Laval Hotel School

By Annie Roberge, educational advisor 
and Martin Vallée, deputy director 
Laval hotel school 

Laval Hotel School (ÉHL) is without a doubt a professional training center on a human level. Thanks to its reasonable size and its tightly knit community, the ÉHL offers the young people and adults in learning who frequent it a unique and caring environment, both in terms of professional development as well as in terms of what the student experiences. pupil outside of school. 

Teachers are firmly committed to their mission of teaching and integrating their students into the labor market. The success of the latter, as well as the reduction in the dropout rate during the programs are constant concerns of the entire school team. What is more, the leadership of the management team, in continuity with the strengths developed throughout the history of the school, is expressed through the gradual implementation of educational innovations, now of a conscious entrepreneurial nature. , in connection with new information technologies. 

In fact, for the past two years, ÉHL has been learning to become a mindful entrepreneurial community school (ECEC). The teaching team is therefore called upon to set up a pedagogy focused more on the development of the person, to ensure that each student becomes an entrepreneur of himself, equipped to build himself in all conscience. Therefore, teachers develop and provide learners with educational activities with a conscious entrepreneurial flavor through which various skills, attitudes, strengths and conscious entrepreneurial qualities are developed (young person's exit profile). These will allow students, eventually, to set up entrepreneurial projects themselves where they will be initiators, directors and managers and which, we are already seeing, will have an impact in the community. 

The philosophy of the ECEC is in harmony with the vision of the changes that ÉHL wishes and must make to adequately equip students to facilitate their integration into the 21st century labor market and, above all, to succeed in their lives. They need a frame of reference, model teachers who question them and encourage them to undertake each in their own way, each taking one more step to trust each other, to risk, to try, sometimes to start again… and to succeed. Obviously, it is the acquired experience linked to the progress made that matters much more than a strictly academic result. We are convinced of the relevance of learning more globally. Awareness of oneself, of one's potential and of the impact, through one's actions, on one's living environment is of great importance.

An important lever of the ECEC is the establishment of a micro-chamber of commerce, a governance (committee) made up of enterprising students. The challenge to be taken up in ensuring the sustainability of this entity at the Center comes from the fact that training in the various programs is given over the course of one year, with new entries of young people and adults at the end of August and in March. New people are thus added to the committee along the way, to replace graduates who leave, in order to continue entrepreneurial work. It generates enthusiasm and commitment. The transition went well this year, which bodes well for the future. 

The micro-room, called the CPRENT (Cuisine, Pastry, Catering, Entrepreneurial or Entrepreneurial) has the following mandate: 

• To encourage students to become more involved in school life; 
• To organize events in the school and in different environments with our partners;
• To convey opinions and opinions to other students and to all staff, and management included;  
• To support the development of our conscious entrepreneurial community school of which we are very proud.

This conscious entrepreneurial pedagogy was introduced, slowly but surely, as part of moments of reflection and discussion during meetings between the members of the governance team, made up of teachers from the five training programs offered to students. This Team is now working to develop the entrepreneurial spirit among their colleagues in the same way. And the best part is that everyone wants to try to take up this rewarding challenge!