Master's course starts with challenge donor for the first time

As part of the current seminar "Social Entrepreneurship & Education - Understanding educational work as a driver for social change Vol. 2", students from the Master's programme in Educational Science are working on a real-life "challenge" from our practice partner Evangelische Schulstiftung in Mitteldeutschland St. Johannes for the first time. In the current winter semester 2024/2025, the seminar participants are working closely with the challenge donor to develop pedagogical and methodological innovative solutions for founding a new, vocationally oriented community school in a socially tense environment. Among other things, this should also take place against the background of demographic change and to prevent increased emigration in a region of Thuringia and to secure future skilled labour for regional companies with a focus on skilled trades. The seminar participants are accompanied and supported in the process by experienced start-up consultants (seminar leaders) from the University of Erfurt's Founders Service.

In the course, which consists of seven modules, participants are also familiarised with the topics of social innovation and social entrepreneurship in the context of educational work. With the help of various methods and instruments used to develop, visualise and "test" socially oriented business/project ideas, the most important elements for a promising model project will be explained in more detail and then applied individually or within a team using a suitable "case" and presented to the challenge donor in a final presentation of results.