Learning Entrepreneurship by Hand Clapping: ABM in use in Entrepreneurship Education

Abstract

This chapter presents a new way of teaching entrepreneurship, by the way of arts-based methods. It involves an exercise consisting of making a song in teams based solely on body sounds, to elicit reflections, discussions and experiences related to the entrepreneurial contention of explore vs. exploit. The exercise has been performed several times in both Norway and Brazil, and we show here some preliminary results with regard to student and teacher experiences. The results indicate that students learn important points related to explore vs. exploit, in a different way than normal classroom settings may offer. Results also indicate that the exercise offers a kind of learning that may be deeper and more extensive, however, with some challenges related to the translation of physical experiences to theoretical categories. Finally, results indicate that the exercise transcends cultural barriers. Although with some need for local adaptation, both nationalities acknowledged and appreciated the exercise as fun and influential, as a different way of learning through discovering and using their own body.