Author(s): Arantza Arruti, Jessica Paños-Castro
This article is focused on entrepreneurship competences. It analyses the self-perceptions of future primary education student teachers (teacherpreneurs) who participated in the ERASMUS+ project entitled Entrepreneurship in Initial Primary Teacher Education (EIPTE) under the Strategic Partnership programme from August 2017 to 2020. Students from 8 institutions from 6 different countries have taken part in this programme, namely the University of Deusto (Spain), University College Sjaelland (Denmark), The Danish Foundation for Entrepreneurship (Denmark), Mid-Sweden University (Sweden), Technichus (Sweden), Leuphana University (Germany), Artesis Plantijn (Belgium) and Vilnius Kolegia (Lithuania). The methodology used was a quantitative study based on a questionnaire adapted from that employed within the EntreComp (Entrepreneurship Competence Framework). It was answered by 71 out of a total of 77 participants of the intensive programmes for learners carried out during the project. The goal was to analyse self-perceptions about the following entrepreneurship competences: self-efficacy, motivation and perseverance, risk-taking, planning, communication, taking the initiative, creativity, and ethical and sustainable thinking. The findings showed, among other things, that future primary education student teachers considered themselves good at planning, creativity and self-motivation, but less so at risk taking. Gender and the number of times that they had participated in the intensive programmes for learners made no difference to the results obtained. Entrepreneurial education should promote and boost risk taking and taking the initiative, whereas less emphasis should be made on competences such as planning, which seem to have been adequately acquired by future teachers.