A framework for entrepreneurial learning: A tribute to Jason Cope

Abstract

This paper explains Dr Jason Cope's work on entrepreneurial learning, and illustrates his approach and how it can be applied to deepen understanding of, and practice in, entrepreneurship education. It begins with a biography of Cope, which summarizes his academic life and offers a timeline for his publications. This paper then explores his philosophical position, before dividing his research into three main phases. In the first, it examines and explains his early work into experiential learning; reflective learning; learning from crises and the role social influences play in entrepreneurial learning. In the second, developments stemming from his PhD are explored. Here, ideas in relation to entrepreneurial learning and the links he makes to transformative learning and double-loop learning are discussed. Finally, in the third part, Cope's entrepreneurial learning framework is explained and key contributing concepts are introduced. This part examines how Cope's theoretical framework was used to undertake research and subsequently to explain how entrepreneurs learn from failure. In the final sections of this paper, the practical implications of his contribution to entrepreneurship education are presented, in the contexts both of higher education and of the development of students, and then for entrepreneurs themselves.

Keywords:

• Jason Cope
• entrepreneurial learning
• entrepreneurship education
• failure