Learner profile mapping: Stimulating autonomous motivation in entrepreneurship education

Abstract

Entrepreneurship education represents a popular area of contemporary study. Nonetheless, topical interest is heavily biased towards final outcomes, such as entrepreneurial intentions or ending motives to become an entrepreneur. In this regard, further development is needed to unearth the pedagogical processes that allow these perceived beneficial outcomes to emerge. The aim of this paper is to approach a commonly studied outcome variable – student motivation – from a novel perspective. An attempt is made towards its reframing as a processual construct that energises and directs effective engagement in learning itself. Contributing to the sharing of innovative pedagogical best practice and the linking of outcomes to methods of teaching, a way through which students’ motivation can be ignited and sustained is exposed. Specifically, an original approach towards increasing student autonomy is put forward and critiqued.