Teacher's Role in Entrepreneurship Education
REDISCOVERING TEACHER’S ROLE IN ENTREPRENEURSHIP EDUCATION
Abstract
This article aims to highlight the crucial and challenging role that teachers have in entrepreneurship education. We will introduce a piece of data gathered during a project “Measurement Tool for Entrepreneurship Education”. A group of teachers (n 29) in 2008 were asked to describe their aims and results concerning entrepreneurship education. The results indicate teachers were familiar with entrepreneurship education, but, there is a remarkable lack of cohesion in definitions of basic concepts and, most of all, in between the aims and results. Moreover, when describing the aims of entrepreneurship education teachers “out source” themselves but describe the aims for the pupils / students. We argue, since the learner centred education has been in focus during the last decades, teachers’ role in education might have been neglected and hence we could “rediscover” teachers’ role again. In order to develop this point of view in research and in implications for practice we would like to stress 1) the development of teachers’ learning in terms of their reflection, 2) developing practical tools for their self reflection, 3) realizing changes of education, like curricula reforms, from the point of view of teachers’ learning and 4) realizing the links between aims and results in the context of entrepreneurship education. Key words: entrepreneurship education, teacher’s learning, teacher’s reflection
INTRODUCTION
The strategy of the European Union highlights the importance of the development of entrepreneurial culture by fostering the right mindset, entrepreneurship skills and awareness of career opportunities (Commission of the European Communities 2006). Finland in particular has extensively promoted entrepreneurship education mainstreaming at all education levels. This process has been supported administratively. For example, The Ministry of Education 1
announced an initiative entitled The
Abstract
This article aims to highlight the crucial and challenging role that teachers have in entrepreneurship education. We will introduce a piece of data gathered during a project “Measurement Tool for Entrepreneurship Education”. A group of teachers (n 29) in 2008 were asked to describe their aims and results concerning entrepreneurship education. The results indicate teachers were familiar with entrepreneurship education, but, there is a remarkable lack of cohesion in definitions of basic concepts and, most of all, in between the aims and results. Moreover, when describing the aims of entrepreneurship education teachers “out source” themselves but describe the aims for the pupils / students. We argue, since the learner centred education has been in focus during the last decades, teachers’ role in education might have been neglected and hence we could “rediscover” teachers’ role again. In order to develop this point of view in research and in implications for practice we would like to stress 1) the development of teachers’ learning in terms of their reflection, 2) developing practical tools for their self reflection, 3) realizing changes of education, like curricula reforms, from the point of view of teachers’ learning and 4) realizing the links between aims and results in the context of entrepreneurship education. Key words: entrepreneurship education, teacher’s learning, teacher’s reflection
INTRODUCTION
The strategy of the European Union highlights the importance of the development of entrepreneurial culture by fostering the right mindset, entrepreneurship skills and awareness of career opportunities (Commission of the European Communities 2006). Finland in particular has extensively promoted entrepreneurship education mainstreaming at all education levels. This process has been supported administratively. For example, The Ministry of Education 1
announced an initiative entitled The
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