NE_TEMP1841: Examining The Potential to Incorporate Social Entrepreneurship in Developing Innovative 4-H Programs in the Northeastern Region
Statement of Issues and Justification
Mission and Goals of the Proposed ProgramA Youth Entrepreneurship Symposium in 2008 attracted numerous youth educators and researchers to discuss the future of the youth entrepreneurship in rural areas and in agricultural related industries. We were very interested in further incorporating social entrepreneurship concepts into 4-H curricula, given the explosive needs to develop effective youth entrepreneurship education in the US. We all agree that there is a need to gather more information about youth entrepreneurship curricula/programs in the nation, to upgrade the entrepreneurial knowledge and skills for young people, and to design new programs or modify existing programs to introduce social responsibility and community stewardship. The questions are - how and what should we do about it?
Youth entrepreneurship and social entrepreneurship education have gained a lot of attention in recent years. Many K-12 schools and post secondary schools have started to develop innovative and integrated curricula to address the needs of preparing future entrepreneurs. More new paradigms have been developed to explore the non-traditional value-added goods and services provided by farms. It is also essential to acknowledge that these new value-added goods and services significantly contribute to the development of the global food environment linking people, place, and prosperity at the community level. Although the 4-H programs have a long history in the US of providing rural young people information and training to be engaged in multi-disciplinary agricultural operation, little research has been conducted to demonstrate how and what the 4-H educators could do systematically to incorporate social entrepreneurship concepts to assist young people to learn beyond traditional production-oriented education models.
The concepts of social entrepreneurship involve providing tangible and intangible value-added goods and services beyond profit-oriented goals at the community level. Many 4-H educators have revealed challenges when designing and delivering programs or curriculum, "this is exactly what we need", "it is the right time for us to get the research done", "we should have done this a long time ago". These are just a few examples directly quoted from 4-H leaders, educators, and learners.
For researchers, we need to explore and identify existing 4-H curricula related to - entrepreneurship education, how these curricula have been designed and delivered, how these curricula have been evaluated, what impacts have these programs created on learners and community, how (to what extent) and if these 4-H programs have been integrated into K-12 or post secondary education, and what the best strategies would be to introduce and incorporate social entrepreneurship into the existing 4-H curricula.
For 4-H educators, they are eager to learn more information regarding - what social entrepreneurship is, how social entrepreneurship links to youth entrepreneurship and education purposes, what specific curriculum contents could be modified or expanded to include social entrepreneurship, and how to create an integrated program that will be applicable to K-12 and post secondary learners.
For 4-H learners and parents, they need information about - changes and trends in agricultural industry versus non-agricultural industries, what social entrepreneurship means in current society, how social entrepreneurship can improve employment competency and work skills in agricultural and non-agricultural industries, and different ways we can utilized social entrepreneurship in an integrated learning environment. We are proposing to bring together a team of researchers, 4-H educators, and 4-H students/parents to address these needs in a systematic way and develop a framework for identifying and prioritizing critical issues to deliver/integrate new 4-H education models for young farmers, non-farm K-12 students, and post secondary students in both rural and urban areas throughout the Northeast.
If these needs are not addressed immediately, we will face barriers and challenges directly from industries and markets where
(1) our younger generation might not be prepared to serve as effective labor force due to lack of training and knowledge that are new in domestic and global environments;
(2) the gap between agriculture and non-agriculture labor demand will not be met; and
(3) 4-H programs will have diminishing values in rural and urban educational environments.
Justification for Stakeholder Needs and Potential Sustainable External Funding
A successful framework applying social entrepreneurship includes these key elements:
1. Any organization and its members must adopt an entrepreneurial mindset and cultivate an entrepreneurial environment that enables fundamental organizational transformation.
2. The organization is powered by multiple change agents or intrapreneurs.
3. The organization and its members must set purposes and values that represent social benefits.
4. The organization and its members need to build strategic alliances which will enhance the functions of social responsibilities.
The history of the 4-H programs represents a community of more than 6 million youth and adults working together for positive changes in our society. It seems to make a perfect sense to argue that the concepts of social entrepreneurship fit into the purposes and missions of the 4-H very well. However there seems to be a gap between how much we understand about social entrepreneurship and how we can actually transform the concepts of social entrepreneurship into real life curricula/programs for 4-H groups or other youth entrepreneurship education.
The Northeast Regional Center for Rural Development has assisted in developing collaboration among researchers and 4-H educators. We have been conducting monthly/quarterly conference calls in the past 2 years to exchange information of 4-H programs, new curricula, pedagogy, and funding opportunities for research and extension related to 4-H education. Most of the 4-H programs follow the theory of experiential learning, in which a three-phase developmental model has been introduced by researchers:
- Phase 1 - Exposure. This is the fundamental phase of understanding what 4-H is about, learning about initial skills to participate in 4-H (team building, project management, interacting with community), and building cultural and interpersonal competencies.
- Phase 2 - Capacity building. This is the intermediate phase of moving learners more deeply into their discipline to master concepts and skills that can be effectively applied in community-based settings. Learners would be encouraged to accept responsibility for outcomes, practice personal/professional skills, and progress to higher levels of critical thinking through reflection.
- Phase 3 - Responsibility. Learners are expected to master skills in professional development, critical-thinking, and independent decision-making. Learners should be ready to work in groups to define and complete projects by collaborating with community partners.
(1) create an inventory by categorizing existing 4-H programs in the Northeast region into different phases of learning;
(2) evaluate knowledge and skills of 4-H educators and learners related to entrepreneurship and social responsibility using the assessment tools designed for experiential learning;
(3) identify specific functions, services, and social benefits different 4-H programs have been providing or could provide to community;
(4) identify gaps and opportunities in K-12 and post secondary curricula focusing on agricultural education and food system;
(5) develop strategies to link 4-H programs with socially responsible functions and services which could be integrated into K-12 and post secondary education; and
(6) develop systematic approaches to assist 4-H educators to collaborate with K-12/post secondary educators to plan/implement effective youth entrepreneurship education models.
Team members will seek long term funding from the USDA NIFA Program, for example Secondary and Two-Year Postsecondary and Agriculture in the K-12 Classroom Challenge (SPECA) Grants Program. The purpose of this program is to promote and strengthen teaching programs in agriscience and agribusiness, at secondary and 2-year postsecondary institutions, by enhancing curricula, increasing faculty teaching competencies, promoting higher education to prepare students for scientific and professional careers, incorporating agriscience or agribusiness subject matter into other instructional programs, facilitating joint initiatives among other educational institutions, and to respond to identified state, regional, national or international educational needs. Other funding opportunities include USDA NIFA Rural Development, NSF Educational Program Development, and Department of Education funding for Future Leadership programs. The short term impacts of this project are to generate a consistent system to document what existing 4-H programs have accomplished in the Northeast, how these programs have been designed and delivered, and the number of participants including students and parents have attended various programs based on learning objectives. The long term impacts of this project will generate new knowledge about youth entrepreneurship related to 4-H development, innovative strategies to incorporate 4-H objectives in rural and urban learning environment, action plans to design and deliver integrated youth entrepreneurship curriculum using 4-H learning model for general rural and urban youth groups, and a consistent/systematic method to assess the effectiveness of the new approaches that are appropriate for various age and family groups.
We have a strong team that has been engaged in some research projects. The technical feasibility of conducting this research is extremely high. We have senior 4-H educators who have been working with all Northeast educators over 20 years, and we already know who we need to contact to gather the information to create an inventory by categorizing existing 4-H programs in the Northeast region into different phases of learning. We have a specialized Experiential Learning office at the University of Vermont, who has provided a set of tools designed for experiential learning to evaluate knowledge and skills of 4-H educators and learners related to entrepreneurship and social responsibility. The 4-H educators will help to contact learners/students and parents to get their inputs on social entrepreneurship and related 4-H programs. Using the information collected from the educators, students, and parents, we can identify specific functions, services, and social benefits different 4-H programs have been providing or could provide to community. More information will be generated with researchers and educators (lead by Dr. Liang and Dr. Goetz) working together to identify gaps and opportunities in K-12 and post secondary curricula focusing on agricultural education and food system; develop strategies to link 4-H programs with socially responsible functions and services which could be integrated into K-12 and post secondary education; and develop systematic approaches to assist 4-H educators to collaborate with K-12/post secondary educators to plan/implement effective youth entrepreneurship education models.
Research aspect:
Kathleen Liang, The University of Vermont, will lead project, develop research agenda, establish research procedures, and facilitate grant writing.
Stephan Goetz, Director of the Northeast Regional Center for Rural Development, will assist in identifying research agenda and procedures.
4-H Education aspect:
Debra Kantor, Extension Educator, University of Maine
Ann Sherrard, Extension Educator, 4-H Youth Development, Maryland
Kendra B. Wells, University of Maryland, College Park, Ext.Specialist, 4-H Youth Development
Alganesh Piechocinski,CFLE, Extension Educator, 4-H Youth Development, Maryland
These team members will assist in collecting information of 4-H programs from the Northeast region so we can categorize them into three phases. They will also assist in recruiting other 4-H educators and learners/parents to participate in entrepreneurship knowledge and skill assessment, reflecting on what they have learned from 4-H programs and how 4-H programs have provided socially responsible functions and services to community, and identifying gaps and opportunities for 4-H programs to incorporate social entrepreneurship concepts.
The Northeast Regional Center for Rural Development:
Dr. Stephan Goetz and his staff will facilitate the conference calls, team meeting, and proposal/budget preparation. We plan to meet at the Northeast Regional Center.
Team Leader
Kathleen Liang has been a lead faculty in youth entrepreneurship education at the University of Vermont for over 12 years. Kathleen has participated in and led multi-disciplinary projects to develop K-12 and post secondary entrepreneurship education models, and has worked with nationally accredited entrepreneurship education organizations such as the Rural Entrepreneurship Through Action Learning, Babson College, and Kauffman Foundation. Kathleen has served as the President of the Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship, received many research and teaching awards from national/international organizations, and is the PI on the most recent AFRI grant to study multifunctional farm operation and its impacts on long term profitability for small/medium farms in the US.
Other Team Members Who are Willing to Participate
Debra Kantor, Extension Educator, University of Maine Somerset County Extension Office,
Ann Sherrard, Extension Educator, 4-H Youth Development Garrett County Extension Office, Univ. of Maryland
Kendra B. Wells, Univ. of Maryland, Ext.Specialist, 4-H Youth Development
Alganesh Piechocinski,CFLE, Extension Educator, 4-H Youth Development, Univ. of Maryland
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