How do Finnish teacher educators implement entrepreneurship education?
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to ascertain how the people who train Finnish teachers implement entrepreneurship education in the guidance they provide. The authors show how learning through, for and about entrepreneurship manifests in the self-evaluations of Finnish teacher educators.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were collected in spring 2012 with a quantitative survey questionnaire to 100 teacher educators and training teachers for vocational and general education, to rectors and managers.
Findings
The teacher educators used a relatively large number of the pedagogical models and methods pursued in entrepreneurship education, such as problem based learning, experiential and practical descriptions of situations, and they also encouraged their students to take responsibility and to be self-directed. These can be seen to specifically support learning for entrepreneurship. On the other hand there would still be room for improvement as regards the teacher educators’ guidance through entrepreneurship.
Practical implications
It would be appropriate in entrepreneurship education to take account of prospective teachers’ authentic experiences of entrepreneurship. For example, in teacher training greater use could be made of practice enterprises, co-operative operations, on-the-job learning and methods such as the Young Enterprise business incubator.
Originality/value
The European Union places particular emphasis on the further development of entrepreneurship education in teacher training. The study opens up perspectives on what kinds of skills teacher educators impart to prospective teachers who will continue in working life until the 2070s.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
This paper is produced within the YVI Project. YVI Project (2010-2014) is a national project that aims at developing entrepreneurship education in Finnish vocational and academic teacher education. The project’s sub-targets include developing pedagogy and networks in entrepreneurship education, developing a virtual learning environment for entrepreneurship education (the YVI-site), and creating strategies and curricula for entrepreneurship education. An active multidisciplinary research group is also gathered within the project’s network. YVI Project is coordinated by the University of Turku, Teacher Training School. The project is ESF-funded, with the Finnish National Board of Education as the financing authority. Additionally, the project receives funding from the Centre for School Clubs, the Turku Region Development Centre, the Ministry of Employment and the Economy and the Foundation for Economic Education. The total of 30 partners of the project represent Finnish universities, teacher training school within universities, vocational teacher education units, research units, vocational colleges and universities of applied sciences, as well as several organisations in entrepreneurship and economy. They all have had an extensive role in enabling the project and this paper, which the authors highly appreciate.
Citation
Seikkula-Leino, J., Satuvuori, T., Ruskovaara, E. and Hannula, H. (2015), "How do Finnish teacher educators implement entrepreneurship education?", Education + Training, Vol. 57 No. 4, pp. 392-404. https://doi.org/10.1108/ET-03-2013-0029
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2015, Emerald Group Publishing Limited