DOI: 10.33917/es-6.164.2019.114-121

The article summarizes the experience of a summer project school at the faculty of pre-university training of the National Research University Higher School of Economics (HSE). Peculiarities of the project format of education during the school holidays are considered. An attempt is made to analyze such features of project implementation as choosing a project topic, forming teams to develop a project to the state of readiness for implementation, and concentration of the subjective efforts of schoolchildren. When comparing subject-oriented school projecting with entrepreneurial designing the following advantages are noted in the summer school. Holding a school in summer allows to organize teamwork of students from different schools and different classes (5–6, 7–9, 9–10 classes); developers are united into teams when they select the actual topic of the project, which is based on a problem that is of interest for schoolchildren; entrepreneurial skills training takes place during communication of young people with a leading teacher (business coach), as well as within the team (self-training). Focusing on the projects development in a short time (40 academic hours) allows students to see the real result of applying their own knowledge and creative efforts. At the same time, holding a summer school in a project format is an educational project in itself, requiring a customer-oriented approach from the organizers (marketing efforts), when they should provide a comfortable learning environment for students, use (apply) and develop modern teaching and health-saving technologies.

The idea of the article came to one of its authors more than three years ago, when he answered the questionnaire while applying for an Executive MBA in one of the foreign business schools. The question was about what one expects from the MBA program and what benefits he gets participating in the program. Given that he already had experience of working as an independent director in a number of Russian state-owned and private companies, he answered the questions appropriately, keeping in mind the challenges that he had faced. The article, as he thought at the time, had to be called “What for does MBA serve for independent director.” (This is the question he actually answered by filling the questionnaire of the business school.) And at the end of his two-year training his view changed and the article acquired the current title.

It is hard to imagine today more urgent objective than creating conditions for the emergence of a man – the carrier of new thinking.

Talents are “flowing” to the West, exodus of Russians continues and the hopelessness of living leads to social anemia of seniors and to growth of spontaneous protest of the youth.

Continue what you have begun. Look at everything with joy. Treat yourself with all strictness.