Career adaptability and entrepreneurial behaviour in the K-12 classroom

ABSTRACT

With data from 311 K-12 public school teachers working in the United States, we tested a predictive model of entrepreneurial behaviour that included demographic characteristics and career adaptability, and identified differences between highly and minimally entrepreneurial teachers on how and why they adapt their teaching practices. Statistical analysis identified education and career adaptability to predict entrepreneurial behaviour. Qualitative analysis revealed that highly entrepreneurial teachers considered their professional development and the broader school system, while teachers scoring low on entrepreneurial behaviour focused on behaviour management and coping with imposed regulations when adapting their practices. The discussion includes theoretical and practical implications.

KEYWORDS:

• Career adaptability
• entrepreneurship
• demographic characteristics
• teachers

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico Grant Number[200869/2014-0]; M.E. Davenport Foundation, M.E. Davenport Legacy Endowment Fund advancing a research agenda on teacher education.

Notes on contributors

Roque Neto

Roque Neto has a variety of professional experiences at all levels: elementary, high school, undergrad, graduate, and administrative offices of educational institutions in Brazil and the United States. He teaches in the Master's program in Urban Education at Davenport University.

Vinicius P. Rodrigues

Vinícius Rodrigues is Assistant Professor at Insper (Brazil) and PhD Researcher at the Technical University of Denmark (DTU). He holds over 10 years of professional experience, ranging from research and non-profit to teaching and consultancy.

Meaghan Polega

Meaghan Polega is an instructional coach at the College of Urban Education at Davenport University. She is pursuing her doctoral degree in education at University of Illinois.

Megan Persons

Meaghan Persons teaches at the College of Urban Education at Davenport University. She is also the School Improvement Facilitator at Grand Rapids Public Schools.