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I’ve been bitten by the sustainability bug, and I don’t think it’s going to go away. It’s like a wave. It is mixing sustainability into everything that I breathe.
I’ve been bitten by the sustainability bug, and I don’t think it’s going to go away. It’s like a wave. It is mixing sustainability into everything that I breathe.
26th January, 2018
26th January, 2018
Entrepreneurship and sustainability are technically two separate concepts, but I now see how interconnected they are. Uncoupled growth from excessive resource consumption, has made it impossible to not have to consider innovations that protect our world. Both sustainability and entrepreneurship have a mindset that must be embedded into everything that we do. For us to have a future and develop new ideas, business and economies with finite resources - the two must be best friends. Creative thinking provides the opportunity and reality for sustainable living.
'Entrepreneurship Education: A Guide for Educators' - reflection
'Entrepreneurship Education: A Guide for Educators' - reflection
The key messages from examples of professional development again reminded me of a true inquiry-based model, student-led, integrated, hands-on and chaotic through its challenges and uncertainty. What is fundamental to everything is ‘creating an entrepreneurship spark’, a heightened state of curiosity in the exploration, which is a critical component of creativity. This is one of our greatest challenges as educators.
I also loved how learning must happen not just outside of our classroom, but our school. Using our wider community as a classroom, and finding primary sources of information can only heighten student engagement.
What I did not see in the key messages were some of the ‘soft skill’ capabilities, such as being intercultural and open-minded, supportive of diversity and compassionate, and this is just as important as developing team skills and creative thinking. I also wondered again about how teachers can incorporate more opportunities for failure… In reality even in an IB school, where we should be accessing their process, not their product; a failed process or product is not what parents want to see. It's difficult to see children fail, let alone educate parents about how important this is.
A case example
A case example
I loved the Bulgarian Centre of Training Firms on page 80 of this document, which trains teachers to present ‘practice firms’ at their school. The first thing that I loved about this very dynamic program was that 70% of it was practical so that teachers would be able to develop their understanding through hands-on experiences, and then take those resources back with them to use at their school. I would love to incorporate this into my current G5 unit where students are developing their own sustainable business to run ‘stalls’ at tomorrow’s whole of school ‘Festival of Love’. I’ve never run a business, so it’s challenging to do this professionally, and having a framework which the Bulgarian Centre project would provide, would certainly make this inquiry more effective. I could also see how this framework could be incorporated into other parts of our school curriculum, such as Student Council, or student-led action that ideally occurs throughout each unit.
First, I have to say that I now see ‘sustainability’ interconnected to everything! It’s making me laugh because my first comment is why is ‘well-being’ included in the title of’ ‘Entrepreneurial teachers for sustainability and well-being’?! Isn’t sustainability all about well-being too?! I used to see sustainability centred around the environment, and now with this ‘lens’ on, its clear that to live and satisfy not only my needs but our future, we must look after our health and wellbeing. It’s impossible to be innovative and solve these problems without health and wellness being fundamental.
I really enjoyed reading these descriptions, and a statement that stood out for me was the need to be a ‘visible learner’. IB use the term ‘lifelong learner’ - and it is a crucial mindset to have. It reinforces how fluid and dynamic life is, and that change is endless, exciting and challenging. We must be able to access new information and view mistakes as opportunities. Lifelong learning fosters creativity. Knowledge grows old, but life is all about the wonders and unknown.
It's predominately what I love about being a teacher. Never knowing what tomorrow brings.
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