PIETE Project and its outputs

The PIETE (Partnership for Initial Entrepreneurship Teacher Education) project has the goal of contributing to a new generation of entrepreneurial teachers in Europe. It addresses deficiencies in the development of entrepreneurial competences for pre-service teachers at universities. The project’s approach is based on the European Commission’s Entrepreneurship Competence (EntreComp) Framework which lays out different themes of capabilities that make up the basis of entrepreneurship as a competence.

The PIETE project has produced a number of outputs which will be of use to initial teacher educators, pre-service teachers and in-service teachers. These resources are free for all to use and have been created to help embed entrepreneurship education (EE) into initial teacher education (ITE). The resources will be outlined here, and resources are to be found on the PIETE website: www.entrepreneurialteachers.eu.

Awareness Test Centre

Considering the lack of integration of entrepreneurship education in ITE curricula across Europe, the Awareness Test Centre aims to identify how initial teacher educators understand entrepreneurship education (i.e. in a narrow or broad sense); bring teacher educators’ attention to the value of EE and the EntreComp Framework; and better understand why EE does not play a prominent role in ITE. The Awareness Test Centre is created in the form of an online survey tool.

Initial Teacher Education Framework Report

ITE educators have few tools to help them understand their environments in terms of institutional circumstances, curricular focus, and responsibilities of educators. Thus, the Initial Teacher Education Framework Report provides a basis to better understand the functionality of Teacher Training Centres and their settings. The report also allows the identification of areas in which elements of EE can be most efficiently and suitably integrated.

Entrepreneurship Education Capacity Building Compilation

There is often a lack of understanding of how to embed EE within ITE, thus this practical guidebook seeks to provide support to ITE institutions looking to foster entrepreneurship competences development as an important educational asset. In this compilation, the EntreComp Framework is described; hands-on tools for organising awareness-raising workshops are outlined; and examples of workshops that were implemented by the PIETE consortium in Hungary, Austria, and Poland are summarised.

Teaching Compendium

Only a few teaching resources from the field of EE are explicitly designated for use within ITE programmes in the European higher education institution landscape. Thus, the PIETE Teaching Compendium presents a rather novel form of support for educators in ITE programmes. This output develops, tests and compares innovative teaching methodologies that can be used to enhance entrepreneurial competence and mind-set development within higher education pre-service teacher development programmes.

Discussion Paper

In order to be able to effectively implement EE in ITE, it is crucial to first understand ITE educator’s perceptions of EE. Using the Awareness Test Centre survey, a field study was conducted in three EU countries (Austria, Hungary and Poland) to identify ITE educators’ conceptual perceptions of EE, and the relevance of the EntreComp Framework within their work. The paper presents how entrepreneurship is defined today and the position of entrepreneurial education in prior research.

Good Practices Book

For pre-service teachers, in-service teachers and schools, there is a lack of programmes that instil entrepreneurial competences in their participants. Thus, the objective of Good Practices Book is to showcase good practices in EE across Europe and the globe. The initiatives have been chosen to inspire others looking to start their own entrepreneurial education activity or inform those looking to participate in such initiatives.

The outputs of the PIETE project are a response to a lack of resources for those in education that are looking to integrate entrepreneurship education in their teachings. From those in higher education institutions to those in schools, there is material for anyone looking to develop entrepreneurial competences – be that in themselves or in their students.