The metaphor 'Following a deep lead ... mining for research in education gold' was chosen to highlight two features of this paper. Firstly to geographically locate from where the original work, on which this paper is based, came ... Ballarat in Victoria's central highlands. Ballarat was a major gold mining area in Australia, indeed the world, last century and the site of the Eureka Stockade, Australia's only civil up rising. Secondly, and just as significantly, to indicate the potential for rich education research pickings, from both the context and research methodologies used, ie. small and micro business and qualitative methodologies respectively.

This paper draws on research for a Master of Education at the University of South Australia. The research is in progress and uses qualitative phenomenological methodologies. The title of the research 'New Enterprise Learning' is deliberately open to interpretation. 'New Enterprise Learning' is principally about understanding the experience of people learning as they start a new enterprise (business) in which they become self employed. Additionally the research interprets 'New Enterprise Learning' to reflect two meanings: something new that will be brought to light and that the enterprises or businesses being studied are being newly started. Thus not only will the research reveal something new, as good research does, but the possibilities grow on account of this rarely visited research context (small and micro business), the learning perspective, as opposed to teaching, and the methodologies used. Early indications from the research reveal notions of something fundamental going on ... far removed from profit, loss and economics. The focus of this paper is to draw attention to opportunities for education research and the progress to date of only small parts of the overall research.

To provide an orientation, the research's context of small and micro business is described. Moving on, the focus of the research is then detailed (much as a miner searching for gold would quickly move in on the job and worry about the camp later!) The detail includes both the stage of business development and the learning orientation of the research, as opposed to teaching. The paper progressively draws attention to aspects of the paradox emerging from the research. This is followed by an overview of the research methodologies used and a provisional approach to working the text generated from interviews. With overburden removed, some of the real learning of people starting new micro businesses is revealed. This no fool's gold, rather it could be suggested it is traditional approaches to business, with a focus on the bottom line, which overlooks real gold in education research.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics (1996 a) has developed useful and now commonly accepted guides regarding size definitions of small business. They nominate a small business to be a business that employs up to twenty people in the services and construction sectors or up to 100 people in the manufacturing sector. Agricultural business size is measured in dollar value, with a value between $22,000 and $400,000 representing the size of a small agricultural business. Along with these size guides, other characteristics of small business (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 1996 b) include independent ownership and management, financial control and major decision making by the owner and operations located in one place. The size of a micro business generally includes up to five people.

In the mid 1990s (Office of Small Business, no published date) small, non agricultural businesses accounted for 97% of all private business. This percentage figure represented 786,000 businesses employing 2.7 million people. At the smaller end of the small business scale, although not defined as micro business, there were 427,600 businesses employing 640,500 people.

Clearly self employment in small and micro business is a major form of employment in Australia, with the contribution to the Australian economy by these businesses being significant. Field (1997) highlights the need for attention to be paid to research in small business. He challenges the wisdom of concepts from large business being used to improve small business. Field questions (p. v) the 'disproportionate amount of attention (in the form of funding, research efforts by universities and consultancies, advice and services) ... paid to larger businesses.' There is an irony in there being little attention to small and micro business, as if "one size fits all" rather than some "tailoring" and customisation being considered and offered.

Paradox: Why is so much research effort, and hence funding, expended on large business when the contribution of small business is significant and why are concepts from large business used to improve small business? A response along the lines of relatively greater risk in small business, ie. not to be bothered with attention to it, is exactly also the reason to pay attention to small and micro businesses! Here in lies numerous golden education research opportunities.

Field (1987) draws attention to the research opportunities in learning in small business. He suggests that because small business is characterised by diversity, there are three aspects of learning in small business that should be the focus of research. These aspects of learning include the influence of structure and context on learning, learning from and in inter-organisational networks and organisational learning.

There is a large quantity of literature on starting new small businesses and business planning, with many books easily found in everyday book stores. However, it seems little popular writing, and perhaps less again academic writing, acknowledges starting a business with "raw ingredients". A significant exception is Gibb (1987). Gibb clearly identifies six stages of business development that focus on starting a new business. His commencing stage (p. 283) is 'idea and motivation acquisition to raw idea'. Six stages of business development based on Gibb (1987) are shown below (bold type links to Gibb's key words and italics emphasises the progress through the six stages):

Gibb's paper identifies six stages of starting a business culminating in birth and survival, suggesting earlier stages are akin to gestation. To clearly differentiate Gibb's early stages of business development from the usual interpretation of business development in existing business operations, the expression business formation is used.

Business formation is an important differentiation. It is these early stages of managing the formation of a new small business that are the focus of the small and micro business context of this paper.

Building on this exposure of business formation, a relatively quick inspection of many Vocational Education and Training (VET) small business management courses shows that often the concepts learned about are managing later, everyday operations of existing business. The words "starting a new business" are often loosely used and applied. Is the person new to running a business, entering an existing business? ... the traditional course could be appropriate. However if it is a newly formed business, starting up for the first time, then a typical business management course might not be appropriate, especially if the person is also new to running a small business. A Johari window that helps to differentiate options (including recommended and essential course options) is on the following page:

Yet it is the traditional business management courses, the content of which focuses on managing later, everyday operations of existing, often larger, business, which are often used for people learning to manage the formation of a new small business, ie. the course that would reasonably be used in box 1 is also used for the scenario in boxes 3 and 4. Skills in accounting practices stand out as an example of course content appropriate to a course for an existing business, accounting is about financial history - existing and history being the key words, but is not sufficient in times of development and change, ie. business formation. This point has parallels with comments recently made by Gettler (1998). He comments that accounting skills alone in business these days are insufficient and need to be complemented with new skills; a historic approach alone to managing a business is no longer adequate in a contemporary business with a need for development and change.

Sometimes the future orientated financial management concepts of break even point and cash flow planning are included in a traditional course. Learning something about managing business formation is incidentally included in with managing later, everyday operations of existing business. However given the failure rate of businesses of people with newly formed businesses, whether these people have other business experience or are novices, how is managing business formation best served by incidental add ins to courses in managing later, everyday operations? Differentiated courses customised to start up and indeed the size factor, ie. small and micro business, a point already made in the previous section, would be preferable.

There is a possible explanation found in the Revised Small Business Management Competency Standards (1996) which form a "template" for VET courses. The standards appear to be blind to the stages of business formation detailed by Gibb (1987). Yet clearly new small businesses are not spontaneously created, they are gestated or formed. Sometimes new business formation might be well financed and carried out by other people (eg. various business specialists) so is able to be relatively quickly passed over, and thus becomes hidden or lost. Business formation may simply be overlooked once everyday operations pre-occupy operators' and thinking and effort.

Paradox: Why has business formation hitherto eluded the attention of business service providers, educators and researchers? Although Arnold (1997), working in a community setting, has made a start in addressing the need for customised attention to learning to manage the formation of new small and micro businesses, with the national VET accreditation of the Certificate III in Business (New Enterprise Formation). Here in lies further golden education research opportunities.

A Department of Industry, Science and Tourism survey (DIST 1997) clearly documents levels of general managerial training and businesses with business plans.

• Managerial training in businesses (small and large) less than two years old = 15%

(with little increase in older businesses)

• Managerial training in small business (business age not specified) = 25%
• Managerial training in micro business (business age not specified) = 11%

• Businesses (small and large) less than two years old with a business plan = 19%

(decreasing with time up to 20 years)

• Small businesses (business age not specified) with a business plan = 35%
• Micro businesses (business age not specified) with a business plan = 11%

Relatively higher risk in small businesses is again exactly the reason to differentiate between new business formation and everyday operations of an existing business. The education research opportunity, and business services provider opportunity, being to enhance business formation and reduce risk levels - both in financial terms, which flow well beyond the failed business, and more importantly the impact of business failure on the business person themselves.

The federal government report Enterprising Nation (Karpin, 1995) is a major text, with volumes of research behind its recommendations, which highlights managing business formation together with several other priorities for small business education in Australia. The priorities include:

The report calls for a new responsiveness to the education needs of people in small business. Although the learning-teaching dynamic is not specifically discussed in Enterprising Nation, the value of attention to learning in small business emerges, rather than a focus on what is taught. A contribution to this learning orientation is conveyed in points 2, 3 and 4 above.

However Field (1997, p.18) points out that people from ' ... small businesses are often not represented on VET committees ... '. Gibb (1987) echoes the need for a person-centred approach by explicitly identifying what a person needs to do (key tasks) and learn (key learning and personal development needs) in each of his six stages. Rather than being relatively inanimately or passively expressed through "econo-speak" or expressed through a focus on dollar costs of different activities and stages.

Paradox: If people in small business are missing from the group (VET committee) involved in developing a response to their education needs, and in particular the learning part of the learning teaching dynamic, as opposed to the teaching part, how can a good response for a learning orientation be developed?

An exception to the absence, of these key people, is the research conducted for the VET national accreditation of Certificate III in Business (New Enterprise Formation). Arnold (1997) addressed the paradox by evaluating and seeking feedback from participants in Workshops in New Enterprise Formation. The decisions made about the course being developed for accreditation were informed by people like those who would later participate in the accredited course. This provided the leads to innovations and progressive improvements of the workshops that were later confirmed in the report Enterprising Nation (Karpin 1995) and are outlined at the beginning of this section.

Child (1997), in reviewing the Certificate III in Business (New Enterprise Formation), suggests the course is the first of its type in Australia. In particular she draws attention (p. 32) to the 'action based rather than curriculum-based learning ... within an overall qualification that creatively interprets National Standards'. Child (1997 p. 32) adds that the Certificate III in Business (New Enterprise Formation) is ...

Field's research (1997) also sets out to demonstrate the need to attend to learning in small business. The paradox gives leads to more golden education research opportunities.

The above sections, each concluding with a contribution to the paradox in the importance of small business, but the lack of research, are longer than might be anticipated from the abstract. However it was important to make sure the points were described so that their oversight is clearly exposed, the possibilities appreciated and opportunities for golden research in education addressed. Summarising, therefore, the context of the research:

Qualitative research methodologies in the research 'New Enterprise Learning' were selected. It was felt that such an approach was better suited not only to the interest of understanding how people learn to form a new small business, but also because of the wider social justice environment from which the research originally emerged. This way the research was able to take a step back from economic rationalism (Lutz and Lux 1998), ie. profit as a principal value, global markets, measurable outcomes and immediate utility. Lutz (1992) and Smith (1995) also call for strong links in business that put people considerations, including the environment, before or at least on an equal footing with production and profit.

In addition Carson and Gilmore (1997) discuss business education, in particular owner/managers learning marketing in small businesses. Carson and Gilmore (1997) suggest owner managers use informal qualitative approaches, rather than scientific quantitative research. Business owner/managers prefer to gather market information to interpret findings on a personal basis to develop their own understanding, rather than market research that is rigorous and valid. Qualitative research methodologies to research learning to form a new small business resonate with this preference of people undertaking marketing in small businesses.

Van Manen (1990), in researching lived experience demonstrates how phenomenology can be used in education research, to understand special qualities of different human experiences. Brookfield (1990) in writing about expanding knowledge about how people learn specifically recommends phenomenological approaches, including interviewing, critical incidents and analysis of written autobiographical material. Generalisation and theory making were not of interest, rather understanding the particular experience of how people learn to form a new small business, as if the researcher were in the business person's shoes, was the point of interest. A phenomenological approach was chosen.

In talking about people who operate small businesses, there is a special sense generated that does not seem to be encountered as often in other work and employment contexts. When people who operate small businesses talk about themselves and what they do this special sense also arises. Whilst not necessarily exclusive to people in small business, there is a special sense of being involved. This is demonstrated in an expression already used, 'people in small business' and in 'I am in small business'. Often people describe what they do by including the indefinite article 'a' ... I am a lecturer, a florist, a plumber, an accountant. This can apply to someone in small business ... I am a small business person. However I am in lecturing, in floristry, in plumbing, or in accounting is not as often heard. Often the language people use to describe people in small business is more organic, people who operate a small business also display this organic sense of being (in small business).

The sense of being in small business was noted in prior work. There seems to be nothing definitive to support this suggestion, other than perhaps grammar, but it has been informally discussed with no real dissent. A lecturer, a florist, a plumber, etc., are all nouns, whereas "I am in business" uses the verb to be.

An existential approach described by Van Manen (1990) is used to explore the idea of a sense of being in business. Van Manen (p. 102 - 103) describes four existential categories:

Recorded interviews with a small group of people were conducted. The people interviewed included former school teachers and someone who had had a prior role in their partner's business; they were all unemployed. The spoken dialogue represented stories people told each other about themselves starting their own new small businesses. There was scant structure to the interviews, although each person had taken part in several briefings over a period of time; this generated a more in-depth dialogue. In many instances the researcher had also been working with the person forming a new small business at the time the events, raised in the interviews, originally took place. A transcript of the interviews was made.

A provisional approach to working the text has commenced and is not yet completed. Initially the text was worked to prepare the researcher's understanding of stories of each person learning to form a new small business Only those parts that have been worked again with the person and are clearly understood are used in this paper - unverified work is excluded. Using the understandings of people starting new small businesses and drawing on Willis (1996, 1998), poetised text has been prepared. It represents only the beginning of stories, how people came to consider starting their own new businesses. A short verified poetised text is included in the next section.

In order to consider the sense of being in business the transcribed text is revisited. Revisiting the text involves considering the original transcribed text to connect different parts with each of the four existential categories as appropriate. The understandings of the researcher are also grouped to correspond with the four existential categories. It is intended to "look" for emerging essential themes in both the original transcribed text and the researcher's understanding to inform intuiting, to generate essences described in Ehrich (1996), Willis (1996, 1998) and Crotty (1996 a and b). Crotty's stem sentences (1996 b) are also being used to inform and develop intuiting. The intention is for the working of the data to generate a description of the phenomena experienced - learning to start a new small business - rather than an explanation.

There remains much working of the text, with key phenomenological processes variously named and described by Ehrich (1996), Willis (1998) and Crotty (1996 a and b), still to be completed. The phenomenological processes have not been fully described in this paper, they have been unequally entered into at this point in time (ie. only verified work is included) and the work with the four existential categories has also still to be fully considered. The philosophical background on which phenomenology draws is not discussed at this stage either. However a table showing a correspondence across the briefly described phenomenological processes of these writers is shown below.

Even though much working of the text remains, there are some inchoate images from the hitherto largely hidden world of people learning to form a new small business beginning to make a potted appearance. Some responses to Crotty's (1996 b) stem sentences which he uses in one of the key phenomenological processes (intuiting) follows a poetised text in the next section.

The poetised text, on the following page, represents the researcher's understanding of the small business person beginning to consider starting a new small business in which to become self employed. The poetised text is identified as "Sister". As might be thought, this is a more than a simple identification. "Sister" was chosen because of the relationship that has evolved from working with this person, not that it was sisterly, but rather that the relationship has a depth and insight sisters might experience.

The poetised text tells of challenges to Sister's expectations of being in business and oppressive interpretations of traditional approaches in business. She hungers for business colleagues with whom to talk and be heard. Strength is gathered from past achievements with new opportunities emerging. Despite a paralysing mainstream current, inner strength drives Sister on, doing it her way ... anyway ...

A selection of stem sentences from Crotty (1996 b, p. 279 - 280) is shown on the next page. Crotty (1996 b, p. 278) suggests that these metaphoric started sentences, are an invitation to 'open ourselves to the phenomenon as the object of our immediate experience.' The sentences were developed later after the initial recorded interviews.

In 'Learning to start my new small business is like walking through a hall of mirrors' Sister talks of diverse potentiality and choices to be made, with spatiality generating diverse responses including senses of fun and curiosity. The second completed stem sentence, 'I picture learning to start my new small business as an abstract of circles and squares', relates contrasts in opportunities and threats together with clear preferences; a key feature of the statement along side this stem sentence was constant, different bodily movement. 'Learning to start my new small business feels like walking the tight rope of myself' acknowledges the risk(s) in needing to deal with something about Sister's self; the bodily response is inward looking.

The fourth completed stem sentence 'Learning to start my new small business presents itself to me as a large rock with my name on it' is quickly described as a fait accompli - thing done, no longer worth arguing against. 'I recognise learning to start my new small business as being a Journey through life' alludes to straight roads and interesting detours, but a road ahead is always there to be taken, from which learning is always possible; above all the Journey through life is highly sensate. 'Learning to start my new small business looks to me like the old foot-in-the-door storey' tells of opportunity, endurance, panic and miracles. The text with this stem sentence moves back and forth through time, but with, on balance, a future orientation; relationality is experienced strongly.

The seventh completed stem sentence 'What I detect in learning to start my new small business is Carlo the Ice-cream man' is a reminiscence of happy times and anguished moments as dogs eat ice-cream accidentally dropped on hot summer roads - every dog has its day! As indicated temporality features with reflection being almost dominant, but for a the fact that what was then, is still now, but in a very different form. Finally 'The metaphor that best conveys learning to start my new small business is riding a stock car train' conveys adventure and freedom, spontaneity, joy of life and being in control, but not without risk. All four existential categories are almost forcefully expressed in this text, excitement of new places but nevertheless control, movement in a rough ride and ground covered, a future orientation and encounters with characters.

Having provisionally worked the original transcribed text, the researcher's poetised text and Sister's stem sentences, intuiting-in-progress, learning to start a new small business, appears to present as two things: a fluid and contrast.

Learning to form a new small business is like water - it flows into and out of anything it can - and it is never known where it will turn up next! Like water, learning to start a new small business is recognised as life giving. What shows up when learning to form a new small business is thought about is that, like water, it can take many forms ... solid, liquid and vapour.

Contrast in learning to form a new small business is about negative, not in a negative (bad) and positive (good) sense, rather like a photographic negative, or the mould out of which comes a figure - opposites. It is as if "real" learning is the negative or mould, rather than what is typically seen, the photo or the figure. There is also a sense of unexpectedness, there are features only noticeable in the negative and the mould.

After eleven pages of writing 'Following a deep lead ... mining for research in education gold' the above two paragraphs are golden nuggets. There has been much work and energy dissipated in bringing them to the surface where they can be seen in the light of day. Like real nuggets, they do not have a large physical presence, they are a distillation - a small, often sort after, remaining. They feel and weigh like nothing else in the hand. They stand on their own for the value they present to the people involved.

It has been outlined the research New Enterprise Learning is in progress with its methodology still being fine tuned. 'Following a deep lead ... mining for research in education gold' draws attention to aspects of a paradox. The paradox indicates that there are significant opportunities surrounding research in education in small and micro business. The emerging images of people learning to form a new small business in which to become self employed are alluring and surprising. Perhaps further research in this environment will generate understanding that will inform a different educational theory and practice that allows people to learn without denying their real experiences, rather than only preconceived learning outcomes. Research in education, in small and micro business, is more than counting the bottom line!

Working in Ballarat, Teresa Arnold spent more than four years helping people start their own new small businesses as part of a non government program that sought to find new pathways to self employment. From this work two business service innovations were developed: a nationally accredited course the Certificate III in Business (New Enterprise Formation), cited as the first of its kind in Australia, and a small, low cost, loan guarantee scheme, the Ballarat Enterprise and Employment Fund (BEEF), which is possibly unique in Australia. In keeping with the struggle for democracy enshrined in the Eureka Stockade, the course was directly developed from working with the type of people who will be most affected by the decisions made in the accredited course.

Ó Teresa Arnold 1998

PO Box 213, Ballarat 3353, phone 03 5334 2289, e mail <teresa@lin.cbl.com.au>