Journal of Education and Human Development

Perspectives on Entrepreneurial Learning in the Early Years of Education
Anna Ehrlin, Eva Insulander, Anette Sandberg

Abstract
Questions regarding entrepreneurship have become a matter of great importance in Sweden as well as in the European Union at large. Since 2009, the government decided that entrepreneurial learning is to be conducted throughout the entire public school system in Sweden, from preschools to higher education. Because entrepreneurial learning is a fairly new concept to professionals in schools and preschools, our study contributes to the development of knowledge concerning how teachers perceive and realize it in practice. To study the meaning that the Swedish pre-and primary school teachers ascribe to the notion of entrepreneurial learning, a stimulated recall method was adopted. The study was conducted in Sweden in 2014 and involved preschools and primary schools. The sample consists of three preschools with children 3-5 years old and two primary schools, one represented by a mixed group of children from preschool-class to grade 3 and the other by a preschool-class group. The results show that teachers’ understanding of entrepreneurial learning is connected to entrepreneurial learning as entrepreneurship, entrepreneurial learning as science and technology, and entrepreneurial learning as personal development.

Full Text: PDF     DOI: 10.15640/jehd.v4n3a16