Praxis (entrepreneurship)

Praxis
Web address	http://www.discoverpraxis.com
Slogan	Break The Mold
Commercial?	Yes
Type of site	Education
Available in	English
Owner	Isaac Morehouse
Current status	active

Praxis is an educational program that aims to teach entrepreneurship to young people and that a traditional college education is not the only way to success.^[1][2][3] Praxis was founded by Isaac Morehouse in 2013.^[4]

Background

After interacting with businesspeople and students while working for an educational nonprofit, Morehouse noticed a skills gap between recently-graduated college students and employers.^[5] Having been homeschooled himself and then exposed to a university-education, Morehouse noticed the disparity in skills taught and skills demanded by the professional world, as well as the frustration faced by students who expected a job upon graduation.^[5] This led Morehouse to realize that most of the perceived value of a college degree comes from its value as a signaling mechanism, showing employers that a candidate is superior to those without the signal. Employers told Morehouse that a lack of work experience was the primary reason they did not hire candidates with college degrees.^[4] The lack of the strength in the signal led Morehouse to found Praxis in 2013 as an alternative signal for employers and students, combining a traditional liberal arts education with work experience than that which is gained in college. ^[5]

Description

Praxis places participants with business partners to work 30 hours per week as an employee (as opposed to a traditional intern).^[6] Participants then complete 10 hours per week's worth of coursework designed by professors contracted with Praxis. The academic and non-academic subjects in the curriculum is designed to instill a level of entrepreneurial thinking in the participants, and to challenge them to think broadly about complex questions. ^[7] The combination of hands-on work experience, technical education in the curriculum, and a liberal arts education is designed to train participants to work both physically in the world and be analytic thinkers. ^[7]

Praxis also features resume and writing workshops, public speaking seminars, professional networking opportunities and a variety of professional development projects, both within the business partner context and within the broader scope of the program. Motivated by the belief that college costs are disproportionately high relative to the payoff of a degree, Morehouse designed the structure of the program to give participants "the best of a college education and real-world work experience."^[8]

The program is additionally structured as to provide a form of low-cost, high-quality labor to small businesses and startups. ^[9]

Curriculum

The Praxis curriculum covers six areas of academic study:

• Philosophy, Logic & Ethics
• Economics
• History
• Business
• Technology & Digital Skills
• Entrepreneurship & Life Skills^[10]

The curriculum includes an additional portfolio project and hard skills module, which includes resume writing skills, writing development, interview skills, and public speaking skills.

Each subject in the Praxis curriculum is designed to prepare participants to be entrepreneurs. A notable feature of the Praxis curriculum is that participants are encouraged to engage directly with the material, and to challenge material they find superfluous, and replace it with similar material deemed more useful by participants.

See also

• Academically Adrift
• In the Basement of the Ivory Tower
• Real Education: Four Simple Truths for Bringing America's Schools Back to Reality
• UnCollege
• Thiel Fellowship

References

External links

• official website