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ENTREPRENEURSHIP FOR SECONDARY SCHOOLS

Where should entrepreneurship be introduced and taught in the high school

curriculum? As could be expected, there are several courses and levels into which

entrepreneurship can be integrated. While a full unit on entrepreneurship could betaught as a stand-alone, independent course of study, this is not the only approach,

or necessarily the most eective. Even if a freestanding course is provided in the

curriculum, its eectiveness will be enhanced if entrepreneurial insights are

provided throughout the entire curriculum. f entrepreneurship education is isolated

in a single course, apart from the whole curriculum, it may be missed by many

students who then would not pro!t from their potential development as enterprising

individuals.

"lacing entrepreneurial concepts and the entrepreneur into

the standard economics course not only ma#es the course more re$ective of the

real world, but it also can help to

improve students% comprehension and en&oyment of the economics course.

Economics. 'he discussion above has outlined some of the #ey entrepreneurial

concepts that should be integrated into the typical economics course. llustrations

of how these concepts might be taught are contained in the lesson plans in "art ( of

this )aster *urriculum +uide. "lacing entrepreneurial concepts and the

entrepreneur into the standard economics course not only ma#es the course more

re$ective of the real world, but it also can help to improve students% comprehension

and en&oyment of the economics course.

usiness education. "erhaps the next most obvious place where entrepreneurship

should be included is in the high school business education curriculum. n addition

to the creative and enterprising attributes, the business education course will

introduce the !nancial and human management s#ills that are necessary for the

formation and survival of a new enterprise. 'he business education course should

also have the students thin# of themselves as employers rather than employees in

the mar#et system. 'his view will enable the business student to identify with the

important issues with which the entrepreneur must grapple as part of the

development of a business plan. 'hese issues include new products, process

innovation, employee training and management, !nancing the enterprise, and

assessment of the mar#etplace. 'he desired outcomes of the business education

course should include the students% ability to deal with the un#nown in an

enterprising way.

+overnment. 'he action of government in creating and limiting the environment for

entrepreneurship should be included in courses of high school government.

+overnment regulations and taxes have an impact on the entrepreneurial

environment. egulation is a burden for all businesses, but more especially for small

entrepreneurial ones that generally have less ability to bear the costs of

compliance.

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istory courses are a natural place within the curriculum to discuss how

entrepreneurs have helped determine the course of human events.

*omparative studies should be underta#en about the role of entrepreneurs under

alternative political systems. Why has there been a movement toward the freemar#et in command societies? 'o what extent is the existence of one #ind of liberty

essential for the presence of the other? *an government bureaucrats be

entrepreneurial? 'hese are &ust a few of the /uestions that might be posed in a

government class with entrepreneurial content.

"sychology. A course in psychology is an excellent place for students to understand

the psychological characteristics of the entrepreneur and to assess their own

characteristics and capacities to be entrepreneurial. A psychology course that

allows students to develop their own concepts of self-worth and inner control would

be a welcome addition to the process of entrepreneurship education.

0ociology. 'he study of the sociology of entrepreneurship is in its infancy, but thereare several ideas that are consistent with the thrust of entrepreneurship education.

0tudents should reali1e that entrepreneurs shape and are shaped by the culture in

which they live. Why do some ethnic groups seem to be more entrepreneurial than

others? ow does entrepreneurship permit minority groups to enter the economic

and social mainstream? 'hese are but two of the myriad /uestions that lin#

entrepreneurship and sociology, and high school courses can now begin to explore

them.

istory. istory courses are a natural place within the curriculum to discuss how

entrepreneurs have helped determine the course of human events. istory courses

too often focus on politicians, rulers, and military leaders. istory teachers can do a

great deal to expand the hori1ons of their students by focusing on case studies ofentrepreneurs who have contributed to the betterment of human#ind. *ase studies

are particularly valuable if a variety of alternative stories are included that allow the

students to relate to entrepreneurs of their same race and2or gender.

Entrepreneurial history can help students understand that most progress is made in

small steps. While the 3mega3 innovations are important, progress really happens as

ideas are adapted and re!ned. 'he cumulative process of improving and changing

old ideas in an incremental way to better satisfy consumer or producer needs is the

form most entrepreneurial activity ta#es and in so doing ma#es history. 0cience.

Entrepreneurship can also be a thread woven into the fabric of science courses.

0ince technological advance often begins with scienti!c insight and continues

because of entrepreneurial persistence, students should understand the relationbetween scienti!c discovery and entrepreneurship. )any of the great scientists

were also entrepreneurs. 'hey not only invented the product or technology but also

brought it to the mar#etplace. 0tudents should understand these relationships

between the laboratory and the mar#et.

4ocational2technical education. 5or many years, entrepreneurship has been an

integral part of many vocational2technical programs. 'he ma&ority of American high

school students are enrolled in some vocational2 technical course or program. 'hese

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oerings present an excellent opportunity for the spreading of entrepreneurship

education over a signi!cant number of students.

'he focus of entrepreneurship education in the vocational2 technical curriculum has

been narrow and limited to the teaching of s#ills needed to start and sustain a small

business, but most vocational2technical programs contain at least a module on basic

economics. n this module the lin#s between the mar#et and the entrepreneur needto be stressed. 'he curriculum should be broadened beyond s#ills training to include

an understanding of how employees can be enterprising as well as units on the

nurturing of entrepreneurial traits and characteristics.