Session Information
Paper Session
Contribution
Entrepreneurship education is a loosely defined concept that is used in different ways in different perspectives and contexts. As scientific field, has been developing in recent decades, namely with links between education for entrepreneurship, entrepreneurial intentions, entrepreneurial self-efficacy, the development of entrepreneurial skills, and cultural context (Oliveira, 2016).
Fostering entrepreneurship education (EE) can be important to equip young people with skills, knowledge and attitudes that are indispensable for the development of entrepreneurial culture, not only in the work and business context but also in general context of life (Eurydice, 2016). It highlights the need to develop various skills, referred to in several studies (eg. McCallum, 2018; O'Brien, & Hamburg, 2019; Reis et al., 2020, or Tittel, & Terzidis, 2020), namely innovation, autonomy, creativity, communication, critical thinking, adaptability, planning and management, financial literacy, technological, teamwork, and problem-solving.
Entrepreneurial competencies in a broad sense are part of the European Reference Framework of Key Competences for Lifelong Learning (European Commission, 2006) and are currently embodied in EntreComp: the Entrepreneurship Competence Framework. In this, entrepreneurship is a competence defined as the capacity to act upon opportunities and ideas to create social, cultural, or financial value for others, whether in the school curriculum, innovation in the workplace, community or at university (McCallum et al., 2018). Additionally, entrepreneurship skills build competencies in students and enhance their abilities to put knowledge into action, contributing to their employability and advantage to the workforce, the community, and ultimately the economy (Mittal, & Raghuvaran, 2021).
In this regard, due to the direct positive relationship between entrepreneurship education and employability, confirmed also by Iglesias-Sánchez (2019), entrepreneurship in recent years has been included as part of the curriculum in many universities and colleges. However, in Europe, educational institutions have not yet managed to consistently implement EE in the curricula or in the real context, nor yet promote the necessary pedagogical innovations (Oliveira, 2016; Eurydice, 2016), so it would be important its study and effective integration at all levels of education and in various areas of study, particularly in higher education.
This way, pedagogical approaches in entrepreneurship education may constitute a key factor for the development and consolidation of this field of study. Experiential approaches are common in the pedagogical process especially when one of the goals is to develop entrepreneurship skills and mindset, so it is important to relate educational theory to pedagogical practice (Bell, & Bell, 2020).
In the literature, experiential learning theory defined by Kolb (1984), is the pedagogical approach associated with entrepreneurship education most often referred to (e.g. Healey & Jenkins, 2000; Koustas, & Elham, 2021) and seems to be the most consensual and appropriate for the development of entrepreneurial skills (Minai, 2018).
Method
This study aims to conduct a literature review on the concept of entrepreneurship education, the characterisation of pedagogical approaches in entrepreneurship education, especially experiential learning, and the most commonly used instructional methods in entrepreneurship education programmes in higher education. This will be illustrated with a case study of the Entrepreneurship Education (EE) Programme that is being implemented at the University of Lisbon, Portugal, enriched with the data collected in one of the curricular units of this programme running in the Education and Training degree. The University of Lisbon (ULisboa) aims to foster an environment and culture favourable to open innovation and entrepreneurship, leading to the co-creation of social, cultural or economic value, so it created in the academic year 2022/23 an Entrepreneurship Education programme for the training and capacity building in entrepreneurship and innovation of its undergraduate, master and doctoral students (https://www.ulisboa.pt/eii). Based on the curricular units (CU) already existing in the various faculties related to entrepreneurship and innovation, an internal mobility programme was created for students who can attend free of charge the CUs in this area in other faculties, integrated into their course curricula. Whenever the study cycle curricula include the possibility of students taking optional CUs, places in entrepreneurship and innovation CUs will be made available for internal mobility of students in the different faculties. These students can also take these CU as isolated curricular units, additionally, as a supplement to the diploma. In addition, an exploratory study was conducted on the UC of Entrepreneurship at the Institute of Education, optional for the 3rd year of the degree in Education and Training, starting in the 2nd semester of 2022. It was aim to i) observe and analyze the level of development of entrepreneurial skills, supported by technology, built by students over a semester of classes; and ii) test and analyze which pedagogical methodologies are best suited to the development of entrepreneurial competencies and assess students' perceptions regarding the evolution of their entrepreneurial skills. Participant observation, document analysis of the written reflections produced by the students, and a final evaluation questionnaire at the end of the semester were used to collect the data.
Expected Outcomes
Given the importance of entrepreneurship education for the development of skills at the personal, social and professional levels, and its contribution to the increase of employability, there is a growing interest and increasing integration of this subject in the curricula of higher education courses. This happens not only in business schools but also in non-business schools in an interdisciplinary perspective relevant to students in all areas of knowledge given the contemporary socio-economic and political challenges. It seems that entrepreneurial skills can be learned, and their development can "promote better educational initiatives, improve business performance and help in new venture's success" (Reis et.al., 2020, Conclusion, para. 3). In the case illustrated, students considered that the entrepreneurship lessons were important both personally and for their professional future, promoting their creativity and capacity for innovation, allowing them to acquire new skills, such as problem-solving, management skills, financial literacy, knowing how to start a business, taking risks, and working better in teams, so that they can have more active participation in the community. We also emphasize the significance that entrepreneurial skills can have for the world of work and for the students' future as active and participatory citizens in society.
References
Bell, R., & Bell, H. (2020). Applying educational theory to develop a framework to support the delivery of experiential entrepreneurship education. Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development, 27(6), 987-1004. https://doi.org/10.1108/JSBED-01-2020-0012. European Commission (2006). Competências Essenciais para a Aprendizagem ao Longo da Vida do Quadro de Referência Europeu [Key Competences for Lifelong Learning of the European Reference Framework]. Serviço das Publicações Oficiais das Comunidades Europeias. Eurydice (2016). Educação para o Empreendedorismo nas Escolas Europeias [Entrepreneurship Education in European Schools]. Relatório Eurydice. Serviço de Publicações da União Europeia, Comissão Europeia. https://www.dgeec.mec.pt/np4/np4/%7B$clientServletPath%7D/?newsId=192&fileName=EC0216104PTN_002.pdf. Healey, M., & Jenkins, A. (2000). Kolb's Experiential Learning Theory and Its Application in Geography in Higher Education. Journal of Geography, 99(5), 185-195. https://doi.org/10.1080/00221340008978967 Iglesias-Sánchez, P. P., Jambrino-Maldonado, C., & de las Heras-Pedrosa, C. (2019). Training Entrepreneurial Competences with Open Innovation Paradigm in Higher Education. Sustainability, 11(17), 4689. https://doi.org/10.3390/su11174689 Kolb, D. A. (1984). Experiential learning: Experience as the source of learning and development. Prentice-Hall. Koustas, S. N., & Elham, S. S. (2021). Entrepreneurship Education and Experiential Learning in Higher Education. Experiential Learning & Teaching in Higher Education, 4(1), Article 8. https://nsuworks.nova.edu/elthe/vol4/iss1/8 McCallum, E., Weicht, R., McMullan, L., & Price, A. (2018). EntreComp into Action: get inspired, make it happen. In M. Baci-Galupo, & W. O’Keeffe (Eds.). Publications Office of the European Union. https://doi.org/10.2760/574864 Minai, M. S., Raza, S., Hashim, N. A., Zain, A. Y., & Tariq, T. A. (2018). Linking entrepreneurial education with firm performance through entrepreneurial competencies: a proposed conceptual framework. Journal of Entrepreneurship Education, 21(4). https://www.abacademies.org/articles/Linking-entrepreneurial-education-with-firm-performance-1528-2651-21-4-218.pdf Mittal, P., & Raghuvaran, S. (2021). Entrepreneurship education and employability skills: the mediating role of e-learning courses. Entrepreneurship Education, 4, 153–167. https://doi.org/10.1007/s41959-021-00048-6 O'Brien, E, & Hamburg, I. (2019). A critical review of learning approaches for entrepreneurship education in a contemporary society. European Journal of Education, 54, 525-537. https://doi.org/10.1111/ejed.12369 Oliveira, D. G. (2016). A evolução conceitual da educação para o empreendedorismo como um campo científico [The conceptual evolution of entrepreneurship education as a scientific field]. Revista Alcance, 23(4), 547-567. https://www.redalyc.org/jatsRepo/4777/477749961007/477749961007.pdf. Reis, D. A., Fleury, A. L., & Carvalho, M. M. (2020). Consolidating core entrepreneurial competences: toward a meta-competence framework. International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behavior & Research, Emerald. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJEBR-02-2020-0079 Tittel, A., & Terzidis, O. (2020). Entrepreneurial competences revised: developing a consolidated and categorized list of entrepreneurial competences. Entrepreneurship Education, 3, 1–35. https://doi.org/10.1007/s41959-019-00021-4
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