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About ‘Are You Ready’ »
Mission Statement »
S-Factor 4 – Enterprise and entrepreneurship are part of teacher training and development, including ITT, CPD and Leadership Qualifications.
S-Factor 4 – Enterprise and entrepreneurship are part of teacher training and development, including ITT, CPD and Leadership Qualifications.
Enterprise education is not about ticking a box, it’s not about sticking some enterprise skills up on the wall, and it’s not about the odd collapsed day which is great fun, but often fails to have any sustained impact.
Enterprise education is about culture, approach and mindset. But crucially, people need to have the skills and confidence to lead change.
It’s critical that we invest in making enterprise and the entrepreneurial mindset a key feature of Initial Teacher Training (ITT), Continuing Professional Development (CPD) and Leadership Qualifications.
We can’t expect teachers to be inspired, motivated and equipped to develop a culture of enterprise in education unless they’ve had high quality professional development. And that needs to be underpinned by regular opportunities to re-focus on enterprise, and develop and progress practice.
What we do:
We’ve worked with schools, colleges and universities to make enterprise part of Initial Teacher Training, Leadership training and CPD. Now we call on organisations involved in teacher development to put enterprise firmly on the agenda and equip teachers with the skills and inspiration to drive change on the ground.
Inspiration
- A trainee teacher undertook an Enterprise Teaching and Learning Enhancement as part of their ITT course; learning about the why, what and how of enterprise through the curriculum and undertaking a short action research project to put theory into practice during their teaching placement. On job application forms and at interview the trainee had something special to talk about; something which they felt passionately had made a difference to pupil engagement and learning. Their first job was secured on the strength of this, and the school fed back that they wanted the NQT to develop enterprise in their classroom and start to take it through school. By the second year of teaching, the teacher had a whole school responsibility for developing enterprise and watched the impact of enterprise on learning spread.
- An Infant school teacher attended Inspire Enterprise Champion training and went back to school to develop enterprise in her classroom. She shared the course materials with a close colleague and they planned to run a pilot enterprise activity together to develop their skills and confidence and evaluate the impact on both learning and the children. The event – designing and making gift boxes - was run over a week and culminated in a presentation by children about their product and design development. Pupil engagement was so startling that the two teachers re-designed their topics to include elements of enterprise. They began to share work with their colleagues and the enterprise effect rippled through school. Five years on and the original Enterprise Champion is now the Head Teacher and the school is the only one in the world with a Warwick Award for Entrepreneurship in an Infant School.
- A Head Teacher who was passionate about enterprise maintained her skills and enthusiasm by attending regular enterprise training events and activities. One event focussed on the vision for enterprise in a school. During this session, the Head Teacher was able to review and re-focus her priorities and reflect on how to move enterprise forward in school. Being in a like-minded group of senior leaders meant that the Head had the ability to share ideas and strategies and she also had the chance to consider areas that were working well and where the new opportunities were.
