Nov 30 2011
#NC11 PART 1 Ahead of the curve – Claire Young
Every child has talent!
3 core themes of the conference:
1.Entrepreneurship
2. Creativity
3. New technologies
Claire started by sharing that employees want:
Good communicator, hard work ethic, team player, proactive, push themselves out of comfort zones and be emotionally robust.
What about enterprise skills?
Similar – honesty, leadership, risk takers etc
Claire shared that there are different forms of creativity.
Over a million unemployed 16-24 year olds, estimated 30% of new graduates not in employment – the skills gap is widening and so is the soft skills such as those used in enterprise.
We are seeing a domino effect of enterprise work on academic performance and all round achievement.
Claire talks about a recent report from Pearson – “Enterprise education may be the only exposure to the real world of business that kids get”
What are the barriers?
Culture change, conflict of interests, unsure what to do with enterpise, one teacher was quoted as saying ‘I don’t want a part of it, it is just money making, business, being entrepreneurial’
Social enterprise is an important part of education for the 21st century – just see this recent blog post about the Ebook my students have created here: http://whydidthechickencrosstheroad.org.uk/2011/11/21/great-success-for-students-ebook/
Who inspires kids today?
Claire said that kids in schools these days are inspired by footballers and WAGS – whether you like it or not! She says that is why it is important to have positive role models from the world of business going into schools and inspiring kids – I completely agree!
Claire then went on to share some of the projects she is working on:
I love Claire’s new initiative: http://www.teenbiz.org.uk/
A new project with the SSAT called Go global (shame it doesn’t come down to Cornwall) Any chance of coming to us as part of the road show too?
You can follow Claire Young on twitter @ClaireLYoung
It was brilliant to here how Claire’s love of enterprise from the world of business is now impacting on the education of kids here in the UK and in the world!
