Abstract
Teacherpreneur models take on a variety of different forms. Most are practiced within the typical classroom in a general educational environment, but others are not. This chapter educates the reader on the different teacherpreneur models (classroom teacherpreneur, consultant teacherpreneur, business teacherpreneur), demonstrates what each entails, and concludes with a section about innovative online approaches that can be implemented. Teacherpreneurs can work in more than one model at the same time or only address one depending on their own innovations, creativity, motivation, and what their school contract permits them to do. These models illustrate the steps a teacherpreneur might follow to move through the various levels of teacherpreneurship on their own, if desired, or highlight for the administrator how they might implement certain practices within a school to foster teacherpreneurship among staff.
TopTeacherpreneurs In Schools
Berry (2015) suggested that prior to administrators establishing teacherpreneurship in a school, four steps must be followed. First, the school administrator needs to locate teachers who they feel will make good leaders and whom other teachers will follow. Leading Educators (2019), an organization that provides professional development sessions about training teachers to become teacherpreneurs and leaders within their school, has a toolkit (see http://www.leadingeducators.org/) that will assist the school administrator with determining, through the use of a rubric, which teachers have the best potential to become a teacherpreneur (Berry, 2015). The school administrator should then approach the teacher to see if they would be interested in learning more about becoming a teacherpreneur and about the responsibilities it entails. If the teacher is interested, the school administrator can assist the educator along this path.
The second step Berry (2015) suggested is for school districts to provide professional development and learning opportunities for teachers to become teacherpreneurs. Many teachers may be content to remain in their classrooms and are not interested in assisting other teachers, but some may feel the opposite and want to do more yet lack the resources and training to do so. School administrators need to identify these potential leaders and lend a hand to these teachers to help them pursue their dream to have an impact (Berry, 2015).
Third, school administrators need to inquire about how teachers within their school network can learn from one another and from other teacherpreneurs outside of the local school (Berry, 2015). In doing so, school administrators will learn how their teacherpreneurs interact with other teacherpreneurs and use this information to motivate other teachers to join the cause. These interactions may also assist the school administrator and principal in learning what type of concerns their teachers have, and the teacherpreneurs can assist them in resolving these issues.
Key Terms in this Chapter
Manager: Someone who is organized and able to control and operate a company.
Marketeer: Someone who knows how to advertise and sell a product well and gains profits from this effort.
Networking: Being able to speak with others to gain information as well as to make both social and professional contacts to use as deemed necessary in the future.
Teachers Pay Teachers: A website where teachers can post their self-designed products for other educators to view. Some products are free, some cost a few dollars, while others cost as much as a hundred dollars or more. Teachers also rate the quality and usefulness of each product. Some educators who have posted on this website have made a good profit from it and are now engaged in this activity as their full-time profession.
Grade-Level Chair: A veteran teacher who is typically in charge of the grade level in which they teach (e.g., third grade). Typically, they are given additional class periods during the school day to complete paperwork, develop curricula, and in some cases conduct observations of colleagues.
Department-Level Chair: A veteran teacher who is typically in charge of the content area in which they teach (e.g., math). Typically, they are given additional class periods during the school day to complete paperwork, develop curricula, and in some cases conduct observations of colleagues.
Innovator: A teacher who is very creative both in thinking and creating materials and is willing to share these skills with other educators.