Teaching Entrepreneurship: The Motivation
Whenever I talk to educators or parents about teaching Entrepreneurship to school students, the #1 QUESTION that I get is,
“Aren’t they too young for all this?”
I understand. Teaching Entrepreneurship to school students is a substantial investment of time and effort. So it is natural to have questions before taking it up. That is why I have decided to start off this publication with a detailed answer to this question.
The years of middle and high school, when students are aged 12–18 years, are the most formative years of their lives. It is this period during which they form most of their values that are going to guide them as adults. This is precisely the reason why we teach them about the benefits of democracy (Civics) and about the different kinds of pollution (Science) during this period.
But aren’t they too young to understand how our country functions? No, right? Exactly my point!
I urge you to take a look at their textbooks again. They are being taught how our country functions (Civics), about electricity and circuits (Science), about different land forms (Geography), etc. since they are 12 years of age. As they grow, we start teaching them about even more complex stuff like Dobereiner’s Law of Triads (Science). Do you even remember what that was? Exactly!
If they aren’t too young to learn about all this, then why are they too young to learn about Entrepreneurship? I’ll tell you why. Because this is not something included in any board’s curriculum. That’s why our brains are not conditioned to accept the fact that it is much more relevant than many of the things being taught to school students anyway.
However, I will admit that many of the things taught to them are also very relevant. School students are taught about the benefits of democracy and about the different kinds of pollution because of a very specific reason. Teaching them about these things will ensure that they become responsible global citizens — leading improvement in governance as well as action for environment protection.
Seeing this, a question comes to mind. What is the benefit of teaching Entrepreneurship to them?
There are many benefits. Entrepreneurship teaches students important life skills like:
- Empathy: Identifying the problems that people face and trying to solve them in a way that meets their expectations.
- Teamwork: Working with a team of people having different skills and different mindsets to make the world a better place.
- Effective Communication: Interviewing customers to identify their problems and later pitching their ideas to customers or investors.
- Critical Thinking: Using patterns in customer feedback to iterate and improve their solution.
- Resilience: Continuously working on their solution until it satisfies market expectations and attracts paying customers.
And I can go on. But you get the idea.
The last thing I want to highlight about teaching Entrepreneurship to school students, is the learning goal that you should look for. Let me remind you that education is a long-term game. It is much more than the short-term numbers you get on high engagement, low course drop-out rates, etc.
Teaching Entrepreneurship to them isn’t about getting the next billion dollar startup or building the next Google. It is more about teaching them important life skills which will help them perform to the maximum of their potential in whichever field they choose in the future. It is more about teaching them how to think and then how to apply.
Does this idea intrigue you? If YES, then I would love to know what motivates you to learn about or teach Entrepreneurship. Please let me know in the comments section below. We will soon share our lesson plans to help you learn about or teach Entrepreneurship. We will also share our experiences from the Entrepreneurship boot camp that we are conducting for girl students in collaboration with the awesome folks at Jaadu Ki Nagri, Teach for India.
Stay tuned! :)
