Originally posted in our July 2022 Top of Mind Newsletter.
In research conducted around the ideas of good teaching, we learn that developing some skills can come at the cost of student engagement. For example, in this piece from the Hechinger Report, researchers found that those teachers who better prepare their students for tests often fall short when it comes to creating an engaging classroom.
Interestingly, among the teachers who engage their students and improve outcomes, researchers found that those “who incorporated a lot of hands-on, active learning received high marks from students and raised test scores. These teachers often had students working together collaboratively in pairs or groups, using tactile objects to solve problems or play games.” The teachers studied all taught elementary school math, but this practice of collaboration and tactile, sensory, and problem-based learning has merits in most other subjects.
So, what does this have to do with teaching entrepreneurial skills? Well, by focusing on problems and solutions related to the class subject rather than rote memorization, punishment, and rewards, teachers can improve their students’ outcomes. And teachers that embrace entrepreneurship, not as a singular discipline but as a teaching method, tend to be the kinds of teachers that engage their students and improve outcomes.