Families´ entrepreneurial competencies – a recap

At this point in the year 2022 we have entered the last phase of the technical work from “ParENTrepreneurs” project. As we already know it´s a project in which we have worked on entrepreneurial skills to develop knowledge related to entrepreneurial education in families, understanding the family as a unit around children that is very important and responsible for their education. In this case, we will be able to provide them skills and competences to face challenges, adaptations and changes in the future.

Let’s remind one of the first steps that built the theoretical basis of parENTrepreneurs in relation to the ENTRECOMP framework. ENTRECOMP´s structure has three general blocks -ideas and opportunities, resources and “into action”- and 15 sub-competencies are classified in those blocks. After consulting with reference families, experts, policymakers and professionals related to Entrepreneurship Education, 10 competencies were identified and concretize, guiding the concept of Entrepreneurship Education in the family environment. These competencies are the starting point for the design of knowledge and didactic products that will allow families and stakeholders to create a favorable environment where entrepreneurship is the engine of children´s growth and empowerment.

To support and guide also towards an identification and follow-up of each educator and child in this adaptation of the competency framework, another classification was included in relation to the level of knowledge – from basic to expert – and to the level of development of the child according to Piaget’s theory. Thus, a new adapted framework has resulted, this time attending in a more concrete way to how families can extract methods and tools that complement in a solid way the processes of formal and non-formal education.

In this article it is very extensive to go through all the phases described in each of the 10 competences, but we want to review some of them and surely maybe you can identify a situation in which to start working on entrepreneurship with your family, with your son or, with your daughter or with a group of family friends in an afternoon in the park:

• Spotting opportunities: ages between 6-12, this competence means I can find ideas about how to support my child be imaginative in helping others
• Creativity: Ages 2-6, where parents will be able to have an idea where they can find resources, tools and strategies to support childs’ creativity through gameplay.
• Valuing ideas: on + 16 rank, I understand the importance of asking my child to think about the consequences of everything they do.
• Ethical and sustainable thinking: I discuss societal values such as solidarity with my child and promote actions of solidarity in my child being on ages between 12-16.
• Motivation and perseverance: I know where I can find strategies to teach my child how to stick with and finish a task on earlier ages.
• Coping with uncertainty, ambiguity & risk: I develop ideas with my child on how to react if our routines (have to) change, this identified on medium ages.
• Learning through experiences: Ages between 12-16 I can find ideas about how to engage my child in reflective activities to draw out learnings.

The great value of this research and the products that will be generated and shared  is in the increasing of the educational community whose will use contents related to Entrepreneurial Education. Contrasted and designed contents with a common language that favors its comprehension and implementation. All with the aim of achieving an education that allows us to obtain adequate skills and competencies to face an increasingly changing future, in need of adaptation and new ideas that lead us to a sustainable planet capable of housing us in a context of equality.