How to develop personal autonomy in young entrepreneurship education

Written by Christian Gaya:   Published in Business Times

Friday, 21 September 2012 12:15

The development of personal autonomy in enterprise and entrepreneurship education is desirable, and this should be reflected in the learning and assessment process. As an illustration, young entrepreneurship students can be required to work with incomplete information or information that is incrementally offered after a review of their initial findings. They can be required to elicit multiple solutions and to make choices based on personal reflection, both in teams and as individuals. Evaluation can take place within a carefully simulated context or a real context that addresses current themes and trends as well as incorporating external influences such as employers' perspectives. Young entrepreneurship students should develop personal views and or evaluation of others' perspectives should help them respond to situations that they may previously have found uncomfortable. The above assumes a shift in the relationship between educator and young entrepreneurship student. Knowledge that is continuously being 'harvested' during a project or assignment may bring new dimensions into play at any time, and both the young entrepreneurship student and the educator must be flexible and adaptable to changing scenarios. For example, at the time of writing, a popular brand of mobile phone had just failed a considerable number of its customers; in only a week consumer confidence had plummeted, and it would take considerable time to rebuild the brand. To integrate this type of real-time event into learning and assessment is to make enterprise and young entrepreneurship education more real and tangible for the student. A range of methods of learning and assessment is likely to be appropriate. Assessment in enterprise has sometimes been solely through submission of a written business plan; however this method is unlikely to enable assessment of the full range of enterprise behaviours, attributes and skills, and so would usefully be complemented by other methods. Assessment of innovation and creativity, for example, can be done through tasks that require young entrepreneurship to challenge norms and spot opportunities, and to be flexible and adaptable in situations of ambiguity and risk. A number of activities generate outcomes that can be matched to an young entrepreneurship's situated learning. For example, 'learning by doing' requires the generation of multiple ideas and encourages reflective practice to elicit lessons learned; other activities useful for assessment purposes include pitches to peers and expert advisers, contextual simulations and games, and tendering and competing for advantage. Importantly, there should be no expectation of being 'absolutely right' at all times, as the young entrepreneurship will be responding to the current 'knowns', contexts and timing, as well as to prevalent trends and influential factors, which educators can into account during assessment and evaluation. This again offers the advantage of making the learning more current and real to the young entrepreneurship because it is not artificially abstracted from current events.  Young entrepreneurship students should be encouraged to draw on a wide range of intellectual resources, theoretical perspectives, and practical applications to illuminate their learning and the contexts within which it takes place. These may take the learning process beyond the expertise of the educator, but this can be accommodated since self-directed learning is a key element of enterprise and young entrepreneurship education. Informal and exploratory learning experiences can provide important opportunities for assessment. A supportive facilitator should aim to enhance learning, including self-directed learning, rather than taking the role of an expert who would facilitate 'correct' solutions and discount alternative but potentially meaningful ones. Enabling young entrepreneurship participants to do more than they could do before, and to challenge their ability to tackle and respond to problems, becomes more important than the 'right approach' or 'right answer'. The most creative solutions are usually the ones that were not foreseen. Engaging students in peer-to-peer assessment and inviting external specialists to debate young entrepreneurship approaches and solutions can not only make assessment more real and relevant, it can also make it more accessible and understandable. In an ever-changing environment, what is 'right' today may not be right tomorrow; thus situating learning in a real or well simulated environment provides opportunities to assess in a way that is fit for purpose.