Building Entrepreneurial Spirit through Saturday Canteen Activities at Elementary School

Entrepreneurial spirit encompasses self-reliance in seeking income through business ventures or channeling personal creativity into income-generating opportunities. Entrepreneurship education, however, goes beyond teaching children the basics of business; it aims to develop their mental and character traits. A study conducted at RA Dwi Savitri in Surabaya sought to describe the cultivation of entrepreneurial spirit through the Saturday Canteen activity. Data was gathered through interviews, observations, and documentation, and analyzed descriptively. The results showed that the Saturday Canteen activity serves as a training ground for entrepreneurship. The school facilitates this activity by scheduling it every Saturday, with 3-4 students acting as sellers and handling real monetary transactions. This experience instills traits such as creativity, responsibility, honesty, trustworthiness, independence, and self-confidence. Teachers also play a role in monitoring and guiding students during the Saturday Canteen activity, ensuring its effectiveness in fostering entrepreneurial skills and mindset.


INTRODUCTION
Indonesia is considered a developing country, and its economic development goals aim to enhance the living standards of its population, bringing them on par with more developed nations.However, the reality suggests that the living standards of a significant portion of the Indonesian population still lag far behind those of more advanced countries.One of the fundamental issues faced by Indonesia is the insufficient availability of quality resources, entrepreneurial spirit, and a positive mindset (Ambarwati & Sobari, 2020;Joyo, 2018;Ngurah Suragangga, 2017;Roziqin et al., 2021).Building an entrepreneurial spirit doesn't merely mean creating traders or businesspeople; rather, it is seen as a character trait that empowers individuals to confront the challenges of the world.
Individuals with an entrepreneurial character are expected to act as drivers of the nation's progress.
In view of this phenomenon, entrepreneurship education can be instilled in children from an early age(Budi Sienatra & Padmalia, 2022;Huber et al., 2014;Păunescu et al., 2018;Saptono et al., 2021).Entrepreneurship education focuses on shaping the mindset and character of children, not just teaching them about conducting business (Abad-Segura & González-Zamar, 2021;Loosemore & McCallum, 2022;Norliana & Fakhrul Anwar, 2019;Rii et al., 2020;Sienatra & Padmalia, 2018).Children are taught to understand themselves, manage their emotions, time, communication, and adaptability to various situations, as well as make choices and decisions.Fostering an entrepreneurial spirit in young children is more about building self-reliance and responsibility through entrepreneurship education, which encompasses theoretical knowledge, practical experiences, and concrete examples.This process is in line with the views of Muh Jufri (2014), who argues that the development of an entrepreneurial spirit is a long and complex process that necessitates training and the cultivation of entrepreneurial character from an early age.One of the pathways for this is formal education organized by the government, which includes early childhood education.
Early childhood education is crucial for nurturing a high-quality generation, enabling students to grow and develop according to their potential, talents, interests, and capabilities.The early years are considered the "golden age" when children have exceptional learning abilities.Therefore, it is essential to provide education to children as early as possible with the aim of nurturing and developing their potential from the beginning to enable them to grow and develop optimally in line with their cognitive types (Campbell & Speldewinde, 2022;Majcen & Drvodelić, 2022;Martín et al., 2019;Torres-Porras et al., 2017).
Several factors influencing entrepreneurship can be applied to building an entrepreneurial spirit in young children, such as willingness, interest, family, environment, and school.Additionally, there are six core entrepreneurship values that can be integrated into early childhood learning: independence, creativity, leadership, risk-taking, and hard work.This aligns with Wibowo's (2011) perspective that there are several entrepreneurship values to be internalized in entrepreneurship education, including independence, creativity, risk-taking, action orientation, hard work, leadership, honesty, discipline, and persistence.
The Saturday Canteen is one of the efforts to build and cultivate an entrepreneurial spirit in children from a young age.Through this activity, children experience direct "Learning by Doing" where they actively participate in the entire entrepreneurial process.The Saturday Canteen aims to train an entrepreneurial spirit, deepen the understanding of the business world, and foster creativity and innovation in children.In light of these issues, the objective of this research is to describe and explain the significance of the Saturday Canteen activity at RA Dwi Savitri.

METHOD
This research is a case study.The activity was conducted at RA Dwi Savitri from April to May 2023.The presence of the researcher serves as a benchmark for the success or understanding of several cases.The researcher will act as the primary instrument and key instrument (data collection).The primary data collection techniques for this survey include interviews, notes, and documentation.The data analysis technique used in the research is interactive model analysis, as outlined by Miles & Huberman (Salim & Formen, 2006).The initial analysis involves reading the results of observation notes and interviews for data collection.Once the data is collected, the simplification process takes place, along with abstraction and data transformation.The obtained data is described, conclusions are drawn, and actions are taken.Furthermore, each conclusion is continually verified until a valid conclusion is obtained.The research sample is conducted in Group A of RA Di Savitri Surabaya.

Saturday Canteen Activity
Early childhood is considered the golden age, during which children have extraordinary learning abilities.Therefore, it is crucial to implement education for children as early as possible with the aim of nurturing and developing their potential from the beginning, allowing them to grow and develop optimally according to their types of intelligence.Saturday Canteen is one of the efforts to instill an entrepreneurial spirit in children from a young age because in this activity, children can directly experience "Learning by Doing," which means they go through all the necessary processes in entrepreneurship.The Saturday Canteen activity serves to train the entrepreneurial spirit, foster an understanding of the business world, and develop creativity and innovation in children.In this activity, children are encouraged to create and sell products to buyers, including their peers, teachers, and parents.

Implementation of Saturday Canteen
The planning phase of the school's program and policy for instilling an entrepreneurial spirit in children involves various stakeholders, including the foundation management, the school principal, teachers, children, the school committee, and parents.The formulation of policies begins with presenting the school's vision, mission, and objectives.The organizational structure of the Saturday Canteen educational program at RA Dwi Savitri is the responsibility of the school principal, but in practice, teachers play a role in organizing and planning the program and its implementation.Teachers are responsible for planning the learning process, educating, and assessing student development.
The purpose of implementing Saturday Canteen is to develop the students' ability to possess entrepreneurial character, which includes independent creativity, risk-taking, responsibility, innovation, and honesty.Based on interviews and references, the implementation of Saturday Canteen at RA Dwi Savitri genuinely aims to develop children's entrepreneurial abilities.In this activity, children are expected to be actively involved and innovative in carrying out their assigned tasks as scheduled by the Saturday Canteen supervisor.All children are enthusiastic about the Saturday Canteen, as it provides a break from their regular school routine.Those who have responsibilities prepare the items to be marketed, while their peers who are not assigned tasks become buyers.However, there are certain rules that the children must follow.Saturday Canteen activities at RA Dwi Savitri are held every Saturday.The technical aspects of the Saturday Canteen activities include: a.A schedule is created every Saturday by the class teacher, and 3-4 children are designated to prepare items for sale each Saturday.b.They occupy tables provided by the teacher on the school grounds.c.Children act as sellers and calculate the sales proceeds.d.Actual money (real currency) is used in the Saturday Canteen.All children who are not assigned as sellers automatically become buyers.
They must use their own money brought from home, with a maximum limit of 5,000 Indonesian Rupiah.e. Children are allowed to engage in buying and selling, including negotiation based on the prices and money they have.

DISCUSSION
Saturday Canteen is implemented as a program at RA Dwi Savitri with the aim of instilling the character and entrepreneurial spirit in children from a young age.This begins with the simplest form of entrepreneurship, which is buying and selling, by emulating the characteristics of an entrepreneur.Instilling an entrepreneurial spirit in children from an early age is expected to cultivate creativity and innovation, as these are essential qualities in entrepreneurship.Character plays a crucial role in entrepreneurship, particularly in attracting many customers.This is because the products sold are always different from those of competitors, offering both affordable prices and good quality.
The implementation of Saturday Canteen encourages children to create something distinct from their peers, resulting in a wide variety of products available at the canteen.When the entrepreneurial spirit is embedded in children from an early age, it automatically stimulates creativity and innovation.Children learn to develop new, creative, and innovative products.Creativity serves as the foundation for becoming an entrepreneur, as children are trained to generate new and innovative ideas.This process also instills a sense of responsibility, as children are accountable for the products they sell at school.They are responsible for ensuring that their merchandise remains intact and does not get damaged or lost.Honesty is another crucial value taught through Saturday Canteen, where children are trained to be honest regarding their products.
Cooperation among peers is a crucial aspect reflected in Saturday Canteen.Children are encouraged to make decisions, especially during the buying and selling process, which requires a firm approach.As a result, self-confidence grows during the buying and selling activities in Saturday Canteen.Several methods are employed by the teachers at RA Dwi Savitri to support entrepreneurial spirit in children from a young age.These methods include Saturday Canteen itself and storytelling about inspirational biographies of Indonesian entrepreneurs like Ciputra or Chairul Tanjung, among others.In these stories, children not only learn about these entrepreneurs but also understand that entrepreneurs must be prepared to face failures and take risks.
Teachers also teach children to face challenges, emphasizing that entrepreneurs need to have problem-solving skills.Positive decision-making is encouraged, even when a child experiences failure.Children are taught to learn from their mistakes.Through these stories, children learn about leadership qualities, which will be essential as they grow into adulthood.Teachers also encourage children to save money regularly to be able to purchase desired items.This practice cultivates patience and an appreciation for the process.Furthermore, children learn about investments, which helps them understand the concepts of risk and failure.
The ultimate goal of Saturday Canteen is to cultivate an entrepreneurial spirit in children, which will serve as an asset for their future.Regardless of their future professions, these children will benefit from having an entrepreneurial spirit as it prepares them to be higher-quality human resources.Saturday Canteen is not limited to preschool but can also be applied in higher education levels.Schools are encouraged to develop and expand such programs, as it contributes to preparing the nation for the increasing global challenges in various fields.
Good character and morals are formed when a child possesses an entrepreneurial spirit, setting them up for a brighter future.If more Indonesians embrace entrepreneurship in the future, it is expected that there will be fewer instances of corruption.However, the success of the Saturday Canteen program in nurturing an entrepreneurial spirit and noble character in children depends on the collective efforts of various stakeholders.These stakeholders include the school and teachers, who monitor and guide the children during the Saturday Canteen activities to rectify any mistakes.The active involvement of parents is also essential for the success of the Saturday Canteen program.

CONCLUSION
Saturday Canteen is an innovative program implemented at RA Dwi Savitri, aimed at instilling an entrepreneurial spirit and fostering character development in young children.By engaging in direct buying and selling activities, the children are exposed to the fundamental principles of entrepreneurship.This initiative encourages children to be creative, innovative, and responsible for their products.It promotes honesty, cooperation, and sound decision-making, while also building their self-confidence.
The benefits of such a program extend far beyond the classroom.Saturday Canteen not only equips children with practical entrepreneurial skills but also molds their character and morals.Through engaging stories and real-world examples of successful entrepreneurs, children are inspired to embrace entrepreneurship, with a focus on risk-taking and problem-solving.These lessons inculcate leadership qualities, instilling qualities of responsibility and trustworthiness.
The long-term vision of the Saturday Canteen program is to lay the foundation for a brighter future by nurturing entrepreneurial spirits in children.This approach is essential for preparing the younger generation as high-quality human resources capable of tackling the increasingly complex global challenges.The success of this program hinges on the active participation of multiple stakeholders, including For a clearer understanding of the data analysis in the case study, please refer to the flowchart below: Components of Interactive Model Data Analysis (Interactive Model) Aource : Salim & Formen.(2006).Teori & Paradigma Penelitian Sosial.Yogyakarta: hal 22 RESULT AND DISCUSSION Result 1.