277 Matching Annotations
  1. Sep 2024
    1. One faculty member

      is there a reason this is anonymized?

    2. open assignment

      could we include examples of open assignments?

    3. student-created content

      expand to include permission form and link out

    4. retained, reused, revised, remixed, and redistributed

      link to 5Rs

    5. accessible online

      brief explanation of copyright/creative commons would be helpful. possibly a link to the guide to making OER with students?

    6. renewable assignments

      link to more info about this

  2. Aug 2024
    1. Although the critical strategy of unmasking has proved to be a fruitful way for debunkingthe fantasy of the heroic entrepreneur, we will adopt a different approach. Instead of looking atthe reality behind the fantasy of Branson, we propose to confront the fantasy itself.

      I like this - debunking hardly ever works. If you are captivated by something (say, a fantasy), you're unlikely to be swayed from your ideological perspective. Rather than showing how a belief is false, they want to show how it gains its power. (read on...)

    2. we will take Branson’s autobiographyLosing My Virginityat face value

      not the sort of statement you usually see in critical academic treatises

    3. fantasy is not a false mirage

      the fantasy is real!

    4. While the processual stream of research within the European school has focussed on thecollective effort involved in entrepreneurship, the figure of the heroic entrepreneur remainswidespread in social media and popular culture

      there's that reference to "process" again...

    5. we want to find the crack within the mask itself instead oflookingattherealitybehindthemask

      interesting

    6. “the mode of entrepreneurship outlined here [through analysingBranson], is not the Schumpeterian engine of innovation at the heart of the capitalisteconomy, but a social and economic pathology to which that economy is chronicallyvulnerable”

      Dang! Entrepreneurship as either your friend in the struggle for (capitalist) success or a parasitic force manipulating us to buy into a dream that ultimately disables us more than it empowers us...

    7. To fullyequate the fantasy with reality and then spell out all the radical implications that follow.

      unlike the traditional Marxist critical approach which eschews fantasy (it's dangerous, we must pull away the veil and reveal the truth behind the illusion), this tactic suggests we've got to confront the fantasy. Read it, understand it, even walk in its metaphorical shoes to truly realize what it feels like and how it works its magic (often by selling us impossibilities and contradictions)...

    8. read Branson’s autobiography asa literary instruction that teaches us how to desire
    9. criticallyconfront the portrayal of the fantasy of the heroic entrepreneur as a cultural representation

      ...

    10. desiresignifies the way in which we long for, crave and feel a need for certain objects

      We all desire ... what? Beyond the baser pleasures, the entrepreneurial dream is built on a desire for success manifest in (as the authors say) fame, fortune and glory. Everyone wants to be validated. Usually by others. Success provides a form of this.

    11. fantasies are never complet
    12. Branson’s public image istherefore an ideological construc
    13. The entrepreneur should not only challenge the prevalent assumptions ofthe organization but also constantly challenge himself or herself. The desire for transgressionis therefore the entrepreneurial subject’s prime driver.

      Genau! (one of my favourite German words)

    14. a fantasy is a narrative that renders certain objects attractive for us. Put differently,fantasies reside in the narratives we tell, insofar as they render certain things desirable

      !

    15. address the question of“Who is an entrepreneur?”without recourse to an essentialist mode ofthinking.
    16. sublime object loses its aura and dissolves into an ordinary thing, because its seductiveappearance can be sustained only through distance.“If we get too near [the sublime object]”,Žižek (2008) explains, then“it loses its sublime features and becomes an ordinary vulgarobject

      yowza! All that glitters is not gold. This reminds me of the edict to never meet your heroes -- they often turn out to be regular people (and the crushing feeling of disappointment when you find out that they might not deserve that pedestal you put them up on).

    17. fantasies are ridden with impossibilities and contradictions
    18. read Branson’s autobiography as a symbolic structure thatcreates fantasies that the reader can adopt.
    19. Žižek (2008) defines a sublime object as“a positive, materialobject elevated to the status of the impossible thing”( p. 77). At a distance, the sublime objectappears to possess divine and extraordinary qualities.

      explaining a bit more why entrepreneurship might be considered "sublime"

    20. The figure of the heroic entrepreneur is not an empty shell that can bemanipulated through desire, but rather a fantasy that“coordinate[s] desire”

      really kind of distilling the thesis statement

    21. Rather than assuming that the entrepreneurialpersonality can be characterized by set of unified traits, Steyaert (2007a) contends thatthe question should be approached from a narrative point of view

      I really like this angle (and it's why I highlighted the "narrative turn" on pg. 230. This article engages in a "selective reading" (I love that term) of Branson's narrative (literally, his autobiography). But every account of entrepreneurs and their successes (and failures/struggles to succeed) can be understood as a story. We're not just reading the story of that individual (though that's often the focus); we are also encountering the story of entrepreneurship and the process of its ongoing fashioning/re-imagining. When I ask you to consider how you're entrepreneurial, I'm asking you to re-write your own story...

    22. The role of fantasy is not toimage the realization of desires that we cannot fulfil in reality, but rather to make us capableof desiring in the first place.

      When I first read this I simply wrote "Whoa!" -- then I thought a bit more about this ... what they're perhaps saying is that we get inspired by stories of entrepreneurs and not simply to revel in the possibility of something we can't achieve on our own (most of us won't be fabulously wealthy or achieve worldwide influencer status -- the people who are allow us to imagine that that is possible, though). Instead, these stories allow us to imagine -- they provide the coordinates of future possibility. I'm reminded of reading a story about Martha Stewart pitching the idea for her first TV series. Before she made millions offering an image of the perfect home and domesticity, a 20 year old Martha Stewart was named one of Glamour magazine's best-dressed college students. A successful model, she married and became a caterer, leveraged that into book publishing, then magazines, then TV. In 1995, New York Magazine called her "the definitive American woman of our time," and in 1999 she briefly became the first female ("self-made") billionaire in the U.S. She has always been a figure of desire (even her rise back from her 2003 indictment and jail term was aspirational/inspirational). ANYWAY (back to the TV anecdote)... when she pitched her idea for a TV show initially, she was told it would not work as no one could afford it (to which she reportedly replied "no, but they want to"). Fantasy and desire are the fuel of many a dream...

    23. The public image of Microsoft founder Bill Gates, for instance,tends to elevate him to a“heroic status as if there is something unique to his psyche that isthe ultimate cause of his economic success”( Jones and Spicer, 2005, p. 237). But if we hadthe chance of actually meeting Gates in person, Jones and Spicer (2005) speculate, then wewould“find that Bill Gates is just an ordinary human being with perfectly normal andhuman neuroticism”(

      This statement hits harder after the news of Bill Gates "questionable" conduct (according to the New York Times) that came to light amidst his 2021 divorce from his wife Melinda. Before, we never heard anything that might blight his (and even their) reputation. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation was an extra-ordinary achievement of philanthropy. In fact, we hardly ever heard about Melinda (echoing the statements a page ago) except as an adjunct of Bill.

    24. ntrepreneurship should beconceptualized in relation to the exploitation of opportunities, a view that has sparkeddebates over the extent to which such entrepreneurial opportunities are created ordiscovered

      this is a really interesting question. If entrepreneurs exploit opportunities and take risks and create "stuff", how do these opportunities manifest themselves in the first place? Do people create their own opportunities (again, leaning towards the heroic extra-ordinary individual) or do they discover opportunities (that presumably are there for anyone to discover, if only they avail themselves of the "process"?

    25. Rarely do we encounter instances inwhich the sublime object of entrepreneurship is completely dispelled

      yep ... even though we now know a lot more about Bill Gates, this is only a footnote appended to his larger story of incredible achievement via Microsoft...

    26. “entrepreneur of the self”

      really prescient observation!

    27. “as an‘empty’signifier [entrepreneurship] can be(almost) whatever one desires it to be”(

      an interesting idea

    28. ranson’s narrative creates the desire fortransgression (overcoming oneself). On the other hand, Branson’s narrative creates thedesire for authenticity (realizing oneself

      fleshing out the thesis statement... the idealized image of the (heroic) entrepreneur is a figure embodying BOTH transgression and authenticity...

    29. While critics have argued that the figure ofthe heroic entrepreneur is an ideological construct, we will argue that it is betterconceptualized as a fantasy that constitutes desire.

      burying the thesis statement ... but also... the entrepreneur can be both an ideological construct and a fantasy that fuels and informs cultural desires...

    30. Perhaps the most contested“taken forgranted”(Gartner, 2013, p. 5) assumption underlying traditional entrepreneurshipresearch is the idea that the figure of the entrepreneur embodies“ephemeral qualities–freedom of spirit, creativity, vision, zeal”

      yep! As we will likely keep coming back to this later in the course too...

    31. t the dominant discourse on entrepreneurship conveys the“myth”oftheentrepreneurasa“masculine”white male possessing“super-normal qualities”

      a distillation of the critical perspective ... not just highlighting a limited representation of entrepreneurial figures/heroes, but the exclusionary nature of this discourse also.

    32. Branson recognizes no obstacles for his agentive progress, not even the sacrifice of that veryagentive self (Sørensen, 2008, 2010). Specifically, the entrepreneur should be devoted to“progress forever”and strive for an eternal“liberation from the chains of the world‘as it is’

      this is a lesson in how everyone can supposedly be an "agent of change" (but starting with yourself... what can you change in yourself that will best bring about the change in the world around you that you're looking to achieve)

    33. Asa consequence of the persistent failure to conceptualize entrepreneurship in terms of thefigure of the heroic entrepreneur, many scholars have drawn attention to the entrepreneurialprocess

      two different schools of thought re. entrepreneurs: (1) a heroic (lone) individual accomplishing awesome things by the force of their extraordinary grit/passion/insight/drive/etc, vs. (2) a focus on the social and cultural context that encourages entrepreneurial creation (and highlights the process of that creation).

    34. there are somany stories, biographies, and myths told about and by entrepreneurs
    35. narrative turn

      !

    36. Instead ofeschewing the fantasy of the heroic entrepreneur, this paper will confront the fantasy
    37. the heroicentrepreneur reminds us: not only should you have faith in yourself, you should have faiththat you can overcome your limitations. Not only should you believe that it can be done, youshould believe that everything can be done. And not only should you never give up, youshould be willing to sacrifice everything, even if it involves risking your life, in order toensure that you succeed.

      you can see this principle over and over again in entrepreneurial narratives. It's embodied in the "Nothing is Impossible" meme I posted to the "Memes" section in this week's lesson (because taking these memes seriously is another way of "traversing the fantasy". Also, linking to Branson's "learning to swim" story, this reminds me of a crucial scene in the 1997 film Gattaca (involving swimming). You can check it out in the forum for this week...

    38. transgression to denote the way in which the entrepreneur must exceed theboundaries and limits restricting his or her scope of action. Thus, transgression consists ofovercoming those barriers that are believed to restrain one’s ability to think and act.

      crucial insight

    39. gender biased

      when you think of an entrepreneurial stereotype (or a profile of a superstar achiever), what does that person look like?

    40. take the fantasy at its face value and spell out the implications thatfollow from i

      kind of the article's mission statement ...

    41. sublime object of entrepreneurship

      this is a fabulously rich term. Entrepreneurship is "sublime" which is to say, no longer a stable thing, but a phantasmic category (to quote Jones & Spicer's modern day classic work "Unmasking the entrepreneur"). Trying to nail down a final or absolute definition of the word is frustrating *but ultimately makes the figure more attractive and engaging). As a figure of discourse, the entrepreneur is desirable but ultimately empty (they suggest). Because we can never concretely recognize what constitutes an entrepreneur, they keep on becoming...

    42. create structures of desire that teach us how to desireto become an entrepreneur

      all of the success stories surrounding entrepreneurs encourage us to want to be entrepreneurs... and not just the heroic version either! All the narratives of people with side-hustles teach us to desire a similar pursuit, selling a gig-economy and precarious labour under the guise of passion and self-improvement... It's not just that we are all entrepreneurs (Szeman), but that we desire to be... (because we all DESIRE (or ought to desire, supposedly) more success, more freedom, more independence (financially and otherwise)...)

      And maybe, the more we desire and dream, the more we might do (converting our desires into action and making our dreams reality !!)

    43. it“is difficultnotto think”that entrepreneurs are“special people

      do you think that entrepreneurs are "special people" who are "high achievers" that accomplish things most of us don't (or can't)? Or... do you think being entrepreneurial (or engaging in entrepreneurship) is or can be an "everyday" phenomenon (which wouldn't make it special at all...)

    44. a fantasyconstitutes our desire, provides its co-ordinates, that is, it literally‘teaches us how to desire’”(Žižek, 1997, p. 7). Thus, fantasies are narratives that encourage us to want or long forcertain things.
    45. nquestioning idealization of the entrepreneur

      Western, capitalist culture tends to engage in this discourse (even non-capitalist scenes lionize the person who "made it" or who "made a difference" through their entrepreneurial initiative...

    46. the narrativesof heroic entrepreneurs
    47. entrepreneurs share acommon set of characteristics, such as the propensity for“risk-taking

      major theme this week (and of most standard bios of entrepreneurs, in addition to popular discourse about them...)

    48. Even through his glorious failures, the entrepreneur shows thatfailure marks the path of the righteous, making him the redeemer of the economy

      and this is the power of the (heroic) entrepreneur-figure. They bring redemption (of themselves, communities, economies, etc...)

    49. the entrepreneurial process

      this is what I was highlighting in the recommended reading this week (Hero review)...

    50. This paper is concerned with the difficulty of thinking beyond the figure of the heroicentrepreneur

      inching toward a thesis statement...

    51. accomplishments are“based on some special innerquality”

      this helps to explain why so much focus on entrepreneurs is actually a focus on their special qualities - what makes them stand out from the crowd? If we can isolate the traits of high achievers, maybe we can spread these qualities to others... This also begs the question -- are such qualities inborn or can they be cultivated? Can you develop entrepreneurial acumen or is it a case of you either have it or you don't?

    52. “heroic creator
    53. becoming a successful entrepreneur, as described inBranson’s narrative, can take place only after one has simultaneously overcome oneself(transgression) and become oneself (authenticity)

      the point of their "selective reading" ... From Branson's story we can learn something important about all entrepreneurs...

    54. this paper critically engages directly with the heroicentrepreneur by exploring how this figure is a fantasy
    55. a high degree of“self-reliance”

      think "locus of control" -- going to come up in the Baron reading in week 10 also...

    56. the figure ofthe heroic entrepreneur is not just someone who embodies extraordinary qualities.This figure is also ridden with paradoxes, impossibilities and contradictions.

      !

    57. Google locus of control entrepreneur -- one of the big traits! (Also related to "bias for action" (more of a design-school thing...)

    58. critical entrepreneurship studiescould benefit from an approach that looks critically at how the cultural representation ofbusiness today thrives on rebellious narratives and celebrates the heroic entrepreneur as asource of value creation. Yet, it is precisely the same impossibilities that we struggle with,and which makes his narrative appealing to the reader

      an overview...

    59. we discover the uncannyfact that just as we clearly cannot become the hero of this narrative, it is also impossible forSir Richard Branson to become that figure. Branson cannot be himself; he is a stranger evento himself. And here lies his appeal: it is exactly because he expresses incompleteness andparadox as an inevitable human condition that he is attractive.

      food for thought ... tying all of us into the fantasy...

    60. the entrepreneurial subject iscaught between the desire to overcome oneself (transgression) and the desire to stay true tooneself (authenticity)

      the entrepreneurial person is never engaged in just one of these struggles, but both of them

    61. , transgression is the road to redemption, since only by overcomingyourself is it possible to attain authenticity

      paradox again!

    62. the heroic entrepreneur circulating in social media and popular culture is not aflawless and sublime character, but rather a fragile and vulnerable construct

      an important insight.

    63. “integrity of the self comes from creating apersonal belief system”

      Food for thought: what personal belief system motivates you?

    64. more general desire for authenticity, offering“access to an inner moral voice of conscience, an intuitive feeling or sentiment that gives usmoral guidance as to how we should act”(

      Like Branson's "conversion", every entrepreneur's story generally will at least hint at some similar moment where they crossed the threshold of the ordinary to the extraordinary and trumpet something that steels them no matter the challenges they may confront...

    65. the figure of the entrepreneur emergesas a redeemer who sacrifices himself for the sake of the company

      hmmm... something we'll explore more when it comes to entrepreneurs' mental health...

    66. the paradoxical fact that achieving a full life can only beaccomplished by living a life that always remains incomplete

      so happiness means never being satisfied?

    67. What is important is to transgressboundaries

      entrepreneurial bias for action...

    68. even if death (andtaxes) remain sure-fire things, facing the ultimate opponent (death for a human, the state’staxation for an entrepreneur) is what the entrepreneur must seek to transgress.

      yowza!

    69. one cannever completely achieve a full life according to this logic, because there are always newchallenges that have not yet been accomplished.

      the paradox at the heart of this contradiction. Check out my link to stoic philosophy and pop-rock lyrics in the "memes" section...

    70. . Limits are but hindrances that have not yet been transgressed

      back to the idea that the obstacle is the way ... if only you let it be...

    71. Failure to have anyboundaries that one wants to transgress is therefore a constant threat. Every time“we feelsure that we have fulfilled a desire, we find out that there is something missing still.We want more. We want something else”

      complacency sucks! (see the comfortable meme)

    72. the story describes a subject that desires transgression in the sense of overcomingbarriers that hinder self-realization

      the point of the story about how he struggled so much (but ended up achieving so much)

    73. there is a fundamental impossibility that resideswithin the desire for transgression. This impasse stems from the paradox of perpetuallypushing limits. As Branson (2009) explains, his“interest in life comes from setting myself huge,apparently unachievable, challenges and striving to raise above them”

      one of those contradictions in the fantasy that we were warned about earlier...

    74. the entrepreneur assomeone who is“swimming against the stream”(

      transgression writ large. Refusing to play by the rules (otherwise, you'd be "just like anyone" (quoting the lyrics of the song by Soul Asylum: She starts wonderin' what its like to be Liked by everyone and like everyone Be just like anyone and just wants to be so Just like anyone and wonderin what they mean Do they just mean to be mean and thinkin' bout The scene do they just want to be seen Try not to seem so just like anyone Just like anyone) Yes indeed, it seems as though the life mission of the entrepreneur is to not get sucked into this black hole...

    75. Clearly, the desire for transgression is radically different from theconventional wisdom expressed by Drucker (2005) that you should“improve your strengths”while evading your“weaknesses”. Rather, the underlying message in Branson’sstoryisthatyou should turn your weaknesses into strengths.

      perhaps you've heard of the expression "The obstacle is the way" ... this ties in to this brilliantly

    76. the one who is able to achieve transgression and authenticity

      all entrepreneurs have to be able to transgress (who they currently are in order to become something more) AND remain true to who they are. For how else could you rise above? What a fabulous contradiction.

    77. the desire for transgression (overcoming oneself) and the desire forauthenticity (becoming oneself) make up the entrepreneurial subjectivity

      not just in Branson's case either. I think it's reasonable to suggest that these are potentially pillars in any entrepreneurial mindset.

    78. Branson’s constant effort to overcome himself while the second anecdote has beenchosen because it illustrates his struggle to remain true to himself.

      food for thought... which "desire" resonates more with you?

    79. Branson’snarrative, which is constituted by the desire for transgression (overcoming oneself) and thedesire for authenticity (becoming oneself).

      the way that the article's authors thematize Branson's extra-ordinary qualities...

    80. stories paint a picture of Branson as anentrepreneur who constantly seeks new challenges by testing the limit of what is possible

      linking to what I said last week ... these stories purport to show how the possible may be made real. Nothing is therefore impossible (if you just can embody the awesome traits that Branson suggests were necessary for his success)

    81. weareonlyableto“discover depth after conquering the surfaces

      hah!

    82. the two narratives operate asfantasies, since they render certain ideals–that is, transgression and authenticity–desirable

      the logic whereby the fantasy of achieving Branson-like success becomes knowable... (and desirable)

    1. We are all entrepreneurs now; everyone will have to become an entrepre-neur.

      I've provided an example of this in the "food for thought" forum for this week. You can, of course, do the same... There are so many examples of "everyday" entrepreneurialism ...

    2. the designation of entrepreneur as a new ideal of contemporary subjectivity has produced a change in how the poor understand themselves. Many now feel that they have no way to escape poverty other than by becoming entre-preneurs,

      I'm curious what you think of this statement -- this also applies to all sorts of precarious employment or people like yourselves seeking a better job, or a permanent job and being told that looking for a job is a full time job ... so one protects oneself by becoming one's own source of income (side-hustle or entrepreneurial initiatives are posited as the only (or the surest) way to escape one's current position...

    3. The affect attendant to entrepreneur-ialism is not one that dissipates the energies for change through a faux rec-onciliation with the present, as mediated by optimistic fantasies of the future. Rather, it affirms the desirability of the present circumstances that enable entrepreneurialism and equates subjects’ systems of attachment with an ideal system of belonging and behaving such that, even as entrepreneurs insist on the significance of their contributions in shaping the future, they occupy an ahistorical social landscape in which time stands still.

      This is some really "heavy" language (and seemingly awfully fatalistic too).

      Don't worry if it twists your melon a bit.

    4. The language of risk and uncertainty that has always accompanied entrepreneurial activity has today become generalized.

      risk again! Pervasive throughout this reading (and the entire discourse of entrepreneurialism)

    5. the traits required for the kind of celebrated entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley and Waterloo, Ontario, are just as necessary for the hawkers, import-ers, bootleggers, market merchants, restaurateurs, scavengers, mechanics, and other entrepreneurial subjects whose labor takes place off the books all over the world

      This statement stood out and made me say hmmm!

      This foreshadows subsequent weeks of the course (Entrepreneurialism, innovation, and self-reliance are crucial elements of what Baron calls “Tools Entrepreneurs Need for Converting Dreams To Reality—And Achieving Success.” And these are also key to "unconventional entrepreneurship").

      It also begs the question, "can anyone be an entrepreneur?" and "can anyone be entrepreneurial"? We easily give the label 'entrepreneur' to people like Bill Gates, Elon Musk, or even less known business successes like Sarah Blakely, but what about hawkers, scavengers, etc? By this logic, who isn't an entrepreneur (or at least entrepreneurial)? Can anyone be an "informal" entrepreneur? This really underscores Szeman's earlier comment/thesis statement that we're all entrepreneurs now (or will have to act or think along those lines) even if we're not aspiring to be prototypical success stories like Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Elon Must, etc...

    6. “Starting a company has become the way for ambitious young people to do something that seems simultaneously careerist and heroic

      foreshadowing next week...

    7. The concept of entrepreneurship extends back to the eighteenth cen-tury, when economist Richard Cantillon (2010) famously described the term “entrepreneur” as a “bearer of risk.”

      The concept of managing risk (and welcoming it, vs. avoiding it in a more secure job working for an institution rather than for yourself) is a major theme of entrepreneurship...

      You'll see how this keeps coming up in this article (as well as many others we'll be reading this semester). It is obvious at the bottom of pg. 475 and implicit in the later discussions of (flirting with) failure.

    8. We are all entrepreneurs now

      This is the "modus operandi" for the whole course! What does this mean (for you)?

      p.s. - this refrain is repeated at the bottom of pg. 474...

    9. thought to exist outside of the sphere of business and labor, such as artistic and cultural production, have been colonized by discourses of entrepreneur-ship

      Can you relate this to your own experience or to news and information from beyond the reading? Can you find an example of this?

      Please note - this is connected to a later question (can anyone be an entrepreneur or entrepreneurial). This is also an explicit foreshadowing of subsequent course content when we address cultural and creative entrepreneurship.

    10. “cruel optimism”

      I think this is a very powerful concept -- as a former student said, entrepreneurs must have cruel optimism, individuals must be able to adapt and ride out whatever wave or obstacle comes around.

      Berlant uses the term cruel optimism to refer to our our investments in “compromised conditions of possibility whose realization is discovered to be impossible, sheer fantasy.” (i.e., we keep cheering for a team we know will lose; we maintain hope in an unattainable romantic ideal promulgated by Hollywood or pursue happiness based on unrealistic beauty standards; we engage in small acts of environmental stewardship like recycling or buying a hybrid in the face of potentially unstoppable climate change...) Berlant basically means that the thing we seek to achieve, the thing (or state of being) that we desire (or the act of seeking and desiring itself) might actually threaten our well-being (that's what makes it cruel!). As she put it succinctly, “a relation of cruel optimism exists when something you desire is actually an obstacle to your flourishing.”

      This relates to entrepreneurialism in so many ways: Engaging in the gig economy or a side-hustle as a way to increase one's income (or security) in uncertain times is cruel and optimistic. Similarly, we encounter aspirational labour in the form of internships or any form of unpaid labour while looking for a "real" job. Perhaps you feel the pressure of cultivating a sense of employability. According to Frayne (2015), today, students are expected “to improve their prospects by training, acquiring educational credentials, networking, learning how to project the right kind of personality, and gaining life experiences that match up with the values sought by employers.” In other words, they have to act entrepreneurially even to get a non-entrepreneurial job. As Hawzen et al. (2018) assert, this incites anxiety and results in a colonization of one’s entire life by work-related demands as students feel the need to separate themselves from the competition, doing things like volunteering to gain an advantage or to get a "foot in the door"... We also see it to a certain extent in the example of entrepreneurial vloggers in the sense that the fantasy of a “good life” through fame and fortune is rarely realized. The cruel conditions of precocity are, for most, more of a reality than the fantasy... and we take up this theme explicitly in two weeks hence with digital 'autopreneurs'

      Overall, this also highlights one of the reasons I chose this article -- rather than just highlighting how entrepreneurs are certain types of people (or motivated by certain types of things), it emphasizes how entrepreneurship is a mental orientation, not just a business concept but a way of living. But it's not all sunshine and happiness. Cruel optimism, indeed!

      What about you? Are you familiar with the feeling of 'cruel optimism'? Does it define the current times or your current disposition?

    11. what has changed is the status of the entrepreneur,

      fascinating stuff -- also foreshadowing the 2nd last week in the course when we talk not just about the mental health (and happiness) of entrepreneurs, but emphasize how an entrepreneurial attitude may not be the secret to the meaning of life but can help give life meaning... money isn't everything...

    12. the world is not replete with divisions of power and privilege that skew one’s opportunities within it, predetermining possibilities through a game of social and economic fate

      this statement highlights the "can-do" attitude of the entrepreneurial subject. Szeman isn't describing reality, but the way that entrepreneurs see it and process it ...

    13. Entrepreneurs are both dreamers and doers,

      Elsewhere in the academic literature on entrepreneurship, this idea of mindset is defined more explicitly when it comes to asking the question, 'Why are some individuals able to identify and successfully act upon opportunities in uncertain environments while others are unable to do so?' In Entrepreneurial Cognition: Exploring the Mindset of Entrepreneurs, Shepherd and Patzelt argue the following:

      An entrepreneurial mindset [is] the ability to rapidly sense, act, and mobilize, even under uncertain conditions. Such a notion implies the ability to both notice and adapt to uncertainty is a key skill. When conceptualizing the notion of an entrepreneurial mindset, Ireland et al. (2003) described cognitive tasks, such as interpreting opportunities as goal change, continually reflecting on and challenging one’s “dominant logic” in changing environments, and reconsidering “deceptively simple questions” about what one believes to be true. The cognitive tasks associated with an entrepreneurial mindset embody what we more generally call cognitive adaptability. Cognitive adaptability refers to the degree to which people are dynamic, flexible, self-regulating, and engaged in developing numerous decision frameworks aimed at sensing and processing environmental changes and then choosing from those various alternatives to successfully understand, plan, and implement an array of personal, social, and organizational objectives in a shifting world (120-121).

      Whew! That was a mouthful. Fundamentally, though, this "mindset" is crucial to understanding the centrality and the power of entrepreneurship in contemporary society. If you have it, you're a "winner" and if you don't have it, you're consigned to a lesser fate, less likely to flourish in today's society, unable to grasp the opportunities that come your way or unwilling to put yourself in a position to make your own opportunities (or so the story goes).

      What specific qualities do you think are associated with an entrepreneurial mindset and the capacity to both dream something and to do it, to make it happen! ...?

      And where have you seen these trumpeted or underscored in your own experience?

    14. enterprising citizens free to take up and solve any challenge outside the constraints of race, gender, sexuality, class, and his-tory.

      Is it really the case that enterprising citizens are so powerful, such agents of change and emancipation? How straightforward is it to transcend one’s personal circumstances and systemic conditions and make your life better (much less, the world, a better place)? Is anyone free to do so (or more importantly, equally empowered to do so)? Obviously not. What then, does this say about entrepreneurial culture?

      Is "enterprising citizen" a synonym for entrepreneur?

      FYI -- this is a potentially interesting subject for a final paper if you're interested in addressing the question of systemic imbalances of power and opportunities when it comes to the intersection of race, gender and entrepreneurialism. Specific sub-populations experience entrepreneurialism differently...

    15. a better, more fulfilling world peopled by autopoetic microentrepreneurs

      foreshadowing "social entrepreneurship"

    16. Even fields commonly
    17. We can see this misrecognition of the lived realities of contemporary society

      Szeman's point of view being ably emphasized...

    18. “ideology of micro-entrepreneurship” that sees the poor as creative entrepreneurs

      discourse of social entrepreneurship (again)

    19. entrepreneurship is a mindset

      We will be dealing with this idea all semester long (as we talk about the traits/characteristics of entrepreneurs and the mentality of being entrepreneurial). Szeman's critical cultural studies approach highlights the "subjectivity" of entrepreneurs which is another way of saying the same thing...

      What do you think about this? Is entrepreneurship less a mode of being/acting and more a mode of engaging with the world and seeing it through a certain lens?

    20. contemporary life is lived in increasingly difficult and precarious circum-stances

      this notion of precariousness should be a recurring theme in the third week of the course too (when we put neoliberalism into greater focus)

      But it also begs the question -- do you agree? And do you think entrepreneurialism is the solution to this problem or one of the root causes of it?

    21. the sharing economy via companies like AirBnB, Uber, Lyft

      what do you think of the idea of these operators as "micro-entrepreneurs"? Definitely not the same as "mom & pop" shops...

    22. not only are we all expected to be entrepreneurs today, we are all expected to like it; from the perspective of entrepreneurial common sense, there are no unhappy entrepreneurs.

      This sentence foreshadows our later week on mental health (where we highlight happiness!)

      But seriously -- Whoa! I think that this statement is (potentially) controversial and ought to be queried/challenged. Clearly, this is not true when it's taken at face-value; there are many unhappy entrepreneurs who have not realized the success they envisioned or who have not recovered from their previous ventures beset by mistakes and misfortunes (having failed to learn the lesson inherent in their failed venture).

      What do you think of Szeman's statement?

    23. “everyone will have to become an entrepreneur”

      Do you agree? Is this good or bad?

    24. In the entrepreneurial imaginary, we all start on equal footing.

      What do you think of this?

    25. a space of unfettered possi-bility and excitement

      entrepreneurial culture seems to be just this -- filled with perpetual promise, fuelled by your own attitude.

      Do you find this encouraging or unrealistic?

    26. For the entrepreneurial subject, failure might well be more important than success.

      He's talking about the entrepreneurial mindset. We highlight this again in the week on "successful intelligence" later on.

      For now, though, ask how is this possible? Do you agree?

    27. perhaps the common sense of entrepre-neurial success that I have been describing through much of this introduc-tion, with its belief in freedom to achieve on a level playing field that exists outside the constraining barriers of privilege, in fact occupies the most priv-ileged position of all

      this statement should serve as ample evidence that Szeman isn't trumpeting entrepreneurialism as a beneficent force for equity. He's highlighting the very opposite!

    28. women accessing microfinance

      foreshadowing the week on social entrepreneurship

    29. entrepreneurial individualism,
    30. entrepreneurial subjects embrace and even seek out failure as an important, even essential, dimension of their activ-ity

      When he says this, he also foreshadows our subsequent week on grit and perseverance...

      But definitely check out the memes -- I start out with this Beckett bit....

    31. We have now all been given the freedom

      He doesn't mean this as a good thing...

    32. Entrepre-neurs have unrealistic ideas of success and unhealthy fantasies about the productivity and necessity of failure

      What do you think about this statement? (Check out the memes that distill this into sound-byte culture...)

      A student last year asked, "Is normalizing failure a way of conditioning people to never expect real success?" Yowza!

    33. Still, there is a kernel of political possibility, a hint of imaginative self-reliance and rejection of the status quo, in the desire to produce one’s own life, failure or no, against the dictates of class or origin, that speaks to political inventiveness and possibilities just over the horizon.

      His final words lead us to conclude that amongst all the fear, the caution, and the critique, there is still some hope to be found, some inspiration to be taken from the philosophy and the psychology at the root of entrepreneurial culture. This is why entrepreneurialism is everywhere and why it is the subtext of so many self-help books and inspirational content online. The dream of a better tomorrow can motivate us to get past the trials and tribulations of today. Both bane and boon, entrepreneurial culture promises that our ability to transcend the mundane is entirely dependent upon our own efforts. This means we don't have to depend on anyone (or anything) else (such as governments or communities, or corporations) to generate happiness or success; we are entirely free agents, constructing our own future. This also means that we have no-one to blame but ourselves if that future turns out less rosy than we hoped...

    34. It is a mechanism of self hood and subject formation that begins from the premise that there is no one to count on, no one who can do anything for you other than you yourself.

      This certainly seems to sum up the attitude of a lot of entrepreneurs -- and seems to describe the "common sense" reality of their endeavours. Do you think that this describes your reality?

    35. Entrepreneurship would appear at first glance to exemplify such a mode of indirect control sans responsibility.

      Yep - so much of entrepreneurship is Neo-liberalism writ large! You're in it for yourself because you can't count on anyone else (especially the state). Collective forms of entrepreneurship are the exception, rather than the rule (here I'm thinking in particular of indigenous versions...)

    36. hould we not welcome the cracks that might appear in the operations of biopolitics at its fullest oper-ation?

      Even with all of the criticisms he's outlined, Szeman ends on a conditional but hopeful note. This reminds me of a song lyric:

      Leonard Cohen sang "Ring the bells that still can ring Forget your perfect offering There is a crack, a crack in everything That's how the light gets in."

      Which leads me to my final note...

    37. The production of subjects responsible only for themselves

      Clearly, Szeman is critical of our contemporary condition in which the figure of the entrepreneur is cast as the salve for all our problems yet also produces "subjects responsible only for themselves" We ought not be fooled into thinking Szeman is advocating for entrepreneurialism -- instead, he's alerting everyone to how it's a tsunami overtaking culture (and advocating that we stay alert to its potential dangers...)

    38. creating an enterprise and creating a self is the same activ-ity.

      This strikes me as really important for my vision of the course. Part of what we're going to be examining this term is how this idea of "the entrepreneurial self" is constituted. A passion project or a side-hustle isn't the only thing an entrepreneurial person is building (or working on). They're also constructing themselves...

    39. The endless drive to exceed one’s capacities across hitherto distinct spheres of life activity

      this is what I was referring to earlier ... gotta get more, be more, be fitter, healthier, happier, wealthier.

      Is the "entrepreneurial self" a constant work-in-progress exemplifying the ethos of the Daft Punk song "harder, better, faster, stronger"? In fact, the lyrics have a definite Neo-liberal twist to them (something lost in the recycling of the song by Kanye West with his version, "Stronger"):

      "Work it harder Make it better Do it faster Makes us stronger More than ever Hour after Our work is Never over

    40. Governments cannot be entrepreneurial, nor can NGOs.

      This is a contested statement. Certainly some governments and NGOs would say the exact opposite!

    41. the entrepreneur is the neo-liberal subject par excellence

      remember this term (neoliberal) for two weeks hence!

    42. The demand to produce ever more is part of a system in which an imperative exists to enjoy and to become ever more.

      remember this when we deal with the latter weeks that highlight themes of self-actualization, well-being, and wellness. Are we ever content with what we have? What does it mean to be constantly striving for more? Does entrepreneurship encourage only this (or anything approximating a sense of "balance" also...)?

    43. The status of entrepreneurship as a new common sense of subjectivity and economic practice

      Remember at the beginning of the article (when Szeman says "we are all entrepreneurs now") (p. 472)? He doesn't mean that we are all creating business start-ups. Rather, he's suggesting that there is a spirit-of-the-times wherein entrepreneurship has become this new common-sense reality. It is both a dominant way of thinking about how we ought to act, AND an informal rulebook for how economies (and other forms of practice) ought to function too... In other words, entrepreneurship isn't just about undertaking profit-making (and risk-inducing) economic practices in capitalism. Rather, it's about undertaking a new subjectivity, a new identity when it comes to how we think of ourselves, how we relate to others, and how we respond to our wider social, cultural, political, and economic environment.

    44. The figure of the entrepreneur embodies the values and attributes that are celebrated as essential for the economy to operate smoothly and for the contemporary human being to flourish.

      remember this rhetorical nod to "flourishing" (which we'll revisit in earnest in the 2nd or 3rd last week of the semester...)

    45. I love this comment. It links brilliantly to next week's content...

    46. the entrepreneur is abstracted and universal-ized into a model for all citizens
    47. Gary Vee is a fine example! You've also linked perfectly to next week (as we idolize such figures, making them into heroes of either capitalist achievement or pinnacles of success in other fields (like sports -- some of which aren't necessarily roads to financial success, like a lot of Olympic pursuits...).

    48. This is the "modus operandi" for the whole course! What does this mean (for you)?

    49. definitely stay tuned in week 3 (when we talk about the "auto-preneur") as the success vs. hardship struggle becomes paramount. Also, passion projects are the very root of "unconventional" entrepreneurs (perhaps even more so than "conventional" ones...)

    50. To quote a silly Netflix series about baking escapades, you "nailed it"

    51. s is, in the main, inevitable in the new world of the devices and gadgets that increasingly mediate our lives. What made this article about Boomtrain distin
  3. Mar 2023
    1. Please note

      Should we also add a notice about intellectual property and being cautious about providing free labour to Open AI?

  4. Feb 2023
  5. Feb 2022
    1. We can’t help it: we measure what is possible, not necessarily what matters.

      Margaret Wheatley has a great quote about this, though you say it quite perfectly as well.

      "the measures define what is meaningful rather than letting the greater meaning of the work define the measures" (Wheatley, 2005, p. 162).

      Wheatley, M. (2005). The uses and abuses of measurement. In Finding our way. Leadership in uncertain times (pp. 156–162). San Francisco: Berret-Koehler.

  6. May 2021
  7. Mar 2021
    1. Mapping

      these are so cute

    2. Please sign up on the CPI registration system

      https://cpi.brocku.ca/events/node/1487

      completion of this registration sends an email confirmation and a request to fill out this MS FORM

    3. prepatory

      preparatory

    4. pariticipants

      spelling

    5. group sessions

      let's bold these instead of these colours which might not be high contrast enough for accessibility

    6. The DSI seeks to train participants in a

      The DSI is a three day, immersive, and interactive workshop that focuses on a core set of...

  8. Oct 2020
    1. Rigor is derived through engagement and when students feel trusted and valued, they engage at a higher level.

      Again so much research to back this up. The affective component of learning is crucial.

    2. Where’s the rigor in that

      Some really great discussions about how the obsession of rigor frames learning from a deficit model https://colab.plymouthcreate.net/resource/the-death-of-rigor/

    3. Designing assignments that are relevant to our students means folding in opportunities to draw upon their experiences and traditions

      Yes! There is so much learning science evidence that shows how important this is, see Ambrose et al (2010). How learning works.

    1. the network effects of creativity. That will be the subject of my third and final part of this series on TikTok.

      Can't wait!

  9. Aug 2020
  10. Apr 2020
    1. Efficient submission, marking, moderation and data storage pro-cesses;• Consistent, accurate results with opportunities to combine human and computer marking

      efficiency often drives assessment above other considerations

  11. Jul 2019
    1. Thisstudy makes noclaims of neutral, generalizable knowledge –what Haraway (1988) called “the view from above, from nowhere” (p. 589) –but rather focuseson the ways in which open scholarly influenceis experienced and understood by specifically-located individuals. These “situated knowledges” (Haraway, 1988) areperspectives shaped by particular social locations, material realities, and power relations.

      perspectives shaped by particular social location, material realities, and power relations

    2. Rather than claiming that “view from above, from nowhere” (Haraway, 1988, p. 589), mysociomaterial approach takes upeach of the intersecting lenses that comprise this dissertation as webs of significance, interpreted and analyzed through “the view from a body...a complex, contradictory, structuring, and structured body” (Haraway, 1988, p. 589). In the conclusion,I turn my focus to the view from this structuring and structured body a year after wrapping up the research study, and share some of the webs of significance that have emerged within the networks it helped create

      webs of significance

    3. This idea of an embedded, non-isomorphic and multiply-located researcher compromises the premise of what Haraway (1988) would call an unmarked field of vision, or the detached, reductionist “conquering gaze from nowhere” (p. 581) that science has traditionally valourized as signifying objectivity. From a perspective of situated knowledges, however, that neutral research lens is an inherently impossible fiction that reinforces status quo power relations.

      inherently impossible fiction

    4. This emphasis on knowledge as situated and enacted is informed by Haraway’s (1988) concept of situated knowledges and its premise of the material-semiotic actor, who –whether human or non-human –actively contributes to the production of knowledge as an “active, meaning-generating” (Haraway, 1988, p. 595) part of the apparatus, or assemblage. All three papers in this dissertation have ontological roots in the concept of situated knowledges, and in the assumption that both human and non-human actors contribute to any understanding of scholarship as a techno-cultural system

      material-semiotic

  12. Mar 2019
    1. In British Columbia, OER have been funded by institutions such as the provincial government, a number of universities and colleges, and other organizations

      We can change this to Ontario

  13. Sep 2018
    1. n addition, over the next three years, the Province will more than double the funding under the College Equipment and Renewal Fund — with an increase from $8 million to $20 million per year. This investment will provide colleges with support to invest in cutting-edge equipment and technology to ensure students’ skills are aligned with the tools industry is using today. The Province will provide a new investment of over $500 million starting in 2020–21 to help renew and modernize Ontario’s university and college campuses. Investments will support institutions to update classrooms and labs, and undertake facility retrofits and other renewal projects to enhance students’ learning experience.

      8 million

    2. Ontario’s postsecondary institutions play an important role in equipping students with the skills, knowledge and competencies required to succeed in a rapidly changing social, economic and technological world. Ensuring that postsecondary institutions across the province are equipped with the right space and technology is important to delivering quality higher education. To support this, the Province will provide more than $3 billion in capital grants to postsecondary institutions over the next 10 years.

      3 billion

    3. Recognizing Indigenous Institutes builds on the Province’s historic $56 million investment in Indigenous learners, announced in the 2017 Budget, as an important part of a thriving postsecondary system and a key step towards reconciliation with Indigenous peoples in Ontario

      $56 million

    4. Saving Students Money through Open Textbooks Ontario is also supporting the creation and development of free online textbooks and educational resources for students to make college and university more affordable and accessible. This initiative allows students and faculty to browse, view and download free textbooks for use in their courses. The $1 million Ontario Open Textbooks Initiative, launched in June 2017 in partnership with eCampus Ontario, focuses on Ontario-specific content in areas where the most significant impact and cost savings for students can be realized, including high-enrolment first-year courses, French-language content, content for Indigenous studies, trades and technical skills content, and content for new Canadians. The current library collection has amassed over 230 textbooks, and anyone from across the province can view and download the open materials for free (openlibrary.ecampusontario.ca). The Open Textbook Library addresses two key barriers to education — access and affordability — and since the library’s soft launch in May, more than 5,270 learners have saved over $520,000.
    5. Making Labour Market Information Accessible Having access to accurate and timely labour market information (LMI) is integral for students, career counsellors and job seekers to help them make career and education decisions. The government launched a new LMI website in 2017 that provides new data about the current demand for jobs, and more regional information about job vacancies. Beginning in spring 2018, Ontarians will have access to real time, local labour market information through the government’s refreshed LMI website. This will help students, job seekers and ‎employers make better decisions about their workforce and career goals using current and localized information.
    6. That is why the government will invest an additional $63 million over three years to create the first Ontario Training Bank to serve as a one-stop shop for employers, job seekers and workers to access the skills training that meets their needs. The new Ontario Training Bank includes a refreshed set of services and programs3 that will: Help employers invest in the skills of their workers, and come together to train and recruit new talent; Provide workers with the ability to grow in their jobs and adapt to technological changes; Provide employers with access to essential skills upgrading, including digital literacy for their workers at no cost to the employer; Provide job seekers with support to access quality training to secure in-demand jobs and meet employers’ hiring needs; and Bring employers, industry associations and training providers together to develop skills programs that are tailored to the needs of the local economy.
    7. Ontario’s skilled trades create careers leading to secure jobs and a good quality of life, and are also vital to the health and growth of the economy. Building on consultations across the province, the government is investing $170 million over three years in the new Ontario Apprenticeship Strategy. This investment will include: Expanding the Ontario Youth Apprenticeship Program (OYAP), providing more high school students with trades-related hands-on learning opportunities; Improved guidance counselling resources and local labour market information for students, parents and educators; A new grant to promote pooled group sponsorship models for apprentices; A Local Apprenticeship Innovation Fund to increase opportunities for apprentices and encourage engagement within the apprenticeship system across Ontario, as well as support regional, local or sector-specific pilots where there is demonstrated market need;  and Continuing education opportunities for trade professionals.
    8. Preparing Secondary School Students for the Workforce Preparing Ontario students for the jobs of today and tomorrow is part of the government’s plan to create jobs, grow the economy and help people in their everyday lives. The Province has taken the following steps: In March 2017, Ontario launched 29 pilot projects across the province for the Career Studies course. More than $10 million per year for four school years has been invested to help schools create more experiential learning opportunities for students. Since 2014, Ontario has funded close to 300 Experiential Learning pilots across the province, helping students explore a wide array of career opportunities both inside and outside the classroom
    9. Students, parents, and educators have identified Grades 7 and 8 as crucial years where greater support is needed. That is why the government will invest more than $120 million over the next three years to help students prepare for success in high school by ensuring that flexible supports are available in response to local needs and priorities.
    10. Province is introducing a Good Jobs and Growth Plan with $935 million in new investments over the next three years as well as long-term infrastructure investments.
    1. Recent legislation requiring mandatory professionaldevelopment for recertification and a more standardized teacher appraisalsystem across the province,however, draws on the Standardsas a provincialpolicy tool for influencing the quality of teachers and teaching

      rescinded

    1. Making Child Care More Accessible and Affordable
    2. college and university students have access to mental health services and supports
    3. Provide every high school in Ontario with access to mental health support
    4. Ontario will invest $3 million over three years to build and expand tools and services to support children, teachers,
    5. To help make life more affordable, the government has introduced programs like full-day kindergarten, free college or university tuition

      e

    6. mbed social emotional learning in the refreshed curriculum
    7. Reducing financial barriers for students from low- and middle-income families so that they can pursue postsecondary education through the newly transformed OSAP program
    1. Education Our public schools help all students succeed, while colleges and universities provide our economy with a highly skilled workforce. We're improving education by: making college and university tuition free for more than 225,000 students of all ages supporting the creation of free online textbooks and educational resources for students connecting 250,000 students in 850 schools to high-speed internet in 2018
  14. Apr 2018
    1. mental models,

      peter senge

    2. undergraduate students

      question: what about studies on educational leaders? (chairs, directors, faculty, board members, senate, etc.)

  15. Oct 2017
    1. uality Assurance & the Audit Culture

      exactly!

    2. asthope & Easthope (2000) posit, if neoliberalism is perceived successful in education, it is only as a result that it has been accepted as a natural extension to many of the professionalbeliefs that already exist

      neoliberalism exists in the university because it aligns with many societal perspectives

    3. market driven paradigm reducing its primary role for creating citizenswithin a society to a commercial base ideology
      • neoliberalism description
    4. hegemonic

      ruling or dominant in a political or social context.

    5. massification

      for the masses

    6. bureaucratisation of education

      Weber

    7. Neoliberalism creates changes to methods of quality assurance and accountability in higher education, and in so doing leads to “the obsession with what Lyotard calls ‘performativity’-everything to be translated into easily measured outcomes” (Mayo, 2009, p. 96

      YES! this quote

    8. financialization of everything

      efficiencies are a form of financializing

    9. Neoliberalism, for the purpose of this research, will be defined as economic policies that focus on

      neoliberalism definition

    10. question not only the type of knowledge presented to them but the meaning of this knowledge

      reductionist interpretations of measurements like the aggregate course evaluation data

    11. political mechanism for control and domination, once transformed, education becomes the key for liberation

      mechanistic to organismic

    12. power to transform their own oppression

      Freire humanist perspective = Morgan's radical humanist paradigm

    13. ontradictions were necessary within society for they provide a method for defining and understanding our world

      dialectics

    14. Freirean philosophy is not idealistic; however, it is hopeful

      diverges from Marx in its hopefulness

    15. alues of reason

      what would Immanuel Kant say about that?

    16. moral choice

      this is the variance of morgan's world views (alternate realities / paradigms); functional vs structuralist vs humanist

    17. hierarchical role

      hierarchies: weber, fayol, taylor

    18. conceptual framework

      attempt to use a critical pedagogy framework to critique the scientific management approaches (neoliberalism)

    Annotators