This portion of the curriculum guide is intended to be used in conjunction with other resources that explain and model instructional strategies and methods. Some of the traditional and non-traditional instructional methods that may be used in Entrepreneurship are described below and may be referred to in Instructional Approaches: A Framework for Professional Practice (Saskatchewan Education, 1991). The Saskatchewan Professional Development Unit (SPDU) and Saskatchewan Instructional Development and Research Unit (SIDRU) have produced a resource series on various instructional methods that compliments the discussion of instructional practice described in this curriculum.
Traditional classrooms and work environments may not be conducive to promoting the innovative and creative behaviour required in the Entrepreneurship classroom. The following general guidelines will be useful in structuring the course. Provisions for physical resources to be arranged in a variety of ways enable students to work individually, in small groups, or in a whole-class setting. Group work and the continuous assessment of group productivity and self development should be an ongoing part of the course. The use of project work, case studies, field trips, and links with entrepreneurs in the community are essential. Students need access to libraries and community resources.
The instruction should be goal or achievement oriented. This may involve the use of a variety of teaching methods and approaches that will allow students to have control over their learning activity. Activities should be designed to build self confidence in the student and may focus on positive ways to handle and learn from failure. The class should be structured to have elements of surprise for the students. They may be surprised by an instructional approach, by a point of view expressed, by what is said or presented in class, by what they are asked to do, by who is in class, and by what they are able to achieve.
The instructional methods selected and used may be the means by which the teacher may plant, cultivate, and develop the characteristics necessary for entrepreneurship. Some characteristics cannot be taught but must be experienced within the classroom setting. A teacher cannot instruct a student on how to be creative. The teacher can, however, help create an atmosphere in the classroom in which creativity may be fostered.
The Entrepreneurship course has been designed to nurture the spirit of innovation within students. To assist in this task, provisions should be consciously made to assist students to develop self confidence, responsibility, perseverance, risk taking, and creativity. An emphasis should be placed on the process of learning and the development of self-awareness as well as on the demonstration of content learning. Learning should be activity based, with opportunities for students to experience the fun, creativity, and excitement that are often a part of innovative and entrepreneurial activities. Students can become more entrepreneurial in their personal, school, business, and community lives and need to learn by doing, assessing, evaluating, changing direction, and progressing from one step to another.
The most important task of the teacher is to match the learning styles of the students to the instructional strategies with which the teacher feels most comfortable. It is strongly advised that the teacher use a variety of instructional strategies and not focus on one type of teaching in order to meet both the objectives of a unit and students' individual needs and strengths. It is also important that the method chosen works toward the achievement of the learning objective. For example, if the purpose of the unit is to develop students' critical and creative thinking abilities, then the instructional approaches will involve students in developing the knowledge, values, skills, abilities, and processes needed to be creative thinkers. However, if the purpose of a lesson is to build skills such as accessing a specific database of information, the instructional approaches should be chosen to build that skill as well as to adapt to students' individual needs.
Regardless of the teaching methods used the teacher should be focusing on student learning and development. In whole-group, small-group, teacher-directed, and other instruction situations, the teacher cannot be a passive observer.
Instructional Strategies are grouped into five clusters: Direct, Indirect, Interactive, Experiential, and Independent Study. Instructional methods in each strategy that may be most relevant to Entrepreneurship are described in the following sections.
| Direct Instruction | Indirect Instruction | Experiential Learning | Independent Study | Interactive Instruction |