Participatory citizenship and entrepreneurship in the national core curriculum

Participatory citizenship and entrepreneurship in the national core curriculum

• Participatory citizenship and entrepreneurship are to be manifested
  • as extensive, integrated education encompassing all instruction
  • in cross-curricular themes
  • in the objectives, core contents and working approaches of subjects
  • in joint events
  • in  the school’s operating and learning culture
• Goal-conscious education incorporated in learning situations
• Developing pupils’ own abilities so that they become initiative-taking, responsible and independent citizens

The Finnish National Board of Education’s support to the development of entrepreneurship education

Persons responsible for entrepreneurship education:

• Hannele Louekoski (basic education)
• Pekka Iivonen (upper secondary education)
• Elisabet Kinnunen (vocational education and training)
• Anne Huhtala (adult education and training)

The Finnish National Board of Education’s web page on Entrepreneurship

• Interactivity
• Regular updating
• “The Market Place of Ideas”  (Ideatori; ideas, experiences and examples from the field)
• Continuing education for teachers
• Considerable funding of continuing education dealing with entrepreneurship theme
• In addition, chargeable education provided

Chargeable material

• A guide to  cross-curricular themes, dealing also with participatory citizenship and entrepreneurship

Objectives

The objectives are

• to help the pupil perceive society from the viewpoints of different players
• to develop the capabilities needed for civic involvement
• and to create a foundation for entrepreneurial methods

The school's methods and culture of learning must support the pupils' development as

• independent,
• initiative-taking,
• goal-conscious,
• cooperative,
• engaged citizens,
• and help the pupils form a realistic picture of their own possibilities for influence

The objective is that the students will

• come to understand the importance, workings, and needs of the school community, the public sector, the business world and organizations, from the perspective of the functionality of society
• learn to form their own critical opinions, making use of various types of expertise
• learn to participate appropriately and to take responsibility for the care of shared concerns in their local and school communities
• learn to confront and deal with changes, uncertainty, and conflicts, and to act with a sense of enterprise and initiative
• learn to act innovatively and perseveringly in achieving a goal, and to assess their own personal actions and their impacts
• come to know working life and entrepreneurial activity, and come to understand their importance to the individual and society.

Core contents

• basic information about the activity of, and division of labour between, the school community, the public sector, the business world, and organizations
• the importance of democracy in the community and society
• various means of participation and influence in civic society
• networking to promote one's own and general welfare
• participating and exerting an influence in one's school and living environment, and evaluating the impact of one's actions
• entrepreneurship and its importance to society, basic information on entrepreneurship as a vocation, and getting an introduction to working life

Examples of subjects: History

The task of history instruction is to

• guide the pupils in becoming responsible players who know how to treat the phenomena of their own era and the past critically
• be able to formulate their own justified opinions about, and evaluate, events and phenomena.
• provide the pupils with materials for building their identities, for familiarizing themselves with the concept of time, and for understanding human activity and the value of mental and material work.
• learn to recognize changes in the history of their own families or home region, and to depict changes, such as the birth of farming, that are seen as having had a fundamental impact on human life

Core contents include history of one's home region, interpreting the meanings of constructed environment, industrialization and its effects on people's lives, urbanization, the world economic collapse and its effects, the economic structure's transformation and its impacts on people's lives, the birth of Western consumer society and its impact on the environment and people's lives, the evolution of communications.

Themes in teaching, whose development is examined from prehistory up until the 19th century: e.g. development of means of mobility and transport and evolution of trade.

Examples of subjects: Social Studies

The task of instruction is to guide the pupil in becoming an active and responsible player in society and provide basic knowledge and skills concerning the structure and operation of society, and the citizen's opportunities for influence.

The purpose of the instruction is to support the pupils' growth as tolerant, democratic citizens, and to give them experience with social action and the democratic exercise of influence.

The objectives are e.g. that the pupils learn to obtain and use information on society and economic life critically, and to exert influence actively; learn to appreciate the value of work; learn the fundamentals of entrepreneurship and understand its importance as a source of a society's well-being; learn to examine and develop their abilities as responsible consumers and players in society; know the legal consequences of their actions.

The core contents are e.g. Finnish society and economic life, and the European Union; principles of managing private finances, work and entrepreneurship, the individual and households as consumers and economic players; the importance of foreign trade and the global economy; fluctuations in the economic cycle; unemployment, inflation and their impacts on households, taxation and public finances.

Example of subjects: Home Economics

The purpose of instruction is to develop practical working skills required to manage day-to-day life, cooperative aptitudes, information acquisition as well as the application of these factors in everyday situations. The task is e.g. to guide the pupils in taking responsibility for their finances, as well as the comfort and safety of the immediate environment.

The core contents are e.g. The consumer and a changing society, planning one's use of money, the consumer's responsibility and opportunities for influence, obtaining and using products and services.

The pupils should know in general terms how to tell what household expenditures consist of, and how to make their own plans for using money.

Example of Subjects: Crafts

The task of instruction is to develop the pupils' skills with crafts so that their self-esteem grows on that basis and they derive joy and satisfaction from their work. In addition, their sense of responsibility for the work and the use of the material increases, and they learn to appreciate the quality of the material and work, and to take a critical, evaluative stance towards their own choices and the ideas, products and services offered.

The instructional tasks in crafts are to guide the pupil in systematic, sustained, independent work.

The objectives are e.g. that the pupils come to understand entrepreneurship and industrial production processes (grades 5-9).

Optional subjects in basic education

The task of instruction in basic education's optional subjects is to deepen and broaden knowledge and skills in basic education's core subjects, especially home economics and other artistic and skill subjects; and, as desired, in cross-curricular themes, in accordance with the pupil's choice.

It is also the task of instruction in optional subjects to give pupils a chance to deepen their personal interests and find new objects of interest. Optional subjects have to support the objectives of basic education.

According to the distribution of lesson hours in basic education (Section 6 of Government Decree 1435/2001) the minimum number of weekly lessons in optional subjects is 13 (one weekly lesson per year =38 lessons).

The National Core Curriculum stipulates each subject's name, extent, objectives, contents and grade levels.

Vocational guidance

The objectives are independence, responsibility, and self-knowledge, learn skills in cooperation and interaction, learn how to obtain information about society, working life, and entrepreneurship, and come to embrace multiculturalism and internationalism.

The pupil is to be guided in taking a responsible stance towards schoolwork and assignments, in using a diversity of working methods, and in obtaining information from various sources (grades 1-2).

The pupil is to be guided towards independence and responsibility in performing schoolwork and completing assignments. Pupils are also to be introduced to vocations and working life and guided in developing information acquisition capabilities, and in using a diversity of working approaches. The pupil is also to be guided in being cooperative and considerate of other people (grades 3-6).

(Grades 7-9) The objective of cooperation between the school and the working and business communities is that the pupil obtains information about vocational fields, vocations, and working life and acquires ideas for entrepreneurial activity.

Introduction-to-working-life periods are to be organized for the pupils as a basis for their educational and occupational choices, and to enhance their respect for work.

The pupil must be able to gain personal experience with working life and vocations in genuine work environments.

In connection with the introduction to working life, the pupils are to be given a chance to evaluate the information and experience they have acquired. The curriculum is to include a plan for arrangements for the introduction to working life.

Hannele Louekoski