Teachers as Changemakers – Entrepreneurship as a competence for lifelong learning

Teacher shortage, rising student numbers and frequent lesson cancellations: schools are currently facing criticism. Yet school occupies not only a large amount of time in the lives of children and young people. It is a central place for learning and their development – always at the side of learners: their teachers. Often they are important role models and mentors. Teachers influence the personal development and self-concept of children and young people. One thing becomes clear: teachers play a significant role in the lives of students. All the more important is contemporary teacher training that takes forward-looking skills into account and focuses on the individual development of students.  
So how can students be positively supported in their self-efficacy expectations and personal development? A concept that has attracted increasing attention in recent years in this context is Social Entrepreneurship Education (SEE). Specifically, it involves imparting competences and approaches aimed at developing and implementing one's own ideas – always against the backdrop of social responsibility and sustainability. Central to this is entrepreneurship competence. As early as 2018, the EU Council defined this as one of eight key competences for lifelong learning. It encompasses a broad range of abilities and skills, such as creativity, self-efficacy or planning and management. Students are enabled to take action, develop ideas and address today's and future societal challenges. A starting point in the curriculum can be overarching educational and development objectives, for example everyday competence and life economics, within vocational orientation or education for sustainable development. In this way, Social Entrepreneurship Education content can be integrated into teaching across subjects and school types.
The "Teachers as Changemakers" project starts precisely here. With the "Promoting impact-oriented entrepreneurship qualification" programme, the Bavarian State Ministry for Science and the Arts supports 14 Bavarian universities in six collaborative projects. The Universities of Bamberg and Würzburg focus on teacher training students, lecturers in teacher training and teachers as their target groups. They are trained to become multipliers for social entrepreneurial thinking and action in order to encourage future generations of students to actively tackle challenges. In the summer semester 2022, almost 25% of all students at the University of Würzburg are enrolled in teacher training, which underscores the outstanding role of teacher training at JMU. To implement the project, tandems are being formed at both universities between the start-up support services and the continuing education institutions for teacher training programmes. At the University of Würzburg, the Professional School of Education (PSE) under the direction of Professor Thomas Trefzger and the start-up support of the Research and Technology Transfer Service Centre (SFT), represented by Tanja Golly, are working closely together on the "Teachers as Changemakers" project. 
The project will create a diverse range of qualification offerings for the target group. The lecture series "Teaching for Impact" (Wednesdays, 18-20 hours, via Zoom) will be open to all interested parties in the coming winter semester. All participants can look forward to diverse contributions on social entrepreneurial thinking and action in school everyday life, the role of teachers in the classroom or societal challenges in the context of education for sustainable development. Teacher training students have the opportunity to collect ECTS points in the free area; for bachelor's students there are points in the ASQ area. All interested parties who do not wish to take an examination or are not enrolled at JMU can register via the project homepage to participate in the lecture series.
The Impact Workshop establishes a networking opportunity for lecturers and students in teacher training as well as for teachers, in order to create innovative and sustainable concepts for university teaching and school lessons through interdisciplinary exchange. The next Impact Workshop will take place on 21.10.22 from 12-15 hours; registrations are also possible via the homepage here. In addition, workshops conducted by our project partners such as SEEd, ALMSE or NFTE will be offered. A 3-hour online workshop will take place on 27.10, an intensive workshop in Bamberg on 11./12.11. Teacher training students are cordially invited to all events. More information about the project can be found on our homepage (http://go.uniwue.de/tac) or you can contact us directly at tac@uni-wuerzburg.de.

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