Principles of k-12 entrepreneurship

Kids are learning entrepreneurship in schools throughout the world. Some programs work and others don't for many reasons.

As we fight the 4th industrial revolution and prepare our kids to win it, we should keep some things in mind and adopt some guiding principles:

1. Edupreneurs need to do the job teachers and other stakeholders want them to do.
2. Nail the fundamentals of edupreneurship before getting too fancy
3. Create a mutually agreeable lexicon that would include entrepreneurship, innovation and value
4. Use market based intelligence to create clear learning objectives that drive curriculum and assessement metrics
5. Train the trainers and faculty
6. Integrate and align learning from K-12 with adequate handoffs. It should start with creating an entrepreneurial mindset, since that's where innovation starts.
7. Give students the opportunity for self directed learning with increasing levels of independence. Early childhood entrepreneurial education should prepare students to middle school, high school, college and graduate levels of entrepreneurial education, just like basic math prepares students for more complex math, like algebra, trigonometry and calculus
8. Be sure to integrate local resources in the regional STEM ecosystem
9. Include equity, diversity and inclusion goals and objectives
10. Include international exposure and social enterprise goals and objectives.
11. Rethink STEM
12. Recognize that the soft skills are hard

Teachers are mad as hell are not taking it anymore because they don't feel valued or sense their professionalism has been eroded. Without restoring it, entrepreneurship education will suffer the same fate as other subjects.

Without a clear case statement, strategic plan, faculty development and funding, K-12 entrepreneurship education is another act in the innovation theater. We can do better than just saying the lines to the play.

Arlen Meyers, MD, MBA is the President and CEO of the Society of Physician Entrepreneurs