funded by the erasmus+ programme of the european...

Funded by the ERASMUS+ Programme of the European Union

Created by JA Bulgaria in collaboration with JA Greece, JA Latvia, Ungt Entreprenorskap Sogn og

Fjordane (Norway), and JA Romania

This publication has been created with the financial support of the European Union through

the Erasmus+ Programme. It reflects only the author's view and the National Agency and

the European Commission are not responsible for any use that may be made of the information it

contains.

I. Teacher feedback after individual lessons delivery

A total of 17 lesson activity reports were submitted by teachers from Latvia. The 11 different lessons

piloted by Latvian teachers (some of the lessons were delivered more than once to different

classes) are:

First

Name Last Name City / town Name of school

Name of the GREENT

lesson you delivered

Brigita Eltermane Olaine

Olaine secondary school

No1 21. Green economy



No1

20. What is green

entrepreneurship?



No1

15. The four system

conditions and the four

sustainability principles



No1

14. Sustainability and natural

resources

Ieva Sebre Talsi Talsi State Gymnasium

20. What is green

entrepreneurship?


19. What is

entrepreneurship?

Ieva Sebre Talsi Talsi State Gymnasium 22. Circular economy


19. What is

entrepreneurship?


13. Different approaches to

sustainability

Ilze Rumbeniece Jelgava Jelgava State Gimnasium 21. Green economy

Ilze Rumbeniece Jelgava Jelgava State Gimnasium 22. Circular economy

Ilze Rumbeniece Jelgava Jelgava State Gimnasium

20. What is green

entrepreneurship?

Ilze Rumbeniece Jelgava Jelgava State Gimnasium

16. Sustainable solutions

and their importance for the

environment. Climate,

energy and waste handling.

Juta Birzniece Liepāja

Draudzīgā aicinājuma

Liepājas pilsētas 25. Business plan

5.vidusskola



Liepājas pilsētas

5.vidusskola

24. Sustainable business

model canvas



Liepājas pilsētas

5.vidusskola

23. How to start up a green

business



Liepājas pilsētas

5.vidusskola 22. Circular economy

The students to whom the lessons were delivered ranged from 8th to 11th graders. According to the

information submitted in the forms, a total of 514 students participated in the lessons. The actual

number of unique students may be lower because teachers who piloted more than one lesson may

have piloted it to the same group of students. The teachers who delivered the lessons are teachers

in Economy, Geography and Commerce.

Predominantly, teachers used 2 school hours to deliver the respective lesson. They focused equally

on delivering the introduction, theory, practical activities, case studies and reflection sections of the

lessons, sometimes omitting the entrepreneur profiles and the homework. They also used some flip-

the-classroom techniques by assigning videos from the lesson to be watched at home by the

students and using only several minutes for in-class discussion, thus saving some time for practical

activities.

Teachers in Latvia gave mixed feedback on the length of the lessons. Some of them were able to

do all the core sections within 1 or most of the times 2 school hours but there were teachers who

couldn’t deliver the lessons even within 2 hours and had to skip some parts. In general, teachers

reported that they found the indicative timings for each lesson section a good reference point – only

for three of the lessons it was reported that the timings do not offer good guidance.

The overall assessment presented in Chart 1 below reveals the high appreciation that Latvian

teachers give to the relevance and appropriateness of the overall content and level of difficulty of

the lessons, including their theoretical sections, entrepreneur profiles, and case studies.

Chart 1. Assessment of Latvian teachers related to GREENT lessons’ content, difficulty, age

appropriateness and relevance of presented information.

None of the teachers in Latvia experienced difficulties with the fact that the online videos in the

lessons are in English. Only in 3 cases the teachers assessed that their students experienced

difficulties with the English videos. Further more profound analysis of the results from the activity

reports may go deeper at the level of individual lessons and explore the content and level of English

language in the videos to that particular lesson and if the language is assessed as too complicated

the video may be replaced with another appropriate one.

An important aspect of the GREENT lessons is their influence on fostering and/or changing

students’ attitudes. The teachers in Latvia were requested to give their assessment of whether the

lessons they piloted have an impact on students’ creativity, environmental responsibility and

willingness to generate their own sustainable business idea. The scores are presented in Chart 2

below:

4.41

2.88

4.11

4.11

4.17

4.23

THE CONTENT OF THE LESSON IS APPROPRIATE FOR THE AGE OF THE STUDENTS

LEVEL OF DIFFICULTY OF THE CONTENT (LANGUAGE AND TERMINOLOGY)

THE THEORETICAL SECTION PRESENTS RELEVANT AND APPROPRIATE INFORMATION ON THE TOPIC

THE EXAMPLES PRESENTED IN THE CASE STUDIES AND ENTREPRENEUR PROFILES ARE RELEVANT

THE PRACTICAL ACTIVITIES REINFORCE THE THEORY IN AN APPROPRIATE WAY

THE LESSON PROVIDES OPPORTUNITIES FOR REAL BLENDED LEARNING

GREENT lessons’ content, difficulty, age appropriateness and relevance of presented

information according to Latvian teachers

Average Score N = 17 (1 = No, 5 = Yes)

Chart 2. Assessment of Latvian teachers related to GREENT lessons’ ability to foster attitudes and

creativity.

In terms of skills that piloting teachers thought were mostly developed by the GREENT lessons

piloted in Latvia, the leading ones are critical thinking, holistic thinking, teamwork and analysis of

information. Data is summarized in Chart 3 below:

Chart 3. Skills developed by GREENT lessons piloted in Latvia, according to piloting teachers.

3.7 3.8 3.9 4 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4

Lesson develops students' creativity

Lesson inspires students for environmentally responsiblemindset

Lesson inspires students to think about their ownsustainable business idea

GREENT lessons' ability to foster attitudes according to Latvian teachers

Average Score N = 17 (1 = No, 5 = Yes)

Critical thinking

Analysis of information

Teamwork

Holistic thinking

Creativity

Reflection and self-assessment

Decision making

Environmentally responsible mindset

Empathy and emotional

intelligence

Entrepreneurship

Presentation

Synthesis of information

Digital skills

SKILLS DEVELOPED BY GREENT LESSONS PILOTED IN LATVIA

The Latvian teachers who piloted the content saw a number of cross-curricular links of the

respective piloted lesson with the other subjects from the compulsory educational curriculum – such

as geography, economics, entrepreneurship and foreign languages. Lessons 13 and 22, for

instance, were thought to make interdisciplinary connections to various economics subjects, such

as entrepreneurship, the behavior of consumers, and the role that a country plays in international

economic relationships.

Part of the themes included in the GREENT content are also studied in Biology, Chemistry,

Geography, Economics, and Social Studies. The materials from separate themes can be very

useful for foreign language teachers, class teachers, and the teacher – consultant of the Eco group.

Some materials can be used during the environment week by displaying them on the information

screen. Other opportunities to use the GREENT materials are through organizing excursions,

meetings with entrepreneurs, consulting student companies.

II. Teacher feedback and recommendations on individual lessons

Lesson 14. Sustainability and natural resources

When watching the video „Human impact on the environment” the students were actively

involved in a discussion regarding the human impact on the environment and usage of

resources. A good teaching approach was to then divide the mixed group of students into

two: the 10th-graders watched other video materials, while the 11th-graders creatively

performed the SWOT analysis of the resources of their own region.

The introduction part has to be reconsidered. With the first class of students that the Latvian

teacher piloted the lesson with, one part of students felt confused when the teacher asked

what they had done during the weekend. They had to admit that not all food they had eaten

was healthy. Not all students had properly observed the eating times. In the next class, the

teacher slightly changed the formulation of the question – what would students prefer to

have for lunch, and then linked the information to the waste of water resources for the

preparation of lunch.

It is recommended to make the SWOT analysis of the resources of your own region during

the last lessons as the summary of the theme if there is a separate subject „Green

Economics”. It is also possible to create a separate practical activity lesson, at the time

when the lessons „Sustainability and natural resources” and “The four system conditions

and the four sustainability principles” are delivered.

Lesson 15. The four system conditions and the four sustainability principles

The school in Latvia which piloted this lesson has obtained the status of an Eco School.

Some students take an active part in Eco council, in international projects connected with

environmental protection, and they organize various events, and therefore the discussions

regarding the ecological footprint and each student’s ways to decrease it and the practical

activities related to it were carried out in an interesting and exciting way.

A recommendation is to come up with a more visually expressive way to get the students

acquainted with the theoretical material „The four system conditions and the four

sustainability principles”.

A further recommendation is to carry out a separate practical activity lesson, when the

lessons „Sustainability and natural resources” and “The four system conditions and the four

sustainability principles” are introduced. Students are interested in these themes and

willingly get involved in the practical activities. Students can be motivated to present ideas

regarding the production of environmentally-friendly products in a student company and

thus make a good link to JA’s Company Program.

Lesson 16. Sustainable solutions and their importance for the environment. Climate, energy and

waste handling.

One teacher recommended to change the examples presented in the case studies but did

not offer justification why.

Lesson 19. What is entrepreneurship?

The analysis of the profile of a successful entrepreneur went particularly well.

The analysis of the entrepreneurs profile and self-assessment of entrepreneurial inclinations

also went well.

Lesson 20. What is green entrepreneurship?

The practical activities reinforce the theory in an appropriate way.

Students were actively involved in the discussion on what green entrepreneurship is, on the

entrepreneur’s social responsibility and could name definite examples in Latvia. There were

interesting debates between „regular entrepreneurs „ and „green entrepreneurs”.

The teamwork when analyzing examples of circular economy and creating and developing

ideas for green entrepreneurship went particularly well in this lesson.

Lesson 21. Green economy

The practical activity with exploring the global green economics index went particularly well,

the theoretical part also went well because it was based on the knowledge previously

acquired by the students.

Analysis of information, Reflection and self-assessment, Teamwork, Decision making went

really well in this lesson too.

The timings of the sections were a bit misleading for one of the teachers.

Since time is limited, a possible teaching strategy is to get the students acquainted with the

main points of discussion during the previous lesson so that we would fit into the time

devoted to the lesson.

A recommendation is to develop a separate practical activity lesson when the lessons „What

is green entrepreneurship” and “Green economy” are taught – it can be an extra lesson. The

students are interested in these themes; they willingly get involved in the practical activity as

well. Students could be motivated to remember the products they have seen at the trade

fairs for student companies, which follow the principles of the green economy.

In the grades, where students are relatively passive, it is necessary to prepare leaders for

separate parts of the lesson, finding them among the students from the same grade.

Lesson 22. Circular economy

The teamwork when analyzing examples of circular economy and creating ideas for green

entrepreneurship went particularly well.

The Entrepreneur profile section didn’t go very well.

Lesson 23. How to start up a green business

The case studies went well, but the reflection didn’t go so well.

Lesson 24. Sustainable business model canvas

The practical activities went well, while the case studies didn’t go so well.

III. Overall teacher self-assessment after delivery of all planned lessons

Apart from the feedback and recommendations teachers gave after piloting each lesson, they were

asked to fill in a short self-assessment survey designed to gauge their perception regarding

possible improvements in the level of their teaching skills and knowledge as a result of participating

in the pilot. A total of 4 teachers filled in the survey although more teachers participated in the pilot.

Although by no means representative, the results show an improvement in the way teachers see

their green entrepreneurship and blended learning knowledge and skills after the end of the pilot:

Chart 4. Before & After delivering pilot lessons teacher self-assessment for Latvia

According to one of the piloting Latvian teachers, the project is a great chance to assess her

knowledge, skills, attitude to the environment, its long-term sustainability. The school curriculum of

Geography and the curriculum of Economics view these questions in a narrower perspective. The

project activities motivated this teacher to reconsider the methods and structure used during the

lesson. The opportunity to get acquainted with the teachers’ experience from the schools of other

countries when developing the materials of the GREENT project lessons was highly evaluated.

Another teacher commented that the topics from the GREENT course are essential to teach as they

concern global and important processes that we have to know about in order to preserve our Earth.

It is crucial because the generation being educated right now is going to be the generation in charge

in as little as 10 to 20 years and they have the potential to change the world for good.

As a conclusion, one of the teachers recommended that GREENT project initiators reach out to the

government and offer to include this program in the general curriculum.

Two of the Latvian teachers expressed their desire to implement the full GREENT course in the

2017-2018 school year.

IV. Student pre- and post-test results

0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

3.5

4

4.5

5

Level of green entrepreneurshipknowledge

Level of entrepreneurship teachingskills

Level of knowledge and skills in usingonline digital platforms for blended

learning

Before & After delivering pilot lessons teacher self-assessment Latvia

Average score (N = 4, scale of 2 to 6) BEFORE Average score (N = 4, scale of 2 to 6) AFTER

In order to gather information on the improvement of students’ knowledge and perceptions, we

designed a test with 10 closed- and open-ended questions which teachers were asked to distribute

to students before and after the piloted lessons. The results should not be treated as too reliable, as

some students who took the test were exposed to only 1 pilot lesson while other were exposed to 3

and more, thus the level would undoubtedly vary because the test questions cover aspects from

several of the GREENT lessons. Also, mainly due to the fact that the piloting was done at the end of

the school year, many students did not fill in the post-test (and filled in only the pre-test) which does

not allow us to compare like for like. However, we believe it is useful to present the results as a

vantage point.

In Latvia, a total of 217 students completed the pre-test and 101 completed the post-test.

3%

4%

9%

7%

32%

26%

51%

52%

5%

11%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%

Before %

After %

Before %

After %

Before %

After %

Before %

After %

Before %

After %

Stro

ngl

yd

isag

ree

Dis

agre

e

Ne

ith

erag

ree,

no

rd

isag

ree

Agr

eeSt

ron

gly

agre

e

I am responsible for waste recycling.

0%

1%

6%

7%

37%

38%

52%

50%

4%

5%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%

Before %

After %

Before %

After %

Before %

After %

Before %

After %

Before %

After %

Stro

ngl

yd

isag

ree

Dis

agre

e

Ne

ith

erag

ree,

no

rd

isag

ree

Agr

eeSt

ron

gly

agre

eI take care of the surrounding environment.

1%

4%

15%

8%

30%

38%

47%

40%

7%

11%

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 45% 50%

Before %

After %

Before %

After %

Before %

After %

Before %

After %

Before %

After %

Stro

ngl

yd

isag

ree

Dis

agre

e

Ne

ith

erag

ree,

no

rd

isag

ree

Agr

eeSt

ron

gly

agre

e

I am interested in finding out about the sustainability problems our society is facing.

0%

2%

5%

6%

31%

22%

53%

57%

10%

13%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%

Before %

After %

Before %

After %

Before %

After %

Before %

After %

Before %

After %

Stro

ngl

yd

isag

ree

Dis

agre

e

Ne

ith

erag

ree,

no

rd

isag

ree

Agr

eeSt

ron

gly

agre

eAt this moment, I understand the drivers and

consequences of global natural resource changes.

2%

3%

11%

11%

37%

31%

41%

47%

9%

9%

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 45% 50%

Before %

After %

Before %

After %

Before %

After %

Before %

After %

Before %

After %

Stro

ngl

yd

isag

ree

Dis

agre

e

Ne

ith

erag

ree,

no

rd

isag

ree

Agr

eeSt

ron

gly

agre

e

At this moment, I am willing to introduce changes in my daily life so that I become more sustainable.

12%

10%

37%

22%

35%

35%

13%

24%

2%

10%

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40%

Before %

After %

Before %

After %

Before %

After %

Before %

After %

Before %

After %

Stro

ngl

yd

isag

ree

Dis

agre

e

Ne

ith

erag

ree,

no

rd

isag

ree

Agr

eeSt

ron

gly

agre

eAt this moment, I feel I am prepared if I want to

start my own sustainable green business.

9%

11%

28%

18%

35%

37%

24%

26%

5%

9%

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40%

Before %

After %

Before %

After %

Before %

After %

Before %

After %

Before %

After %

Stro

ngl

yd

isag

ree

Dis

agre

e

Ne

ith

erag

ree,

no

rd

isag

ree

Agr

eeSt

ron

gly

agre

e

At this moment, I feel inspired and willing to start my own green business sometime in the

future.

50%

59%

59%

21%

27%

59%

53%

58%

53%

27%

30%

64%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70%

Solving complex problems like climate changerequires the action of:

It is NOT true that waste:

How do our current lifestyles impact the naturalresources of the Earth today:

It is a condition for a sustainable society that:

If a company is part of the circular economy:

Green entrepreneurship is different fromentrepreneurship in that:

Correct answers on knowledge questions Latvia

% correct answers after % correct answers before

0 10 20 30 40 50 60

Strongly disagree

Disagree

Neither agree, nor disagree

Agree

Strongly agree

Students' perception of the value of GREENT Latvia

This program helped me adopt a more eco-friendly attitude.

This program connected what I learned in the classroom to real life.

In this program, I learned things that will be important in the future.

funded by the erasmus+ programme of the european...

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