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Knowing the dancer from the dance – Exploring the influence of Teaching Portfolios in Entrepreneurial Education Cover

Knowing the dancer from the dance – Exploring the influence of Teaching Portfolios in Entrepreneurial Education

By: Emma O’Brien and  Gavan Cleary  
Open Access
|Oct 2025

Figures & Tables

Figure 1:

Pedagogical Competence Framework.
Source: Authors’ own, adapted from Olsson et al. (2010).
Pedagogical Competence Framework. Source: Authors’ own, adapted from Olsson et al. (2010).

Figure 2:

Teaching Portfolio Contents.
Source: Authors’ own.
Teaching Portfolio Contents. Source: Authors’ own.

Key Findings

ThemeFindingsRepresentative Portfolio Extracts
PracticeReflections on teaching skills and pedagogical practice.
  • Significant evidence of pedagogical practice shared within portfolio – discussed in most sections of the portfolio

  • Key focus on practice reflection in Inclusion & Diversity and Critical Incident Analysis

This semester, I also realised that on several occasions minority students were not included in self-selecting groups for group work. Many of my modules involve an element of group work as an active learning activity. Perhaps, this suggests that the relationship and engagement that students have with each other in the classroom reflects wider structural contexts, power and privilege and I am beginning to understand that I can build upon my “sphere of influence” (Tatum, 2021) as a lecturer to promote more inclusive practise in group work.
ObservationCritical reflection on observation of teaching.
  • 360 perspectives of observation within portfolio – educator being observed by practitioners, peers, and observation of peers

  • Critical reflections on being observed

The observation feedback has demonstrated to me that I don’t need to have all the answers (Sage on the Stage) and that I don’t need to fill all the space with my voice. Some “white space” can allow students to digest more effectively what is being said. As I prepare for Semester 2 and future academic year, there has been much to learn from this.
TheoryKnowledge about teaching and student learning
  • Scholarly insight of education practice

  • Entrepreneurship theory

  • Learning theory

  • Entrepreneurial education theory

As the module progresses, I introduce various elements of entrepreneurial theory and principles through the lens of the Business Model Canvas (Osterwalder and Pigneur, 2010) and Lean start up thinking (Ries, 2011). Through active and experiential learning (Jones and Iredale, 2014) students utilise SimVenture Validate to guide them through ideation, prototyping and portfolio development.
PlanningConsiderations of lesson plans, inclusion, peer observations and action.
  • Short-medium- and long-term planning

  • Reflection on limitations, challenges and possibilities for future approaches

My longer-term goal is to continue to develop as an educator through deepening my understanding of SoTL with the ultimate goal of enhancing student learning and engagement. I will continue on my life-long and life-wide learning journey and participate in CPD activities in this regard. Moreover, I am hopeful that the supportive environment fostered during the PG cert and collegiality of peers and the relationships built will sustain and further enhance my SoTL (Donnelly, 2007; Shortland, 2004).
DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/ijm-2024-0008 | Journal eISSN: 2451-2834 | Journal ISSN: 1649-248X
Language: English
Page range: 93 - 105
Submitted on: Feb 14, 2024
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Accepted on: Feb 27, 2025
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Published on: Oct 7, 2025
In partnership with: Paradigm Publishing Services
Publication frequency: 3 issues per year

© 2025 Emma O’Brien, Gavan Cleary, published by Irish Academy of Management
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.