Exploring ‘the road less traveled': a journey to enterprise education

Ms Dannielle Miller Catholic Education Office, Parramatta Diocese Parramatta, New South Wales, Australia

‘Two roads diverged in a wood, and I – I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.'
(Robert Frost)

The goal of enterprise education is to develop the skills that young people need to succeed in our rapidly changing world. These skills include ability to adapt to new situations, to be resourceful and creative, to identify opportunities not obvious to others, to translate ideas into action, to generate a range of options in work and a non-working life and to initiate innovative solutions to real life problems. The Commonwealth Government is making this agenda a priority and, through the Department of Education, Science and Training (DEST), a number of ‘best practice' approaches towards implementing enterprise education are currently being funded. These are featured on DEST's website at: www.dest.gov.au/enterpriselearning.

While most teachers recognise the importance of encouraging and equipping their students to be ‘opportunity ready', enterprise education does pose some challenges. How do we fit this agenda into an already crowded curriculum? How do we make the vital links to the ‘real world' and to industry? As Catholic educators striving to ground students in the teachings of Christ and encourage them to be of service to the community, how do we encourage students to add value to society, rather than just make money?

In 2005, with financial support from the Commonwealth Government Enterprise Education for the 21st Century initiative, ‘Project e' was born. The title targets the student outcomes ‘ethical, engaged, employable, empowered, entrepreneurial and enterprising'. The project expands on the work already being done in schools across the Parramatta Diocese, in the area of careers and transition.

The project encompasses a two-phase learning program. Phase 1 is concerned with the development of foundational employability skills in year 10. Phase 2 specifically targets enterprise skills as a Board endorsed course in year 11, for students who have successfully completed Phase 1. The project was commenced in November 2005, with 481 year 10 students and 27 teachers across three Western Sydney schools – Clare Catholic College, in Hassall Grove; Emmaus Catholic College, in Kemps Creek; and St Agnes Catholic College, in Rooty Hill. This description of the project is limited to the first trial of Phase 1.

What we packed for Phase 1

Schools have traditionally opted for whole cohort work experience as a means of developing employability skills. These days, there are increasing concerns that the time spent in work experience is limited in value. Do most workplaces have the time to engage these students in a meaningful way and develop their skills? The justification for work experience, that it helps many students to know what they don't want as a future vocation, seems an inadequate reason for such programs.

At the national VET (Vocational Education and Training) Network Conference in Hobart 2004, keynote speaker Dave Turner, a highly regarded international expert on youth in transition, made the point that, while we do need to prepare our young people for the real world and manage their transition, we, as educators, should maintain, and indeed be proud of, the many ‘unreal' elements in our schools. Schools are generally just, caring, nurturing and safe environments. The real world is not always so. The classroom is often a more appropriate learning environment than the real world for young people.

Turner offered an alternative to work experience in the ‘transition teams' model. This model applies a teaching methodology whereby students work in teams on project areas that have been student chosen, led, managed and designed. Once compulsory school education has been completed, the students explore their pathway options in work, education or training. Their findings are shared with their peers, thus broadening the general knowledge base of the whole group.

The ‘Project e' design was based on Turner's model, with the added enhancement of learning and assessment of employability skills. Prior to commencement of the project, students self-assessed their level of skill development to date and compiled a portfolio of evidence of their achievements both within, and outside the classroom.

Skills assessment by teachers was conducted throughout the four to six days of the project, with students having the chance to purposefully engage in tasks they felt would support achievement of skills identified as needing improvement.

Student teams for the project were formed on the basis of the nominated area of career or transition pathway interest. Student teams researched their interest area and prepared presentations on their topic for other students and teachers. Each team was assigned a teacher mentor, as well as an industry mentor for guidance and support. Additionally, a number of ‘experts' in a variety of industry, educational and training fields were available for contact, if teams needed information or advice. Students were able to opt for a field trip on one day of the project.

To help ensure the sustainability of the project, teacher mentors undertook a one-day training course in the changing world of work, employability skills and competency-based assessment, as it applied to this project.

The word of the week is surprised!

The main fear, that students would not take the project seriously, particularly because it was conducted post-School Certificate, when students have switched off learning, proved groundless.

Feedback suggested that vast majority were incredibly engaged and responsible. At one school, even on the optional field trip day, more than one-third of the students actually arrived at school saying ‘We just thought we would get more done here'. A teacher at Clare Catholic College commented: ‘They all just seem generally nicer – they are coming up to staff at lunch time in their groups to ask questions about our pathways to work, and the skills we have learnt to develop – it is like they see us in a different light now. I guess we are also treating them differently, too, and letting them run their own show …'.

A project coordinator at one school was reduced to tears when she saw the quality of the final displays the students had put together: ‘I just believed they could do this and they have – how can we ever go back to thinking they don't cope well with independent work? We are also going to ‘lift the bar' generally – they have really surprised many of us'. The secret? ‘I think it was just that they were really interested in exploring their transition pathways and putting employability skills on the agenda made it all seem more real. For the first time, the penny dropped – the kids could see that all the things they do at school do have relevance and are valued outside of these walls. Of course, we had been telling them this for years – but they discovered it here for themselves …'.

Student feedback

Even though Phase 1 was conducted post-School Certificate, feedback showed a tremendous level of student engagement. In an exit survey of the 481 students who participated, more than 90 per cent said they learnt more about their chosen vocation, enjoyed making their own decisions and felt they made a useful contribution to the team. Eighty-five per cent would recommend it to other students. Some of the student comments included:

‘The best thing about this project was the camaraderie of working as part of a group and realising how many skills I actually have … I also liked developing new ones. It was a challenge though to work under pressure in a sometimes volatile environment …'
(Roneet P., Clare Catholic High School)

‘I liked the opportunity to work with people you wouldn't usually work with and the opportunity to make a more informed opinion about my chosen career path.'
(Ellie S., Clare Catholic High School)

‘We got the freedom to do things and make our own choices …'
(Yvette, Emmaus Catholic College)

‘I loved working in my own time and having to conquer shyness to talk to the group.' (Stephanie F., Emmaus Catholic College)

‘The best things about this project were gaining information regarding my desired vocation, enhancing my entrepreneurial skills (which I had to use to access interviews with professionals in my chosen field, as they were busy with their hectic schedules) and learning how to balance independent learning with the needs of my team.'
(Beverly M., St Agnes Catholic High School)

No U-turns

The most powerful insights are those we gain for ourselves. Rather than approach schools with a ‘we know best' professional development program, ‘Project e' has provided teachers with some basic theory and then allowed them to discover for themselves the value in assisting students to develop and record the demonstration of foundation enterprise skills, and experience learning that is relevant to their world.

Already we are hearing conversations about how schools will do things better when they run the project next time: ‘Next time, it would be great to start articulating the development of skills in every assessment task we hand out, right from year 7. The students should be building their portfolios up from the beginning of their schooling …'.

Next road trip

Phase 2 is due to be launched this year. It will allow the development of higher order outcomes and will involve the application of enterprise skills developed to real world problems, with real solutions, in real world contexts.

A 60-hour one-unit Higher School Certificate (HSC) course, Applied Enterprise Studies, has been developed and will be suitable for year 11 or 12. This is now under consideration by the Board of Studies, NSW.

Interested graduates from Phase 1 will be invited to form student-directed action teams. The teams, with the support of their mentors, will partner local community services, and design and manage enterprise projects that address specific local needs.

An important facet of the course is its intention to have the volunteer work of students recognised in an approved HSC course. It is envisaged that t he ‘ Project e' concept will be taken to another level, where its methodologies may become available and accredited throughout NSW.

Full steam ahead!