Philosophies of Enterprise and Entrepreneurship Education: ‘Teaching Pigeons to Dance?’ Paul D. Hannon Acting CEO National Council for Graduate Entrepreneurship
Why do we do what we do the way we do it!! The purpose and aspirations for entrepreneurship education are driven by many contrasting and perhaps conflicting beliefs emanating from some core, deeply rooted philosophical underpinnings. A personal journey to explore the implications of applying adult- educational philosophies to the phenomenon of entrepreneurship education and a typology of entrepreneurship-education roles.
Initiating a philosophy of entrepreneurship education Gaining an insight and clarification of a philosophy of entrepreneurship education is both fundamental and essential in building a robust and coherent educational field in HE. HE. There are five main underpinning educational philosophies that have emerged during the last century: liberalist; progressive; behaviourist; humanistic; radicalist.
A framework of philosophies of education Liberalist Progressive Behaviourist Humanistic Radicalist Broad approach to Focused on practical Meeting the needs of Personal growth and As a catalyst for Purpose stimulate knowledge and skills society and industry self-actualisation fundamental social, intellectual, spiritual that enhance through compliance political and/or and moral interest individual with identified economic change in and development effectiveness in standards of skills and society society behaviour A ‘Renaissance Individuals have Learners are Learners are highly Learning through Learning Learning person’ who always person’ who always unlimited potential unlimited potential significantly influenced significantly influenced motivated to learn motivated to learn collective action and collective action and Approach wants to develop and and learning is by their learning and assume reflection on learn and seek focused around their environment and responsibility for personal history and knowledge needs, interests and context their own learning culture experiences Leading the learning Stimulating, Managing, predicting Facilitating, and Suggesting but not Educator and development instigating, and directing learning promoting learning determining the Role process, transferring evaluating and outcomes as a partner, but not learning direction; knowledge organising the directing equality of teacher learning through an and learner experiential process
Most importantly: - our own personal beliefs and values about our role, the role of education, and the place of entrepreneurship within higher education and society. - we need to start with the self: our own personal philosophy
The Importance of a Philosophy ‘philosophy can inform practice, provide guidelines for policy decisions, and guide administrators, teachers, and counselors in their everyday practice: "Philosophy contributes to professionalism. Having a philosophic orientation separates the professional continuing educator from the the professional continuing educator from the paraprofessional in that professionals are aware of what they paraprofessional in that professionals are aware of what they are doing and why they are doing it. …… It thus can be motivating, inspiring, energizing to the practitioner" (Merriam, 1982)
Underlying philosophy drives thinking, behaviour and action “Many adult education practitioners engaged in the daily tasks of program planning, administration, or teaching have little time to reflect upon the meaning and direction of their activity. The educator is generally more concerned with skills than with principles, with means than with ends, with details than with principles, with means than with ends, with details than with the whole picture. Yet all practitioners make decisions and act in ways that presuppose certain values and beliefs. Whether or not it is articulated, a philosophical orientation underlies most individual and institutional practices in adult education”. (Darkenwald and Merriam, 1982)
……… and we change over time! ……. and so does society.
Applying to entrepreneurship education Liberalist Progressive Behaviourist Humanistic Radicalist To develop To fulfil individual To acquire a To self-develop and To exploit Purpose understanding and potential within an predetermined set of achieve personal entrepreneurship as insights from an entrepreneurial entrepreneurial growth within an a tool for intellectual society and economy capabilities at a entrepreneurial socioeconomic and exploration of the specified standard of context political change for world of application individuals, entrepreneurship communities, society GURU: GUIDE: CONTROLLER: HELPER: CO-ORDINATOR: Educator Provide of access to Creating Monitoring and Facilitating a co- Learning through Role Role leading experts and leading experts and entrepreneurial, entrepreneurial, directing learners directing learners learning process with learning process with collective action; collective action; successful experiential learning towards achieving peers and equality between entrepreneurs for environments and intended entrepreneurs learner and educator transmitting processes entrepreneurial knowledge capabilities Intellectual stimulus Making a successful Becoming the specified Continual personal Changing the status Learner and challenge about contribution and entrepreneurial type; and professional quo ( re. gender, Aspirations entrepreneurship; maximising independent growth and ethnicity, social seeking academic entrepreneurial recognition and award development; peer status); recognition recognition and peer opportunity; recognition through successful engagement recognition from the policy change external environment Researchers; Latent entrepreneurs; Latent entrepreneurs; Researchers; Politicians; policy- Learner professionals; new and existing new and existing professionals; makers; activists; Profiles academics; entrepreneurs; entrepreneurs; academics; successful professionals; commentators; educators; educators; professionals entrepreneurs; researchers; successful intrapreneurs; educators; entrepreneurs; entrepreneurs professionals intrapreneurs educators
Entrepreneurship Educator Types GURU GUIDE CONTROLLER HELPER CO- ORDINATOR Expert, judge, Facilitator, seeking Leader / manager of Coach / mentor in a Challenger, change- Educator strongly-defined, understanding, a learning process; co-learning process catalyst emphasis gate-keeper resource base encouraging defined behaviours Didactic, broad, Pragmatic, learner- Active enquiry, practical, Experiential, personal Social activism Andragogic holistic, content- centred, learning systems orientation, development approaches approaches centred centred spaces spaces outcomes focus outcomes focus Understanding Starting a business; Becoming a successful Being Social and Indicative entrepreneurship; new venture creation; entrepreneur; entrepreneurial or community programme theories/models of business growth; behaviours of enterprising in any entrepreneurship; entrepreneurship; intrapreneurship entrepreneurs; effective context; achieving entrepreneurship examples entrepreneurship business plans your personal and local policies; potential regeneration entrepreneur types Knowledge, Flexibility, Managing diverse Motivation and Freedom, releasing Educator judgement, individualism, learning environments, coaching, self- control, problem- capabilities expertise, orator, discovery, resource scientific method, understanding, self- posing, critical objectivity, author access, making things evaluation and efficacy thinking, happen measurement empowering others
- and why ‘teaching pigeons to dance’?
Teaching pigeons to dance does not mean that pigeons ‘feel’ what it is like to be a dancer! Teaching students the basics of entrepreneurship does not mean the students ‘feel’ what it is like to be entrepreneurial! mean the students ‘feel’ what it is like to be entrepreneurial!
Summary There is a need for: a more sophisticated approach to entrepreneurship • education design and delivery that acknowledges the wide educational philosophical and conceptual base and the educational philosophical and conceptual base and the complexity of the learner environment going beyond learning to dance to becoming dancers • integrating theory with practice, teaching with research and • learning, entrepreneurship with education
What about your personal educator journey? Why do you do what you do in the way you do it? • What personal self-beliefs/philosophies shape your approach to curricula design/learner support? • What typology do you fit? • What roles are you going to experiment with? What roles are you going to experiment with?
Thank You
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