This is the fifth blog post that Ted Glenn has written as part of his experience living in Makassar, Sulawesi province, Indonesia, while working on the Sulawesi EconomicDevelopment Strategy Project (SEDS).
Our time here on this phase of
the SEDS project in Indonesia is (very) quickly
coming to an end. Last week, Ianinta Sembiring (my fellow facilitator here in
Makassar), Vanessa Murphy (project support officer here in Makassar) and I
traveled to Manado to join our colleagues, Kent Schroeder and Jeff May, at a
day-long conference that showcased the curriculum work of our four Manado-based
partners, UNSRAT, UNIKA, de la Salle, and UNKLAB. This week, Jeff, Kent and
Mary Heather White (SEDS Field Manager) joined us in Makassar to attend a
day-long conference that showcased the curriculum work of our three partners
here, UNHAS, UNISMUH and UNM. It was great to catch up with Kent and Jeff,
compare notes on the workshops and share war stories.
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Conference in Makassar |
Reflecting back on my experience,
I see that a couple of things are standing out right now. First is the nature
of the curricula being developed by our partners. From what I’ve seen in
Canada, most applied entrepreneurship curricula tend to focus on teaching
students how to develop a business plan and turn that plan into a business
reality (to borrow a phrase from Humber Business prof Jim
Skinner). Entrepreneurial skills are most definitely key and critical
parts of the curricula developed here so far. But there are a few things
that make these curricula culturally and pedagogically unique.
For example, one overarching goal
most of our partners are trying to achieve is selling the idea of
entrepreneurship to their students as a financially viable and economically
important occupational choice. To this end, our partners have included elements
around the “softer” side of entrepreneurship, like being able to identify and
cultivate characteristics of successful entrepreneurs, motivation and
communication skills.
Our partners are also including
modules on gender, environmental sustainability and corporate social
responsibility, with a focus on how these issues impact entrepreneurship and
how related challenges can be addressed through entrepreneurial activities. As
relatively new features of the entrepreneurship education landscape everywhere,
it will be interesting to see how these elements evolve as curricula are rolled
out and feedback from students, instructors and employers is incorporated.
A very interesting and unique
element of the curriculum being developed at UNISMUH – a privately-funded
Islamic university here in Makassar – is the incorporation of Islamic
principles (things like “ethical money,” i.e., ensuring that revenue is not
generated from usury but rather honest labour, and community responsibility)
into entrepreneurship. Again, it will be interesting to see how this element
rolls out in the classroom.
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"a country we have genuinely fallen in love with" |
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