PENGUATAN KAPASITAS KEWIRAUSAHAAN GURU PAUD MELALUI PELATIHAN DAN PENDAMPINGAN PARTISIPATIF DI KECAMATAN SEMEN KABUPATEN KEDIRI

Abstract

Early Childhood Education (ECE) teachers play a strategic role in shaping children's character, creativity, and independence from an early age. However, many ECE teachers still have limited entrepreneurial competencies, preventing them from developing sustainable economic opportunities based on their professional expertise. This condition was identified among ECE teachers in Semen District, Kediri Regency, where entrepreneurial knowledge, experience, and practical business skills remained relatively low. This community engagement program aimed to strengthen the entrepreneurial capacity of ECE teachers through participatory training and continuous mentoring using the Participatory Action Research (PAR) approach. The PAR framework consisted of four stages: planning, acting, observing, and reflecting, ensuring that participants actively engaged throughout the intervention process. The program was conducted on 19 July 2026 in Titik Village, Semen District, Kediri Regency, involving 37 ECE teachers. Evaluation results indicated a substantial improvement in entrepreneurial competencies. Participants' understanding of sustainable entrepreneurship increased from 45% in the pretest to 94% in the posttest, while 91% expressed satisfaction with the mentoring process. The outputs included simple business proposals, Business Model Canvas (BMC) development, and the establishment of social media platforms for product marketing. These findings demonstrate that the PAR approach effectively strengthens entrepreneurial competencies while promoting participatory learning and sustainable community empowerment among ECE teachers.