POINT OF VIEW The boundary-less classroom: extending social innovation and impact learning to the field Jill Kickul Berkley Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation, NYU Stern School of Business, New York, New York, USA Mark Griffiths Miami University, Oxford, Ohio, USA, and Sophie Bacq Center for Research in Entrepreneurial Change and Innovative Strategies, Louvain School of Management, Universite ´ catholique de Louvain, Louvain, Belgium Abstract Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate how extending social innovation and impact learning to the field was accomplished. Design/methodology/approach – The paper discusses how experiential learning can be adapted to social entrepreneurship education and how to structure the course and deliverables. It highlights the importance of students’ selection and preparation. Findings – The paper shares some students’ reflections on their fieldwork and how they dealt with new ideas. It also provides three central lessons – “go real”, “go deep”, “get feedback” – that were learned through the experience. Research limitations/implications – Since information from only one course offering has been reported, a simple generalization should be made cautiously. For this reason, the transferability of this experiential learning course to other regions of the world is discussed and recommendations are offered for educators who want to engage in a successful “boundary-less classroom.” Originality/value – Initial evidence is provided that the success of experiential learning in social innovation and impact can be guaranteed by a number of elements, including students’ preparation to assist them as they confront challenges found in the field experience. Experiential learning would not be transferable without deep intercultural understanding and a well-chosen selection of social enterprises and social entrepreneurs with whom to collaborate. Keywords Social environment, Experiential learning, Innovation Paper type Case study Introduction For the things we have to learn before we can do them, we learn by doing them (Aristotle) As one of the leading schools in business education, New York University’s Stern School of Business is at the forefront of modern educational techniques. To raise the profile of the school’s social innovation and impact specialization, the decision was The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at www.emeraldinsight.com/1462-6004.htm JSBED 17,4 652 Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development Vol. 17 No. 4, 2010 pp. 652-663 q Emerald Group Publishing Limited 1462-6004 DOI 10.1108/14626001011088787