Gamified Teaching Approach

Promoting an Entrepreneurial Mindset in Lower Secondary School

The project promotes entrepreneurial thinking and sustainability awareness among lower secondary students. In three gamified workshops, they develop creative solutions to societal problems, learn about the SDGs, and present their ideas in teams. The focus is on initiative, teamwork, shifting perspectives, and strengthening personal empowerment.

The importance of entrepreneurship in politics, academia, and society is steadily growing, and it also represents a key educational goal. In the school system, entrepreneurship has so far been incorporated only into upper secondary vocational schools. Since January 2023, the topic of entrepreneurship has been gradually introduced into the curricula for elementary and lower secondary school. Implementing entrepreneurship education for younger students requires new teaching and learning approaches.

The goal of this project is to develop a holistic teaching concept to foster an entrepreneurial mindset among lower secondary school students. In collaboration with Mittelschule 6 Klagenfurt/St. Peter, this elective course aims to foster students’ creativity, initiative, and entrepreneurial mindset. In addition, the course aims to raise students’ awareness of sustainability.

The project focuses on developing a series of workshops designed to teach the topics of sustainability and entrepreneurship in a playful way.
Three three-hour workshop formats are being considered for this purpose. After the students have initially explored the SDGs, they will develop their own ideas in a playful manner using creativity techniques. In addition, an entrepreneur will be invited to serve as a role model and source of inspiration.

Integrating the introductory workshops into classroom instruction, exploring selected topics in greater depth, and further developing ideas at school are intended to ensure sustained engagement with the topics. At the end, the students’ work will also be showcased at school (e.g., a market booth, …).
In addition to fostering individual creativity, the program encourages self-initiative and an entrepreneurial mindset to address socially and environmentally relevant challenges. It also promotes teamwork as well as communication and presentation skills.

Using the GECKO platform, the competency model outlines the skills that students can acquire as part of the project.