In Portugal, the teaching-learning process in high school education, in some matters, is “measured” by an external national exam classification. Consequently, many teachers believe that the teaching-learning process can only be accomplished through the expositive method, where the teacher is the primary vehicle for transferring the contents in a structured and organized way. However, this methodology does not equip students with critical thinking or mechanisms for problem-solving and, consequently, demotivates students. In the case study, students in extracurricular entrepreneurialism competitions and their evaluation grades on formal curricula subjects improve. Students felt more motivated to learn and understood more about the world of work. This study will use a qualitative methodology supported by quantitative data to present the planning of tasks and procedures applied in this context.
TopIntroduction
When society, in general, thinks about education, they tend to feel nostalgic (Bailey & Boget, 2022; Crystal, 2017; Pazur, 2020), but when they are asked about what they miss the most in specific, only a few of them identify classrooms as a pleasant place. Instead, they characterize it as a dull and overly formal space (Crystal, 2017).
In the words of Conradty & Bogner (2022), “Education is supposed to lay the foundation for vocational maturity. However, young people lose their motivation to learn at school instead” (2022, p. 1).
Teaching-learning process, in most countries, is based on a regime where the teachers have a prominent role in the classroom, and students are consigned to a role played through passivity, where subjects must be learned and replicated in assessment tests (Joaquim, 2018).
In Portugal, the teaching-learning process in high school education, in some matters, is “measured” by an external national exam classification. Consequently, many teachers believe that the teaching-learning process can only be accomplished through the expositive method, where the teacher is the primary vehicle for transferring the contents in a structured and organized way (Joaquim, 2018; Leão, 1999).
According to Konopka et al.(2015), this methodology has several disadvantages (Konopka et al., 2015). However, for this chapter matters, two of the most concerning ones are the lack of motivation by students and the absence of critical thinking tools.
Students' motivation in the classroom to learn must be the most important topic for teachers because motivation leads to learning. Steinmayr et al. (2019) wrote that “achievement motivation is not a single construct but rather subsumes a variety of different constructs likeability self-concepts, task values, goals, and achievement motives” (2019, p. 1).
Despite identifying students as the single element that is demotivated in school, it is essential to understand that Portuguese teachers, in particular, are also unbundled with the formal education system. Not only because they feel overwhelmed by bureaucratic procedures but also because of the feeling of disconnection regarding their previous love for the teaching process, consequently they are in the most significant profession that feels burned out at work, with 44% of K-12 education on the top of U.S. Workers' Burnout Rates by Industry, 2022 according to Marken & Afrawal (2022). Whether this study is about U.S. teachers, applying it to the Portuguese scenario is possible.
However, the “COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated existing challenges and introduced new ones to a profession already struggling” (2022).
Schools were closed, and the teaching-learning process became even more complicated because, suddenly, everything went to a remote way of doing things (Figueiredo & Joaquim, 2022).
It is important to expose that in 2018, according to OECD (2018), Portugal had 47% of teachers aged 50 or more, and this generation tends to lack digital skills (Figueiredo & Joaquim, 2022). For this matter, if teachers struggle for connection and love for the profession, added by the students' demotivation, the challenges become a gigantic task that has repercussions in burnout and abandonment of the profession. In the words of Mineo (2022)
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, there has been a net loss of 600,000 educators in the U.S. since January 2020. Furthermore, in a recent survey by the National Education Association, the country's largest union representing about 3 million educators, 55 percent of teachers said they are planning to leave the field (2022).
Of course, this chapter is not about the reasons for the great quitting of teachers but about active methodologies, in general, and entrepreneurship in education in specific. First, however, it is essential to realize the primary feelings of teachers to understand the importance and lack of some active methods in the teaching-learning process.