Schools push business, service and leadership skills
In addition to traditional school leadership roles, today’s students are taking charge in business, charity and activism, all with the support of teachers.
THERE is no doubt that it’s tough being a kid these days and a healthy measure of get-up-and-go, of old-fashioned chutzpah, is vital for future success.
These are the character traits that Geelong College head of senior school Simon Young is keen to see encouraged in the school’s students, through direct and indirect studies of activism and entrepreneurialism.
“As children roll through that assembly line of school, our job is to gift them with certain skills, as well as certain valuable entrepreneurial traits,” Mr Young says.
“These are traits such as curiosity; resilience; communication skills, especially in the digital world we live in where students are constantly engaged in technology; as well as networking and time management.”
The Geelong College invites financial experts into the school to teach the senior students how to manage their money.
“They are of the tap-and-go generation, where very few actually even see their money, so financial literacy is important,” Mr Young says.
The college has also recently introduced a new commerce business subject for Year 10 students that allows them to start their own small business.
While the students don’t ply their trade to the wider world, they set up the business as if it were trading in a public space, write a business plan and operate it within the confines of the school.
“Many of the businesses fail and that is not a bad thing as that teaches the students about resilience and the need to be adaptable,” Mr Young says.
SPEAK OUT
Activism is also a big part of school campus life these days.
A group of Geelong College students recently created The Geelong College Rainbow Alliance to ensure LGTBQI students felt welcome.
The student newspaper, meanwhile, is on to its 14th edition and regularly contains commentary on students’ views on climate change and social issues.
“If students come to me and want to start a group, I am generally very open to it unless there is a good reason not to support their idea,” Mr Young says.
“If the ideas come from us, it’s nowhere near as powerful as when it comes from the students.”
BUSINESS BRAINS
Meanwhile, Ballarat Grammar offers a series of entrepreneurial electives such as Creative Entrepreneur and Innov8, which provide students with the opportunity to identify problems, research and come up with solutions that positively affect the broader community.
The school has also been sponsored to run an Agrifutures Start-up Business program where Year 10 agriculture students work on solving real agribusiness problems, culminating in a business pitch to agricultural professionals.
“These types of projects tie in with our strong community service and social justice ethos (at Ballarat Grammar) and provide the development of entrepreneurial skills within an altruistic framework,” says Ballarat Grammar head of middle school Chris Beechey.
Indeed, underpinning entrepreneurial learning is the focus on a greater social good, according to Mr Beechey.
“It is a remarkable world where it is possible to consider entrepreneurialism as a solution to social challenges,” he says.
“Students who have a sense of entrepreneurialism have the perspective that they can reshape the world to make it better.
“It also challenges them to use the skills they learn in school and apply it to real-world contexts, often in areas where they have unearthed a passion.”
EMBEDDED APPROACH
At Hamilton and Alexandra College, the students are certainly encouraged to think about how they can make the world a better place.
“The Year 11 English students held a protest about climate change outside the canteen recently,” says head of library Margaret Simkin.
“The idea was to show what you could do if you were not happy, and what it is like to stand up in public and express your beliefs.
“How do you go about enacting change?”
Ms Simkin says rather than teaching entrepreneurial subjects, the school embeds the spirit of entrepreneurialism into how they teach.
Young students, for example, between ELC and Year 3, learn via the Reggio Emilia Philosophy, which values the child as resilient and encourages independent learning.
Both the secondary and primary schools are trialling separate bins to separate soft plastic to help the environment.
“We also do a lot of social services initiatives,” Ms Simkin says.
“Many students visit the local Uniting Church to help with meals each week and some of the students take part in additional volunteering on the weekend.”
The students’ enthusiasm for civic and social responsibility is heartening to Ms Simkin.
“The world has got a lot of problems and the students have a role to play in helping address the issues of a global society,” she says.
What’s more, it puts them in good stead with future employers.
“The job market is becoming increasingly competitive and we are preparing students for work that doesn’t even exist yet,” says Geelong College’s Simon Young.
“If they are entrepreneurial then it’s going to help separate them from others.”
Or as Ballarat Grammar’s Chris Beechey puts it: “Entrepreneurial skills may make you successful in business but most importantly, they give you an advantage in life.”
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