Developing the Future Scholarship of Entrepreneurship Education: Exploring Educator Authenticity through Practice and Identity – Celebrating 10 Years of the 3E Conference

Purpose – In this introductory article, we seek to rediscover what entrepreneurship education (EE) means to us to develop the future scholarship of our field. We explore ‘new practices’ concerning what it means to be curious and entrepreneurial in our teaching and examine how what we do interrelates with how we view EE as a field of inquiry. This special issue (SI) offers encouragement and confidence to educators to explore aspects of their teaching practice and interrogate personal values, beliefs, and practices, offering insights into their professional identity and approach to teaching.

Approach – The article adopts a critical reflexive methodological approach to how we position and develop the overarching narrative for this SI. We focus our attention on curating an anthology of writings that encompass a way of unsettling existing thinking by exploring new approaches and methods.

Findings – We advocate that the practice of unsettling and questioning is particularly important to the EE field and community. By thinking more meaningfully about our assumptions and actions, we can create and nurture more collaborative, responsive, and ethical ways of educating for the future. Recognizing the core values of the 3E community/conference, where EE is not simply just about helping students become more efficient entrepreneurs but also about helping us as educators become critical thinkers and morally responsible practitioners, is essential.

Originality – The current commentary positions reflections for an ‘educator turn’ that puts our scholarly emphasis back on the educator role, elevating new research avenues for our field’s pedagogical aspects and underlying philosophical foundations. Pushing the evolving conversations allows us to explore theoretical insights, emphasize the need for a deeper inquiry into educators’ perceptions and teaching philosophies and contribute new insights into the future scholarship of EE influenced by pedagogical practice and identity.