Identifying Teacher's Entrepreneurial Indicators and Evaluating the Current Status of Entrepreneurship among Teachers

The present mixed research was carried out with the aim of identifying teachers’ entrepreneurial indicators and evaluating the current status of entrepreneurship among teachers in Khorramabad. In the qualitative phase of the study, descriptive phenomenological approach was utilized and through purposeful and snowball sampling, some famous, experienced and expert teachers, who according to parent's and principals’ report can be regarded as entrepreneurs, were selected and interviewed. Fifty indicators and 8 dimensions were identified by using content analysis and coding the interviews (creativity, educational skills, personality traits, self-efficacy, professional enrichment, group work, communication skill, and problem-solving thinking). In the quantitative phase of the study, based on the identified indicators and dimensions, a valid and reliable questionnaire was developed and completed by 290 teachers. The 48 identified indicators were classified into 8 dimensions via exploratory factor analysis (creativity, educational skills, personality traits, self-efficacy, professional enrichment, group work, communication skill, and problem-solving thinking). In the next step, results of one-sample t-test demonstrated that the extent of entrepreneurial indicators was above the average among expert teachers. The findings of the present research will pave the way for the promotion of teachers’ entrepreneurial skills.