THE INTRAPRENEUR
Interestingly, a new and related construct is being identified in the
literature and currently practiced in a variety of disciplines and fields: that
is INTRAPRENEURISM. The American History Dictionary defines an
intrapreneur as, " A person within a large corporation who takes direct
responsibility for turning an idea into a profitable finished product through
assertive risk taking and innovation." He/she does not risk his/her own
money in the process. According to Gifford Pinchot, who has written
extensively about intrapreneurism, "an intelligent organization develops
and engages the intelligence, business judgement, and wide system responsibility
of all its members. By using the intelligence of every employee, an organization
can respond far more effectively to customers, partners and
competitors."
In the business world the reason for intrapreneurism is obvious. The ultimate
objective is profit for that business. In the area of non-profit, social
services organizations the result of supporting the intrapreneur produces a
stronger array of services to benefit its clients, instead of profit.
Our personal experiences, over the past several years, helped us understand
the similarities and differences between these two concepts. Many years ago, as
teachers and administrators in the public schools, we recognized the potential
power of the entrepreneurial spirit. We were committed to trying new ideas. We
were willing to be innovative and risk taking, sometimes without the support of
the school district. We were excited about thinking out of the box. We saw great
potential in looking for new solutions for old problems. We were convinced that
we personally exhibited some of the behavioral characteristics of the
entrepreneur. We remembered some successes as well as failures in the schools
and districts in which we worked. We considered ourselves as being
entrepreneurial.
THE EDUCATIONAL ENTREPRENEUR
It was only after leaving the public schools did we in fact become
entrepreneurs. We were committed to our new ventures, developing a series of
very successful educational endeavors including independent schools for profit.
We continued to try ideas that would enhance learning opportunities for our
clients. We thought out of the box. And, we did this by risking our own money
and personal resources. We were responsible to ourselves and our clients: the
students, the parents and our professional colleagues. We were not responsible
to a governmental agency over which we had little or no control except for
health and safety issues and reporting purposes such as taxes and attendance. We
could measure our success as entrepreneurs especially in our independent schools
by many traditional means: test scores, surveys, student portfolios, drop out
rates, teacher retention, attendance records and parent participation. And,
what's more, at the end of the year we could accurately determine our
profitability.
The intrapreneur in business or non-profit, social service agencies might use
similar techniques when assessing their success with clients. In the business
world, profit becomes an obvious one. In the non-profit world profit is not a
criterion, but money is a part of measuring success. Money contributed will
affect the health of the organization, its stability and the number of clients
it serves. In both instances, the intrapreneur functions at the pleasure of a
larger organization that defines and limits his/her creativity.
A few years ago we decided to write a book, THE EDUCATIONAL
ENTREPRENEUR: Making A Difference, to celebrate the lives of
educational entrepreneurs who left the security of public education to start
businesses to improve learning in America. The book includes 22 educational
entrepreneurs from 18 states who created a business for learning. We define an
educational entrepreneur as: "A person who has served as an educator prior
to organizing a business related to education and has invested time, energy, and
capital to create, develop, and market a program, product, service, or
technology to enhance learning." The educational entrepreneurs in our book
were, like us, former teachers and administrators who had to leave the public
schools in order to translate their dreams into reality. These men and women
created a variety of successful businesses that provided new and exciting
products, programs, services, or technologies that improved learning for
students which they were unable to do while working within the "school
system." They were developers and publishers of educational products,
media, tutorial services, independent schools, educational consultation
programs, an educational software publisher, an educational retail services
store as well as others. The one thing they had in common was that each had to
leave "the system" in order to bring his/her dreams to reality.
Later, as we tried to identify educational intrapreneurs, we had a similar
problem. After many failed attempts, we did not find a public school district
which in fact had in place a publicly recognized structure which identified,
encouraged and supported an individual who exhibited an intrapreneurial bent. In
fact, in our own experiences and in discussion with others, we often found just
the opposite. The creative, risk taking, exciting teacher or administrator was
as often as not considered different, out of step or some kind of trouble maker.
He/she was an outsider. Therefore in many instances the very people who might
make some important changes left the schools for employment in other, often
related, fields.
The more we searched our minds and the educational environment, the more we
became convinced that a new "model" was necessary to provide some kind
of direction for schools and school districts. This new model would be one that
is designed to honor and release the entrepreneurial spirit in an individual
teacher or administrator. It would encourage the development of programs,
products, services, and/or technologies that directly "fit" the goals
and structure of the public schools. It could not be limited to the behaviors
used by entrepreneurs as they start up new businesses. Nor, could it be limited
to similar behaviors employed by the intrapreneur in a large corporation or a
non-profit agency. The "playing fields" are different. A public school
district is neither a business nor a non-profit social service agency.
Therefore, neither the entrepreneurial nor the intrapreneurial models have
direct application to the schools.
THE EDUPRENEUR
Public Schools are different. They are basically governmental agencies;
neither for-profit nor non-profit. During the past roughly 150 years or so of
their existence, the government-public schools have become entrenched with many
forces in place to perpetuate the status quo. In order to keep creative,
courageous, free-thinking, and competent educators within the system there must
be an orderly process that allows these professionals to "do their
thing" to make the system better — thus the
EDUPRENEUR. We define an EDUPRENEUR as,
"a person within the public schools who takes hands on responsibility in
creating and developing a program, product, service, and/or technology for the
enhancement of learning consistent with the stated goals of and supported by
that organization."
THE EDUPRENEURIAL CYCLE
To meet this definition, we offer an Edupreneurial Model, one that might be
used to help the school district create a structure to support the individual
and keep his/her energy, enthusiasm, and creativity within the district.
THE EDUPRENEURIAL CYCLE is a graphic representation of the
interrelated components necessary to plan, develop, use, market, evaluate and
sustain a successful Edupreneurial Project within the public
schools.
To assure accountability for boards of education, administrators, teachers
and the community as a whole, we propose the Edupreneurial Cycle which in
effect produces a living "business plan" and addresses the key
questions: what, why, who, how, and when.. Using this cycle, potential
edupreneurs will translate their ideas and thoughts into writing. After
researching their ideas, they develop goals and objectives, and their
relationship to district goals, determine budget requirements, outline personnel
requirements and training, facility needs, legal constraints, determine student
interests, parental involvement, potential impact on schools, identify a
marketing plan, an implementation plan, and an ongoing assessment and evaluation
strategy.
THE EDUPRENEURIAL CYCLE
To be of real value any EDUPRENEURIAL project must have
the potential of making a significant impact on learning. Because of this
potential, it is imperative that progress reports are made available to local
staff, other schools, the district administration, the board of education, and
the community. Time and money must be allocated for these activities. Continued
field-testing is integral to any EDUPRENEURIAL effort.
Ongoing communication is not only important to the project, but to the people
involved as well. All too often, without consistent and public review,
participating staff members are somehow considered "special" by other
staff and parents. Without care, the project could begin to appear separate from
the district and its total responsibilities. When this occurs, people are hurt.
Petty jealousy and envy infiltrates the "teachers room" and the
general familiar sense of a close knit faculty is placed in jeopardy.
Continued assessment and evaluation activities are important for the good of
the project as well as for the benefit of the staff and district. These provide
the information necessary to confirm the validity of the project. And, if
successful, provide the information necessary to expand the project within the
district and/or to schools in other communities and states. It is through
assessment/evaluation activities that refined recommendations are formed to
continue the "CYCLE." New Marketing-Distribution
activities, refined Development strategies and continued Research and Planning
tasks will constantly reflect the data collected and reported. Too many projects
are jeopardized when assessment and evaluation are limited to the time of
project renewal.
Assessment/Evaluation data are necessary as they provide the rationale upon
which all decisions might be made as to the continuation of the project,
including the decision to cancel it. We believe decision-makers should look at
any EDUPRENEURIAL project as being ad-hoc in nature and not
become institutionalized. If a project fails to achieve the purported
goals it should be discontinued without chastisement or derision.
A very important understanding in reviewing the "Edupreneurial
Cycle" is that it is in fact cyclical. It is not linear. It does
not describe the specific sequence of activities. All four "sets" are
interrelated. Each influences the other. Effort must consistently be made to
seek out and respond to the ongoing influences each has on the other.
The Eduprenurial Cycle should be used as a reminder as to
what should be done. It is up to the leadership to use it to decide what, when,
who, where, and how it is being implemented The cycle can also be used to help
all involved identify the strategy to insure communication throughout the
process.
A firm and public commitment to the EDUPRENEURIAL process
must be made in the school and district if it is to succeed. That means that a
new look as to how the resources of personnel, time energy and money will be
distributed. The traditional way teachers are assigned, salaries determined,
length of the school day, secretarial assignments are made, and professional
hours are recognized will all come under new scrutiny. Fresh thinking by
participants, including teachers and their representatives, administrators,
board members, parents and the community as a whole, will influence the success
of the EDUPRENEURIAL CYCLE. All in all, that means a
significant change in the way schools are governed, organized, and administered.
And ultimately, that means the state must publicly be involved in providing the
structure in which the process can take place. While many changes may in the
future be necessary for a complete overhaul in the system, we believe that as of
now a creative and risk taking board and administration has enough freedom to begin the
process in a local community.
Today there is a large turnover of teachers throughout the nation. We believe
that by giving teachers and administrators the opportunity to receive a
"fraction of the action," many will remain challenged and motivated to
remain in the profession. The recruitment of new educators who are committed to
making changes for the improvement of learning should also be enhanced.
As we said earlier, the EDUPRENEURIAL process must be
initiated at the local school level, supported by the district administration,
approved and funded by the board of education and made public to the community.
Any "product" will be owned, licensed, and controlled by the district.
Additional income received as a result of the project must be budgeted by the
district by following an established policy, agreed upon and recognized by
teachers, administrators and the community. Rewards may be offered to various
EDUPRENEURS in the form of money, time, equipment, personal
assistance, or professional development opportunities. Again, an important
purpose of EDUPRENEURISM is to make it possible for the
EDUPRENEUR to reignite the enthusiasm and excitement of the
professional educator to remain in the classroom or school.
We see the fulfillment of the concept of the EDUPRENEURIAL process, through
the implementation of the EDUPRENUIAL CYCLE, as result of a
total commitment by the district. It is a living, on going process; one that
will positively affect the educational climate of all who work within the
district and the students it serves.
EDUPRENEURISM has the potential for improving schools and
learning by bringing forth and supporting the creativity of educators. The
EDUPRENEURIAL CYCLE will help professional educators focus
their energies on developing programs, products, services, and/or technologies
for the benefit of students, the school and learning as a whole. We believe that
by providing, encouraging and supporting teachers and other school employees the
opportunity to engage in EDUPRENEURIAL efforts many needed
changes and improvements in education can be realized. Peer leadership,
information literacy, differential learning, results driven accountability,
curriculum interaction, weaving character education into the culture of the
school, the length of the school day and year, charter schools, distance
learning, programs for gifted and talented students, programs for at-risk
students, after school enrichment programs, creative arts and many other
worthwhile programs, services, products and/or technologies are worthy of
EDUPRENEURIAL study and effort.
The potential is unlimited!
Both Don and Chuck invite any questions, comments, or reactions. They are
confident that they have identified an important reason as to why so many
creative educators have left the profession and thereby have weakened it. Your
input is important to them. You may reach them via our Contact page.
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