DEVELOPING ENTREPRENEURSHIP SKILLS THROUGH INFUSION AND INTEGRATION OF ENTREPRENEURIAL STRATEGIES IN CLASSROOM PRACTICES

Jessica Atong Pinta

Department of General Studies/ Technical Education Plateau State Polytechnic Barkinladi

and Fittoka Sepeda Benue

Department of Electrical/ Electronics Technology Plateau State Polytechnic Barkinladi

Abstract This paper reiterates the importance of entrepreneurship as a necessary tool in ensuring the economic growth of the society. It highlights the indispensable role of education as a means of inculcating entrepreneurship skills in students, as such; it advocates the use of infusion and integration as approaches to be adopted in the classroom for channeling the goals of entrepreneurship towards meeting entrepreneurial needs of various subjects or courses. This is in addition to the existing practice of having entrepreneurship education as a separate course in schools. The approach that views entrepreneurship both in terms of firms and people formed the framework of the paper, as the development of both can be carried out through classroom practices. These include; infusing the entrepreneurship content into courses or subjects taught or integrating it in the various courses through expansion in order to include entrepreneurship possibilities of the various courses or even topics. Recommendations given at the end include among others; relating classroom activities to innovation, decision- making and problem-solving skills and strategies needed in daily life, and the need to teach in such a way that students see a relationship between what is learnt in class and what is obtained in the world of work. Introduction

The standard of education in Nigeria has so fallen that those who go through it have difficulty gaining employment in the formal sector because they are mostly considered unemployable. These young Nigerians after leaving school cannot create jobs for themselves in the informal sector either (Iweala 2012). Realizing the urgent need to adopt strategies for empowering these young people with knowledge and appropriate skills to improve their chances of getting employed or becoming self employed, the Federal Government introduced entrepreneurship education. This is to run alongside the various core school subjects or courses in schools. According to Yahaya (2011), the best way to solve the current unemployment problem is by ensuring that students in institutions of higher learning undertake compulsory entrepreneurship study. This was set up in 2006 and made compulsory for students of higher education institutions irrespective of area of specialization and in higher institutions of learning, it has been adopted as a compulsory general studies course for the students (Yahaya 2011).

The strategies to be adopted in overcoming the unemployment challenge are rooted within education because education, apart from integrating people in a society and teaching

them the values and morals of the society, is meant to train learners to develop skills that will prepare them physically, mentally and socially for the world of work in later life. Having introduced entrepreneurship education in schools, the growing concern is how it should be taught and the competence of the teachers handling the course. This is because studies have shown that the course is taught just like any other course, with no expertise and skill displayed in handling entrepreneurship education (Momoh 2010). This paper proposes the infusion and integration of entrepreneurial strategies in various classroom practices as one of the ways of developing entrepreneurship skills in students. This is in addition to the entrepreneurship course being taken by all students. The need for this approach is because classroom practices have been known to imprint indelibly on the memory and education draws heavily from classroom practices.

According to Ondigi (2012), the aim of education is for learners to cultivate and draw from the broad knowledge instructional strategies provide in the classroom. This broad knowledge is such that draws upon content of the instruction given and pedagogical knowledge and skills delineated in professional, state, and institutional standards to help all students learn entrepreneurial skills needed in the job market (Ondigi 2012). Learning entrepreneurship is useful because it provides students from various fields of study with the knowledge, skills and drive towards entrepreneurial success in a variety of settings. This is expected to be carried out at various levels of education because of its importance to the entire education programme.

For an education programme to really prepare students for the world of work after leaving school, it must include skill-building courses in areas such as negotiation, leadership, development of new products and services, creative thinking and exposure to technological innovation (Vesper &McMullen, 1988; King, 2001; Honig, 2004). All areas of development mentioned here are elements of entrepreneurship which all forms of education can key into. To achieve the goals of developing learners towards entrepreneurship, the activities that go on in the classroom should be channeled towards those goals. Consequently, entrepreneurship strategies in schools will require classroom practices that will incorporate all the elements of entrepreneurship development. Entrepreneurship

Entrepreneurship was initially conceptualized in the economic theory by economists such as Schumpeter, (1934) and Kirzner, (1979). The concept was initially seen as akin to starting a business. Entrepreneurship however started to attract the attention of other scholars from other fields like sociology, psychology and management studies (Schumpeter 1934). This explains why recent scholars, present an analysis of entrepreneurship in line with other concerns like the psychological and sociological outlook of entrepreneurship. Cardon et al (2009) for instance link entrepreneurs to entrepreneurial passion, which is understood as consciously accessible, intense positive feelings experienced by engagement in entrepreneurial activities associated with roles that are meaningful and salient to the self-identity of the entrepreneur. Kwiatkowski (2004) acknowledges that the identification and use of opportunities lie at the heart of entrepreneurship, though such a process is made possible by the individual’s networks or social capital.

Starting a business is not the main component of entrepreneurship because entrepreneurship is concerned with stimulating economic progress through innovation and

action. Entrepreneurship is recognized as a key factor for fostering economic growth based on innovation (European Commission, 2010). The European Commission goes on to explain that the sense of initiative and entrepreneurship was defined by the European Parliament and the Council in 2006 as:

an individual's ability to turn ideas into action. It includes creativity, innovation and risk-taking, as well as the ability to plan and manage projects in order to achieve objectives. This supports individuals, not only in their everyday lives at home and in society, but also in the workplace in being aware of the context of their work and being able to seize opportunities, and is a foundation for more specific skills and knowledge needed by those establishing or contributing to social or commercial activity. This should include awareness of ethical values and promote good governance.

Entrepreneurship can be approached both in terms of entrepreneurial firms and people (Swartland 2008). The characteristics of the entrepreneurial firm include the following; small-fast-growing, organic and network-based (Solomon et al 2005). The entrepreneurial person has the following characteristics; risk taking, daring, innovative, aggressive, intrinsically motivated for achievement and foresight (Schumpeter, 1934; Wilkens, 1979; Stevenson & Jarillo, 1991). Swartland (2008) says that another approach to defining entrepreneurship can be structured around Stevenson and Jarillo’s question about what, why and how. This approach examines entrepreneurship in this way; what happens when entrepreneurs act? Why do entrepreneurs act? How do entrepreneurs act? Irrespective of the approach used to define entrepreneurship, there is consensus that the entrepreneur plays an important role in making entrepreneurship happen.

Whatever the approach taken to define entrepreneurship, the qualities, skills and values required to be entrepreneurs bear some similarities. Schumpeter (1934) says the strong quality of an entrepreneur is risk-taking and innovative, Wilken‟s (1979) comments that the entrepreneur is daring, aggressive and has an intrinsic need for achievement. For Stevenson & Jarillo (1991), entrepreneurs have the capacity to identify and grasp opportunities and they use their skills (e.g. persuasiveness, negotiation, strategic thinking) in order to achieve their aims. Consequently, entrepreneurship is linked to a wide range of skills and attitudes which include creativity, innovation, risk-taking, passion, leadership, foresight and sense of initiative.

Entrepreneurship education is an organized and well planned set of educational activities that is aimed at developing entrepreneurship related competences. The competences developed through entrepreneurship education are identified by Ongigi (2012) as:

Specific knowledge (e.g. knowledge of the workings of the economy);

Skills (e.g. planning, organization, analysis, communication, negotiation, working individually and in teams, risk assessment, capacity to identify opportunities for personal and professional or business activities); and

Attitudes (e.g. sense of initiative, pro-activity, independence and motivation and determination to meet objectives).

The outcomes of entrepreneurship education carried out in the various instructional

activities that are carried out during the training programme are meant to have an impact on

products of the various institutions of learning. In the Nigerian school system, entrepreneurship education is entrenched in the National Policy on Education (NPE). NPE (2004) specifies the goals of education to include the provision of:

Trained manpower in the applied sciences, technology and business.

Technical knowledge and vocational skills necessary for agricultural, commercial and economic development, and

Training and imparting the necessary skills to individual who shall be self-reliant economically.

Equally, the European Commission (2010) links the development of entrepreneurial attitudes and behaviours to education and training as it emphasizes that entrepreneurship can be fostered and nurtured through learning processes. It also recognizes that teachers have a critical role to play in the development and promotion of entrepreneurship education. Classroom practice in developing entrepreneurial skills

Classroom practices are the various activities that go on in the classroom in the course of instruction. These include all the processes that go into making a successful lesson. The activities include; content of the instruction, objectives, exercises, instructional materials, time, modality of instruction, organization of lessons, presentation of lesson and the sequence of presentation, students’ activities, classroom management, evaluation and application of instructional activities. Classroom practices center around the teacher and how he is able to present information and skills such that the students see its application even outside the classroom. To achieve this will require teacher preparation in terms of professional development of the teacher as well as teacher readiness to implement the ideals of entrepreneurship development in the classroom using appropriate classroom practices. It is classroom practices that ensure that the content of materials to be learnt gets to the learners.

Learners in a normal classroom setting are expected to be equipped with school-to-work life skills which are necessary. This is in order for them to enjoy maximum benefits of their educational growth and development. According to Marzano, Pickering, and Pollack (2001), effective pedagogy consists of three elements: instructional strategies, management techniques, and curriculum design. There is therefore the need for classroom teachers to relate content to the national goals of education and prepare learners for the world of work (Ondigi, 2002; Hindle, 2006; Mitchell, & Chesteen, 1995). In relating content to the national goals of education, different strategies can be employed in the classroom. For the purpose of this paper, Infusion and integration are suggested as strategies to be adopted in relating the content of education to the National goals of Education. Infusion Infusion is having the principles of the newly introduced concept brought into materials outlined in the school curriculum. Here the main content of a subject does not need to be expanded. All the teacher needs to do is bring in entrepreneurship development exercises, activities and examples while teaching a particular topic provided for on the main curriculum. In infusion, entrepreneurship awareness and the content of entrepreneurship education is incorporated into the various courses and topics in such a way that it carries all learners along. This is to provide learners with frequent encounters of entrepreneurship. In infusion, main

content of the subject is not altered; instead, elements of entrepreneurship are fused into the main content of various subjects. Integration

Integration has to do with expanding the main content of a subject to include application of entrepreneurship strategies. Here for every topic treated, its entrepreneurship application is also examined. This entrepreneurship application has to do with strategies or skills to be developed through the topics treated. Equally, these strategies include those needed by entrepreneurship both as firms and as people.

In teaching English language for instance, the integration strategy will require that the language element to be learnt is taught communicatively (in real life context where the students will actually be encountering the language). This is to help the students to develop their communicative competence at the grammatical level (where grammar and broad vocabulary to use as building blocks in developing reading, writing, and critical thinking are developed), sociolinguistics, discourse and strategic levels (where students will be able to express and understand thoughts and opinions in a variety of settings, situations and with diverse populations) (Canale & Swain, 1980). These competencies are needed in entrepreneurship consequently, in an English lesson on creative writing, topics that center on resourcefulness, roles people play in enterprises, the entrepreneurs as architects of modern civilization, poverty eradication strategies or even leadership qualities can be presented as information that will activate students’ background experience. This is in addition to all information that need to be presented in a composition writing class like; generation of ideas, developing the ideas into paragraphs, drafting, proof reading and re-writing. This equally applies to other aspect of English language and other subjects. In infusion, the objectives of entrepreneurship education are thrown into the contents of different subjects, together with instructional materials which are presented as, and when necessary.

In integration, the content of what needs to be integrated is added to the main content of the course thereby widening the scope of coverage of the course content. Entrepreneurial education can be integrated into carrier subjects through common or strongly related topics (Swartland 2008). In a chemistry class for example, the development of business ideas can be linked to soap making processes after treating topics like saponification. Other ideas relating to other topics include; distillation, brewing, pomade and perfume making, insectides or pesticide making, paint making, the list is inexhaustive. In design and technology for example, the development of business ideas can be linked to design processes. In building technology, emphasis on entrepreneurial application need to be made in the various class activities like building supervision, rehabilitation, designing, landscaping, damage control and so on. In the case of business studies or business education, the topics are often related to entrepreneurship development but they need to be distinctly linked to its application. Other subjects include; home management, food and nutrition, creative art, electrical electronics, wood work technology, metal work technology and even education. Here the content of the various subject syllabuses and even topics presented can incorporate additional topics such as production, costing, record keeping, marketing, business plans and organization. This however will have varying degrees of coverage. Sometimes, some of these additional topics can even be presented in form of infusion where they may be presented as instances

outside the main content of the topic, but related to skills being developed in the main topic. Apart from integrating the various features of entrepreneurship (business idea development, market research and business plan implementation) in classroom activities in the various subjects, asking students to come up with mini projects, or draw up business proposals covering an area or areas taught within a term, semester or session can also be integrated into the class activities.

Similarly, entrepreneurial skills like innovation, decision- making and problem-solving skills needed in daily life can equally be introduced in the classroom in various course areas through the integration and infusion approaches. In integration, students can be actively engaged in carrying out mini projects, drawing up business plans or even discussing how topics learnt after each class can be of practical benefit to them and the society. The teacher can initiate other innovative classroom activities along this direction. In addition, the classroom activities should at all times provide opportunities for movement in stages (known to unknown), should have a structure, and create in learners, expectations for the lesson. In the case of infusion, the teacher can present the day’s topic, but find ways of bringing in examples or instances where these qualities are displayed or are required. This should be made referenced to emphatically such that the students get the entrepreneurial message behind the day’s lesson.

In addition, other entrepreneurial skills like skills on self-advocacy can be taught through encouraging students’ active participation in class, encouraging them to ask and answer questions, encouraging them to even challenge answers, make oral presentations and engage in open discussions which are all forms of integration. In adopting infusion, materials selected for instruction should be such that these skills are projected. In addition to skills on self advocacy are skills on personal strengths and capabilities. This can carried with greater ease using subjects that emphatically emphasize these and both integration and infusion can be used. The subjects include; civic education, history, social studies, citizenship education, religious studies and even some general studies courses. This is useful as it will help students act responsibly at school and eventually at work. These can be made reference to even in subjects that do not strongly emphasize it. Social skills are also part of entrepreneurial skills. They develop positive relationships between individuals, their immediate community and the society generally. Developing this in the students through integration can be done through presenting this skill at the application stage of a lesson. In presenting the skill through infusion, the teacher can, during the lesson, create an activity that will require competition, team work and cooperation. The teacher can equally present illustrations on the two sides of life, collective cooperation, joint effort, shared responsibility and so on, using stories, instructional materials or even real life experiences. This can be done before, during or after the main lesson on whatever topic. It should be noted that social interaction can be encouraged as much as possible through group work, practical projects and community projects. A typical example is a group project carried out by students of technical education of Plateau State Polytechnic, where the students were asked to identify a need in the school community and work in groups to meet the need. The result was a toilet facility built by a group of students in building technology department, roofed by those in woodwork technology, windows and doors constructed by those in metal work technology and the lighting work carried out by those in electrical

electronics technology. Other skills to be developed include; organizational skills and study skills for school and work and career development skills. Conclusion It is not in doubt that the standard of education has fallen such that young school leavers cannot get employment or create jobs for themselves. This is because they lack entrepreneurial skills. The school curriculum can be remodeled in such a way that a link is created between activities carried out in the school and the world of work. Apart from introducing entrepreneurship education as a compulsory subject in the school particularly at the tertiary level, there is the need to have students exposed to entrepreneurship strategies on daily bases and in different guises. This can be done using the infusion and integration approaches where the students will encounter the various skills they need in different subject areas and topics as a result of which the students will be exposed to opportunities where they can to apply and transfer learning to a variety of entrepreneurship avenues. Recommendations

All teachers and not just those in business studies or other related fields need to be trained on entrepreneurship in order for them to understand the skills needed by their students for facing the challenges of the world of work.

Teachers need to be trained on how they can adapt their the various topics in their subjects to match the entrepreneurial needs of students by choosing teaching and learning methods that match the learning needs of the students.

Teachers equally need to be trained and retrained on the use of teaching methods that promote active learning, including hands-on learning, real-world and experiential learning like in the case of language instruction, where there is the communicative language approach or English for specific purposes. The teachers equally need to be trained on community-based learning.

Teachers should from time to time be encouraged to map out specific areas that will provide opportunities for students to apply and transfer learning to a variety of situations. This will help the students to master the skills learnt in the various subjects.

Teachers should ensure that for every, or most of the topics learnt in class, work opportunities that are entrepreneurial in nature are explored, presented and even discussed in class together with the students.

Students’ accomplishments should not only be recognized in class, but the students should be encouraged by the teacher to study widely, learn to take risks and try again when they fail. This should not just be taught by precepts but by examples as well.

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