From Entrepreneurship to Entrepreneurial Education in Lower Secondary School: Pedagogising by Means of the Pedagogic Device

Abstract

This study is part of a school improvement programme on entrepreneurial education and investigates teachers' understanding and transmission of entrepreneurial education in two Swedish lower secondary schools, through interviews and observations. Entrepreneurship is a well-established concept within capitalist society, but the interest here is to investigate the transmission of it into pedagogic discourse and communication. Bernstein's concept of the pedagogic device is used to reason on the process of what happens, and why, when the concept of entrepreneurship is transformed into entrepreneurial education. The results indicate different understandings and connotations on a deeper level, and also show that transmission to colleagues and pupils faces a series of challenges. In practise, the findings show different approaches to entrepreneurial education among individual teachers, but also between schools. This can be explained by gaps in the transmitting process, but also by different school cultures and diverse forms of collegial collaboration, which may affect transmission among colleagues and thus the transmission to pupils. Pupils' backgrounds may also have an impact on the differences.

Research on the Mechanism of Entrepreneurial Education Quality, Entrepreneurial Self-efficacy and Entrepreneurial Intention in Social Sciences, Engineering and Science Education

“…that when the economy is in transition, the state should give priority to and support the creation, innovation and entrepreneurial ability, especially young people (Carsrud, Brnnback, 2011;Diehl, 2016;Kirby, Ibrahim, 2017). McMullan and Long pointed out that entrepreneurship education can cultivate individual innovative thinking and entrepreneurial ability.…”

Experiential learning and its impact on students' entrepreneurial intention in two innovative high school programs

“…Diehl (2016) finds that at least in the case of Swedish entrepreneurial education programs where these programs are mandated, that "a need for authenticity and concreteness, for example through interaction with the surrounding society, is also expressed as an important aspect" (p.39). It has been suggested in the earlier literature review section that this authenticity of projects and interaction with the surrounding members of society are important aspects in U. S. programs as well.…”