Planting Seeds of Entrepreneurial Thinking—With a Homegrown Twist

October 13, 2021

  One of the preeminent entrepreneurial thinkers in higher education lives and works in an unlikely place: a metro area of 246,000 residents just a couple of hours south of the Canadian border. Bree Langemo, lawyer and educator, exemplifies ELI’s definition of entrepreneurship. That is the self-directed pursuit of opportunities to create value for others, whatever the field or location.  Langemo directs the Entrepreneurship Center at Concordia College’s Offutt School of Business in Moorhead, Minnesota.…

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Categories: Entrepreneurial Leadership, Entrepreneurial Learning, Entrepreneurial Mindset, Entrepreneurship Education

image depicting the fast paced nature of schools today

A Managerial vs. Entrepreneurial Approach to Leadership

August 31, 2021

You might have seen the recent Inside Higher Ed article published in March of 2021 titled “Colleges a ‘Juicy Target” for Cyberextortion.”  As if mask mandates (or lack thereof), vaccination hesitancy, the Delta Variant, and all the other disruptions that we’ve seen over the last 18 months aren’t enough, now cybercriminals have our schools in their crosshairs. And it’s not just higher ed institutions that are at risk.  Someone could soon find my 5-year-old niece’s…

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Categories: Entrepreneurial Culture, Entrepreneurial Leadership, Entrepreneurial Learning, Entrepreneurial Mindset, Entrepreneurship Education

Walking Across the Bridge to High School with an Entrepreneurial Mindset

August 18, 2021

  At Perry Middle School in Perry, Ohio, students’ transition to high school is marked by a unique ceremony: They walk across the bridge between the two buildings to symbolize their advancement from one learning environment to the next.  The district of 1,800 students started implementing entrepreneurship courses at the high school level six years ago. A group of teachers and administrators soon realized that younger students could benefit from a similar program.  “We talked…

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Categories: Entrepreneurial Culture, Entrepreneurial Learning, Entrepreneurship Education, Human Potential, Student Engagement, Student Success

Summertime Lessons in Early Entrepreneurship

June 23, 2021

  Driving through residential streets at the height of summer, you’ll often see the hallmarks of youth entrepreneurship. These could be a lemonade stand, a lawn mowing crew, a babysitter at a playground.  For tweens and teens looking to earn extra money over the summer, these classic pursuits may not seem like anything special. But all it takes is a little reframing for them to start to realize that they’re engaged in the form of…

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Categories: Entrepreneurial Learning, Entrepreneurship Education, Human Flourishing, Human Potential, Student Engagement, Student Success

What Is Self-Directed Learning (and Why Do We Need It)?

June 16, 2021

  Children are innately curious—sometimes to the point where they overwhelm the adults around them with their constant questions. One can easily imagine that the old expression “Curiosity killed the cat” was first spoken by a parent who was tired of being asked “Why?” for the millionth time by a curious preschooler. This curiosity implies a drive towards self-directed learning. The desire to learn and explore is the driving force behind human development. It manifests…

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Categories: Entrepreneurial Learning, Entrepreneurship Education, Human Potential, Redefining Entrepreneurship