Teachers as Mentors: An Entrepreneurial Approach to Experience-based Learning at the Base of the Pyramid (An Exploratory Essay)

Abstract

Large-scale societal challenges such as poverty and exclusion raise a discussion about the andragogical approaches to education provision and the societal role of business schools. Although the discussion on the role of businesses in addressing base of the pyramid (BoP) market needs is increasing, we know of only few firms that work successfully at the BoP. Insufficient knowledge about BoP markets is a challenge for firms and for management teachers. Obviously, by including the BoP in their courses, management teachers enter a new and unknown empirical field. They can refer only to a few theories and case studies, and therefore, they probably need to work with didactical innovations that include practical challenges, and therefore, students' practical experiences. But to include practical challenges, like the ones existing at the BoP, is a difficult task for management teachers. In this article, we discuss teachers' challenges resulting from including the practical context of BoP into management courses. We introduce the andragocical approach of experience-based learning as a promising entry point to structure business school courses that intend to incorporate BoP issues into the curriculum. We reflect on why experience-based learning matters for BoP courses and the resulting consequences for the role of teachers. We conclude by presenting a course that we prepared for the delivery at INCAE Business School in Nicaragua as an illustrative example.