With PISA 2022 measuring students’ creative thinking capabilities for the first time, it is no wonder that teaching entrepreneurial skills is being recognised as a key part of quality education programmes.
Yet, globally, school systems continue to struggle to determine how to effectively incorporate it into their teaching.
“…It’s really surprising that no country has been able to find a way to incorporate these entrepreneurial skills into their curriculum,” says entrepreneurship expert Shelley Carlson. Education HQ.
“Singapore and Finland are often seen as education leaders, but they have yet to make much progress in that area.”
Carlson is the Instructional Design Manager at Sydney Entrepreneurship School, overseeing the course creation and customisation of a wide range of online and live courses and workshops for a growing number of schools and businesses.
She says Australia can be a world leader in educating children to develop an entrepreneurial mindset from an early age.
She said a great start was made with a collaborative group of five already established entrepreneurship schools in South Australia, which provide specialised entrepreneurship education within the public system.
These schools have been supported by the South African Government in developing resources for years 7 to 12, with specialised staff, purpose-built facilities and high-quality resources shared and used across the province.
In the process, these schools have become destination schools for aspiring business and social entrepreneurs.
Students will take part in an immersive learning experience using design thinking and solution fluency processes to solve identified community and world problems, and will have the opportunity to further their understanding of business, economics and financial literacy through SACE subjects such as Business Innovation and Entrepreneurial Mathematics.
“We’re doing really well in some ways, which is nice because I think we’re more open than a lot of other places,” Carlson said.
“Fast-reaching change is hard. Trying to change a big institution or education department is always difficult. But I think there are enough people who are really interested in doing it, and there are little signs all over the place that we’re on the right path.”
Carlson and her team have been busy preparing an innovative professional development workshop for high school teachers titled, “Supporting Students on Their Entrepreneurship Journey.”
The program is accredited by the New South Wales Education Standards Authority (NESA) and is the first and only such program in Australia designed to equip teachers with the skills and knowledge they need to guide their students on their entrepreneurial journey.
“The workshops will focus on empowering teachers to foster the entrepreneurial mindset in their students, from idea generation and innovative thinking to comprehensive business planning,” Carlson explains.
“In an era of rapid technological innovation and industry change, these skills are essential to prepare students to meet the evolving demands of life and work in the 21st century.”
While Carlson has been honored to work with teachers to deepen their understanding of entrepreneurship and design thinking and how they can be applied to identifying and solving real-world problems, he believes that entrepreneurial education for children should start in elementary school.
“I just want to instill in children’s minds the idea of thinking about the world in terms of what they can do and what their role is, rather than just following a path that has been pre-planned for them by the education system.
“Being an entrepreneur means thinking deeply about connections and communities and how they can create change. And then applying that thinking to solving problems in your own community.”
“Kids have that kind of spirit and imagination, and when they travel it gets shattered.
“That’s why I think the earlier the better. If you’re thinking that way from that age onwards, it makes your job easier when you get to high school.”
Carlson said the earlier the better to foster innovation and entrepreneurial thinking in students, “…if that’s how they see it, [primary] Once they reach high school age, your job is only going to get easier.”
Regardless of when it will begin, Carlson argues that the advent of AI makes the ability to think entrepreneurially all the more important, especially since it’s a way of thinking that goes beyond AI. Well, for now, at least.
“Employers are looking for candidates with soft skills, an entrepreneurial mindset, problem-solving and critical thinking skills, and are looking for ways to grow their business and teams,” she says.
“It’s important to be trained as a scientist and not be stuck in one field, but to be able to think interdisciplinary.”
Having to work within strict NESA guidelines, Carlson said, the workshops consist of a two-pronged approach: one to teach teachers the entrepreneurial mindset and the techniques on how to achieve it.
“We raise awareness about the entrepreneurial journey and help teachers understand the early stages of ideation and the design thinking that happens during that stage,” Carlson elaborates.
“Then we take you through the stages of business planning and explain what it takes to bring your idea to life – so you don’t just have an idea, but can take it to the execution stage.”
Carlson explained that while it’s impossible for teachers to learn how to do this in just three hours, at the very least, participants will be created with awareness and given direction on what resources they can access to help their students.
“Another aspect of the workshop is to really instill an entrepreneurial mindset in the classroom and get teachers thinking about how they can teach entrepreneurially, because if teachers are modeling entrepreneurial behavior, then that will just trickle down to their students and we’ll be making a big step forward either way.”
The workshops, scheduled to take place once each month in August, September and October, will provide teachers with the tools to deliver authentic learning experiences to their students, with an emphasis on teamwork, communication and collaboration.
Upon completing the course, teachers receive a certificate of completion and a verified digital credential to enhance their resumes, e-portfolios and LinkedIn profiles.
Workshop Information:
date: August 27, September 12, October 29
interval: 3 hours
Fee: $190 per person
register: sse.edu.au/teacher-pd
