Fostering an entrepreneurial mindset

NOW is the time to do a lot of things. President of the European Council Herman Van Rompuy is spot on that the future should look better. The papers are mostly filled with bad news regardless of field or continent, so one could say that a person with an entrepreneurial mindset has many opportunities and many gaps to fill. Creating new jobs through increased entrepreneurship is the right way to go. However, I feel even more confident that more jobs will be created through an entrepreneurial mindset within just about any organization or work place. We need the new and innovative ideas, that lead to better products, to not only enter middle management but be implemented. And as Van Rompuy was saying, we need to bring in all the potential and resources we have in society in order to reach that goal.

As a social scientist and future educator, my solution comes from each individual and the surrounding institutions that form our society. I stumble upon Van Rompuy’s words “how can women be stimulated to start their own business”. Before I used to go and look for solutions (or problems) far away, but I have learnt that the solutions can often be found closer than you think.  Therefore, the first place where an entrepreneurial mindset should be fostered is at home. The second key to an entrepreneurial mindset is gender sensitivity that lets our youth flourish.

Parents as role models

Before and during kindergarten and school, the parents’ role is of indescribable importance. They introduce the children to society and the world. The role stays there for life, but as the child grows older, other people come and go as role models as well. I therefore want to stress the parents’ role in fostering an entrepreneurial mindset. If children see and experience how their parents are persistent in their everyday actions, innovative, solve problems, test new ideas, take some risks or talk positively about setting up a business, then the child grows up with an entrepreneurial spirit.

Gender Equality and Equal Opportunities

When it really hit me, that I don’t have the same opportunities as my male colleagues to get a superior position, we rolled up our sleeves with some colleagues and started a "women  struggle” (kvinno kampen) project at work. The idea was to have as many colleagues as possible wear a T-shirt on the International Women's Day with the kvinnokampen logo and make the employer aware of the fact that we need to look into gender quality and make a gender equality plan at work.  

There was perhaps 30% participation in the project, which was good as it was mostly mouth to mouth recruitment. After this, my employer decided to form an equality group that made a gender equality plan at work. So far so good; when it came to implementation, it all stagnated. Ever since, I’ve learnt more about gender equality. Only when all men and women can be part of the educational system and work force and have equal opportunities to get a job based on their knowledge and get the same compensation for the same work, then society is using its full potential.

I want the rules and the stage to be the same for men and women in meeting rooms. So where are “equal opportunities” seeds that lead into “I can do anything” trees planted? They are planted at home, at the toy section, in school, in the town swimming pool, in the queue to Santa Claus – everywhere. It is all about being a good role model as a parent, employer and teacher. You don't need balls to change tires, or tits to fill in the kindergarten application form. Kids need to see that.  

Gender Sensitive Education

I believe that through gender sensitive tuition, we give our youth a stronger self-esteem and courage to study whatever they are truly interested in and eventually entering the work force with courage to be entrepreneurial. Gender sensitive teaching is about awareness. It’s about learning that there are boys and girls in the classroom, and they all need our attention and encouragement. It’s about realizing that girls are not automatically better in languages than boys, or that boys are not automatically better in sciences than girls. Boys are not generally wilder than girls. These are just assumptions and behavior that is accepted in society.

 A gender sensitive the teacher is aware that society and the school is not equal. The teacher is sensitive to unequal treatment or structures, and he or she may e.g. chose not to use certain study material because it enforces gender stereotypes. The teacher raises the students’ awareness to equality and helps the students’ understand why equality is better and finds ways to stop the pattern.  It is all about our words and how we treat and encourage the students.

In InnoOmnia entrepreneurial Hub young entrepreneurs are encouraged regardless of gender. In the French Incubation for Women, the project is targeted for women wanting to start up a business and its aim is to take into consideration all constraints that face women in order to have a successful business. Both projects represent something I find crucial:

- All young people regardless of gender should be encouraged to entrepreneurship

- All men and women should be able to enter the work force with equal opportunities. No person should face more constraints due to gender.  

Sources:

European Training Foundation ETF. Entrepreneurship Training: 12 Good Practice Examples retrieved on 21 December 2012

Suortamo, M et all 2010. Sukupuoli ja tasa-arvo koulussa. Juva: PS-Kustannus.
Van Rompuy, H.: ETF Conference On Entrepreneurship 'Timely And Relevant' video on 15 November 2012.

the individuality of learning

What is your favorite method of learning? It depends what you want to learn, right. 

One approach to learning is by defining one’s preferred learning style or styles. Teachers will then try to match the preferred learning styles of the students to the teaching. You may read more about learning styles in the first virtual session post and learning styles post.

Another way to differentiate learning is by separation of learning methods. In entrepreneurship education teachers are encouraged to use different methods of teaching. Below I have listed learning methods that are encouraged in entrepreneurship education. Precisely these methods were listed in a survey conducted by Lappeenranta University of Technology and Kerho keskus ry where 343 elementary and upper secondary school teachers participated in a web-based survey about their methods and activities during the last 6 months in 2009-2010. The top of the list represents the most popular methods for the teachers and the bottom end lists the least popular methods.

1. learning by doing

2. problem based learning

3. co-operative learning

4. learning by developing

5. creative problem solving

6. learning in teams

7. peer learning

8. project based learning

9. real world simulation

10. e-learning

11. learning diaries, portfolios

12. debates

13. pedagogical drama

 You may read more about the study in Pihkala et all. 2011. Entrepreneurship Education - What Is Really Happening in Class Rooms? The above mentioned learning methods activate the students to take part in their own learning process. They encourage a learning environment which is not based on endless teacher lectures. The majority of these methods are collaborative but individual learning is also used. Especially e-learning is excellent for learning at an individual level. Educational technology provides a great tool to strengthen students weak areas.

There is a lot going on in e-learning at the moment. There is e.g. the Molla project for pre-school children. Molla (media, participation, child) – project started in 2011 and is funded by the Finnish national board of education. The aim of the project is to introduce ICT (tablets and digital cameras) to pre-school children in a safe and participative environment. The project is produced in co-operation with Turku Top-centre and Viikki Campus of the University of Helsinki and is implemented in Lappeenranta, Lemi, Savitaipale and Taipalsaari regions.

On elementary school level there are seven schools in Vantaa participating in a pilot project where ICT is being used in order to support individual learning. One example of this is Havukoski school where they matched the students learning styles and placed the students in four different groups based on the findings. One of the main ideas is to develop teaching practices where ICT (laptops) are being used to support different learners.

There are a lot going on in the e-learning field, which is good, but it takes time to get the big picture.

I’m looking forward to see what teaching and learning is like in my teacher practice school. I am very eager to dig into it and am determined to find suitable methods to teach depending on the subject.

References:

Molla (Media, osallisuus, lapsi). Retrieved on 17 December 2012 from http://molla.ejuttu.fi/molla-media-education-kindergarten

Pihkala et all 2011.Entrepreneurship Education - What Is Really Happening in Class Rooms? Retrieved on 17 December 2012 from http://developmentcentre.lut.fi/files/muut/YKTT_2011_Lappeenranta_E_E.pdf 

Tieto- ja Viestintätekniikka opetuksen eriyttämisen tukena. "Jokaiselle jotakin -oppilaiden oppimistyylit verkkopohjaisen oppimisen taustalla". Retrieved on 17 December 2012 from  http://www.edu.vantaa.fi/tvt/?p=43

Tieto- ja Viestintä tekniikka opetuksen eriyttämisen tukena. "Tavoitteet". Retrieved on 17 December 2012 from http://www.edu.vantaa.fi/tvt/ 

virtual session 4

It was nice to have the last session on Vocational Pedagogy 1 (VOC1) over. It’s quite stressful to manage to do the work as a group and to find time to do the individual work. I really liked our subject (entrepreneurship in vocational education) and learnt a lot during the preparation. The actual presentation could have given more to the students, though. The message didn’t come out as strongly as we had planned.

Overall we had a good session covering teaching special needs students, how to develop cooperation between working life and vocational schools and lastly, how entrepreneurship is being developed in vocational schools.

I am still not used to presenting subjects virtually. I would like to see the audience and see their expressions. Video image should be used during the presentations, at least to say “hi” so that you can be in visual contact with the others. The microphones should also be on for everybody so that we could have a dialogue. A "yes", "seriously?" or “I have some experience with this..” should be possible. Now there is only designated time for discussions or some interactive exercise set by the presenter. We are rookies, so no problem, but I would like to participate in an ideal virtual session, learn what it’s like so that I could apply it in my own teaching. Yes, we learn well from others and learn by doing, but it is no harm done to see professionals teach online!

The materials for special education and cooperation between schools and working life were excellent. I had a new glance just now, and learnt many things. We will all teach special education students in the future since the main idea is to integrate all students in the class and give special education separately only in the needed subject. Many good tips for the future and we had a good discussion in the end with the group.

I’m VERY interested in the cooperation between working life and schools. I’d like to be a student counselor, and what drives me is to help people find their dream job and push them towards that goal. But that doesn’t mean that I know how it works in practice, yet. There are a lot of players to involve and there are many forms of cooperation to consider. What we teachers need to do is to bring the outside world to the school, or the school to the outside world.

Last but not least of the subjects was entrepreneurship education at school. Entrepreneurship is a wide definition and it can be taught in many ways and it is not only learning business skills! When teaching or learning just about any subject, you come very far with an entrepreneurial mindset. Creativity, innovation, problem solving, critical thinking, taking responsibility in own learning, risk taking, positive attitude towards self-employment and so forth. An entrepreneurial mindset is handy in everyday life too. It kicks you forward.The EU commission final report from November 2009 on Entrepreneurship in vocational education and training is a good starting point for digging into the subject from an EU-perspective.

We wanted to have a quiz at the start of our presentation in order to introduce the subject.  During the search, I found the yrittäjyys mittaristo measurement tool for entrepreneurship education developed by Lappeenranta University of Technology and Kerho keskus ry. We would have used it as a pre-task before session 4, but since the test is only available in Finnish and Swedish, we had to do something else. I however, recommend you to measure your entrepreneurship education skills, tools or potential.  It is easy if you know some Finnish or Swedish, but you may also do it with google translate J It takes about 15 min and you get instant feedback and a score based on your response.       

references:
Measurement tool for entrepreneurship education. Retrieved on 16 December 2012 from http://developmentcentre.lut.fi/english.asp?show=yrittajyyskasvatus

my view of learning

I watch learning all the time. I guess that’s one of the biggest joys of parenthood. The way kids learn is fascinating. They watch some kid do something, copy what they see and do it themselves. I watched last night how my 1.5 year old learnt how to open the fridge by stepping on a pedal. How to open the fridge by using the pedal is hard for adults too, and most adults would just ask how to do it instead of just trying. He tried and tried for 5 minutes and then suddenly he got it open. He has seen how it works for 2 months, he wanted to do it himself, he wanted to see what’s inside and he wanted to be useful and help the rest of the family by providing this service. He managed and was happy. Then he went on to explore other things.

We could get very far in life only by maintaining a child’s mindset. Curiosity to everything, questioning everything (perhaps a little less is sometimes enough) and doing stuff that  are interesting and fun without thinking what others think if we do this or that.

Learning happens all the time. There are many theoretical approaches to learning and I will share with you my favorite theories. They all assemble learning in childhood, but the reason is natural. These are the “learning theories” that interest me right now:

- Developmental stage theory; cognitive theory by Jean Piaget

- Montessori education theory; constructivist theory developed by Maria Montessori

- Erikson's stages of psycho-social development, developed by Erik Erikson

Piaget, Montessori and Erikson are just a few scholars of many to mention, but they have given me many further thoughts and ideas. 

What interests me much at the moment is connectivism and e-learning. The idea that knowledge should be shared with others in order to develop the idea even further is the right approach. This can be used in learning in all ages and stages. I have found especially working-life as a place where knowledge is not shared as it could.  Employees and employers seem to keep information to themselves in order to share some important info at the right moment. I guess the reason is that  people want to show the rest that they are valuable to the organisation, should be reckoned with and should get a raise or at least get to keep their jobs when bad times come. I really hope we get out of that kind of working culture and move forward. There is so much potential at all levels in all work places. 

E-learning is my common surf destination. I am a rookie, found Tony Karrer's e-Learning blog and want to explore more.. We use adobe connect pro in our iVET course, but there seems to be a lot more out there..

Assessment and Evaluation

What is most important to learn in education is that we are not learning to succeed in tests. We are learning new things in order to succeed in life. That is something that teachers should always keep in mind.

I loved Mars prezi presentation in virtual session 3. The material is excellent for self-study and gives many tips as well for using assessment in teaching.  My favorite a-ha from the material is basic but important. I realized that assessment has 3 different angles “assessment for/of/as learning”. It is a tool not only for teachers but also for students. Assessment for learning means that the assessment goal is to see study progress. Assessment of learning means assessment of learning results e.g. against national goals & requirements. Assessment as learning stands for students reflection of own learning.

What methods of assessment/evaluation will I use?

I don’t like to fill in assessment forms after class or after a course. I think there are two types of people; the ones who are like me and the ones that know it is important for course improvement and reflection and who will do a serious job. Team Jupiter (our dear planet) made a questionnaire based on the actual learning goals of virtual session 3. We had a good participation rate, and I think that it worked quite well. The results are a bit difficult to analyze since there were 3 different people giving the presentations based on the same material and all 3 sessions were separated, but it gave us the push that online assessment can be made after virtual sessions or after class. Crucial is though, not to give too much time to answer.  

When it comes to my own teaching, I will use different kinds of assessment and evaluation. I would like to use all 3 angles meaning that the assessment should serve both teachers and students. As blue to teaching, I can only use my imagination on how I will use assessment. But since I believe that you have to reflect already in the beginning on the theme you are to learn, and assessment or evaluation every day or week is too much for the students, I opt for the following approach:

-       self-assessment at the beginning and clarification of learning goals

-       option to either reflect regularly on certain topics during the course or final exam on the same material

-       interim assessment of study progress (e.g. open book exam) and self-assessment of learning goals

-       hand in of study journal or final exam

-       course summit including evaluation on course content and teaching performance, self-evaluation of learning goals.

I shall look more into this when I start preparing for teaching practice :-)

EduTech in teaching

How do I use technology in my field of pedagogy?

EduTech boot camp in Espoo, and the tinkering homework helped me realize that educational technology is good. I used to think that kids shouldn't have mobile phones, ipads aren't necessary.. but now I know better :-) Technology gives an extra spark to the class and enables different kinds of interaction

I am a professional in Political Science, with some 10 years of working experience from the multilateral banking sector. My field of expertise is not very technology driven or technology crazy.  But what field is? In what field is educational technology more relevant?

It is up to the teacher to use technology in the class room. What is most important is to have a positive attitude towards edutech and use it either for visual aid when teaching content, for group tasks, information forum or something else J Students should learn how to use technology and the teacher is an important role model, so a positive attitude towards technology will kick far.     

I have short patience and would like to know how to use any application or gadget instantly. As I have a history of being reluctant towards new technology, this might limit my open mind, but in general, I see myself as wanting to use technology in my field of pedagogy.

How to use edutech depends on what is being taught and what kind of course it is. If I was to teach an EU course right now, I would prepare a course plan based in a blog and I would plan it somehow so that the students would have to share some of their thoughts online. I would have students search for some specific information online themselves, since that is a great way to find something interesting, which motivates forward. I would try to use flashy tools for visual aid during lectures, find videos and encourage students to make videos.. There are a lot of things that could and can be done. But most importantly, I would try to stay informed on what is going on in edutech and try to use it when I think that it gives added value to course content or provides some useful technological insight to the students.    

virtual learning

As a learner and person, I am not afraid to make SMALL mistakes, do goofy things and let others learn and laugh about them. Therefore, a virtual study environment is challenging since I like to share my thoughts and ideas with others. I'm the kind who likes the constant interaction.

On the other hand, I like the freedom that virtual studies offer. Studying can take place whenever. But with a group, you have to still keep some deadlines.

Studies are going more online all the time, so I am glad I have been introduced to the virtual study world. However, it is a very challenging world for the teacher. You have to be very interactive with your students and inventive if you want the message to get through. We have not been interactive enough in our iVET course, not in virtual sessions nor in our teacher student communication.

In the second virtual session, we were given ideas on how to make a virtual session interesting and interactive. The sky is the limit, really, but we are still very limited in our actions. During our four virtual sessions we have developed a routine of presenting power points, talking and showing videos. There have not been any stunning presentations, yet. That is fine, we are new to this. Videos are fun to watch, they provide a new angle to the presentation but it is no guarantee that the session will be more interesting.

When our group started preparing for virtual sessions in August, my start up thoughts was to manage to limit the subject well and choose a few learning goals that I want the listeners to learn from the session. I know now, that this is a difficult. It is hard to limit oneself, not make too many slides, not talk too long..  

Since the internet is “da place” for all kinds of information and first aid, there is one source of information I want to share with you: “Teaching Online Courses – 60 GreatResources” provided by Dr. Tony Karrer. Dr. Karrer is an American e-learning expert who works as a part-time CTO for startups and midsize software companies. These 60 recommendations are further reading suggestions for instructors who are about to move into teaching online courses. His description of his first online session is much what we have experienced. The audience is muted and there is absolute silence. We talk and talk, and feel that the audience is dying.  I definitely think there should not be any muted microphones when teaching online, at least not for very long. Interaction is the key. Dr. Karrer says that “it definitely takes additional thinking/preparation to be good online.” It has to be interesting, interactive and – hmmm.. Please tell me, how should we teach online in order to deliver the message?

References:

Karrer, T. (October 25, 2010). "Teaching Online Courses - 60 great resources". eLearning Technology. Retrieved on 9 December 2012 from http://elearningtech.blogspot.fi/2010/10/teaching-online-courses-60-great.html

the Good teacher

Every day things that make a good teacher

What is a good teacher? What makes a good teacher?

Good teachers are rare! You stumble upon them sometimes, and it is pure joy to sit in their class room. I cannot remember good teachers from elementary school - I don't think I could recognize the qualities back then. But I am an emotionally intelligent person - I can sense what happens around me and cannot accept injustice. My approach to defining good teaching and my source of wisdom to my own teaching, comes from equality and caring.

In the first grades of elementary school, I felt like the most important characteristics of a good teacher was caring and teaching  kids as own children. This characteristic was important also as a teenager. It is important that someone shows you that you matter and that you are visible. We would have less drop-outs in secondary school, vocational school and also University, if we teachers cared enough.

The Finnish society is currently talking a lot about the marginalized youth. When I was writing my Masters thesis I found a funny guide to thesis writing that helped me get started and helped me stick with it until the final page. The author Juha Hakala is a professor at Jyväskylä University in Educational Science and brought today some new facts to my knowledge about the marginalized youth through his "Ajattelua ja ideoita" blog. "There are 51 300 alienated (drop-out) youngsters between the ages of 15-29 in Finland. Out of that number, the most severely alienated are 32 000 youngsters that are not even registered as job seekers." The worry about the alienated youth was also one of President Sauli Niinistö's election themes and I stumbled upon this tavallisia (="ordinaries") webpage filled with ordinary suggestions on how to get your life in order through Juha Hakala's blog. Here are many suggestions on how to help youngsters and I hope there will be enlightenment and deeds and not only talk the coming year. There is certainly involvement at all levels at the moment.

Above is the mental side to good teaching which is linked to everything you do. But of course, a good teacher needs good teaching methods and needs to be a professional in the subject also. I strongly believe that you need to have a teacher qualification in order to learn how to teach. I hope our iVET program will bring these to our attention. Teacher training will for sure give us tools. I also believe that with experience, you become better in teaching. The risks lies in that you might become too comfortable and do not want to make too many changes to your routines. The future will tell what will happen to me :-)
 
These are my top 10 good teacher qualities that I want to share with you.
Good teachers:

- are relaxed, but determined about teaching their subject
- make the class relaxed and the students confident to open up
- are verbally unlimited
- involve all students
- treat all students with respect and equality
- encourage all students
- manage to drive the students to do their best
- make the students forget their roles and limitations
- do not allow any bullying
- are not afraid to make mistakes

References:
Hakala, J (3 December 2012). "Syrjäytymistä ehkäisemään". Ajattelua ja ideoita retrieved on 8 December 2012 from http://blogi.ideo.fi/2012/12/syrjaytymista-ehkaisemaan.html

Ihan tavallisia asioita. Retrieved on 8 December 2012 from http://www.tavallisia.fi/.

curriculum

How the curriculum directs the development of studies

Curriculum CURRICULUM. Curriculum is the base to teaching and learning.The word is so official and serious so a professional approach is chosen.
I learnt a great bit about what curriculum is, and isn't in our first virtual session from team Saturn. 

The Finnish National Board of Education is the place where I usually go when I need to know some serious stuff about education in Finland.

"The Government decides on the general goals of vocational education and training, the structure of qualifications, and the core subjects. The Ministry of Education decides on the studies and their scope.

There are 53 vocational upper secondary qualifications and 119 study programmes in them." 

I am very happy we have a centralized system for curricula. It obliges the schools and teachers to follow the curricula when it comes to course content, learning goals, assessment etc . It enables regional and socio-economic equality, requires qualified teachers etc. At the same time, it gives the teacher freedom to use such methods that the teacher finds suitable for teaching the content.

When it is clear to the student from start what is included in the study program, what courses are compulsory, what are optional, how much working experience etc it is easier to manage the studies. There are less surprises :-) Still, new teaching methods can be easily applied, as long as the required learning goals are achieved.

The challenge is however, to maintain the good quality in teaching and study programs and to be one step ahead. The national board of education makes general amendments to study programs, vocational qualification requirements etc on a on-going basis. They also try to stay on the edge and make amendments that are needed in the future. This is the hard part because many interest groups have different views e.g. the trade union of education in Finland about what is needed in the future. Amendments are prepared in working groups representing different actors and interest groups which slows the amendment process. However, it secures a democratic decision-making process but the result might sometimes be a compromise that no party is fully comfortable with.

The national board of education is the policy unit that prepares and sets out the requirements but gives freedoms to the schools and teachers to implement the curricula to fit the school and the neighboring area the best.

Refereces
Finnish National Board of Education. Retrieved on 2 December 2012 from
http://www.oph.fi/english/education/vocational_upper_secondary_education_and_training/curriculum