LET'S ASK WHY

Americans ask why other people hate us.

I would hope we could answer that it is partly because we have a strong economy based on the creative thinking and risk-taking of our entrepreneurs and other entrepreneurial thinkers in business nationwide. Perhaps there are many other reasons, but it can’t be denied that we are strong because our economy supports us in ways that other countries don’t enjoy.

When we were in Central Europe in the early ’90s we heard leaders equate entrepreneurship with freedom. It is hard to know what it would be like to be prevented from starting a business of your choice, or to be afraid that the government would take your property and seize or break up your business.

Today we are asking WHY the educators of this country are not 100% behind adding entrepreneurship education to the experiences of the youth and adults at all levels of our school system. Lack of understanding of how people succeed in business and where you can find opportunities leads to unreasonable criticism of our way of life. What better place to build this understanding than throughout our public schools?

Why is it so hard to get school administrators to support this? Where there are examples of entrepreneurship education in the US it is often because a strong, creative teacher insisted on doing it in spite of the lack of support from administrators and other teachers. In many other countries entrepreneurship is now being added to the curriculum from the top down.

Why haven’t teacher educators prepared teachers to infuse entrepreneurial experiences in their curriculum, or even teach a full course? Many of the career and technical education leaders at state and national levels have committed themselves to the inclusion of entrepreneurship as part of the preparation of today’s youth for careers of all kinds. But there are thousands of teachers-in-training that have not had the opportunity to address the benefits of entrepreneurship education in the nation’s schools.

Why doesn’t school legislation at state and national levels support professional development for teachers to learn how to include entrepreneurship in the curriculum? Fortunately the legislation for career and Technical Education (Perkins III) added entrepreneurship as an appropriate component of vocational programs, but even so, there are many programs that overlook this opportunity. Teachers for the most part have had no experience as entrepreneurs and need assistance to understand how to introduce it at various levels of education.

Unfortunately, the renewal of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act recently has not seen fit to add entrepreneurship education.

HATS OFF TO THE LEADERS!

Fortunately there are many states and local leaders who have taken the initiative to create entrepreneurship education opportunities within the schools. Non-profit organizations have taken leadership to fill the void apparent in so many educational systems. The field is growing, but so slowly.

HEAR WHAT OUR TEACHERS SAY!

Applicants for scholarships to the Annual Entrepreneurship Education FORUM have told us the following about their entrepreneurship education programs:

• Cindy Herman (Clayton High School, MO) “Most students may not start their own business, but I feel it is essential that they be exposed to the idea and learn what is involved. All of my students were admitted to college and the vast majority of those students are declaring business as their major.”
• Maria Elena Maes (La Jicarita Enterprise Community-Youth Development - NM) “Through this program we have taken our young entrepreneurs on a variety of field trips, a challenge because we live in a very rural area. Students are able to see that entrepreneurship is a real possibility for them.”
• Diane Houser (Grace Park Elementary) and Barbara Wark (Ridley High School, PA) “According to the Grace Park Principal, the Biz Buds partnership between elementary and high school students is an excellent example of a collaborative, mutually-beneficial learning experience. The elementary students learned the basic economic components of running a business, as well as math and communications skills. The high school students mastered their economic and entrepreneurship content and expanded their communications skills in providing mentorship to their young colleagues.”
• Toni Elliott (Homer K Addair Career Academy, FL) “Business students developed a high school chamber of commerce and participated in the local chamber. Many local employers were apprehensive about hiring HCHS students, but with the Chamber event, students were taken seriously and felt a part of the community.”
• Jacque Davenport (Social Studies, Animas HS, NM) “Students like the hands on approach to creating a business, limited only by their own creativity. I believe it encourages them to take risk and to eventually weigh the advantages and disadvantages of owning your own business in the pursuit of the American Dream.”
• Mary Hopper (Marketing, Kelly Walsh High School, WY) “Our school encourages student-run businesses and this has given first-hand experience to a wide range of students. They are getting self confidence and a step up in the work world, and we feel great about this.”
• Susan Kozak (Marketing, Victory Life Academy. Durant, OK) “The students I serve are from an area with an overwhelming poverty mentality. My goal is to continually strive to raise their way of thinking, from poverty and taking from society, to riches and being a contributor to society through entrepreneurship.”
• Liza Dellinger (Business Education, Kings Mountain High School, NC) “Because most entrepreneurs are more interested in ‘getting down to business’ than in reading about it, entrepreneurship education does not lend itself to traditional teaching methods. Experiential methods work because they promote ownership, self-direction, and responsible decision-making, all qualities needed for successful business ownership.”
• Rich Gaard (Marketing/Business Education, Decorah High School, IA) All ninth grade students explore 7 units of instruction, covering economics & personal finance, global understanding, marketing, management, accounting, and an entrepreneurship project. Students have really enjoyed the entrepreneurial unit. The integration of curriculum with different teachers is unique and very successful”.

These are only a few of the many teachers taking leadership in their schools in the states that are members of The Consortium for Entrepreneurship Education. We hope that readers of this article will copy it and share it with teachers, administrators, teacher educators and legislators who aren’t including entrepreneurship education in their priorities for American education.

Let’s find out WHY entrepreneurship education is not available to youth and adults EVERYWHERE.