finnish teachers as users and creators of learning environments that promote entrepreneurship

Finnish Teachers as Users and Creators of Learning Environments That Promote

Entrepreneuship

Minna Riikka Järvinen, PhD, MA, MBAMay 15, 2013 Kerhokeskus, Finland

Research paper by Minna Riikka Järvinen, Merike Kesler and Elena

Ruskovaara

Kerhokeskus TM & Co. Innovations for teaching

7 survival skills, Wagner 2008,2012

• Critical thinking and problem solving • Collaboration across networks and leading by influence• Agility and adaptability • Initiative and entrepreneurship • Effective oral and written communication • Accessing and analysing information• Curiosity and imagination• https://www.teachthought.com/learning/21st-century-learning-preparing-

students-for-complex-futures/

Entrepreneuship education as means for developing metacognitive skills

https://www.teachthought.com/learning/is-entreprenurial-learning-the-way-of-the-future/?ref=nf

Research question

How teachers in Finnish basic education and general and vocational upper secondary education use and create

learning environments that facilitate the development of key skills and foster entrepreneuship in

students.

Data collection with Measurement Tool for Entrepreneurship Education™

• Self-evaluation tool for teachers in basic and upper secondary education

• Helps to evaluate and develop one’s own entrepreneurship education and that of the school community

• Responding questionaire of 112 questions takes approx. 15 minutes, after which immediate personal feedback and ideas for the implementation of entrepreneurship education are given

• Feedback requires registration• Tool available in Finnish and Swedish, see www.lut.fi/entre

The Measurement Tool examines entrepreneurship education

1. Entrepreneurship and entrepreneurship education

2. Pedagogical solutions

3. Operating culture

4. Learning environments

5. Operation in networks

Based on definition of future learning environments

Boundaries of formal, informal and nonformal learning environments disappear

Co-creation of knowledge - learners active role as a producer of knowledge!

From subject-based learning to topic-based understanding and creation.

Knowledge and skills aquired outside school recognized also in school teaching.

(Saywer 2006; Natritello 2007; Kangas 2010)

Concept of learning environment of the measurement tool

Concept of entrepreneurship

• Derived from Gibb 2005; Remes 2001, 2004; Kyrö 2005, 2008• Independence• Self-evaluation skills• Talents and skills• Responsibility• Goal-orientation• New solutions• Risk-taking• Learning from mistakes• Recognising one’s potentials• Future aspirations

Research data & analysis

• 36 questions /112; learning environment 22 , entrepreneurship 14

• N=638• Background information: teachers’ age, gender,

working experience, school level• SPSS (IBM SPSS STATISTICS v20) with data

compression using principal component analysis PCA + sum variables

• Statistical differences tested using ANOVA variance analysis Post Hoc (Tukey)

Results. Teaching situations and learning environments

• Teachers create and utilise entrepreneurial learning environments occasionally. No difference according to any background variables.

• Teachers modify their own plans, test new things & working methods quite often, i.e are quite flexible. No difference according to any background variables.

• The more competent teacher felt about his/hers skills and competences in entrepreneurship education, the better the results.

Results. Content analysis; learning environments (le)

Activity-based physical le: mean 2,6 times/6months; differences between individual schools and teachers; vocational ed stands out because of curriculum quite good results at all levelsInspiring physical le: mean 1,8 times/6months; creative activities and engagning learners quite uncommon in Finnish schools depressing resultCollaborative le: mean 2,5 (scale 0-4) (weekly to monthly)Creativity-fostering le: mean 2,44 (scale 0-4) occasionally

Teachers’ gender or work experience makes no difference to the results. Instead their perception of their own skills and competences correlate with better results.

Does Finnish education root more in epistemology than onthology?

Results. Developing Entrepreneurship in learners

Scale 0-4 (never-daily)3 principal components:

Encouragement – mean 3; only weekly!Fostering creativity – mean 2.3 (little better than monthly)Discussion on the future – mean 2 (monthly)

No differerences between school levels, not even on points when pupils should pick up future plans.

Conclusions

Teachers are school-centered but flexible.

Learning environments out-of-school visited once-twice/semester.

Involving learners in learning process and its planning is uncommon.

Coping with uncertainty, self-direction, shared expertise or brainstorming only occasionally.

Conclusions

Cornerstones of all learning, responsibility, goal-orientation, strenghtening confidence in one’s skills, learning from mistakes ONLY WEEKLY. Schools&teachers school-centered, relatively supportive, less creative, hardly ever future oriented.

Teachers’ confidence in their own skills makes a difference. More in-profession training and new trends to teacher training needed + Pedacogigal leadership – role of the principal vital.

Three dreams about future school

”The world of not knowing is the world of learning” .

School pedagogy of the future

Krokfors et al. 2010

Thank you for your attention! Ask for the full paper:

minnariikka.jarvinen@kerhokeskus.fi