Contributions to Education from the Psychology of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, in Today’s Knowledge Society

Abstract

The globalized Knowledge Society of the 21st century brings with it important changes in models of work and lifestyle, triggered by the revolution in Information and Communica-tion Technologies (ICTs). It has led to new ways of understanding knowledge itself, human activity, and consequently, professional and economic activity. In this current socio-educational and socio-economic context, more than ever, it makes sense to ask whether the mission and vision of commonly used educational models, that is, the educational purposes pursued, should be adjusted in the light of new context-driven training demands for the pre-sent and upcoming generations. This paper is structured in several parts. First, the concepts of Creativity, Innovation and Entrepreneurship are defined, as well as their relationships and role in the R&D&I value chain. Next is a justification of why the Knowledge Society needs persons with creativity, innovation and entrepreneurship. Third, and at the heart of this review, we address the need for a Psychology of Innovation and Entrepreneurship and its contributions to educational pro-cesses for developing these competencies. Fourth, we suggest the implications of such contri-butions in an emerging educational paradigm, Education for Competency in Innovation and Entrepreneurship, where we analyze what kind of learning would be involved in this compe-tency, as well as cross-curriculum proposals to be integrated across educational processes. Conclusions and further educational implications are discussed in closing.