When was the first time you heard about this technique? How did you learn this technique? Is there a web page or book that has served you as reference?

Since I started working as a VET teacher from the beginning I felt the need to promote among the students values ​​related to entrepreneurship and I started looking for techniques and strategies to work with them. I do not remember the exact date, but it must have been approximately 5 or 6 years ago through the work that Pablo Peñalver had been doing on the application of Lean startup and Design thinking in Education. I remember that when I went deeper into the topic I thought that the whole base of Lean Startup is very logical and they are ideas that many of us might have thought of before, but this technique puts all those ideas in a structured way. This is what usually happens with great ideas, which seem simple precisely because they are so good.

What problems / conflicts / shortcomings did you have in class that led you to investigate and start experimenting with this technique?

More than the students, the shortcomings came from the teachers, since we were trying to promote entrepreneurship in the students, which is an eminently practical competence, as if it were theoretical knowledge. It would be something like teaching someone to ride a bicycle by giving them a book. The Lean Startup technique proposes a series of steps to learn through experimenting, making mistakes and trying to correct them, over and over again as we improve our entrepreneurial initiative. In general, all these techniques related to creativity, initiative and innovation, require a teaching / learning process based on competency work.

What were the problems that you found when implementing the technique in class?

The first problem is to determine, as a teacher, what is the objective you intend to achieve, to know where you are going exactly. At that time insecurities used to arise and it is easy to feel that you are not not sufficiently trained, but the reality is that you have to jump into it and try with the students and learn the best way to work this technique while using it with them.

What were the benefits you found when implementing the technique in class?

Above all, you make students discover things about themselves that they did not know and realize how far they are capable of going. For example, if you do a simple introductory activity before working with this technique or any other related to creativity and entrepreneurship where you ask students if they think they could develop an innovative or entrepreneurial initiative, most will say no. However, throughout the development of the project they will realize, just by themselves,  that they are capable of much more than they thought, which contributes to enormously reinforcing their self-esteem.

Using this technique in class has become something recurrent for you? With the same goal as the first time? Since when are you using it?

Yes, I use it frequently in my classes. The initial idea and the way of working with this technique, as with any other that one has experienced, always evolves over time.

You learn from mistakes and you incorporate things into your teaching practice. At the beginning, I had a very ambitious goal, such as for the students to set up a business initiative that could work in the real market. Then you realize that this is unrealistic and that it is much more useful to set the objective of “sowing the seed of entrepreneurship in them”

Within the working group to which I belong, we also connect the application of this Lean Startup technique in class with the entrepreneurship workshop carried out by TAGUS, the Local Action Group of the Tajo-Salor area (Cáceres, Spain) ( https://tagus.online/ ). Thus, for example, we are working on the development of a web / mobile application so that students can work on their project applying the Lean Startup technique from anywhere in the world as long as they have an internet connection. We also have another idea: working with real companies´ challenges. Thus, local companies can present to students problems they have and students can provide solutions after applying the Lean Startup methodology.

With what subject / levels / courses / modules / VET programs … do you use it? Are there adaptations of the technique for students of different ages or even with different educational needs?

We have applied it to the Middle Grade VET Degree of Administrative Management, Advance VET Degree of Administration and Finance and the Basic VET

degree of Administrative Services (an educational program adapted to students with difficulties to finish the period of compulsory education), as well as, with some adaptation and with the help of classmates who teach at those levels, at Secondary  and Baccalaureate levels. From the above, it can be deduced that the methodology itself is very flexible and can be applied with different degrees of depth and / or difficulty, which allows it to be easily adapted to students of different educational levels and / or with different needs.

Are there factors to take into account when applying the technique with different courses? (Also more suitable number of students, spaces and appropriate ages)

You can work both individually and in groups of different sizes. Perhaps the only limitation is that if the group is too large it is more difficult to organize the work within the group. As for spaces, it is convenient, at least at the beginning, to take the students out of class and start work in another space, since this helps in some way to get them out of their comfort zone and their usual way of working. Then, for the development of the project you could work in class, if it is easier from a logistical point of view. But at least at the beginning it is important to get them out of the classroom to start breaking schemes and help them think in a different, more creative way.

How do you evaluate the results of this technique in class?

Evaluation is simple and complex at the same time. In any case, the important thing is not so much the final result they manage to achieve, such as if they are able to develop a viable product that can be sold, as the learning process that the students acquire throughout the development of the project.

Looking to establish an objective evaluation system, you can create rubrics or evaluation scales adjusted to your goals. However, as you develop some experience as a teacher using this Lean Startup technique, you will realize that you are immediately able to perceive the degree of competence learning that students are acquiring, as well as where they have problems and they need some support to move forward.

What advantages do you think this technique brings into  students´ professional life?

Students face real challenges, for example, when they try to sell their product to other colleagues. But, beyond the context of buying and selling, students are developing their communication skills and their ability to have initiative, both very important skills nowadays in any professional life context.

Some tips from your own experience that you use to make it work.

As a preliminary step, it is important to investigate this technique, so that you have a clear idea about what exactly it consists of. It is also desirable to get advice from experienced colleagues who have previously used Lean Startup in education, such as Néstor Guerra or Pablo Peñalver. There are videos and web pages of these and other fellow pioneers in the use of this technique on the internet where they give us ideas about how to use it and tell us about their experience (see section “Do you need references in relation to Lean Startup?” at the end of this article). The experience of other colleagues is always a very valuable help.

Then, the best trick is to start small, not to set big goals that can frustrate us from the beginning. A start can be just to ask students to create a product that can be sold and organize a market in the school’s recess where they try to sell their product, and can receive feedback from other students and potential customers about their own product.

Another key is to be very attentive to the comments or contributions of the students while the activity is taking place, so that we can directly perceive what things are working and what things are not, and we can implement improvements as we go.

Another idea would be that, whenever possible, it is better to carry out this type of project in collaboration with other colleagues, because the points of view are different and they will always enrich the activity.

Finally, it can be very useful to start learning from another colleague who has already carried it out and who acts as a coaching adviser on what you need.

Some recommendations or details that in your opinion must be taken care of, or actions that must be avoided in advance because they could provoke the failure of the activity from the beginning,  make the students become not receptive, etc.

In general, students find it difficult to enter this type of dynamics at the beginning, mainly because they are not used to exercising their brain in this way, since the educational system that we have had for years did not promote this type of work, so you have to be very patient with them at first.

It is convenient to plan the activity so that students achieve small goals from the beginning. Thus, they realize that the process is working and reinforce their self-esteem. We can achieve this, for example, through small introductory dynamics that encourage creativity.

It is also important that students choose to work on a topic that motivates and interests them in advance to capture their interest more easily.

What do you think it brings to your students? What is the feedback you get when you apply the technique in class?

Undoubtedly, this type of work helps students to contemplate their professional future in a more flexible and comprehensive way, which will undoubtedly be their best tool to achieve success in a work environment as competitive, global and open as the one that exists nowadays.

Something very important about students´ feedback after carrying out this type of work is that they value very positively the fact of having put what they have learned theoretically into practice, they consider that they are acquiring a more real learning.

Has any student told you how this technique has been useful for him/her in their professional career?

It is usually difficult to keep in touch with students once they finish their studies, however, when you happen to meet a former student by chance, they tell you that they remember something you told them in class or such an activity that you did. Without going any further, in the project defense at the Advanced VET degree, it is appreciated how they implement some of the skills that have been worked on in class. Hence, the difference in the way of presenting and defending their ideas among those students who have worked on this type of creativity techniques and those who have not is very noticeable.

Although it is not something general, since obviously many things are needed to undertake a business project and my goal as a teacher is rather to start creating that breeding ground for entrepreneurship, I do have the case of a student who loved Flamenco and she ended up putting up a Flamenco school.

Mention a personal anecdote, a very positive experience, a comment from a student, or something that you have seen, something that can be inspiring to encourage other teachers to try Lean Startup at their class.

A very special and enriching case is the case of that student who started the Flamenco school. She was a student who academically had some difficulties to overcome the course, but, nevertheless, she was very “savvy” and with initiative. I kept in touch with her and, from time to time, she would tell me how she was doing. One day she told me that after wandering around without success looking for a job she had decided to set up a dance school as she had planned for the entrepreneurship workshop we did in class. She had the support of her parents, but she was frustrated and about to give up the idea because she was overwhelmed since she couldn’t understand and manage all the paperwork. I offered her to come and among the entire teachers team we helped her with the paperwork and encouraged her with her initiative. Finally, she managed to start the Flamenco School, thus turning her idea and dream into reality.

Another example is a kid who showed very bad behavior and a very negative attitude towards the entrepreneurship workshop and Lean startup. Taking advantage of the advice of a colleague, I ignored his attitude as if he was invisible, because some students try to attract attention in this way. When he saw that he did not achieve his purpose and that the rest of the students were working, he himself began to work and gradually got into the dynamics of the workshop, to such an extent that at the end when all the classmates voted for the best project, his work was selected.

At the end, the most enriching thing is to see our students evolve, both within the educational field and after they finish their studies, because finally we cannot lose focus and let ourselves be overwhelmed by bureaucracies or educational laws that can lead us to understand education as something that is not, finally what it is about in education is to help our students to find their way.