Professor helps middle-schoolers develop entrepreneurial skills

Students at Robert Ellis Middle School and T.W. Hunter Middle School in Hendersonville, Tenn., will probably never again ask their teachers, "Will I ever really use this stuff in the real world?" thanks to a new teaching method developed by Wilburn Clouse, associate professor of education, and Terry Goodin, a graduate student at Peabody College.

The new teaching approach, "Entrepreneurs in Action," is being field-tested for the first time in the two schools. The program uses real-world situations to help students develop creative problem-solving and entrepreneurial skills to help them "think outside the box." Students at the two Hendersonville middle schools addressed the scheduled 2003 closing of a neighborhood school, Gateway Elementary School. The students could either develop a plan to keep the school open or develop an alternative business plan using the school as an income-generating, community-friendly facility.

"We don't teach students to think creatively. We teach them to comply with regulations. When students enter the first grade they are full of wonder and interested in everything," Clouse said. "By the time they reach the third grade, we have conformed them to sit in rows and answer the problems at the end of the textbook chapter."

"With the entrepreneurs program, students are creating and solving their own problems. Too often we teach people how to live in structured environments -- how to take jobs instead of make jobs -- students need to be able to see other opportunities that are out there," Clouse said.

To develop the curriculum, Clouse and Goodin go into the community and identify a problem to which they believe students can relate. Next, they write a case study based on the community issue and identify Web-based resources and people within the community to serve as "online experts" to answer students' questions. Finally, Clouse and Goodin work with school administrators and provide training for teachers who will implement the program in the schools.

"We often teach students the parts of a problem and they never see the whole picture. 'Entrepreneurs in Action' is a whole-part-whole learning theory that exposes students to a problem; they break it down into parts and then build the problem back into a new whole," Clouse said.

The Hendersonville middle school students worked in groups and had 40 minutes of class time each day to devote to their projects. They could ask questions of their teachers as well as e-mail community and business leaders in Hendersonville who have knowledge about Gateway Elementary and plans for its closing.

The students presented a variety of ideas for converting Gateway Elementary School's facilities into a community-oriented enterprise. One group of students proposed using the school property for a cultural center that would feature art displays and cuisine from countries around the world. Another group suggested creating a mini performing arts center that, among other services, would offer guitar, piano, violin and drama lessons. Students also proposed a neighborhood medical clinic and produced a Web site for the clinic.

In their proposals, the students considered issues such as necessary renovations costs, zoning rules and the impact their proposed ideas would have on the community.

Clouse and Goodin hope to implement "Entrepreneurs in Action" at the high school level in New Orleans and at the elementary school level in Albany, N.Y., next fall.