The relationship between Enterprise Education and The Every Child Matters (ECM) Agenda
The ECM agenda, has five outcomes. Enterprise Education complements three of these outcomes: “enjoy and achieve”, making a “positive contribution” and achievement of “economic well-being”. (ECM Website) I will look at these outcomes individually and relate specifically to each, how enterprise education can help to achieve these outcomes.
- Enterprise Education complements this outcome as it creates an interesting forum in which young people can relate a variety of aspects of knowledge and skills within the curriculum they follow, such as Numeracy and Literacy, Problem Solving, ICT skills, PSHE, Citizenship, Business Studies, Group Work, Confidence Building, Presentation Skills and report writing to real life situations. (AQA Certificate in Enterprise and Employability Specification, 2010) The subject areas within the course of “Enterprise Capability”, “Enterprise and the World Wide Web”, “Promoting Personal Employability”, “Understanding and Planning Personal Finance”, “Understanding Finance for Enterprise” and “Rights, Responsibilities and Ethical Considerations of Enterprise Activities” ensure this.
- Make A Positive Contribution
- The Subject area of “Rights, Responsibilities and Ethical Considerations of Enterprise Activities” helps young people to understand the importance of ethical behaviour within society whilst the course overall improves the young person’s transferable skills such as financial management, problem solving, communication, numeracy and general employablility making them more likely to become a contributing member of society in future. (AQA Certificate in Enterprise and Employability Specification, 2010)
- Achieve Economic Well-Being
- Increased and improved employability skills such as the ability to work in groups, competitiveness, ICT, numeracy and literacy skills along with an awareness of personal financial management and a renewed and refreshed outlook on their studies, should increase the productivity of young people both in their studies and later on in their working life which should improve their future earning capacity and their ability to manage that income.
The AQA Certificate in Enterprise and Employability
This qualification is assessed and awarded at Level 1 (Equivalent to GCSE grades D-G) and 2 (Equivalent to GCSE grades A*-C) of the National Qualification framework. The key skills for the qualification include communication, numeracy, information and communication technology (ICT), working in groups, problem solving, self reflection and improvement on learning and performance. The course consists of coursework, worth thirty percent of the final mark which includes a personal log of work undertaken in an enterprise project or activity, followed by a detailed report and a written exam paper worth 70% of the overall mark which is one hour and fifteen minutes long and is made up of three sections; Multiple choice, short answers and longer, structured questions. (AQA Certificate in Enterprise and Employability Specification, 2008)
The Aims of the course are for learners to understand: “Enterprise capability”, “the enterprise process and how it can be applied in different contexts”, “The impact and possibilities of enterprise using the world wide web”. “the role of finance in business and social enterprises”, “their rights and responsibilities in employment and enterprise. This will result in candidates being more able to “develop and promote their personal employability” and gaina greater understanding of their personal finances and ability to make financial plans. Candidates should be knowledgeable consumers of personal financial products and services and “play an active role as innovative and enterprising citizens and members of society”.
(Taken from AQA Certificate in Enterprise and Employability Specification, 2010)
The Subject Content includes: “Enterprise Capability”, “The Enterprise Process”, “Enterprise and the World Wide Web”, “Promoting Personal Employability”, “Understanding and Planning Personal Finance”, “Understanding Finance for Enterprise, Rights”, “Responsibilities and Ethical Considerations of Enterprise Activities”.
(Taken from AQA Certificate in Enterprise and Employability Specification, 2010)
The enterprise process involves four stages that learners are expected to take personal responsibility for their own actions through. Stage 1 includes tackling a problem or need: students generate ideas through discussion to reach a common understanding of what is required to resolve the problem or meet the need. Stage 2 invovles planning the project or activity: breaking down tasks, organising resources, deploying team members and allocating responsibilities. Stage 3 includes implementing the plan: solving problems, monitoring progress. Stage 4 involves evaluating the processes: reviewing activities and final outcomes, reflecting on lessons learned and assessing the skills, attitudes, qualities and understanding acquired.
(Taken from Teachernet, 2009.)
The Impact on Schools
According to BBC News, 2007, many schools are unsure how to teach this subject, which puts teaching staff and students in a painful position.
How Schools Teach Enterprise Education
There are a few sources of guidance on how to introduce enterprise education into the classroom including the website “Teachernet” and reports published by Ofsted. “Teachernet” provides several examples of approaches adopted by existing schools including an 11 to 18 High School in Hertfordshire, an 11 to 18 community college in the Midlands, and a Trafford secondary school.
- Example 1 (Hertfordshire)
- The school targeted Year 10 vocational education students to participate in a Horticultural Enterprise project which was linked with a local FE College and led to the accreditation of students' learning towards an NVQ Level 1 in Land Based Studies.
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This school also focussed on Year 10 students. They delivered a term's unit of the core design and technology GCSE through mini-enterprises. This was done across the different design and technology subjects with preparation for the required skills being done through weekly tutor lessons. Assessment was undertaken through accreditation of the activities using “Key Skills Working With Others” (Level 1) The success of this project led to the school moving the focus to Year 9 in order for students to gain the advantages of the programme at an earlier stage in their education.
- The school also chose to implement an enterprise programme for Year 10 pupils with the aim of developing their economic and business understanding through one day placements in a local college in order to work towards gaining a vocational qualification.
As part of the PGCE in Secondary Business Education at the University of Manchester, students take part in an Enterprise Week at Whalley Range High School for Girls, a specialist business, enterprise and sporting school. The Enterprise Week is aimed at Year 9 pupils and involves the pupils working and competing in groups to come up with the best business solution to increase attendance and income at the theme park “Alton Towers”. The year 9 pupils break away from their normal timetable for that week to work in their groups, brainstorming, developing valuable team working, investigation literacy, numeracy and ICT skills, conducting primary and secondary research in order to achieve this, not to mention the trip to Alton Towers which is very popular. There is also an alternative programme for those unable to make the trip involving guest speakers from local businesses and colleges, focussing on the recruitment and job application process. The purpose of this week is for pupils to complete the coursework element of the AQA Certificate in Enterprise and Employability with a view to them taking the exam in Year 10 if successful with the coursework. (Lecture Notes, Raffo, 2009)
All of the above examples of schools involved in Enterprise Education found that it enhanced the learning of pupils taking part, improving skills such as working in groups, ICT from producing reports and presentations, numeracy from financial aspects of enterprise, literacy from producing reports and presenting, evaluation and problem solving skills. It also dramatically improved the behaviour of pupils and helped to re-engage disaffected pupils.
Ofsted Report
Ofsted carried out an evaluation of enterprise education in 33 schools in 2003 and a further 16 schools in 2005 producing the report “Developing Enterprising Young People” in Nov 2005. The survey found that in order to effectively develop enterprise education, schools had to demonstrate:
- Effective management and leadership
- Responsibility for enterprise education should be given to an appropriate member of staff who has the full support of senior management and is given adequate time to do the job.
- A strong commitment from senior staff
- This is demonstrated by giving it priority in the school development plan, supporting through continuous professional development, giving enterprise a secure place in the curriculum and the allocation of adequate resources, particularly management and staff time.
- A common understanding of enterprise education
- The school has to have a clear definition of what enterprise education should encompass as some schools take a narrow view focussing on entrepreneurial activity when the idea is to teach young people to be enterprising in a wider sense, while other schools take to broad a definition and focus on enterprise in terms of creativity.
- Identification of clear learning outcomes
- Most schools show strength in identifying opportunities for enterprise learning in the curriculum yet weak in identifying what pupils are expected to achieve from their experiences.
- Effective use of existing curriculum
- Work Experience at Key stage 4 allows opportunities for pupils to develop an understanding of how businesses work, Design and Technology allows pupils to develop group working and problem solving skills, English could potentially cover the production of presentations and reports, Maths can assist with the financial aspects, History can focus on innovation skills, Business Studies on developing business skills, Religious Education, Geography and Citizenship can focus on different aspects of ethics.
- Firm location in the curriculum of enterprise education
- Enterprise education should be located within a coherent provision for work related learning using a mixture of provision through existing subjects and specific time dedicated to enterprise education.
- Make use of suspended timetable days and extra curricular activities
- Examples include raising money for charity, organising social events such as school discos, plays, shows and fetes, use of Young Enterprise Schemes getting students to set up and run their own businesses, using external agencies and business simulations.
- Building long term partnerships with local businesses, colleges, community organisations, training boards, public sector organisations such as the Military, Police and NHS where a significant amount of time is invested in planning activities and clarifying purpose is the most effective way to do this.
- Optimum use of teacher expertise
- Business Studies teachers provide an excellent source of expertise in enterprise education, however teachers of other subjects can often draw from their previous experiences in other jobs to give pupils a clear understanding of a particular industry. An example of this might be a Music teacher with previous experience of the recording industry getting involved in a project that involves pupils recording an album.
- Opportunities for Continuous Professional Development
- Schools have to provide support for management of enterprise education and for classroom practice encouraging teachers to experiment and take risks without blaming them if things go wrong.
- Provision that is inclusive of all pupils
- Ensuring that pupils at all levels of ability from those with severe learning difficulties to those who are gifted and talented are given appropriate opportunities to access enterprise education. This may involve different types of schools working together.
- Effective assessment and monitoring progress.
- If learning outcomes are unclear, it is difficult to measure pupils achievement of these outcomes. Having pupils keep a record of their experiences in the form of a log book can help to provide evidence for assessment, before and after tests on knowledge, presentations and report writing are examples of some possible methods.
Ofsted made recommendations in this report to the agencies and authorities involved in the delivery of enterprise education including Schools, the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority, the DfES and for Ofsted themselves.
- Schools need to act on the advice and guidance provided by Ofsted in the report and form networks with other schools to share and develop best practice.
- The Qualification and Curriculum Authority (QCA)
- The QCA have to continue to publish examples of good practice, consider the identification of a set of clear, precise learning outcomes for enterprise education based on research evidence and provide guidance on assessment and monitoring progress of enterprise education to schools.
- The DfES need to continue to share good practice and provide guidance through its website and other means as well as continuing to support the professional development of teachers and managers and encourage schools and other providers to develop networks and share good practice.
- Ofsted have to continue to evaluate school’s provision for enterprise education and its contribution to young people meeting the outcomes of the Every Child Matters agenda and publish their findings.
The Impact on Society
In a speech made by Gordon Brown in June 2004, he states that in order to boost productivity and create greater wealth within the United Kingdom, we need to develop “as strong and deep an enterprise culture as the United States”. The Discussion Paper “Advancing Enterprise: Britain in a Global Economy” (HM Treasury, 2004) states that there are 200,000 more small businesses in the UK than there was ten years ago and that entrepreneurial
activity has risen from its 2002 level of 5.4%. to 6.4%, however, this is small compared to the United States of America figure of 11.3%.
The discussion paper strongly recommends the importance of an entrepreneurial attitude in today’s society due to circumstances such as individuals changing jobs more frequently, management structures becoming less hierarchical, and working methods becoming more network oriented which requires individuals, and employees in small and large businesses to be able to spot opportunities, take initiatives and adapt to changing circumstances. This belief is reflected in Jephcote and Abbot (2005) which states that “Students now need to be equipped with a range of lifetime skills that enable them to adapt to change and uncertainty.”
What is the likely impact of young people leaving education with improved employability skills such as, financial management, working as part of a team, problem solving, evaluation, numeracy, ICT, and communication skills and an improved set of qualifications and a good grounding in Ethical Behaviour? The answer to these questions is very clear. Enterprise education does not exist solely to create the next Richard Branson or Alan Sugar, but instead gives young people an opportunity to improve skills qualifications and attitudes to life which can only set to benefit society as a whole either as future entrepreneurs or using their enterprise skills in a variety of occupations.
Bibliography
Business Studies, 2nd Edition, Hall, D, Jones, R, & Raffo, C, Causeway Press Ltd, 1993
Business Studies, 2nd Edition, Marcouse, I, Gillespie, A, Martin, B, Surridge, M & Wall, N, Hodder & Stoughton, 2003
Lecture Notes, Raffo, A, (2009)
Education Act, 1996 and 1997
AQA Certificate in Enterprise and Employability Specification, 2008
AQA Certificate in Enterprise and Employability Specification, 2010
Can you teach entrepreneurship? Mike Baker, BBC News Friday, 8 June, 2007
Developing Enterprising Young People: Features of the successful implementation of enterprise education at Key Stage 4, Ofsted, Nov 2005, HMI 2460
Speech by Gordon Brown at launch of the Enterprise Insight Campaign, 28th June 2004
Teaching Business Education, 14-19, 1st Edition, Jephcote, M, Abbott, I, David Fulton Publishers, 2005