Enterprise for Education

Education for Enterprise (E4E) is a way into the new curriculum. It asserts we need our young people to be, ‘confident, connected, actively involved, lifelong learners’. All good teachers have always wanted their students to be this way, and E4E is not about throwing out all that has gone before, but in looking at what we do through a new lens, based on the new needs of the new century.

E4E can be summarised by:

One of the key aspects of E4E is the need for schools to have a relationship with community and business organisations. One of the Ministry of Education’s key E4E messages states that "community partnerships are central to enterprising learning". This relationship is what allows schools to create authentic learning contexts where students can produce work which has a real context and where they are exposed to real-life situations.

The role of the economic development agency to any E4E initiative is pivotal.
They are the ones who drive the thinking behind the region’s needs and growth, and how this applies to the economic and social development of that region. They also provide the links to community and business partnerships, which are essential for creating authentic learning contexts. When schools and educational agencies link with an EDA, they are also modeling a partnership that encourages a new way of thinking. They can ensure that the partnership is a mutually beneficial one, moving away from an outdated sponsorship arrangement, to one where students can meet a genuine need.

As New Zealand heads into the 21st century, there is a need for us to return to our ‘number 8 wire’, enterprising attitude that has diminished in recent times. From an enterprising attitude, springs a ‘can-do’, imaginative approach to everything in our lives. It is an attitude in which we have taken much pride as a country, but there is evidence to suggest we need to look again. A recent article in the Listener reported that other countries find New Zealander's ‘lack hunger’ in the international marketplace, and many teachers say they struggle with the lack of motivation in students. There are of course many complex reasons for this, but one thing is sure - we must be careful to not let our ‘can-do’ attitude be replaced by ‘make-do’.

Jane Gilbert and Rachel Bolstad of the New Zealand Council for Educational Research have recently published their findings on the needs of 21st century students. They assert that there is a need for teaching and learning to move from an outdated 20th century model, where an industrial age system viewed the teacher as the source of knowledge. In the Industrial age, an accepted and fixed body of knowledge could be to be transmitted to the student through prescribed and repetitive teacher-generated tasks to prepare the student for a future that could be predicted with some certainty. In a world where there is exponential change and the future is unknown, there is a need for real-world, authentic, learner-generated tasks. Students cannot be told all they will need to know – they need to learn to think critically and to access, process and evaluate large amounts of information. Being able to work collaboratively and to have knowledge of other cultures is essential if we are to survive as a country on the international stage.

The word ‘enterprising’ holds different connotations for different people. In this context, the Ministry of Education lists enterprising attributes as:

• Generating, identifying, and assessing opportunities
• Identifying, assessing, and managing risks
• Collecting, organising, and analysing information
• Generating and using creative ideas and processes
• Identifying solving and preventing problems
• Identifying, recruiting, and managing resources
• Matching personal goals and capabilities to an undertaking
• Working with others and in teams
• Being flexible and dealing with change
• Negotiating and influencing
• Using initiative and drive
• Monitoring and evaluating
• Communicating and receiving ideas and information
• Planning and organising
• Being fair and responsible

Source: www.tki.org.nz (Education for Enterprise)

What many teachers have found useful also, are a set of questions exploring enterprising teaching practice from Learning and Teaching Scotland:

• Do I encourage my pupils to develop a ‘can do, will do’, ‘be all you can be’ attitude?
• Do I help my pupils to reflect on their learning and make relevant connections with other subject areas and the world of work (with the help of employers, wherever possible)?
• Do my pupils use experiences in enterprise to reflect on other learning and skills development?
• Do my pupils recognise the benefits of working independently, being self-motivated and accepting setbacks as learning experience?
• Does my classroom practice enable my pupils to be creative, flexible and resourceful in managing change?
• Do I empower my pupils to take imaginative and informed approaches to problem solving, involving calculated risks?
• Do I offer my pupils the opportunity to take the initiative and lead when the opportunity arises?
• Do I support my pupils in taking responsibility for and accepting the consequences of their actions?

Source: www.ltscotland.org.uk (Enterprise in Education)