Experiential e-learning for engagement, belonging and social change: a study on the use of social justice pedagogy in entrepreneurial business literacy for high school students in Mexico.

Abstract

This doctoral study examines the use of experiential e-learning to teach entrepreneurial and business literacy (EBL) to high school students drawing on social justice pedagogy as an emancipatory approach to promote engagement, belonging and social change. There is a recognized gap in the Mexican education system around entrepreneurial and business literacy (EBL) for high school students. To address this, the researcher developed an e-learning participatory workshop called, ‘The Marketing Challenge’, to implement social justice pedagogy in the curriculum design as a collaborative performance-based assessment model for Mexican youth. The research design employed a pragmatist mixed methods approach informed by Participatory Action Research using short-term and digital ethnographic principles. The researcher’s emancipatory approach integrated cultural identity and belonging into the teaching and learning methods. This created a collaborative, community-oriented space that enabled knowledge-based learning interactions. The Marketing Challenge helped facilitate student empowerment by using culturally authentic entrepreneurial and business literacy tools to challenge constructions of Mexican identity perpetuated through the news media by creating alternative representations. The findings point to the efficacy of experiential e-learning combined with social justice pedagogy as a model for teaching entrepreneurial and business literacy, demonstrating its potential, both to empower students and facilitate their development of marketing and critical thinking skills.