« Previous | Contents | Next »
Listen
BEYOND SCOTLAND: LEADING THE WAY
The European Commission says; "Europe is not fully exploiting its entrepreneurial potential. Fostering an entrepreneurial mindset as well as the relevant skills among young people - starting from basic education - will greatly contribute to the strategic goals of the EU. Young people should be equipped with the skills they will need to be successful in a complex world. Creativity, innovation, independence, initiative are essential attributes for personal fulfilment and success. Entrepreneurship was considered as a new basic skill - to be provided through lifelong learning - by the Lisbon European Council of 2000.
Education for entrepreneurship is already high on the agenda in most EU Member States. A wide variety of programmes and activities exist across Europe. However, there is a need for promoting these initiatives more systematically. The European Commission is committed to promoting entrepreneurship through education at all levels". 55
Determined to Succeed is recognised as a world leader in enterprise education. For our part, we see the benefits in sharing knowledge and experience in enterprise in education, across Europe and beyond. We have showcased our work in Paris, Brussels, the Netherlands, Norway and North America and hosted visits from Germany, the Netherlands and Australia.
A survey of 1,179 entrepreneurship experts in 29 countries, rated enterprise education in Scottish schools as a world leader and found Determined to Succeed to be helping to raise ambition and develop enterprise skills at both primary and secondary school level. 56
" Determined to Succeed and its precursor, Schools Enterprise Scotland are giving us global leadership in enterprise education." 57
Sir Tom Hunter
The Global Entrepreneurship Monitor Scotland recognised that 'a great start had been made at primary and secondary school level to change what many experts described as a culture that was still quite negative to entrepreneurship, if perhaps less overtly so than in the past'. 58
Teachers in West Lothian schools are sharing their learning in continuing professional development ( CPD) with professional colleagues in Estonia. Morag Pendry, West Lothian Council's Enterprise Development Officer and Eric Burton, a Learning and Teaching Scotland Enterprise Development Officer, visited the twinned region of Ida-Viru to make presentations on enterprise in education and CPD. Morag says: "We led a seminar on West Lothian's Determined to Succeed model and comprehensive CPD policy. As a result, 20 Estonian teachers visited West Lothian to receive CPD training in enterprise in education and had the opportunity of furthering links with some of our schools. This hopefully will lead to entrepreneurial export activities and cultural exchanges."
Enterprising Careers, the University of Strathclyde's Centre for Studies in Enterprise, Career Development and Work, has been a catalyst for profiling and sharing Scottish good practice. The Centre publicises its work in England through conferences, articles and mail shots, and is developing contacts in other parts of the UK and Ireland. It has developed a range of materials and training in enterprise education and has made this available, under license, to the Welsh Development Agency. Discussions are currently underway to license the use of packages and publications in Ireland and Estonia and the Centre is planning to market these Scottish materials and related CPD provision, to EU accession countries and Russia.
Centre staff have also been involved in the delivery of Enterprising Global Citizen courses in Malawi, supported the piloting of enterprise packs in a school in South Africa, and are developing a proposal to introduce enterprise education to schools in Zambia. Centre staff have also delivered training in career education and guidance to a visiting group of teachers from Kenya and have been invited to deliver training on this topic in Kenya under the auspices of the British Council.
A Faculty team, led by Enterprising Careers, visited China for a second time in 2006 to negotiate the development of professional training in career guidance. There has also been some interest from education officials, in enterprise education and in using enterprising teaching and learning approaches to change methodologies in Chinese schools.
In January 2007, the Centre hosted, on behalf of Determined to Succeed Division, a 'Five Countries' invitational conference on enterprise education, through which the four countries of the UK with the Republic of Ireland came together to share knowledge and exchange ideas on enterprise in education.
« Previous | Contents | Next »