Transcript Teachers’ perception of AN Entrepreneurship Curricular

TEACHERS’ PERCEPTION OF AN ENTREPRENEURSHIP
CURRICULAR PROGRAMME CARRIED OUT IN
SECONDARY SCHOOL: THE CASE OF MOZAMBIQUE
A. Paço, A. Dinis, R. G. Rodrigues, J.
Ferreira, M. Raposo
University of Beira Interior
NECE
INTRODUCTION
• Relevance of Entrepreneurship Education (EE) for
developing countries
• EE plays a critical role in orienting and developing future
entrepreneurs => knowledge and skills to create own
business or be entrepreneurs in their job
• Aims of EE:
1. learning to understand entrepreneurship
2. learning to become entrepreneurial
3. learning to become an entrepreneur
• Teaching-learning process => encourage and support
emergent ideas in order to implement projects
INTRODUCTION
• Research gap => teacher’s point of view on EE
+ teacher’s working methods (basic and secondary school).
• Thus, this study intends to:
 Improve knowledge of the role that teacher performs in
EE
 His/her perception of the impacts of an entrepreneurship
programme in secondary school
TEACHERS’ ROLE IN EE
• Approach based on the model of teacher development
and reflection => adequate for teaching entrepreneurship
• Teachers => main responsible for integration of EE into
their teaching and for looking for convenient pedagogical
practices
• Some teachers => believe that entrepreneurship cannot
be taught => can be learned by students by studying the
successes of other entrepreneurs
TEACHERS’ ROLE IN
ENTREPRENEURSHIP EDUCATION
• Teaching methods
o Didactic (lectures and autonomous readings)
o Skills acquisition (case studies, presentations and
group discussions, simulations and development of
projects)
o Discovery (experimental teaching - "learning by doing”)
CONTEXTUALISATION OF THE ENTREPRENEURSHIP
CURRICULUM PROGRAMME (ECP) IN MOZAMBIQUE
• ECP began with a pilot project in the province of Cabo
Delgado
• Due its very positive initial impact, the Ministry of
Education and Culture integrated the programme into the
national education system
• NE subject was implemented in General Secondary
School (GSE) and Technical-Vocational Education (TVE)
CONTEXTUALISATION OF THE ENTREPRENEURSHIP
CURRICULUM PROGRAMME (ECP) IN MOZAMBIQUE
• The ECP was implemented and monitored by UNIDO
(project "Entrepreneurship development for the youth“)
• Aim - encouraging the development of entrepreneurial
attitudes and behaviours
• UNIDO assisted the Mozambican Government in
developing an entrepreneurship curriculum, in formulating
course contents, providing guides for teachers, textbooks
and tools for monitoring and evaluating
• UNIDO conducted the teacher training programmes
METHODOLOGY
• Selection of 32 schools
• Qualitative and quantitative research
• 85 questionnaires to NE teachers
• 51 interviews to educational agents (mostly the schools’
executive and pedagogical directors)
• Topics: alignment between NE and secondary school
mission; importance attributed to NE; impacts of ECP on
students; methodologies; teacher’s relation to the subject;
motivation; difficulties; students’ relation to the subject
RESULTS
• Sample of teachers (questionnaire)
 63 (74%) men, 22 (26%) women
 Aged between 24-59 (M=36,57)
 63,5% with bachelor degree and 25,9% with medium and secondary
educational level
 Most work in the GSE (61%)
 Mean of the time service = 12,8 years
• Sample of educational agents (interview)
 16 women, 35 men
 Aged between 28-56 years (M=44,8)
 Level of education: superior (25), secondary / high school (17),
primary or less (3), no information (5)
 Directors of schools (n=8), assistant directors/pedagogical (n=17),
teachers/director of class (n=8), chiefs of secretary (n=7), other
administrative/support staff (n=10)
RESULTS
Table 1 – Aspects in which NE aligns well with the secondary school mission
Mean
Std.
Deviation
Formation of citizens with patriotic and humanistic spirit
4.08
1.251
Communication domain in at least one foreign language
2.90
1.494
Problem solving through creativity
4.73
.543
Lifelong learning
4.42
.921
Inclusion in the life of their community
4.43
.922
Insertion in the job market
4.62
.740
Aspects in line with the strategy defined for the GSE 2009-2015
- prepare students to identify and solve problems creatively and to
contribute to the life of their communities and their job markets, by
developing entrepreneurial skills.
RESULTS
Table 2 – Reasons for the importance of NE to students
Mean
Std.
Deviation
Allows the discovery of their talents and abilities
4.79
.514
Improves their self-confidence
4.61
.659
Encourages teamwork *
4.51
.826
Increases the predisposition to new projects
4.57
.749
Helps identifying potential risks
4.34
1.074
Enables the practical application of the contents
4.55
.764
Encourages autonomy
4.62
.710
Helps to develop a business plan
4.81
.422
RESULTS
Table 3 – Indicators susceptible to change after attending NE
Mean
Dedication and commitment
Interest in self-employment
Appreciation and dignity of work
Interest in their studies in general
Attention to market opportunities
Ability to take the initiative
Involvement in finding solutions
Efficiency in the development of activities
Creativity and idea generation
2.86
2.80
2.74
2.57
2.73
2.83
2.69
2.66
2.88
Std.
Deviation
.415
.458
.492
.544
.496
.434
.559
.549
.359
Note: the answers ranged between 3 and 1: 3=increased; 2=maintained; 1=decreased
Regarding the educational agents interviewed => broad agreement on NE’s
positive effects
- Development of functional skills related to creating and managing
- Greater student autonomy and initiative
- Greater sense of responsibility
- Creativity, broader vision, change in mentality and attitudes towards work
RESULTS
Table 4 – NE contribution to improving teacher performance
Improves my professional performance in general
Improves the way I prepare classes
Allows a more practical teaching approach
Allows more interactive classes
Increases proximity to students
Regarding
the
relationship
between
Mean
4.44
4.06
4.71
4.73
4.71
the teachers
educational agents interviewed => positive aspects
-
Shift to more entrepreneurial behaviours
-
“More entrepreneurial/created their own business”
and
NE,
RESULTS
Figure 1 - Methods used in NE classes
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
83
72
69
61
36
68
58
71
65
CONCLUSIONS
• Development of teacher’s learning is crucial for the
progress of the programme
• Teachers seem to have limited knowledge about how to
conduct EE in practice
• Teachers and other educational agents emphasise
impacts as:
- Greater sense of responsibility
- Increases in self-confidence and entrepreneurial spirit
- Changes in attitudes towards work
- Deeper interest in generating self-employment
CONCLUSIONS
• Teachers tend to attribute a greater value to the
instrumental aspect of training (business planning and
skill development
• Perceptions about teacher motivation => contradictory
results. Differences may result from:
- Varying stages in subject implementation
- Skills and interests of the teachers themselves
- Conditions for implementation (e.g. evaluation system)
- Level of student interest in the subject
Recommendations
• Strengthening the teaching staff and their training in the field
of entrepreneurship
• Providing the means (resources) to undertake activities
inside and outside schools
• Improving and homogenizing (among schools) the
evaluation systems for assessing student knowledge
• Improving financial conditions for teachers in order to
motivate them
• Incorporate ECP in a wider process of changing mentalities,
through a greater connection with the families, other
teachers and community