Researchers from the Mitchell Institute at Victoria University have been working with a diverse mix of schools to explore how to tailor learning to grow individual talents and better prepare young people for future success.
And the results are promising.
Increased confidence, greater resilience, stronger collaboration skills and improved empathy are just some of the benefits reported by the students involved in the trial, which used entrepreneurial learning principles from internationally renowned education expert, Professor Yong Zhao.
Mitchell Institute director, Megan O’Connell, said the initiative has uncovered some ideas that could help Australian schools step out of the industrial age and bring education in line with the needs of our modern, global society.
“We have been very excited to see students and teachers from a mix of schools in two states go on a journey together to improve learning and engagement,” O’Connell said.
“Students and teachers worked side by side to give more responsibility to learners to action their ideas, take risks and discover ways to overcome challenges.”
O’Connell said students gained more knowledge, developed new skills and had better relationships with teachers after participating in the initiative.
However, she added that there is still work to be done to ensure schools get the right support to deliver appropriate learning for their unique students.
“Improving education is a huge challenge – it is not a simple case of copying one system and hoping it will work for everyone,” O’Connell said.
“To be successful, educators need guidance and access to evidence that will help them apply promising methods, and our system needs to become more flexible to accommodate continuous growth and change.”
According to the report, factors that support schools to embrace entrepreneurial learning include a network structure that promotes ‘agency thinking’ and a leadership culture that supports experimentation and openness to learning from mistakes.
Obstacles to entrepreneurial learning included competing demands on time from other parts of the school, teacher behaviours that discourage agency – such as dominating conversations or not opening up opportunities for students to ‘step up’ – and students’ negative emotions, such as fear of failure.
The report recommended that schools consider a range of ways to pursue and embed entrepreneurial learning, and to enhance student participation and engagement.
Schools can do this by:
- Prioritising and creating opportunities for students to lead their learning, and to develop authentic products of value to others.
- Ensuring teachers are equipped to support students’ entrepreneurial learning, choosing the types of teaching that best match and enable students to develop an entrepreneurial mindset.
- Creating opportunities for students and teachers to learn with each other, including time, funding and other resources to effectively plan and collaborate.
- Creating and joining learning networks based on interest and need, and forming strategic partnerships between schools and with not-for-profits to drive change.
- Promoting the benefits and value of entrepreneurial learning, risk-taking and innovation to position students for success.
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