Production of entrepreneurship in small business activities of students

Abstract

Purpose -The importance of entrepreneurship education and the lack of studies at the vocational level, have created a need to develop a model of entrepreneurship learning. The purpose of this paper is to determine what vocational college students learn about entrepreneurship from working in a small enterprise, how they learn it and what role the teacher has in the learning process. Design/methodology/approach -The data used are drawn from discussions between eight students (aged 16-18), where they assessed and developed their business activities conducted over the course of a year. Using qualitative data collection and analysis methods, content connected with entrepreneurship was examined to provide information about activities they undertook and how the learning process occurred. Findings -The findings indicate that learning in a small enterprise is a continuous process, where content, activities and process are intertwined. The core of learning is reflection-in-action, to develop entrepreneurial skills and behaviour. Practical implications -This paper may offer a means of applying a small business learning model to entrepreneurship learning. The results can benefit teachers planning entrepreneurship learning. Originality/value -This paper contributes to the understanding of student learning in small enterprises by empirically examining what learning takes place and how.

Entrepreneurial marketing learning styles used by entrepreneurial teams

“…The individual experience in running a start-up is fed to the rest of the team and, as a result, enhances everyone’s competence while learning collectively in and as a team. This collective action learning method “supports active learning, provides students the freedom to make decisions together and encourages them to take responsibility for those decisions” (Järvi, 2015, p. 189).…”

“…The individual learning style was less apparent in this research. Nevertheless, it took place with students learning independently (Järvi, 2015) when they engaged in exploitative learning by seeking knowledge from the other nascent entrepreneurs and exploratory learning when they sought new contacts (see excerpts above) and experimented with the business partner to make products cheaper, more innovative and/or suitable for the target market:…”

“…The level of knowledge and experience of each student in running and marketing their business differs, therefore learning that occurs in the team is not only collective but also intertwined with individual learning experiences as each and every student takes different lessons from entrepreneurial actions, debates and updates when exploiting or exploring in and with the team. They learn from the experience of others (Järvi, 2015), and this method proves to be effective in mastering their individual marketing and entrepreneurial competences.…”

“…Therefore, it is essential to provide such educational programmes because of the experiential nature of EL (El-Awad et al , 2017; Wang and Chugh, 2014). This particularly applies to EM, which can be best mastered through learning-by-doing and experimenting with one’s own ideas and the ideas of others (Järvi, 2015; McGrath, 2001). The teamwork context is particularly effective for achieving this potential.…”

Action-Based Learning Platform for Entrepreneurship Education—Case NÅA Business Center

“…Learning is a transformational process, which takes place in a context (Botha et al, 2010) and indicates a permanent change in an individual's behavior (Alexander et al, 2009). In EE, scholars have found active learning pedagogies to enhance entrepreneurial skills (Sroufe & Ramos, 2011;Järvi, 2015). These especially include projectbased learning (Doppelt, 2003), action learning (Leonard & Lang, 2010), and experimental learning (Clark & White, 2010).…”