Entrepreneurship
Theme: Entrepreneurship
Cross-cutting themes covered: Enterprise and education
Name of project: Enterprise Pathfinder
City: London
What is it? The Enterprise Pathfinder promoted entrepreneurship in schools, with a strong focus on building the ‘softer’ enterprise skills such as self-analysis, selling skills, relationship management, innovation, decision-making and problem solving skills. In particular, the project looked to identify means of building a ‘whole school culture for enterprise’.
Who is it? The project was delivered by GLE oneLondon and the Charles Edward Brooke school.
Where is it? Lambeth, the local authority area in which Charles Edward Brooke school is located, performs poorly according to several Indices of Multiple Deprivation (national measure of deprivation ), such as income, crime and disorder, and child poverty.
Who funds it? The project is funded through the Department for Education and Skills ‘Pathfinder scheme’.
How does it work? Setting up mini-enterprises: During the first phase of the Enterprise Pathfinder, GLE oneLondon supported students in setting up a business – young people developed a publicity company called Teen Vibes Publicity (TVP), which aimed to assist small companies and schools to market their events, products and services to 14 - 20 year olds in the Lambeth area.
The main objective of this phase was to identify and explore how best to develop softer enterprise skills, and identify students’ perceptions of these. Thus TVP was used as a vehicle to ascertain this.
Anything else? Building an enterprise culture: In the second phase of the programme, GLE oneLondon worked with teachers to identify means of building a ‘whole school culture for enterprise’. They worked to highlight existing areas of the curriculum where skills for enterprise were being developed, rather than using an ‘add-on’ approach – i.e. tacking on lessons about enterprise over and above existing classes.
This innovative programme consisted of informal sessions with teachers working out how best to integrate the soft skills for enterprise into the school curriculum, and possible approaches to developing a more enterprising culture within the school.
A Rough Guide was also developed to assist corporate, SME and third sector volunteers in communicating to young people the skills sets that have assisted in their success.
Is the model transferable? The model was developed in a school in London, and would be transferable to other schools in the UK. Similar initiatives could be run in countries with different education systems to identify potential for ‘mainstreaming’ entrepreneurship in other national curriculums.
The following elements are particularly replicable in other settings:
Building on local competitive advantages? The most significant competitive advantages of this project were the support of the school, Charles Edward Brooke, and the financial support given to the project by the Government through the Pathfinder scheme.
What are the barriers to transferability? Lack of co-operation from schools may constitute a barrier to transferability.
