Teaching and Teacher Education 64 (2017) 291e304

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Teaching and Teacher Education

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Research paper

Developing entrepreneurship in primary schools. The Mexican

experience of “My first enterprise: Entrepreneurship by playing”

rcamo-Solís a, *, María del Pilar Arroyo-Lo
María de Lourdes Ca
pez b,
Lorena del Carmen Alvarez-Castan~o
pez a

n c, Elvia García-Lo
a
Yuriria Office, Campus Irapuato-Salamanca, Universidad de Guanajuato, Road University s/n, Yacatitas, Z.C. 38940, Yuriria, Guanajuato, Mexico
b
EGADE Business School, Tecnolo
gico de Monterrey, Eduardo Monroy No. 2000, San Antonio Buenavista, Toluca, M
ex, Mexico
c
n, Guanajuato,
School of Social Science, Universidad de Guanajuato, Mexico, Blvd. Puente Milenio 1001, Fraccion del Predio San Carlos, Z.C. 37670, Leo
Mexico

h i g h l i g h t s

This study contributes to the literature on entrepreneurial education by showing that entrepreneurial abilities can be developed at the elementary
school level.

The Mexican sub-program “My First Company: Entrepreneurship by Playing” was the educational experience (EE) analysed to show the relevance of an
early introduction to entrepreneurship.

The quantitative and qualitative analysis of information concluded mentoring is critical to the successful implementation of the entrepreneurship
learning experience.

The implementation of EE has the potential of improving the socioeconomic situation of participant communities and increasing self-employment
particularly in developing countries.

Further research is required to determine if the positive aspects of the EE, if properly reinforced at higher school levels, contribute to the entrepreneurial
activity at the regional level.

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: “My first enterprise: Entrepreneurship by playing” is a Mexican educational sub-programme designed to
Received 2 July 2015 promote entrepreneurship at the elementary level. The sub-programme led to the creation of 1327
Received in revised form minicompanies from 2009 to 2014, but a critical research question complementing these results is: how
13 February 2017
effective is the entrepreneur training sub-programme? A qualitative and quantitative assessment of the
Accepted 16 February 2017
Available online 15 March 2017
sub-programme demonstrated the critical role of tutors (teachers) and advisors, and revealed a signif-
icant improvement in the administrative knowledge and entrepreneurial skills of participants, along
with a reinforcement of business values.
Keywords:
Entrepreneurial education
© 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license
Elementary school (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
Unemployment
New mini-companies
Mexico

1. Introduction competitiveness, employment level and social welfare of the world

economy (Askun & Yildirim, 2011, p. 663). In the case of Mexico,
The recent global economic crisis jeopardised the contemporary globalisation was promoted by implementing the
neoliberal model, which generated adverse effects, among them an
annual average unemployment rate of 4% for the period 1982e2014
* Corresponding author. (Ruiz & Ordaz, 2011). Therefore, it is necessary to redirect economic
E-mail addresses: mlcarcamo@ugto.mx, carcamosolislourdes@gmail.com policy to create and increase sources of employment and income,
(M.L. C

pez), lorenalvarezc@
arcamo-Solís), pilar.arroyo@itesm.mx (M.P. Arroyo-Lo thereby decreasing persistent unemployment. According to
gmail.com, lc.alvarez@ugto.mx (L.C. Alvarez-Castan ~o

n), elvigar72@gmail.com
Coraggio (2004), it is possible to construct an economy that benefits

pez).
(E. García-Lo

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2017.02.013
0742-051X/© 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
292
rcamo-Solís et al. / Teaching and Teacher Education 64 (2017) 291e304
M.L. Ca
society by promoting a bottom-up transformation in which local
actors such as universities, for-profit organisations, state and local
governments, and civil society share the responsibility of sustain-
able growth. Realising such an economy implies recognising
entrepreneurship as critical to economic growth because of its
contribution to creating mini-companies and jobs (Ben-Nasr &
Boujelbene, 2014; Bruyat & Julien, 2000). In this regard, it is
important to emphasise that several authors have recognised the
contribution of social entrepreneurship to the creation of mini-
firms that prioritise social benefits over economic benefits and
use their surplus financial resources to provide employment and
higher incomes for disadvantaged groups (Drucker, 1990 cited in El
Brashi, 2013, p. 189; Haugh & Tracey, 2004; Mair & Noboa, 2006;
Nicholl, 2006).
In early 2000, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and
Development (OECD) recommended that all of its member coun-
tries should include subjects related to entrepreneurship at all
educational levels. In Mexico, such subjects were only included in
high school and at universities offering technological and
economic-administrative curricula. In 2007, however, the National
Association of Universities and Higher Education Institutions
(ANUIES, for Spanish initials) conducted an entailment study that
resulted in the 2009 creation of a non-profit civil association
responsible for unifying the efforts and resources of universities,
the private sector represented by the Confederation of Employers of
the Mexican Republic (COPARMEX, in Spanish) and the Industrial
Chambers Confederation (CONCAMIN, in Spanish), the government
(represented by the Ministry of Public Education (SEP, in Spanish)
and the National Council of Science and Technology (CONACYT, in
Spanish) to create economic benefits through entrepreneurship.
This civil association, called the Enterprise-Higher Education
Foundation (http://www.fese.org.mx/index.html), introduced the
Programme for the Promotion of an Enterprising Attitude at the
national level, which spawned the educational sub-programme
Fig. 1. Map: States of Mexico participating in the sub-programme “My first enterprise: Entrepreneurship by playing”.
“My First Company: Entrepreneurship by Playing”. This sub-
programme is focused on developing an entrepreneurial spirit
among fifth- and sixth-grade (11e12 year olds) primary school
students in 27 Mexican states (Fig. 1).
The aim of this study was to determine whether the entrepre-
neurship education (EE) model implemented by tutors and adviser
contributed to economic-administrative knowledge, the rein-
forcement of values, the development of entrepreneurial skills and
the recognition of entrepreneurship as a long-term strategy for
self-employment and wealth creation among primary-school stu-
dents. A previous study in Mexico performed by Simon (2013) from
2009 to 2014 concluded that children can be effectively educated to
become entrepreneurs and to make business decisions based on
personal and social values. However, that study also highlighted the
need for complementary research to better define educational
practices related to entrepreneurship. This study responds to that
need.
2. Literature review
2.1. Entrepreneurship
Askun and Yildirim (2011), Simon (2013), and Thurik and
Wennekers (2004), among others, argued that entrepreneurship
is a type of conduct centred on opportunities and economic re-
sources; moreover, it represents a combination of risk, creativity,
personal success, and innovation. In addition, entrepreneurship
must adopt financial, moral, and social responsibility to establish a
new and profitable business idea that can contribute to solving
social problems. As Jean Baptiste Say wrote at the turn of the 19th
century, “The entrepreneur shifts economic resources out of an area
of lower productivity and into an area of higher productivity and
greater yield” to create value (Dees, 2001, p. 1). Peter Drucker
extended Say's definition and noted that although entrepreneurs

rcamo-Solís et al. / Teaching and Teacher Education 64 (2017) 291e304
M.L. Ca
are not required to provoke a change, he identified in them the
quality of and potential for working and exploiting opportunities
created by innovations in the use of technology, consumer prefer-
ences, and social norms, among others.
Unemployment and entrepreneurship are interdependent.
Schumpeter argued that entrepreneurship has a positive effect on
unemployment in the following two respects: 1) an increase in the
number of small enterprises stimulates offers of employment, and
2) unemployed individuals could become entrepreneurs as an
alternative to employment (Bhorat, 2006; Venkataraman, 1997).
These effects explain the interest in providing entrepreneurial ed-
ucation at all levels and the view of entrepreneurship as a viable
career option (Henry, Hill, & Leitch, 2003; Llisterri, Kantis, Angelelli,
& Tejerina, 2006). Socialisation theory proposes that young peo-
ple's career decisions are influenced by social factors such as
exposure to educational experiences that increases their interest in
creating a new business (being an entrepreneur) and contributing
to the welfare of local communities by providing goods and services
(Chigunta, 2002; Dyer, 1994).
Several theoretical frameworks have been applied to charac-
terise and understand the phenomenon of entrepreneurship. For
example, Dees (2001) defined entrepreneurship, from a Schum-
peterian perspective, as an imbalanced phenomenon that produces
“creative destruction” in which entrepreneurial companies replace
non-innovative ones, therefore contributing to economic growth.
Other authors such as Knigth (2001) have recognised that risk is the
central element of the entrepreneurial atmosphere, whereas
Kirzner (1997) argued that entrepreneurial activity is essentially
characterised by entrepreneur alertness, which is the capacity to
visualise non-obvious opportunities for profit. The integration of
several perspectives results in a conceptualisation of business
entrepreneurship as the study of the process by which opportu-
nities are discovered, evaluated, and exploited; which individuals
can generate economic change through their decisions; and the
effects of creating new goods and services via this process (Shane &
Venkataraman, 2000).
2.2. Entrepreneurship education
EE is important because it is recognised as a potentially effective
means of promoting the transformation of ordinary people into
entrepreneurs who are aware of future opportunities to make a
career by creating profitable mini-companies. The literature has
raised the question of whether entrepreneurs are limited by their
individual traits such as risk tolerance, negotiation, creativity and
security. Universities and professional associations have challenged
the myth that entrepreneurs are born and not made by demon-
strating that at least some facets of entrepreneurship can be taught
and learned (Kuratko, 2003; Sarasvathy & Venkataraman, 2011).
Nonetheless, the contribution of EE programmes remains a matter
of debate, particularly with respect to primary-school sub-pro-
grammes, because of critical assessments of entrepreneurship in-
struction at this level and its effect on subsequent entrepreneurial
activities (Peterman & Kennedy, 2003). Most prior research on
entrepreneurship education has been performed in the university
context, with only a few studies and cases reported at the
elementary level to provide empirical evidence that entrepre-
neurship is teachable at all educational levels (Hannon, 2006).
Moreover, entrepreneurship education at the basic level be-
comes relevant for developing reasoning and problem solving
skills, transferring knowledge and establishing the basis of entre-
preneurship during the stages of life in which good practices are
ingrained (Askun & Yildirim, 2011). The intention is to develop an
entrepreneurial spirit gradually, beginning during a child's basic
education, and then to strengthen this spirit at higher educational
293
levels, effectively proving that such a spirit has been achieved when
the individual enters the labour market. The implementation of EE
at the elementary school level has been recommended for both
developed countries (e.g. European Commission, 2012) and un-
derdeveloped countries. The relevance of this suggestion has been
recognised by countries such as Nigeria, where the integration of
entrepreneurship into the basic curriculum has been regarded as a
means of reducing unemployment and stimulating communities'
economic and social growth (Adegun, 2013).
EE is grounded on the cognitive approach to entrepreneurship
and the entrepreneurial method that sustain understanding of
what are the knowledge structures of entrepreneurs, how they act
and decide is applicable to the design of strategies for developing
the entrepreneurial spirit, skills and abilities of any individual who
wants to learn how to be an entrepreneur (Sarasvathy &
Venkataraman, 2011; S
anchez, Carballo, & Gutie
rrez, 2011). The
goal of EE is to integrate the entrepreneurial traits with the
entrepreneurship process and entrepreneurial behaviour
(Heinonen & Poikkijoki, 2006; Vesper, 1990). This requires not only
transferring business and management knowledge but also devel-
oping new ways of thinking, attitudes, competencies, and behav-
iours (Gibb, 2006; Henry, Hill, & Leicht, 2005; Pfeiffer, Oberman-
Peterka, & Jeger, 2008; S
anchez et al., 2011). Conduras, Levie, Kel-
ley, Saemundsson, & Schott (as cited in Simon, 2013, p. 163),
defined EE as “the discipline covering knowledge and abilities
‘about’ or ‘with the purpose of’ the entrepreneurship to be recog-
nised as part of educational sub-programmes for basic education
institutions (BEI)”. This type of education differs from traditional
teaching because it requires an increased awareness of the impor-
tance of entrepreneurship to the regional economy and designing
activities and learning spaces based on experiences that facilitate
the implementation of specialised business knowledge, provide
greater time for reflection on the value of generating financial in-
dependence by self-employment, and enable learning by doing
instead of by reading or listening. Entrepreneurship is encouraged
through practice and the articulation of the knowledge received,
authors such as Simon (2013) have recognised the value of expe-
riential learning as a pedagogical approach to entrepreneurship.
Other authors such as Frank, Korunka, Lueger, and Mugler (2005)
recommended the participation of successful entrepreneurs in
the educational programmes and the use of action-oriented di-
dactic techniques such as student projects, experiments, and
business simulation to develop individuals' entrepreneurial atti-
tudes. Exposure to entrepreneurship experiences during formative
life stages increases the probability that students will either decide
to start a business or elect entrepreneurship as a career.
Teaching entrepreneurship and how to be an entrepreneur is
considered a dynamic process of changing students' cognitive
mechanisms in terms of beliefs, values, and attitudes, thereby
allowing them to better understand their skills and capabilities
(Hannan, Leitch, & Hazlett, 2006). This education process com-
prises several stages and co-learning between teachers/instructors
and students. The phases of the process are as follows: 1) under-
standing entrepreneurship, 2) experiencing the entrepreneurial
process and 3) learning to be an entrepreneur by recognising and
exploiting business opportunities. During these educational pha-
ses, the student learns through experience while the teacher fa-
cilitates the process. The teacher's role is to be a facilitator who
supports students' reflections and gives them the opportunity to
learn and practice how to be an entrepreneur (Heinonen &
Poikkijoki, 2006). This approach gives students the opportunity to
play the entrepreneurial role, practise their entrepreneurial skills,
analyse situations creatively and probe hidden aspects of the
entrepreneurship process. Teachers select and design the entre-
preneurial experience, guide students and evaluate results. Sharing
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M.L. Ca
conclusions about what was learned as a part of the evaluation
process and providing feedback to enhance the learning
experience.
The student mini-company is the most representative entre-
preneurial experience in the elementary school context. The micro-
company is organised in the same way as real small and micro-
enterprises and the underlying purpose is to give youngsters the
opportunity to learn how to create, organise and manage a busi-
ness. This learning experience was inspired by the American Junior
Achievement programme, which has been transferred to the school
setting in other countries. For example, the experience of the cre-
ation of a micro-stationery in an elementary school in Quebec has
been documented by Pepin (2011) as a positive and relevant way to
learn how to become entrepreneurial. The impact of the learning
experience on the entrepreneurial skills of Dutch students at the
post-secondary (college) level has been analysed by Oosterbeek,
Van Praag, and Ijsselstein (2010). Government and private initia-
tives' support for EE in elementary schools is relevant, as demon-
strated by the Quebec experience, which was supported by several
institutions, including the Entrepreneurship Quebec Network, the
Jeunesse Entrepreneurship Challenge, and the Young COOP pro-
gramme of the Ministry of Education.
Cooperative or collective enterprises that offer some school (or
community) service such as catering or stationery supply are group
projects that provide students with an actual opportunity to un-
derstand entrepreneurship and be entrepreneurs. Although the
mini-company is not an end in itself, its profits, productivity and
administrative decisions are expected to ensure learning. During
the school year, participating students create the mini-company,
develop and commercialise the product or service and close the
company at the end of the year. The student mini-company may
have different structures: a) a cooperative, with democratic de-
cisions and a collective distribution of gains; b) a small enterprise
with a capitalist style that looks for profit maximisation or c) a
community enterprise focused on social value creation. The type of
mini-company may be based on the program's goals. For example,
community firms are relevant to enhancing students' civic partic-
ipation and understanding of social entrepreneurship, whereas
capitalist micro-firms provide students the opportunity to act as
business entrepreneurs and to play several administrative roles
(Pepin, 2011). Moreover, values, social and business interests are
integrated when EE designers and tutors put forward opportunities
that take advantage of the unsatisfied needs (provision of a new
product or service) of a local market or community (Howorth,
Smith, & Parkinson, 2012).
EE must encompass not only the entrepreneurial curriculum but
also cultural changes, structural modifications within the school,
and the implementation of creative actions. Heilbrunn (2010)'s
analysis of the experimental case of an entrepreneurial experience
in an elementary school in Israel shows the importance of covering
all of these aspects when changing students' cognition mechanisms
to improve their attitudes, preferences for innovation, and proac-
tive dispositions with a focus on entrepreneurship (Hannan et al.,
2006). Additionally, the participation of school authorities and
teachers becomes critical to the success of EE. In the Israeli exper-
imental case, the establishment of a “leading team” including
teachers, the vice principal and the principal was the first step.
Lectures and workshops involving teachers were designed and an
entrepreneurial environment was created with the participation of
the local municipality, parents, students from a nearby college and
industry representatives. Important changes in students' proactive
dispositions, preferences for innovation, self-efficacy, achievement
motivation and non-conformity were observed after they took a
weekly 2-h course and participated in the entrepreneurial
experiment.
In the United States of America (USA), a country associated with
a high level of entrepreneurial spirit, the Goals 2000 Educate
America Act instructed nearly all states to develop educational
activities for entrepreneurship from kindergarten to the university
level through instruction about mini-companies and attitude for-
mation (Simon, 2013). One of the educational initiatives evaluated
at those levels is supported by the Kentucky Council on Economic
Entrepreneurship Education. Code (2006) conducted a quantitative
study to determine whether primary school students who partici-
pated in the sub-programme showed significant changes in their
attitudes towards entrepreneurship and their knowledge of basic
economic concepts. To assess student readiness for entrepreneur-
ship, the author used a multi-scale measure with seven dichoto-
mous items and ten multiple-choice questions that enabled an
assessment of the knowledge acquired. A statistical comparison of
responses before and after participating in the enterprising sub-
programme revealed that educational initiative improves both
the attitudes and knowledge of participating students. The study
also analysed the effects of the students' grades and prior knowl-
edge of economics and entrepreneurship on improving attitudes
and knowledge.
The entrepreneurship experiences and programmes reported
evidence of the viability of EE at the elementary-school level.
However, the effectiveness of EE in primary school requires a
careful evaluation. During the evaluation, it is important to
consider that entrepreneurship should result in more creative
youth who are more confident in the projects that they begin and
experience a greater sense of accomplishment. In primary school,
the short-term objective is to expose students to the knowledge of
business and thereby create an entrepreneurial culture that allows
students to consolidate mini-companies and be self-employed
instead of searching for uncompetitive jobs (Adegun, 2013;
Gartner, 1990).
To systematise educational experiences, Simon (2013) sug-
gested the following five stages: the starting point (from records of
experience), defining objectives, reconstructing the process (which
requires organising the available information), in-depth reflection
(an analysis and interpretation of the process) and formulating
theoretical and practical conclusions. Adegun (2013, p. 751) made
the following recommendations for a youth-oriented sub-pro-
gramme after analysing the factors that promote the advancement
of EE:
1. To support students in developing their full potential even in an
adverse socioeconomic context.
2. To provide financial support, training and opportunities for
students to participate actively in proposed solutions to socio-
economic problems in their communities.
3. To develop the entrepreneurial spirit in schools through work-
shops, active and action-oriented learning activities and the
formation of mini-companies that represent an opportunity for
economic self-sufficiency and the creation of secondary jobs.
4. To instruct mentors in entrepreneurship and provide good
teaching skills and experience.
5. To promote an entrepreneurial culture both in and out of school
by incorporating community leaders and establishing recogni-
tion and awards for students who propose the most promising
business initiatives.
3. Description of the entrepreneurship education sub-
programme
As previously stated the mission of the Enterprise-Higher Edu-
cation Foundation [FESE] is to promote entrepreneurship at all levels
to achieve social transformation through the creation and

rcamo-Solís et al. / Teaching and Teacher Education 64 (2017) 291e304
M.L. Ca
FESE
(Foundation of Higher
Education - Company)
TUTORS:
Professors
(HEI)
Primary
Schools
(BEI)
ADVISORS:
Students of
economic-
administrative
careers of HEI
Entrepreneurs
children (BEI)
Fig. 2. Network of social actors involved in the process of entrepreneurship.
incubation of new mini-companies. The EE sub-programme “My
first company: playing entrepreneurship”, focused on promoting
entrepreneurship at the elementary level (primary school in
Mexico), consists of the following stages: 1) a period of training in
entrepreneurship, 2) the development of new ventures with the
assistance of an advisory group, and 3) the opening of small busi-
nesses. The instructional methods focused on creating a new mini-
companies through playful activities and providing tools to anal-
yse a business project from multiple perspectives (economic and
social factors and the needs and capabilities of their community). In
addition, the sub-programme supports a socialisation process ori-
ented to reinforce the attitudes and values of the enterprising ac-
tivity along with the perception of self-efficacy in entrepreneurial
behaviour by promoting the use of learning experiences that would
enable the students to “think while doing” and act as entrepreneurs.
According to Fig. 2, the sub-programme began with a period of
online training offered by FESE tutors (teachers) to advisors (un-
dergraduate students recruited from various institutions of higher
education [HEI] in Mexico). Tutors, through online readings, exer-
cises and assignments, reinforced their knowledge about incuba-
tion of mini-companies with the remote support of a FESE expert.
Additionally, tutors involved in social networks promoted the dia-
logue around the transfer of knowledge for the creation of new
ventures. Next, tutors trained advisers through a course about how
to develop the entrepreneurial process in the BEI. In addition to the
reinforcement of the adviser's business knowledge, the course
enabled the selection of the best educational projects to put into
practice at the elementary (primary) schools. During the advisor
training, tutors discussed the socioeconomic role of entrepreneurs,
the relevance of teachers in helping students to develop their
entrepreneurial spirit, and reaffirmed entrepreneurial values and
skills. The course ended with an exam that guarantees all advisors
have the required administrative knowledge and business skills.
295
After the accomplishment of the training phase, the tutors and
the advisors chose the elementary school to work with and
establish a formal agreement with the HEI and the BEI. This
agreement, proposed by the FESE, has the following rules: the FESE
must provide the seed capital and display results; the HEI's par-
ticipants should advise children in the entrepreneurial process; and
the BEI should provide the required support to facilitate the EE
experience. An important part of the BEI's commitment is that
parents should come to school three or two times per week (from
16.00 to 18.00 h) to discuss advances with advisors. The availability
of economic resources, the support of tutors and advisors, the
participation of parents and the recognition of opportunities for
offering new products and services to the community, are critical
elements for the creation of a favourable micro-social environment
that enhances the self-efficacy beliefs of students in relation to their
skills and abilities to create and manage a profitable enterprise
(Sa
nchez et al., 2011).
At the beginning of the second phase, the advisors integrated
eight teams of four students selected randomly,1, each team was
responsible for launching a mini-company. Next, each advisor
elaborated a profile of each student and inquired about the par-
ticipant's preferences and abilities in relation to the different
managerial roles within the mini-company (general manager,
production manager, sales director, finance director and advertising
director). Based on this information, advisors assigned roles to play
for each student2 and established the rules of the game. School
children enrolled in the 5th and 6th grades of 33 BEI of 27 states,
participated in this EE project during 2009; this figure increased to
111 in 2014.
After starting the business, advisors and tutors monitored the
entrepreneurship activities. The monitoring occurred along a chain:
entrepreneurs reported to advisors and tutors. The entrepreneurs
defined the vision, mission, policies, organization chart, and logo of
the business; additionally, they designed the corporate image, and
the business and advertising strategy to position the mini-
company. After this, entrepreneurs presented their company to
the stakeholder group: principal, parents, colleagues, advisers, and
tutors. This activity had two main purposes: to receive feedback
and to encourage entrepreneurs to express and support their ideas.
Then, participating students in the FESE sub-programme
applied the knowledge received from the advisers to design a
prototype of the product (or service) based on the findings of a
basic marketing-research study that gathered information about
the demand from the potential consumers (children, youths, and
adults). Subsequently, the entrepreneurs determined production
costs and pricing, identified and selected supplies and materials,
and finally assessed the financial feasibility of their business pro-
jects through practical exercises. Once the business plan was
completed, the entrepreneurs were guided through the develop-
ment of marketing and production plans for their various goods or
services. A variety of days were chosen to market the products over
a three-to-four-month period (in many cases, marketing activities
took place on weekends). Although the entrepreneurs made all of
their decisions based on relevant information and administrative
analysis, they enjoyed full freedom of action.
Once the projects were approved by the administrative co-
ordinators of each HEI and the FESE, each enterprise received 3000
1
To define the teams, advisors placed coloured papers (e.g., yellow, red, green)
into an urn, and each student chose a paper at random. Students who selected
papers of the same colour were assigned to the same team or company.
2
The dynamics of work in a company were multifunctional, that is a specific role
was assigned to each student to define an organizational structure; operationally,
anybody could do any activity. The intention was to promote teamwork, internalize
ideas and put them into practice.
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M.L. Ca
Mexican pesos (around 170 USD) in 2009 and 1500 pesos (around
85 USD) from 2010 to 2013 as seed funding. Each of the advisors
received a scholarship of 24,000 pesos (1370 USD) for six months
and the tutor received a unique payment of 10,000 pesos (570 USD).
All these economic resources were gathered through FESE fund-
raising to promote relationships among the educational, productive
and government sectors through actions that promote the devel-
opment of the productive sector, strengthen vocational training
and improve the employability of graduates (FESE, 2014).
The variety of products fabricated by the different mini-
companies was large: candy, handicrafts, office ornaments, deco-
rated notebooks, costume jewellery, cosmetics, cleaning products,
and food. Once the products were manufactured, entrepreneurs
sought places to promote and market them (at home, in the
neighbourhood, and in the offices of the municipal government,
among other sites). Sales were recorded in the general ledger by the
finance director. The financial process was of particular interest to
entrepreneurs who learned and practiced how to prepare financial
statements, calculate profits, and decide how to reinvest and make
productive use of the earnings. As a consequence, meaningful
learning about transparency in money management and finances
occurred. Throughout the process of creation of the new ventures,
entrepreneurs also developed managerial skills and values con-
cerning how to administrate seed funding and disclose financial
statements with transparency and honesty. Other lessons learned
during the experience were solidarity, respect, and cooperation.
Periodically, the CEO organised meetings to screen the activities of
every area of the mini-company. At this point it is important to note
the significant differences with respect to the compliance with the
different phases of the project observed between urban and rural
schools; rural schools were more inconsistent.
During the third phase, the entrepreneurs e with the help of the
advisers e presented a final report and the closing financial state-
ments of the new venture to the stakeholder group. Additionally,
the whole experience was discussed during the national fair of
entrepreneurs, organised by the FESE at Mexico City in July 2014.
When closing their mini-companies, entrepreneurs distributed
revenues and profits among themselves as a reward for their effort
and talent, while the seed funding was invested in teaching ma-
terials needed by the BEI to simulate the payment of taxes to the
Service of Mexican Tax Administration. This last action was relevant
in promoting equity and responsibility in the distribution of eco-
nomic resources.
After administrative coordinators from each HEI and from FESE
determined the allocation of resources, each enterprise received
3000 Mexican pesos in 2009 and 1500 pesos from 2010 to 2014 as
seed funding to start manufacturing the product designed in the
previously established business plan. Each of the advisors received
a scholarship of 24,000 pesos for six months and the tutor received
a one-time transfer of 10,000 pesos. These resources were gathered
through FESE fundraising to promote relationships among the
educational, productive, and government sectors through pro-
grammes, projects and services that promote the development of
the productive sector, strengthen vocational training, and improve
the employability of graduates (FESE, 2014). Additional funds were
gathered by several BEI to support supplementary activities such as
advertising the program and the new ventures' products/services,
acquisition of stationery or complementary materials.
Participating students in the FESE sub-programme applied the
knowledge that they received from the advisors when designing a
prototype of the product (or service) following the findings of a
basic marketing-research study that gathered information from
children, young people, and adults. Subsequently, the entrepre-
neurs determined the costs and pricing and assessed the financial
feasibility of their business projects through practical exercises.
Once the business plan was completed, the entrepreneurs were
guided through the development of marketing and production
plans for their various goods. A variety of days were chosen to
market the products over a three-to-four-month period (in many
cases, marketing activities took place on weekends).
Finally, the entrepreneurs e with the help of the advisers e
presented reports to the directors, their parents, advisors and tu-
tors containing the final results of their efforts, as reflected in
financial statements (balance sheet and income statement), and
closed their mini-companies as follows: profits were distributed
among the entrepreneurs as a reward for their effort and talent and
the seed funding when recuperated was invested in teaching ma-
terials needed by the BEI participating in the sub-programme,
thereby simulating tax payments to the treasury and promoting
equity and responsibility in the distribution of economic resources.
4. Methodology
This study was based on quantitative data and employed a
regression analysis to explain the efficiency of EE in terms of several
variables that Vesper (1990) argued are critical for the development
of entrepreneurial skills and attitudes, and the perception of self-
efficacy required to create and deploy new mini-companies

nchez et al., 2011).
(Sa
From a methodological perspective, Code (2006) argued that it
is important to perform a quantitative analysis to determine
whether primary school students who participated in entrepre-
neurship sub-programmes such as the one promoted by FESE
showed significant changes in their attitudes towards entrepre-
neurship. In this respect, a field analysis was led by an external
support group (ESG) composed of six students in their final se-
mester in the Bachelor in Business Management programme of the
University of Guanajuato, Mexico. The analysis consisted of the
application of 4 questionnaires to 27 participating states. The ESG
was not part of this study, and the university students were only
responsible for collecting the information. The questionnaires were
designed by Simon (2013), who decided to enhance the evaluation
of the EE sub-programme with information about predictors of the
actual and future entrepreneurial behaviour of participants.
Simon's measurements were based on the work of authors such
as Fayolle, Gailly, and Lassas-Clerc (2006), who proposed an inte-
gral assessment framework for EE programmes that goes beyond
traditional measures based on the number and profile (e.g., inno-
vativeness, profitability) of the mini-companies created by the
students. Fayolle et al. (2006) used Azjen's Theory of Planned
Behaviour (TPB) to suggest more significant measures of the impact
of EE. These measures include institutional variables (e.g. school
entrepreneurial culture and the availability of funds), the profile of
participants (e.g. age and educational background), the objectives
of the EE programme (economic, pedagogical and social), the
content dimension of the programme (attitudes, values, abilities
and knowledge), and teaching methods. These variables are related
to the direct antecedents of entrepreneurial behaviour, which ac-
cording to the TPB are as follows: attitude towards entrepreneur-
ship, the expectations of social groups (social norm) and perceived
control (similar to the auto-efficacy concept) over one's behaviour.
Measures of these three constructs across several cohorts of stu-
dents can provide a more precise idea than specific entrepreneurial
behaviour to determine the impact of EE programmes; specific
entrepreneurial behaviour is more difficult to evaluate because it is
highly influenced by external factors. In the case of the Mexican
experience, although the EE sub-programme characteristics (ob-
jectives, contents, teaching approach, institutional setting and
audience) are fixed, initial measures related to attitudes, knowl-
edge, auto-efficacy and values were collected before and after the

rcamo-Solís et al. / Teaching and Teacher Education 64 (2017) 291e304
M.L. Ca
sub-programme and then related to the new ventures created to
judge the extent to which the measures predict behaviour and
could be used (after refinement) as impact metrics for the FESE sub-
programme. The need to find proof of how and when the knowl-
edge, attitudes and skills acquired/developed during an EE pro-
gramme was recognised by Mwasalwiba (2010), following his
revision of EE programmes. This is a critical topic for research in EE;
it is acknowledgeddbut not fully addresseddby the FESE. There-
fore, this work describes a preliminary assessment of the Mexican
EE programme that requires both the revision of initial metrics and
further tests.
To evaluate the acquisition of business knowledge, two ques-
tionnaires were applied (each of which included 16 multiple-choice
questions) to a randomly selected sample of the 213 small enter-
prises created by the team of four children and one advisor that was
drawn from the 254 BEI participants in the FESE entrepreneurship
initiative from 2012 to 2014. The average knowledge of entrepre-
neurship possessed by each of the teams responsible for the 213
mini-companies before and after the implementation of the sub-
programme was calculated based on the questionnaire results.
The same variables were examined in both questionnaires using
the following appreciative scale: 1 ¼ null, 2 ¼ minimum,
3 ¼ regular, 4 ¼ good, and 5 ¼ excellent.
The ESG also evaluated the students' values and skills using two
questionnaires. The information obtained from these surveys was
used to perform statistical comparisons to evaluate the effective-
ness of the entrepreneurship model promoted by FESE in terms of
the children's acquisition of knowledge and development of the
competences required to be an entrepreneur. Overall, 13 values and
11 playful entrepreneurship skills promoted by FESE were consid-
ered. The averages of those values and skills were calculated ac-
cording to the responses provided by the 213 mini-companies
using the appreciative scale mentioned above.
5. Results
5.1. Creation of mini-companies classified with respect to the state
and sector of activity
According to the FESE reports, the number of small business
142 143
65
49
34 33
26
16
9 10
Fig. 3. Number of mini-companies generated by children participating in the sub-programme “My first enterprise: Entrepreneurship by playing”, 2009e2014.
297
created by entrepreneurs from BEI in the state part of the sub-
programme was 266 in 2009, 480 in 2011, 400 in 2012, and only
181 in 2013e2014. The leading states in the creation of new en-
terprises were Chihuahua, Colima and Veracruz; those reporting an
average number of mini-companies were the states of Mexico,
Hidalgo, Michoacan, Nuevo Leon, Puebla, Queretaro, Sinaloa,
Sonora, Tabasco, Yucatan and Chiapas; and the states with the
lowest entrepreneurial activity were Campeche, Distrito Federal,
San Luis Potosi, Tamaulipas and Tlaxcala (Fig. 3).
The most common type of enterprise involved joint manage-
ment by the entrepreneurs and advisors. This symbiosis allowed
both types of participants to collaboratively create more novel and
innovative enterprises; this approach is a critical factor for all of the
participants because it promotes young people's creativity and
confidence in what they do and in everything they undertake. The
new small enterprises were identified as mini-companies created
and developed by entrepreneurial children in the 5th and 6th
grades of primary school.
From 2009 to 2014, the students' mini-companies were pri-
marily focused on the following economic sectors: 1) in 2009, the
principal economic activity was handicrafts (made with natural and
artificial materials with concern for the environment); 2) in 2011,
the principal economic activity involved the trade promotion of
consumer goods such as stationery, perfume, gift boxes, fruits and
vegetables, among others; 3) in 2012, the principal economic ac-
tivity involved food (e.g., “tortas”, hot dogs, hamburgers, “tacos”),
candy (chocolate, caramel apples and confectionery) and handi-
crafts; and 4) in 2012e2014, the principal economic activity
involved products with substantial added value such as industrial
goods (personal and household cleaning natural products), the
production of accessories such as fantasy jewellery, natural cos-
metics and hygiene products elaborated with vegetables such as
beets, lemons, trompillos, rosewater and wild fruits (Table 1). By
creating these types of mini-companies, the entrepreneurs
demonstrated their ability to visualise the opportunities that they
discovered, evaluated, and exploited to create business ideas,
which were reflected in new products that focused on environ-
mental friendliness and specific market niches.
With regards to entrepreneurship in children, an essential
aspect is that they learn while they build economic projects. The
States of Mexican Republic
158
75
61
56
50 49 49
40 42 41
34 33
26 26 27
17 16
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M.L. Ca

Table 1
Types of mini-companies created by the entrepreneurs participating in the sub-programme “My first company: entrepreneurship by playing”.

New mini-companies classified by economic activity

2009 2011 2012 2013e2014

Type of enterprise Total Type of enterprise Total Type of enterprise Total Type of enterprise Total
Accessories 39 Agriculturalist 4 Food 159 Food 3
Food 62 Commercial 371 Cosmetics and hygiene 7 Cosmetics 8
Production of costume jewellery 35 Manufacturer/Industrial 90 Production of costume jewellery 47 Production of costume jewellery 60
Hygiene 1 Production 1 Entertainment 2 Craftwork 10
Craftwork 89 Services 6 Craftwork 150 Services 15
It did not bring this information 40 It did not bring this information 8 Others 3 Industrial products 80
It did not bring this information 32 Others 5
General total 266 General total 480 General total 400 General total 181

Source: Elaborated with information of FESE, 2014.

creation of mini-companies through games allows the children to
remember almost 90% of the experience; according to the Dale's
cone of experience, the students can only remember 10% of what
they read and 90% of what they do, even if it is a simulation (Dale,
1969).
According to Pepin (2011), the mini-company is not an end in
itself; its profits, productivity and administrative decisions ensure
learning. There were three kinds of structures of the mini-
companies: a cooperative, wherein the decision making is demo-
cratic and the distribution of the profits is collective; a small en-
terprise that seeks to maximize profits in a capitalist way; a
community enterprise focused on the creation of social values with
their production. This last type of company is promoted by FESE
because: 1) Community firms are relevant to enhance students'
civic participation, and 2) they represent pre-existing opportunities
for students to “discover” and demonstrate their understanding
and initiative to address their community's socioeconomic prob-
lems (Sarasvathy & Venkataraman, 2011). Additionally, capitalist
mini-firms provide students a setting to act as managers, supervi-
sors, and personnel responsible for the business's operational
activities.
The names of some enterprises created were: “La Bodeguita
Emprendedora” (the Entrepreneur Warehouse); “Accesorios Jade”
~ as
(Jade's Accesories); “Postres el Crystal” (Crystal Cakes); “Pequen
Decoraciones, Alegrando tu Vida” (Small Decorations, Bringing Joy to
your Life); “Fienda”; “Accesorios Margot” (Margot's Accessories);
among others. The most watched activities by the tutors and the
advisors in the process of the entrepreneurship in these cases were:
to define the product (candy and desserts, gifts boxes, fantasy
jewellery, handicrafts, natural cosmetics, water and creams for
facial and body cleanliness, and diverse food) and the flowchart of
the company; to define the name of their company; to do the
advertising through flyers, posters and word of mouth; to set
prices. The sale of products was made in public places during Sat-
urday and Sunday.
Other critical activities of the tutors and advisors were when
FESE delivered seed capital. In this moment, they encouraged the
entrepreneurs to develop the mini-company according to their
business plan; they escorted them in the purchasing process. The
entrepreneurs, tutors and advisors calculated profits; they gener-
ated the income statements and general balance; they calculated
the distribution of profits between the entrepreneur and their
stakeholders.
In this respect, of the 1327 new mini-companies, 78.9% reported
profits below the value of the seed funding; 13.3% reported profits
that exceeded the value of their seed funding; and 0.9% generated
zero profits. After considering the final inventory, assets, and
pending accounts, 88.6% of the mini-companies recouped their
seed investment (Table 2).
These numbers indicated that these entrepreneurial activities
were dynamic because they reported an average annual growth of
10.7% and created mini-companies with low levels of losses. The
percentage of new ventures that returned the total of the seed
funding in cash was very similar among states (Fig. 4).
The earnings, if made were equitably distributed among the
entrepreneurs, while the seed funding (any amount recouped) was
returned to the 254 BEIs, in order to simulate tax and debt pay-
ments such that entrepreneurs recognize their responsibility to
satisfy their fiscal obligations and liabilities.
Finally, the tutors and the advisors helped the children to
elaborate the presentation of results of their enterprising activities;
these were presented in the World Trade Centre of the city of
Mexico in the summer of 2014.
When considered from this perspective, entrepreneurship can
be considered related to socioeconomic well-being because it en-
tails increased production of goods, the creation of new markets

Table 2
Financial information of the mini-companies created by children in the sub-programme “My first company: Entrepreneurship by Playing” at the end of the exercise.

Financial and economic results Years

2009 2011 2012e2014

Total number of companies created by children 266 480 581

Companies that recuperated the seed funding 20.80% 74.30% 54.50%
Companies that did not recuperate the seed funding 35.80% 33.40% 37.50%
Companies without information about final status 10.00% 12.00% 8.00%
Companies with recuperation of seed funding
Profits < seed funding * 88.60% 78.90%
Profits > seed funding * 13.30%
Profits ¼ seed funding * 0.90%
Companies without profits * 6.90%

*Missing data.
Source: Elaborated with information of FESE, 2014.

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M.L. Ca 299

Fig. 4. Percentage of mini-companies per state that recuperated the seed funding in the sub-programme “My first enterprise: entrepreneurship by playing”, 2009e2014.

and new businesses promoted by entrepreneurship, and the use of regression model with only two explanatory variables. The fitted
technology and social innovations. These entrepreneurs have the linear model was a convenient approximation for the true “S-sha-
potential to become community leaders in civil society, devoted to ped” model, which describes the behaviour of a bounded response
inculcating an entrepreneurial culture that will subsequently such as the percentage of successful new ventures per state. The
enable business consolidation and the employment of unemployed effect of the predictors on this kind of response is usually non-
people, housewives, students, and elderly people, thereby creating linear and require transformations or alternative statistical
an area belonging to the social economy. methods, which are usually more complex (Gallani, Krishnan, &
Wooldridge, 2015). However the low variation of the percentages
of successful mini-firms during the entrepreneurial experience (see
6. Analysis of children's entrepreneurship
Fig. 4) resulted into no ceiling effects observed. The residuals from
the fitted linear model showed no significant deviations with
6.1. Multiple regression model
respect to the basic statistical assumptions, and the response pre-
diction for observed but extremely large values from the two pre-
The statistical analysis began with the estimation of a regression
dictors resulted in valid values, namely below the 100% upper limit.
model. The dependent variable was the percentage of “successful”
Additionally, the logarithmic transformation of the response
mini-companies in each state (n ¼ 27), i.e. those new ventures that
resulted into the same selection of explanatory variables. Therefore,
in 2014 recuperated the seed funding, and the independent vari-
the regression coefficients for the linear model were assessed as
ables were as follows:
valid estimation of the effects of the two predictors within the
specific range from 81 to 85% of mini-companies per state that at
X1 ¼ the initial capital received by each company, including the
least recovered the seed capital.
FESE seed capital plus any additional fund provided by the BEI.
The percentage of successful companies was significantly pre-
X2 ¼ the number of advisors per company; each company had a
dicted by two of the independent variables: 1) the number of ad-
principal advisor assigned to it, but usually, teams of advisors
visors per mini-company, b1 (unstandardized) ¼ 0.34, t (24) ¼ 1.95, p
were supervising the advance of each company and provided
(one sided) < .031, and 2) the number of tutors per mini-company,
additional support.
b2 (unstandardized) ¼ 1.38, t (24) ¼ 1.95, p(one sided) < .031. These
X3 ¼ the number of tutors per company,
two variables explained a significant proportion of variance in the
X4 ¼ previous experience with the EE sub-programme; this a
percentage of successful companies, R2 ¼ 22.6, F (2, 24) ¼ 3.50,
binary variable coded “1” if the sub-programme was applied
p < .047. The resulting model did not exhibit multicollinearity as
during a previous year (2011 or 2012) in the state and “0”
evidenced by the variance inflationary factors (VIF), both equal to
otherwise.
1.01 (Mansfield & Helms, 1982). When all variables were entered in
X5 ¼ the level of the human development of the state. This is an
the regression model, these two variables number of advisers per
index that comprises two basic sub-dimensions or components,
mini-company and number of tutors per mini-company had sig-
the schooling and the family income of the population; each
nificant regression coefficients as reported in Table 3.
sub-dimension is an aggregation of specific census data.
The non-significance of the global score of management and
X6 ¼ the global score of entrepreneurial attitudes, skills, and
entrepreneurial abilities was a particularly unexpected result,
values of the entrepreneurs at the end of the learning experi-
because “teaching” how to be an entrepreneur was the core of the
ence. This score is the average of the entrepreneurial and
educational experience. An explanation for this could be the level of
management abilities reported by the total of students who
aggregation of the score - the responses of all participants were
participate in the experience.
averaged to provide a single score per state- that disguises the
importance of the entrepreneurial and management abilities on the
The Stepwise method was used to estimate a multiple linear
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M.L. Ca

Table 3
Regression results. Independent variable: Percentage of new mini-companies created per state that recovered the seed funding in 2013.

Explanatory variables Raw regression coefficient t- Test P- value one-sided VIF

Number advisors per new venture 0.36 1.87 0.04 1.47

Number of tutors per new venture 1.72 2.18 0.02 1.45
Economic resources per new venture 0.00 0.18 0.43 1.60
Entrepreneurial values, skills and knowledge 0.24 1.33 0.10 2.01
Previous experience with EE subprogramme 0.34 0.90 0.19 1.52
Index of human development of the state 0.33 0.93 0.17 1.27

creation of a specific new venture. The regression analysis exposes
the teacher's role, played by advisors and tutors, is critical for the
design and proper application of the EE experience. When more
advisors and tutors supported the development of participant's
entrepreneurial abilities and the creation of new ventures, the
chances of having successful mini-companies increased signifi-
cantly. By working with small teams of students, advisors under the
supervision of tutors closely monitor entrepreneurs' experiential
learning, encourage communication, self-confidence and
strengthen decision-making based on effectual logic (Sarasvathy,
2008).
The five principles that according to Sarasvathy (2008) make up
the effectual logicepatchwork quilt; affordable loss, bird-in-hand,
lemonade and pilot in the plane- were deliberately applied dur-
ing the learning experience. Tutors and advisers not only instruct
participants about business models but encourage the creation of
mini-companies by taking advantage of existing resources (cultural
traditions, community groups, family relations, etc.); focus the
attention of participants not on the estimation of future profits but
on the best use of the economic resources to run the company;
facilitate negotiations to get the support of the stakeholder group
(BEI authorities, parents, and co-players); favor the adjustment of
the business project to respond to unexpected situations and
reinforce the confidence of entrepreneurs on its abilities to manage
any situation during the process of creation of the mini-company.
The new venture was the didactic experience that tutors and ad-
visers use to demonstrate how entrepreneurs combine causal and
effectual approaches to handle risk, face uncertainty and develop or
exploit a market.
At this point is important to notice advisors and tutors are not
entrepreneurs themselves, therefore they do not “teach” by expe-
rience or just transfer knowledge but facilitate the exchange of
knowledge, experiences and ideas among entrepreneurs
(Heinonen & Poikkijoki, 2006; Kolb, 1984). Acting as mentors help
advisors and tutors to reinforce their own knowledge about
entrepreneurship and to gain more insights about how to improve
the learning experience and their mentoring. In this respect, the
initial training of tutors and advisors was crucial to guarantee that
they have a clear understanding of the entrepreneurship process
and the business knowledge required to guide and support children
with the creation and management of the new business according
to the business plan while playing close attention to ethical norms
and financial measures.
6.2. Analysis of entrepreneurial knowledge
Before the implementation of the sub-programme, 16 concepts
regarding theoretical knowledge were evaluated. Two of these
concepts obtained a score higher than 2 (this represents a minimal
application) and the rest were below this value (indicating null
application or participants displaying incorrect responses). After
their participation in the EE experience, the entrepreneurs regis-
tered significant improvements. In 14 of the concepts, the scores
registered were greater than or equal to 3 (acceptable to good
applicability) (Table 4). These results provide evidence of the
improvement in the participants' levels of theoretical and practical
knowledge when developing the constitutive chart, defining the
marketing strategies, setting product prices, manufacturing goods,
computing earning income and benefits, or deciding how to invest
the seed funding.
The upgrading of the general knowledge regarding business
administration was assessed by comparing the knowledge levels of
participants' teams before and after their participation in the
entrepreneurship sub-programme. There was a significant increase
in the general business knowledge of children enrolled in the
entrepreneurial sub-programme, t (94) ¼ 11.883, p < .001, with
knowledge scores higher after the learning experience. The differ-
ence between before and after scores ranges between 1.34 and 1.93

Table 4
Evaluation of knowledge before and after participation in the sub-programme.

Concepts Evaluation before the sub-programme Evaluation after the sub-programme Difference between evaluations

Seed Funding 1.2 2.6 1.4

Been financier 1.3 2.7 1.4
Marketing 1.5 3.5 2.0
Advertising 1.5 4.0 2.5
Flowchart 1.2 4.0 2.8
Income 2.5 4.5 2.0
Niche of market 1.3 3.0 1.7
Earnings 2.6 4.4 1.8
Negotiation 1.4 2.3 0.9
Price fixing 1.4 2.0 0.6
Investment 2 3.5 1.5
Costs of production 1.6 2.8 1.2
Lines of products 1.5 3.0 1.5
Production of Craftwork 2.0 4.0 2.0
Sales 2.5 4.0 1.5
Taxes 2.1 3.5 1.4
General Average of Knowledge 1.73 3.4 1.64

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Table 5
Results of the paired t-test.

Sub-programme Related differences t-value Sig. (bilateral)

Mean Standard Deviation Standard error 95% Confidence interval

for the difference

Low Superior

Before e After 1.63 .55 .13 1.93 1.34 11.88 .000

Table 6 programme contributed to the promotion of individual and social

Percentage of the new ventures declaring level of values before (n ¼ 101) and after values in a larger number of enterprises than would have been the
(n ¼ 100) participation in the EE sub-programme.
case without the sub-programme.
Scale Before EE After EE

1 and 2 Null or minor development 37.00 0.00 6.3.2. Skills

18.00 18.00 The chi-square test was also used to compare the number of
18.00 18.00 mini-companies whose members reported they have the proper
3 Acceptable development 18.00 4.00
11.00 11.00
business skills to create and manage the new business after
4.46 4.46 completing the EE sub-programme. The skills evaluated included:
4 Good development 20.00 13.00 taking advantage of new ideas, making business decisions,
16.50 16.50 providing respectful customer service, delegating responsibilities,
0.74 0.74
solving managerial problems, listening to others, accepting others'
5 Excelent development 26.00 83.00
54.50 54.50 comments, contributing to the advancement of the new company,
14.90 14.90 collaborating to solve the company's problems, responding to
All 100 100 others' requests, and flexibility. The evaluation of skills is based on
the participant's self-reports, the scores rather correspond to
perceived self-efficiency in their ability to identify and exploit op-
on the scale used (Table 5). portunities and collaborating with partners to create a new
venture.
6.3. Analysis of entrepreneurial values and skills The first two categories of the appreciative scale, “null assimi-
lation of values” and “minor assimilation of values” were again
6.3.1. Values merged to avoid multiple cells with zero values, details of the
Thirteen values, relevant to the ethical management of the analysis results are reported in Table 6. The percentage of com-
entrepreneurial ventures were measured, they were: honesty, self- panies whose founders reinforced their entrepreneurial skills after
confidence, integrity, creativity, autonomy, tenacity, responsibility, the entrepreneurship learning experience was highly significant, c
2
willingness to accept risks, leadership, teamwork, solidarity, (3, n ¼ 100) ¼ 63.22, p ¼ .000. The most radical changes in
convincing others and adapting to others. These values were entrepreneurial skills were observed again in the extreme values
measured not at the individual but at the team or company level (1 ¼ null and minor, and 5 ¼ excellent) of the appreciative scale
because they must reflect the company's values; only 100 of the (first row of Table 7). For instance, those scoring 1 or 2 on this scale
teams reported completed responses, thus only they were the in- in the “before” condition were 38 of the mini-companies in the
puts of the statistical analysis. The first two categories of the sample; this number changed significantly to zero “after” partici-
appreciative scale, “null assimilation of values” and “minor assim- pation in the EE sub-programme. In contrast, those scoring excel-
ilation of values” were merged to avoid multiple cells with zero lent (5) on the skill-scale comprised only 30 of the small enterprises
values, details of the analysis results are reported in Table 6. The “before” participation in the EE project, but this figure increased up
percentage of companies that reinforced the entrepreneurs' to 79 “after” participation (the expected number of companies if
corporate values, thanks to their participation in the entrepre- the sub-programme had no influence should be only 54.50, not as
neurship learning experience was highly significant, c2 (3, high as 79). These findings demonstrate that self-efficiency in
n ¼ 100) ¼ 77.20, p ¼ .000. terms of entrepreneurial abilities could be improved through
The results support the hypothesis that entrepreneurial values
could be developed and reinforced through the design of a learning
Table 7
experience such as the EE sub-programme. According to the entries Percentage of the new ventures declaring level of skills before (n ¼ 100) and after
in Table 6 (third figure in each cell), the largest discrepancies (n ¼ 100) participation in the EE sub-programme.
occurred at the extremes of the appreciative scale used, namely
Scale Before EE After EE
“null or minor assimilation of values” (scores of 1 and 2 on the
scale) and “excellent assimilation of values” (corresponds to a score 1 and 2 Null or minor development 38.00 0.00
19.00 19.00
of 5). At the beginning of the learning experience, thirty-seven of 19.00 19.00
the mini-companies judged themselves as having a “null or minor 3 Acceptable development 15.00 7.00
assimilation of values” but this number decreased to zero after 11.00 11.00
completing the EE sub-programme, this represents a significant 1.46 1.46
4 Good development 17.00 14.00
improvement according to the differences between observed and
15.50 15.50
expected numbers (37 vs. 18.00 and 0 vs. 18.00) that are the basis of 0.15 0.15
the test. Similarly, in the category of “excellent assimilation of 5 Excelent development 30.00 79.00
values” (coded 5 in the table) the number of companies signifi- 54.50 54.50
cantly increased from 26 to 83 after the accomplishment of the EE 11.01 11.01
All 100 100
sub-programme. In summary, the entrepreneurship sub-
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M.L. Ca
Table 8
Values, attitudes and knowledge fostered by “Entrepreneurship playing”.
Values Attitudes
Respect Teamwork
Responsibility (personal and social) Interaction with different audiences
Trust Leadership and conflict resolutions
Tolerance Commitment
Solidarity Dynamic and active participation
Honesty Money management
a
The information presented in this table was recovered from the HEIs' final reports.
Source: FESEa, 2014.
experiential learning.
The comparison of responses regarding the values and skills
developed by the children before and after they created their new
mini-companies indicate that when collaborating in the develop-
ment, opening and closing of a small enterprise, participant chil-
dren developed leadership attitudes, teamwork, resource
management, higher self-efficacy, higher participation and
emotional competencies that enabled them to create and manage
profitable companies, and to advance corporate values. The
development of values and skills allows children to be aware of the
need to work to obtain a better quality of life and improve the
socioeconomic condition of their communities (Simon, 2013). At
this point, is important to remark that values and skills were not
“taught” but encouraged directly by advisors and indirectly by tu-
tors through open discussion and reflection during the complete
process of creation and management of the mini-companies.
6.4. Qualitative assessment of knowledge, skills and values
According to ideas of Table 8, the most significant learning has
involved teamwork, dynamic and active participation, interaction
with various audiences, conflict resolution, and creativity to solve
problems. The experience of designing and manufacturing a
product was very important because the entrepreneurs acquired a
positive attitude towards work (the survey indicated that this evi-
denced high self-esteem). It is not possible to infer that the project
contributes to entrepreneur's business ethics, but there is evidence
that the sub-programme reinforced personal values such as respect
and tolerance for the ideas of others, integrity and honesty in
managing resources, and solidarity with one's team. The creation of
the new mini-company provided children with a concrete entre-
preneurial experience to apply knowledge and practice skills,
reflect about the entrepreneurship process, family and community
roles, and experiment new concepts and ideas. Additionally, tutors
and advisers instil in the participants the entrepreneurial identity
while balancing the value of the individual actions with the inter-
action with other individuals (stakeholders, teammates, commu-
nity members, etc.) to take advantage of the existing socioeconomic
conditions. The products, mini-companies, and markets created by
the entrepreneurs are presented as artefacts to transform the pre-
vailing socioeconomic situation of the community in the long term,
thus making the development of entrepreneurial values equally
important as acquiring individual business skills and expertise
(Venkataraman, Sarasvathy, Dew, & Forster, 2013).
7. Scope and limitations of the paper
This paper advances the understanding of its research goal: to
determine whether EE contributed to economic-administrative
knowledge, the reinforcement of values and the development of
entrepreneurial skills. In other words, the goal is to understand
whether children can be effectively educated to become
Knowledge
The operation of a business; the creation of a business plan.
The economic, ethical and social obligations of a company
The payment of taxes
Value creation
Use of business language
Financial administration
entrepreneurs and to make business decisions based on personal
and social values. Furthermore, the authors find that the EE method
has theoretical implications for emerging countries. This paper
provides a thorough discussion of these factors and proposes a
conceptual framework for studying them in the context of EE.
The study has the following limitations:
1. Although quantitative and qualitative results show the appli-
cation of values, skills and knowledge in entrepreneurship, it is
impossible to measure whether these values, skills and knowl-
edge are generated by the sub-programme or whether they are
attributable to the students' backgrounds.
2. Although the most common justification for being absent from
the sub-programme was the slow administration of resources, it
was not this work's goal to study organizational communication
between the FESE, the HEI, and the BEI and its impact on the
efficiency of mini-companies.
3. One limitation that also provides a possibility for further
research relates to tracking the results of the mini-companies at
the end of the sub-programme. In this case, the subject of in-
terest involved measuring the effectiveness of the sub-
programme for teaching and learning about entrepreneurship.
4. Another limitation regarding research continuity is the
description of the enterprises' production processes, without
preconceived preferences we conclude care for the environment
was a common factor in these processes.
8. Conclusions
From September 2009 to June 2014, the children who partici-
pated in an entrepreneurship sub-programme promoted by FESE
experienced significant developments in terms of producing and
marketing not only handcrafted goods but also goods with higher
added value (e.g. industrial goods). The human and financial re-
sources required to launch the entrepreneurial experience were
provided by FESE via a participative EE sub-programme that
involved universities, elementary schools, governmental agencies
and communities. According to the estimated multiple regression
model, the percentage of successful new mini-companies per state
increased significantly with the number of advisors and tutors
couching each entrepreneurial team and facilitating the develop-
ment of entrepreneurial knowledge, values and skills. This evi-
dences the critical role teachers have on the recognition and
exploitation of business opportunities existing in the communities
where the sub-programme was applied. The continuity of the sub-
programme is thus dependent on the availability of seed capital and
qualified tutors and advisers. Thus, FESE has the challenge to
guarantee the availability of these resources either by negotiating a
continuous flow of public and private funds or by designing auto-
financial schemes based on the fabrication and selling of more
value-added products and services.

rcamo-Solís et al. / Teaching and Teacher Education 64 (2017) 291e304
M.L. Ca
FESE was motivated to create the entrepreneurship sub-
programme “My first company: Entrepreneurship by Playing”
because of the substantial unemployment generated by the global
financial crisis (2007e2008) that deteriorated the socioeconomic
situation of many communities. The objective of the sub-
programme in the short run was to develop an entrepreneurial
character among children, with the expectation that sub-
programme participants (tutors, advisors, and entrepreneurs)
would create new businesses and jobs later in life and would
contribute in the long run to the solution of the unemployment
problem and to the country's sustainable growth. This research
corroborates that the main result of the sub-programme was to
provide the entrepreneurial experience of creating and operating a
real mini-company through playful practices that facilitate student
learning. The knowledge, skills, values, and experiences developed
through this entrepreneurship sub-programme should be consoli-
dated in secondary school, embedded in high school and applied
after the completion of professional education to attain the ulti-
mate objective of creating a profitable business with a positive
impact on the economy and society (Simon, 2013). Despite the
success of the mini-companies created (over 80% recovered the
seed funds) and the contribution of the sub-programme to the
development of an entrepreneurial spirit, subsequent evaluations
will be necessary to determine if this short-term experience at
elementary level will result in relevant entrepreneurial activity at
the participant communities.
The EE sub-programme that tutors and advisers implemented
and mentored was focused on developing the individual social
responsibility of participants through the management of the
financial, economic, social and ethical aspects of entrepreneurship.
The fundamental aim of the sub-programme was to prepare teen-
agers to identify new business opportunities that could generate
employment. In the near future, such business opportunities will
then represent a means of addressing rising unemployment, which
has diverse causes. The sub-programme also resulted in important
social developments: personal achievement, economic indepen-
dence, a willingness to take risks, the ability to learn while thinking
and doing, and an awareness of the importance of creating self-
employment. The expectation is these changes will have a posi-
tive effect on the development of diverse communities in each of
the 27 states of the Mexican Republic.
The implementation of this EE model from September 2009 to
June 2014 allowed us to conclude that children can be entrepre-
neurs and can open, operate and close a small enterprise in the
short term, thanks to the experience transmitted by the tutors and
advisers. This experience allowed the participating children to ac-
quire knowledge that reaffirmed or created values and skills
inherent to young people who have developed an entrepreneurial
spirit, as it is shown in Table 4, which reports the differences be-
tween evaluations and knowledge before and after completing the
sub-programme. This result reveals EE as a critical tool to develop
entrepreneurship at the primary-school level. The problem in
Mexico concerns the viability of continuing such education at
subsequent educational levels (secondary and preparatory) given
that there is virtually no formal initiative that makes it possible to
follow up on the FESE entrepreneurship sub-programme.
The observation about the process allows us to infer that EE is
potentially effective by promoting the transformation of ordinary
people into entrepreneurs. We confirm that at least some facets of
entrepreneurship can be successfully taught (Kuratko, 2003). It was
observed that the entrepreneurs are developed new ways of
thinking, attitudes, competencies and behaviours (Gibb, 2006;
Henry et al., 2005; Pfeiffer et al., 2008). According to Simon
(2013), entrepreneurship is encouraged through the practice and
the articulation of the knowledge received, and in this case, FESE
303
promotes holistic entrepreneurship, wherein, the advisor and the
tutor are facilitators who support students and give them the op-
portunity to learn and to practice how to be an entrepreneur
(Heinonen & Poikkijoki, 2006).
The impact of the entrepreneurship promoted by FESE can be
identified in the stimulation of an important motivation for
entrepreneurship, namely, the desire for freedom and indepen-
dence. An entrepreneur must be prepared to organise and mobilise
resources to develop initiatives, cope with the unexpected and
mobilise efficiency and action during critical entrepreneurial tasks.
Nevertheless, the entrepreneurs occasionally failed to perform the
necessary practices within the established times, which prevented
them from achieving an excellent assimilation of knowledge, values
and skills related to certain enterprises. The lack of final reports for
10 HEIs (and thus, evidence on certain aspects of their cases) pre-
vented FESE from including them in the results; accordingly, there
is no evidence for those cases in certain years. The aspects impli-
cated by this issue are as follows: 1) administrative failures to
properly allocate FESE-managed resources to begin the subproject;
and 2) the absence or inefficiency of certain tutors, advisors and
administrative staff members who are crucial for achieving the
entrepreneurship sub-programme's goals.
Acknowledgements
The research project reported in this paper was supported by
the Board of Research and Graduate Studies (DAIP) and Division of
Engineerings, campus Irapuato-Salamanca, Guanajuato’s
University.
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