Enterprise education

Enterprise education is not just about making money, it can change the way you teach and how children learn, says Claire Lotriet...

I first became aware of enterprise education a few years ago during an INSET day. It was being run by a neighbouring secondary school – a specialist business college – that had been tasked with helping us see how an enterprise curriculum might look in a primary setting.

Up until then I had associated enterprise education with projects in which children attempt to make money. However, it became clear this approach to learning reaches far beyond financial education. In fact, it is underpinned by a range of soft skills, including risk taking, decision making, teamwork, problem solving, leadership and presentation. Since then, enterprise has become part of my pedagogy and remains at the heart of my teaching.

For me, enterprise education can encompass every aspect of teaching and learning; it’s not just another subject to squeeze into my timetable. Its values help to shape children into young adults who are ready to go into the world and, as such, the following skills are at the forefront of my mind whenever I plan.

Risk taking: Can I plan for situations that allow children to take safe risks? This doesn’t mean placing them in danger, it’s about learning new skills. Anything that takes a child out of his or her comfort zone – even just a little – involves taking a risk.

Decision making: Can I allow children some element of choice in their learning? If not, how will children develop their decision making skills? My first thought was that this wouldn’t be easy since curriculum constraints mean we cannot allow children to choose exactly what they want to learn. However, I discovered that even a small element of choice can have an impact. For instance, allowing children to choose the mode of output for a piece of work or a project – short film, comic, ebook or 3D model?

Teamwork: Can I engineer situations in which the children have to pull together as a team? Group work is nothing new of course, but teamwork involves all members of the group having to pull together in order to succeed. Sometimes an element of competition can help with this. One project I ran with a Year 4 class ended with a Dragons’ Den style presentation in front of a panel of dragons – AKA members of the SMT.

Problem solving: Can I encourage the children to solve problems that matter to them? Problem solving is key in maths, but is also something I aim to develop beyond numeracy lessons. I try to give children time to come up with solutions to a problem instead of jumping in with a solution straight away. I want children to come to me with solutions, not just problems.

Leadership: Can I provide opportunities for children to develop leadership skills? A key moment for me was introducing the digital leader programme within school. Children had to apply to become a digital leader and then have an interview with me (risk taking - tick!). Successful applicants have helped me to run staff meetings, set up and run ICT clubs for younger children, and to raise the profile of ICT around school. Engaging children in helping you lead in a subject is great experience for them.

Financial capability: Can I give children real-life experiences of money and finance beyond a maths lesson? Creating projects in connection with charities has been one way in which I have done this. I’ve invited charity representatives to speak to the children at the start of the project, which helps them to understand why what we’re doing is so important. The challenge for the pupils is to plan a way to raise money, perhaps in small groups. The project ends with a second visit from the charity so the children can present the money they have raised and assess the impact of what they have done.

Presenting: Can I provide children with the opportunity to present to audiences beyond their own classroom? In the past, I have taken children to present to adult audiences at events like the BETT show and the Learning Without Frontiers conference.

Collaborative planning
Planning a topic with the children is one way in which I have given them greater choice in their learning. The initial idea came from Jackie Beere’s The Perfect Ofsted Lesson. Jackie explains the reason choice is so important is that it engages children on an emotional level and this increases their motivation – this has certainly borne out in my experience. The first time I tried collaborative planning was with a Year 6 class for a topic on Bolivia. I explained to the pupils that we were going to turn our classroom into ‘Bolivia’ so other children could come and visit and experience elements of Bolivian life and culture. Then I set them the challenge: what activities would you like to do in relation to this topic? I had three activities that I thought everyone should do:

1. Complete a map of South America showing all the countries and capital cities
2. Complete a more detailed map of Bolivia showing main cities, rivers, etc.
3. Write your own traditional South American tale

The rest would be up to them. So, in pairs, off they went to mind map their ideas. It quickly became clear that, despite their enthusiasm, the children were going to need some practise at this new way of working. Initially, many came up with questions such as ‘What food do they eat there?’ or ‘How rich or poor is the country?’ instead of actual activities or tasks. They needed further prompting from me to shift their focus. I had to encourage them to put their ‘teacher’s hat’ on and think of activities that would answer their questions. To keep them on track, I combined all of their topic ideas into one mind map, including my three compulsory activities, and gave each child a copy of this. Whenever they completed a project, they would colour in that section of the topic map. The children also wrote action plans at the beginning of the project outlining what they needed to do in each lesson, what resources they needed and what help they would require along the way. This ensured they were able to complete their work in the time available and stay organised.

Children in all year groups can be invited to help you plan almost any topic in this way – although you will need to alter the amount of guidance you provide. A gentle way in may be to share a range of activities with the children that you have come up with and then give them a choice from this selection. The key is to let children make decisions about their learning, which will allow them to take ownership of their work and motivate them to produce outcomes you might never have expected.