting with modern learning culture techniques in the upper grades of general education schools.

Preparing young people for vocational training and university studies

Whether in vocational training or university studies - economic knowledge is indispensable in today's society. The Junior Entrepreneurship School is therefore aimed at all students in the upper secondary level of general education schools who want to be specifically introduced to professional practice or to economic content in a business degree program. The goals of this educational measure in detail are:

•     to deal with basic economic knowledge and its ecological and social implications
•     the introduction to economic practice through a holistic and playful approach
•     the training of self-learning and media competence and
•     the promotion of personal responsibility, motivation and commitment of the young people.

Right from the start, the concept was designed in such a way that it could be multiplied at schools nationwide.

Based on a proven concept

The JES concept developed by Prof. Dr. Andreas Liening and Ewald Mittelstädt, which was first tested in 2005 at the Martin Luther King Comprehensive School in Dortmund-Dorstfeld, has become established over the past few years at several schools in the vicinity of the TU Dortmund. Thanks to feedback from the more than one hundred students who have now attended the JES, as well as from participating teachers at the partner schools, it has also been possible to constantly adapt the concept to the requirements of everyday school life.

The Junior Entrepreneurship School extends over the course of a school year and has a modular structure. The participants of the JES go through a total of three modules, in which basic knowledge of business is first addressed. The JES then focuses on what happens in the workplace. In this way, the students gain a fundamental understanding of business structures and the procedures of planning and decision-making processes, so that the participants are ultimately able to apply their new knowledge in a realistic way. To this end, participants have the opportunity to demonstrate their newly developed entrepreneurial thinking in a practical project and thus reflect on what they have learned from a new perspective.

After successfully completing the JES, participants receive a certificate that is highly recognized in business and administration.