Why schools should be teaching entrepreneurship

Posted by Janice Scheckter on 03 April 2024, 12:35 SAST

What if teachers could give their students hope and empathy skills, even while society faces global health problems and divisive tensions? Teaching entrepreneurial skills can help teachers prepare their students for today’s rapidly changing world.

We can think of at least five reasons why schools should teach entrepreneurship. But first, let’s look at what entrepreneurship education means.

What Is Entrepreneurship Education?

Entrepreneurship education teaches students important life skills, such as:

• Collaborating and working with a team
• Speaking in public and prepare an effective presentation (digitally and in-person)
• Collecting, analyzing, and using data 
• Using social media for promotion and/or advocacy
• Handling real, complex problems that don’t have a definitive answer
• Using curiosity and creativity to find an innovative approach to difficult problems

Students learn what it takes to develop a product or service, create their own unique business proposals, and give multiple pitch presentations.

Entrepreneurship education does not just benefit those entering the fields of science, technology, and business. Students interested in the arts, social sciences, and similar fields can also develop their imagination and learn how to apply creative thinking skills to real-world problems.

Here are five benefits of schools teaching entrepreneurship:

1. Prepare your students for an uncertain future.

The recent COVID-19 pandemic has taught all of us an important lesson: Our lives can dramatically change at any time. Some economic experts predicted many people’s jobs would become automated during the next few decades, even before the global pandemic.

Teachers can’t always predict exactly what students will need to know after they graduate. Still, teaching entrepreneurship skills can help students handle, and sometimes even welcome, the changes happening in technology, business, and society in general.

These skills include problem-solving, teamwork, empathy, as well as learning to accept failure as a part of the growth process.

2. Students develop their creativity and collaboration skills.

Entrepreneurship education supports creativity, innovation, and collaboration. These skills are highly valued by the top colleges and most businesses in the world and will be used by your students well beyond their middle school and high school years. 

Businesses are often rewarded for creating products and services that seem new and different. The best new ideas are usually a result of two or more people working well together.

3. Teach students how to identify and recognize problems.

Students must know how to identify problems before learning how to solve them. Problem-solving exercises are a long-time staple of traditional education. However, the same cannot be said for identifying problems.

Traditionally, problem-solving is taught by presenting students with issues that are already clearly defined by someone else. In the real world, problems can only be solved when they have been properly identified and described.

Entrepreneurship education helps children learn how to identify problems they have never dealt with before. This skill is much needed now and will continue to be needed in the future.

4. Help students become resilient.

Let’s be honest. Sometimes grades, socioeconomic status, and intelligence don’t accurately predict a student’s chances of having long-term success.

What’s a better predictor of a student’s future success? Their resilience, also known as “grit.”

Becoming an entrepreneur is an ongoing journey filled with ups and downs, even when the economy is thriving. Teaching entrepreneurship encourages students to figure out their passions and how to be persistent when pursuing their interests. Students also learn how to stick with a business idea, or similar project, especially when times are tough.

Learning how to work through problems and adapt to changes improves a student’s chances of having professional and personal success long after they leave your classroom. 

5. Encourage students to make the world a better place.

Entrepreneurs constantly look to solve problems and meet the needs with the help of their products and services. Entrepreneurship can start with a desire to make money and live a better life, for many aspiring business leaders of all ages.

But all successful businesses have one thing in common: They make life easier and/or more enjoyable for their customers. Teachers can support and encourage their students to be motivated by a desire to help people with a product or service.

Main Takeaways for Why Schools Should Teach Entrepreneurship

• Teachers can play an important role in supporting aspiring and current young entrepreneurs. 
• Entrepreneurship education teaches students skills they can use well into their adult years. These skills include working with a team, using the internet and social media for marketing, as well as developing creative ways to create new products and solve complex problems.
• Teaching entrepreneurship empowers students by preparing for an uncertain future and work to make life better for other people. 
• In other words, entrepreneurship lessons can give students hope for themselves and empathy for other people. 

Those skills are needed now more than ever before.

Source: https://www.risinginnovator.com/2020/07/five-crucial-reasons-why-schools-should-teach-entrepreneurship/