Unleashing the Future
How Entrepreneurship and the Maker Movement can Transform K12
Classrooms
What makes entrepreneurs
entrepreneurial?
Myth of Entrepreneurship
1.Visionary, risk-taker searches for “new” opportunity
2.Light bulb goes on
3.Writes business plan
4.Raises funds-especially from VC’s
5.Hires crack team
6.Builds product
7.Orchestrates big launch
8.Hockey stick growth
9.Exits
10.Sails around the world
But what really happens?
Saras Sarasvathy, U.Va. Darden School of Business
Causal vs Effectual Thinking
Causal Thinking = Managerial Thinking
Choosing the best means to meet a goal
Effectual Thinking = Entrepreneurial Thinking
Imagining possible new ends using a given set of means
Two Approaches to Cooking
Causal Effectual
“The role of the teacher is to create the conditions for invention rather than provide ready-made knowledge.”-Seymour Papert
How might we create the conditions for invention?
Maker-Centered Learning
“The Maker approach encourages people to understand how things work, to experiment, invent and redesign things through multiple iterations, to democratize and understand processes of engineering, science, and innovation, and to commercialize new products....” -National Science Foundation
Making democratizes creative production...
"While innovation and STEM tend to be the buzzwords associated with the maker movement, when you talk with maker educators working in schools and maker spaces, the real news is what kids are learning about collaboration, about community, about complexity, and about themselves." - Shari Tishman, Harvard University
Learning entrepreneurship, not teaching it...
Supporting Youth Entrepreneurs:
Formal: dedicated courses or programs within the context of school (specific or integrated)
Semi-formal: specialized programs or events on the periphery of school (events, workshops)
Informal: Resources - space, people, tools/materials - openly available to students (makerspaces, mentors)
Embedded into courses...
“Start Something” events...
ShareBat
Not just for students….
A business is only one manifestation of entrepreneurship...
Design+Make+Launch
Entrepreneurship education is really about empowering the learner.
Julian, World Maker Faire 9/30/16
Entrepreneurship as a Life Skill
It all begins with one simple question....
What do you want to make?
Connect
make.k12albemarle.org
reinventedlab.org
Blogs: Venture Pragmatist and Medium
Email: chadsratliff at gmail