Education For Enterprise

An article about the students from George Street Normal School in Dunedin, who were concerned that the traffic intersection closest to their school was too dangerous. A group of students surveyed the volume of traffic that went through the intersection at busy times of the day. They discovered that the busiest times were when the students were going to and from the school. The findings of the survey were presented to the Dunedin City Council, who promptly installed traffic lights at the intersection

‘Getting the Green Light’ displays enterprise skills such as:

• recognising a problem in the local community
• collecting, monitoring, and evaluating information
• using initiative to get a beneficial outcome to a problem
• collective social entrepreneurship.

By conducting a survey of the intersection and presenting their findings to the Council, the students of George Street Normal School created a safer environment for their whole community.

An article about the students of Room 5 at Verran Primary School, who decided to design and build a meeting seat that would accommodate up to twenty students. The students wanted to create a physically inclusive meeting space for their Envirogroup meetings. They wanted a place where ideas could be exchanged and discussion could occur freely. They brainstormed different ideas and designs and investigated what combinations of materials would be the most suitable for their seat. Before coming to a final decision they tested all their design ideas with clay models; and constructed a small-scale version of the seat in the form of a whale made from the final materials to test its feasibility.

‘Room 5’s Amazing Meeting Seating’ illustrates enterprise skills such as:

• using previous experience to guide new ideas
• figuring out how to solve complicated design and structural problems
• trialling ideas to see if they work in order to use resources efficiently.

The students looked at a range of different plans in order to develop the best design for the resources that were available. The best ideas were included in the final design. This allowed different members of the class to contribute to the process of designing and making the seat.

An activity based on a boy called Mika who is saving to buy rugby boots for the rugby season in six weeks time. Mika has a range of odd jobs that he can do to earn the money to buy the rugby boots. The activity requires students to calculate how much money Mika will earn if he does all the odd jobs that he is offered.

‘Making the Team’ illustrates enterprise skills such as:

• planning for goals
• using available resources to solve a problem
• financial literacy: calculating whether a plan is going to be successful based on the information available.

Students doing this activity need to work out whether Mika is able to buy the boots if he works all the jobs that are available to him. The activity requires students to calculate an outcome to a problem-based question.

An article about students from Punaruku School in Northland, who helped to clean up discarded old cars from their community spaces. The students marked the cars for collection and recycling by the Regional Council and the Royal New Zealand Air Force. They later cleared up other rubbish from the area that had been left when the cars were abandoned.

‘Dead Car Clean-up’ illustrates enterprise skills such as:

• identifying a problem within the community
• developing solutions
• being involved with the community
• collective social entrepreneurship.

The students identified the reasons why discarded cars were a problem for the community and how they affected the natural environment. The students joined in the clean-up, providing much-needed assistance to the regional council and community groups.

An article about the students at Paparoa School in Northland, who are able to take part in some interesting lunchtime activities, such as juggling and unicycling. The school has developed its own group of performers, who are often invited to other schools and gala days. The students enjoy the challenge of unicycling and the ability to teach other students new skills.

‘The School of Juggling Unicyclists’ displays enterprise skills such as:

• accepting a challenge and learning new skills
• teaching others new skills and working in groups
• using creativity and ingenuity.

The students have enjoyed the challenges of unicycling and the way that it allows them to learn new ways of engaging in different activities.