3. The Methodological Tool
The designed methodology adopted in this project wastailored to unlocking the entrepreneurial talent of ethical purchasing groups( EPGs) operating in Croatia, France, Italy, and wasdetermined through extensive research into empowering pedagogical approaches, ethical purchasing groups, the social enterprise start up process, and entrepreneurial skills. It was important to adopt a methodology that could provide a consistent standard of delivery across the three countries where it was being implemented, and also remained relevant to the diversity amongst those contexts. This is evident within the project ‟ s designed and developed toolkit comprising the following tools which are available in the Project Handbook:
a. Mentor Guide( to guide the participants through the social start up process) b. Self Assessment Tool( Business Diary for participants to monitor their progress on the social start up programme) c. Pre and Post Test( to measure the learning and impact of the participants) d. Mentor Training Guide( for training the mentors)
We now present and describe the methodological process that was adopted to realise the project ‟ s aims and objectives. Essentially, the methodological process involved six consecutive stages as follows:
Stage
Aims
1. Design: To design the process of implementing the social start ups project and meeting its aims and objectives.
2. Training: To train the mentors in the mentor-led social start up training process so that they can experiment and implement this process with members of the identified EPGs in their countries of Croatia, France and Italy.
3. Experimentation /
Implementation: a. To apply the mentor-led social start up training process with members of the identified EPGs in their countries of Croatia, France and Italy. b. To provide peer mentoring to the trained mentors as they progressed through the training process.
4. Evaluation: a. To capture the mentors ‟ critical reflections and evaluation of the social start up process they are implementing. b. To evaluate the trainees ‟ learning through the specifically designed pre and post tests
5. Revision: To revise the curriculum and toolkit components based on the results of the evaluation stage.
6. Publication: To publish and disseminate the project ‟ s handbook, methodological tool, curriculum, and toolkit in English, Croatian, French and Italian.
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