A Case Study of the Lived Experiences of Individuals: How Experiential Exercises Aid Entrepreneurship Teachers to Understand Intrapreneurship and the Art of Entrepreneurial Thinking

Abstract

This research addressed a gap in our knowledge and understanding of if, how, and why experiential exercises might aid teachers to introduce to Entrepreneurship 30 an expanded understanding of the phenomena of entrepreneurship and the “art” of entrepreneurial thinking. A group of five Entrepreneurship 30 teachers attended a 2-day workshop where they were introduced by modelling to a series of experiential exercises. This was followed by a 6-week observation period with interviews. The case study represents the discovery, insight, and understanding of the lived experiences of the research participants as they rejected, adopted, or adapted the material into the curriculum. My research confirms that entrepreneurial thinking can be activated through experiential exercises, but it is not a simple matter to provide teachers with a toolkit of exercises and preliminary training and expect them to teach in this manner. Even experienced teachers with facilitation skills require the resource of expanded class time and administration support to teach the “art” processes of entrepreneurial thinking that require unique pedagogies and a teacher style that encourages students to progress from being passive attendees in classrooms to being participative in terms of discussion, deriving options for decision making and creativity.