Social Entrepreneurships in Education

Social entrepreneurship (SE) is slowly making its way into the education system. Social entrepreneurship is already a concept taught in universities around the world, and some examples of SE education can be found at schools too, however the concept is still relatively new and education systems can be notoriously slow to change.

“Social Entrepreneurships in Education” is a document developed by British Council, which introduces the real exemplars of collaboration between teachers, children, entrepreneurs and the community, as well as reveals the existing opportunities and challenges in order to initiate larger discussion on a topic. The number of interviews were held with professionals in teaching and social business in order to answer the question: how to make future generation more capable of taking advantage of entrepreneurship in order to increase the wellbeing of society, taking into account the powerful role of education?

The authors have found out, that creating entrepreneurial opportunities for children and young people in schools, provides one way to blend traditional and progressive approaches, generating powerful learning that embeds both knowledge and core skills. A balance between educators and social entrepreneurs in the delivery of social enterprise education varies across the world. Different approaches are taken in different places, but it is clear that social entrepreneurship is not a subject that can simply be brought into the academic curriculum, as the teachers are not businessmen, and, in turn, social entrepreneurs are not proficient teachers. Moreover, many of the skills and gifts that make a great entrepreneur are not highly valued within a traditional school environment.

The very concept of education was once a social innovation now it is a human right. Meaningful changes should also be done to the perception of business, which should not be purely measured by the income. By drawing together the vision of social entrepreneurs and the expertise of teachers with far-sighted funding and rigorous research, the ground can be laid for systemic change on a global scale.

To research the field, describe and provide with recommendations, authors of “Social Entrepreneurships in Education” have conducted a literature review, conducted short questionnaires amongst education professionals and social entrepreneurs and in depth interviews with more than 30 leading thinkers on social entrepreneurship and education.

The result of the study can be found in here or on British Council webpage.