Entrepreneurship teaching in vocational education : a comparative study in Italy and Australia using the change laboratory

This comparative study between Italy and Australia seeks to find the elements triggering entrepreneurial behaviour in vocational students. In both contexts, students attended class lessons and long periods of work experience. Together with their teachers and work tutor, the students involved in the project took part in weekly Change Laboratory workshops. With the help of mirror materials (interviews, documents, videos of work activity) and the researcher, during the workshops students discussed issues they had at school, work, or at the boundary between the two organizations, and found shared solutions to put into practice. Results suggest that the student’s European key competence of the sense of initiative and entrepreneurship has been improved by combination of school lessons, work placement and Change Laboratory workshops. During workshops students gained a reflexive attitude on how to put into practice the sense of initiative and entrepreneurship in the workplace, thus improving their employability skills and their overall learning experience. Students also enhanced their ability to exercise judgement and make choices.