Why entrepreneurship needs to be taught at school

Most schools today teach Business Studies or Economics to students. The sad truth though is that whilst this subject does indeed concentrate on the ins and outs of beginning as well as maintaining a business, it does not teach our aspiring children as well as teens what it really means to be an entrepreneur:

• It does not teach them which of their personality traits as well as characteristics they should be targeting to improve in order to develop into a successful entrepreneur.
• They don’t learn about the experiences (as well as failures) of now-successful entrepreneurs, such as Sir Richard Branson. Although now one of the world’s most inspiring entrepreneurs Sir Branson actually performed quite poorly at school.

The role of the education system

Our education system has been responsible for preparing young people so that they can build successful lives. After they leave school or university they should be ready for the broad range of possibilities which are ahead of them, involving working for others, starting their own ventures as well as contributing to their communities.

Each one of these options requires a depth of expertise in their chosen discipline in addition to creative problem-solving skills, leadership abilities, experience working on effective teams as well as adaptability in an environment  that is ever-changing. It’s no accident that these are the same abilities that employers say they want to see in university and college graduates.

These skills are the keystones of entrepreneurship education as these explicitly prepares students to identify as well as address challenges and opportunities. Therefore, together with teaching traditional subjects such as science, grammar in addition to history which provide foundational knowledge, it’s vitally important that we teach students to be entrepreneurial.

Our Entrepreneurship for the Media Course will tell you everything that you need to know about being a successful entrepreneur in the media industry.

Can entrepreneurship be taught?

There are many people who believe that entrepreneurship is an inborn trait which can’t be taught. This is just not true. As with any skill, from maths to music, learning to be entrepreneurial is built upon inborn traits.

It is possible to teach entrepreneurship can be taught by building upon a human’s natural ability to imagine:

• Imagination is about envisioning things which don’t exist.
• Creativity is employing imagination in order to address a challenge.
• Innovation is harnessing creativity in order to generate bespoke solutions.
• Entrepreneurship involves applying innovations, scaling the ideas by encouraging others’ imagination.

By making use of this framework, educators at all levels can assist young people to engage with the world near them as well as envision what might be different; test creative solutions to the challenges they come across; hone their ability to reconceptualise problems in order to come up with never-seen-before ideas; and then work determinedly to scale their ideas by inspiring others to support their effort.

We feel that entrepreneurship can indeed be taught at school and beyond. This essential skill prepares young people to see as well as seize opportunities around them. The skills which they gain are critical for the companies that they will join in the coming years as well as for society in general. Most importantly, entrepreneurship education empowers young people to see the world as full of opportunities to craft the lives they dream to live.

If you didn’t have the benefit of entrepreneurial studies when you were at school, don’t worry – you can still learn what you need to know and then some!

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