What we do?
MTA is an international community of teampreneurs and young leading changemakers through the definition and implementation of a new vision of education.
Currently, MTA is a living international community made up of +1500 entrepreneurs in teams, with +80 team companies created and 13 MTA labs operating in 3 continents: Europe (Irun, Oñate, Madrid, Bilbao, Valencia, Barcelona, Netherlands), Asia (Shanghai, Seoul, Pune…) and America (Queretaro). MTA World is successfully expanding in both local and international spheres and is turning into a model for entrepreneurship and teamwork all around the world through its 5 first programmes:
- LEINN: First European Official Bachelor Degree on “Entrepreneurial Leadership and Innovation” created in 2009.
-LEINN INTERNATIONAL: First Nomad & International European Official Bachelor Degree on “Entrepreneurial Leadership and Innovation” created in 2016.
- MINN: First European International Master on Intrapreneurship and Open Innovation
- TEAMINN: A internal rain of trainers program to vertificate MTA & Tiimiakatemia Team Coaches.
- MTA Change Maker Lab: A multidisciplinary multi-faculty 6 months program on teampreneurship and team learning by creating.
At Mondragon Team Academy 50% of graduates take on entrepreneurial activities, compared to 1-2% of alumni from traditional studies, while 97% of students manage to find a job, at a time when the youth unemployment rate in Europe is more than 20%, reaching 50% in countries such as Spain or Greece.
The cornerstone of this pioneer movement is teamlearning, where students become MTA teampreneurs & commit to create a team learning company throughout the academic year, and take responsibility for their participation, complementing other members’ abilities and personal skills. The key to MTA lies in connecting the teampreneurs’ passions with their learning process, and doing so as a team, rather than individually, in which you only succeed if your team mate succeeds as well.
The learning model focuses on a Learning by Doing methodology, in which the students are not taught about entrepreneurship, but are given the tools and opportunities to set up their own ventures.
Why we do it?
The current educational model, where skills such as creativity, teamwork or empathy are ignored, is incompatible with entrepreneurial education. Fragmentation by subjects, an undefined role of the teacher, isolation of individual learning, obsolete examination systems, accumulation of theoretical contents, and student passivity and frustration as a result of a system that doesn’t connect the students’ learning with their interests, motivations and personal skills, are some of the barriers identified.
There are existing initiatives aimed at boosting entrepreneurial activity, which either take place outside of the educational system, or are justified under economic or business studies. However, none of them are reformulating the learning process as such and in most cases these attempts focus too much on an individual entrepreneurship model, promoting self-employment or individual ventures.
This is enhanced by a persistent “localist” attitude in a world that is increasingly globalized. Many individuals do not have the opportunity or the resources to interact with other cultures and discover different realities, while those who do, are not always given the tools to interpret these realities or apply them to their own actions and decision-making. The lack of a glocal approach to learning and entrepreneurial activity is one of the many barriers to a changemaker society today.
We make ours what Sir Ken Robinson said to The Guardian media group already 9 years ago; "All youngsters start their school careers with sparkling imaginations, fertile minds, and a willingness to take risks with what they think. Most students never get to explore the full range of their abilities and interests ... Education is the system that is supposed to develop our natural abilities and enable us to make our way in the world. Our approaches on education are stifling some of the most important capacities that young people now need to make their way in the increasingly demanding world of the 21st century - the powers of creative thinking"e he says.
MTA VIEW OF CURRENT TRADITIONAL EDUCATIONAL MODEL
“Current educational system does not prepare our youth for the real world, neither does it allow for them to pursue their dreams and unfold their element to full potential” J.M. Luzarraga
People are educated as followers: unable to create and pursue their passions in their lives. Current university education results in a “lost generation”.
There are existing initiatives aimed at boosting entrepreneurial activity, which either take place outside of the educational system, or are justified under economic or business studies. However, none of them are reformulating the learning process as such and, in most cases, these attempts focus too much on an individual entrepreneurship model, promoting self-employment or individual ventures.
This is enhanced by a persistent “localist” attitude in a world that is increasingly globalized. Many individuals do not have the opportunity or the resources to interact with other cultures and discover different realities, while those who do, are not always given the tools to interpret these realities or apply them to their own actions and decision- making. The lack of a glocal approach to learning and entrepreneurial activity is one of the many barriers to a changemaker society today.
The current socio-economic situation in Spain and southern Europe has pushed youth unemployment to more than 50%, creating an unsustainable environment in which the lack of professional opportunities during the younger population’s most vital years is limiting the development of their personal, professional and social skills.
Overall, Spain is not a country with high levels of entrepreneurship. According to the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) Report 2014, the percentage of early-stage entrepreneurial activity is of 5.5 while only 7.0% of the population is owner-manager of a business. While entrepreneurial activity by "necessity" in Spain increased from 26% to 29%, entrepreneurship by “opportunity” remains at 33%, below the European average of 47%. Moreover, entrepreneurial activity in Spain is often given a negative implication, either associated with self-employment or lack of formal work, or to a privileged activity accessible only to a few.
On the other hand, the support system in Spain to create new businesses is inefficient. In spite of the increasing resources invested in innovation spaces, accelerators, incubators and other programs since the recession hit Spain in 2008, the country is still in need of solid entrepreneurial activity. Those who do take on entrepreneurship, often focus too much on designing elaborate business plans and developing the idea instead of putting them into practice. While there are initiatives that seek to change this reality, they are often more focused on the business idea and viability, rather than the development and professional growth of the entrepreneur him/herself.
