‘What are schools for? How are we preparing young people for the futurel

Whole Education Conference 2010, Monday 6^th December | 10.30am – 4.45pm

As a new government tackles education reform and economic uncertainty persists, the challenges for young people have never been greater. This conference brings together leading figures from education, business, academia, local government and the youth sector to explore how these groups can work together to provide young people with the education and experiences they need.

Whole Education, although still a very young organisation, is finding its place as both an influencing organisation and as a focus for those whose interests lie in extending the educational opportunities available to young people through schools, colleges and in the community. Whole Education’s work is highly relevant to the educational priorities of 2010, notably in curriculum reform, broadening educational opportunities and supporting innovative practice.

Whole Education was established in early 2010 to support educators and young people – both in schools and in other formal and informal educational settings – by providing them with access to a wide range of valuable curriculum resources and by promoting the importance of a ‘whole’ education for all.  Whole Education is a collaboration between leading non-profit organisations that share a common belief that a gulf has opened up between what education systems provide and what children and young people need.   While our schools and colleges rightly try to ensure that young people are literate, numerate and gain academic qualifications, the emphasis on testing and passing exams can often squeeze out other skills that are just as vital in today’s world.  We are determined to change this.

The conference will provide an opportunity to consider how we, as parents, charities, employers, policy makers, academics, can start to bring about these changes. It will be a chance to consider fundamental questions – What is the point of school? What should we be teaching our young people? How are we preparing them for the future? – and to add your voice to the discussion.

Dr John Dunford will introduce the current education context, highlighting both the threats and opportunities for those concerned with education. Dr Anthony Seldon will explain why there is an urgent need for debate about the way education is heading, with the pressure on schools to create exam factories. Professor Guy Claxton will address the fundamental question – what’s the point of school? If it is to prepare young people for the future, then we need to rediscover the heart of education. Then Caroline Waters, Head of People and Policy at BT, will provide an employer’s view on how the education system can help prepare young people for the world of work, from issues of basic literacy and numeracy, to the development of wider ’21st century skills’.

The second half of the day will be an opportunity for you to debate issues such as, ‘why our economy and society needs young people to be happy and resilient’; ‘Big Society? Closer working between schools and third sector’; and ‘what do we mean by employability skills and how can schools provide these’. Finally there will be an opportunity to put questions to our keynote speakers and then a chance to continue discussions over a drink.

Don’t miss out on what promises to be a pivotal event in the future of the education debate. Book your tickets online at www.wholeeducationconference.eventbrite.com or call Charlotte on 0207 451 6837.

Tickets cost £145 + VAT, with a reduced rate of £75 +VAT for practitioners.

Unltd Level 2 Funding Is Now Open!

Applications for Unltd level 2 funding are now being accepted.  A Level 2 award consists of  £15,000 to pay for the Award Winners living expenses for 12 months. Unltd also provide business support over this same period from the in-house team as well as calling on the expertise of a range of professional partners . The award is suitable for people who have already developed ideas, to allow them to devote more time to their projects.

Some of Learning Launchpad’s investees, such as Tom Ravenscroft of Enabling Enterprise, also benefited from Unltd funding, and  for this round 25 level 2 awards are up for grabs.  Unltd also run pre-application workshops to help applicants create convincing applications.  Check out the award, the criteria for application, and more about the application process here.

It’s all about You, Inc.: How American Universities are Teaching Entrepreneurship

Interest in entrepreneurship is growing, according to an article published yesterday in the New York Times . What’s more, the belief that entrepreneurial skills and confidence can be taught also seems to be a trend, with over 1,200 American universities offering a range of courses- from one week programmes to graduate degrees- designed to help students develop an entrepreneurial mindset and the key capabilities to make it as entrepreneurs. 

entrepreneurship- growing your business from the ground up

It is thought that the recession may be fuelling this surge of interest in entrepreneurship, encouraging people to think creatively about their choices- statistics from the Census Bureau showed that new businesses were started in 2009 at the highest level in 14 years, in spite of the weak economy.

But it’s not all just about business- organizations and universities that operate entrepreneurship courses are keen to emphasise the importance of personal development, determination and passion in entrepreneurship. Bo Fishback, vice president of  the philanthropic organization the Kauffman Foundation,  characterised entrepreneurship as  “a mentality that sees every problem out there not as a setback but as an opportunity to fix”.

Arrival Education students go to Downing Street

Earlier this week, deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg met with a group of students who had been mentored by Learning Launchpad’s venture Arrival Education,  to discuss the challenges that young people face on their transition into adulthood. Mr Clegg congratulated the students on their achievements,  and sought their advice on steps the government could take to improve young people’s life chances.

Nick Clegg talks to Arrival Education students

He said to the students:  “We want to hear from you what you think we can do to make more successes for you and for other young people – not just when you are at school but when you then want to go from school into work.”

This meeting not only demonstrates the success of Arrival Education as a social venture programme, but also highlights the link between social ventures, the political sphere and social policy. Successful social ventures should have a lasting and sustainable impact for their target audience, but also have wider influence, meaning that a small idea to help a few people can turn into a large-scale regional, or even national innovation.

To see more photos from the event, click here

“Education Is the Economic Issue of Our Time”

Earlier this week, President Obama demonstrated his commitment to education, when he signed legislation that will provide fiscal relief to school districts across the US, and that will allow 160,000 teachers to keep their jobs.  This legislation was signed into law on August 10th, following a speech the President made on the future of the American economy, and its close relationship with education, at the University of Texas at Austin. In the speech, the President bemoaned the  recent decline of college graduation rates, and emphasised the connection between educational success and economic strength, stating:  “education is the economic issue of our time”.

He also stressed the moves that the Obama administration has made to make higher education more widely accessible to Americans, through financial aid, grants and improvements in community colleges, that reinforce the link between ”the skills taught in our classrooms to the needs of local businesses in the growth sectors of our economy”.

Obama’s sentiments were also echoed closer to home, by Universities and Science minister David Willetts, who, in response to the Push National Student Debt Survey, commented that university costs should be seen as an investment, as  graduates can expect to earn at least £100,000 more than non-graduates across their working lives.

The link between education, economy, and skill development is also being emphasized in the social enterprise world :  UEL and bromley-by-bow centre have launched a BA in Social Enterprise at their communiversity, in a bid to help people who do voluntary community work gain qualifications, and develop innovative approaches to tackling social problems.

All in all then, a clear and resounding message: education is an investment in the economy, in the workforce, and in social innovation.

Could Gaming be good for Young People?

Games that help young people develop resilience, positive thinking, and become engaged in active citizenship have been developed by SuperMe, an online games website inspired by the resilience resources at the School of Everything .

The website helps young people to develop skills in the areas  of  ‘wisdom’, ‘ability’, ‘influence’ and ‘connection’ through games and inspiring videos from celebrities. The project has been supported by Channel 4, and has already garnered a fair bit of press attention.

This project is interesting in its attempt to utilise activities that already appeal to a youth market (videos, celebrities, games) to promote self-improvement and cultivate reflection, ambition, and resilience in those who visit the website.

As with the ventures that the Learning Launchpad supports, the idea behind SuperMe is to engage young people on a level that will interest them, and one that isn’t condescending or patronising, and offers a programme that enables personal development in a fun and innovative way.

Learning Launchpad on the hunt for a new intern!

The Learning Launchpad’s exciting summer internship programme is on the hunt for brilliant young people interested in social entrepreneurship, social investing and young people to learn about the work we do at the Young Foundation.

Past interns have included:

- Manjit More, Teach First Teacher of the Year 2010, who redesigned one of our programmes Faking It based on his insight as a teacher; and delivered a workshop on the problems young people face to the top 10 finalists to the fund.

- Rajni Chandrasekhar, former Director of the Global Engagement Summit, a week-long training conference for students committed to global change that works with social entrepreneurship all over the world, who designed a Dragons’ Den to find a social entrepreneur, organised a speed networking event for our investees and became an expert at due diligence  before getting her new job at FSG Impact Advisors in the US.

- Marcus Mason, Programme Manager at the New Deal of the Mind, who came to us before embarking on a career at a social startup aiming to help young people in the arts and undertook a mapping exercise of the social enterprise sector for us.

- Sophie Byrne, currently at the Innovation Unit, who revamped our social media profile and is now working in innovation in education at one of the UK”s leading centres of excellence.

Apply here!

Enabling Enterprise Launches

Blog post by Tom Ravenscroft, CEO of Enabling Enterprise.Enabling Enterprise is about getting practical learning and skills development into every classroom, and our official launch event on Thursday 20th May was a chance to showcase what we are up to. Seventy guests from across business, education and public sectors gathered at UBS in the heart of the City of London to celebrate our successes to date and find out more about our plans for the future.

Over welcome drinks, guests met some of the students from Paddington Academy currently involved in the Maths course. Alongside normal maths lessons, this has involved choosing a new sport for the Olympics, including carrying out and analysing market research, designing a venue, and even working out the financials and risk assessments of the project – cunningly covering data analysis, shape and space work, algebra and probability without them noticing!

Moving to the presentation room, guests heard from the Young Foundation’s Yvonne Roberts. Yvonne is the author of Grit, which raises the importance of developing the attributes and skills students need to succeed in life, as part of a balanced education. This is a core part of Enabling Enterprise’s emphasis on practical learning and skills development.

Bringing the programme alive, Amy Tillotson, a French teacher, described how using Enabling Enterprise after school had brought out her students’ entrepreneurial sides – including one student who tried to sell all of her mum’s cosmetics! Finally, one of the students on the English course, Zekel Johnson, recalled developing his persuasive techniques in a marketing workshop at UBS and using that to sell smoothies in his school.

We are currently recruiting schools who want to use any of our seven subject-specific courses over the next year, and you can find out more on our website or by emailing me direct.

Sir Ken Robinson: Bring on the learning revolution!

Needs no introduction:

Food for Thought: recent musings from experts in the sector.

1. Ippr’s “Youth Tracker” report explores how Britain’s young people are fairing in the recession and what we can do to support them.
2. UnLtd’s latest Findings Paper explores how investment in the individual and their practical solutions to problems they face generates a ‘ripple effect,’ with the potential to create significant and lasting social change.
3. Innovation and value: new tools for local government in tough times – The Young Foundation’s Nicola Bacon writes on the need for councils to invest in growing their innovation capacity in order to avoid creating their own ‘doom loop’.
4. “Measuring user innovation in the UK.” This NESTA report sets out to address this gap in the understanding of the role of users – including individual consumers and business firms – in processes of innovation across a range of sectors and activities. It presents findings from a world-first survey of product innovation by consumers, and from the first cross-industry survey of user process innovation by UK firms.
5. NESTA’s Open Innovation. Big business, though its relationships with myriad suppliers customers and consumers, is vital to the UK’s economic health. Each enterprise sits at the centre of its own ecosystem, producing new value from its links with others. This report explores open innovation, a new way of strengthening these links, making them more productive, efficient and long-lasting.
6. And just for fun, via RSA Animate, bestselling author, political adviser and social and ethical prophet Jeremy Rifkin investigates the evolution of empathy and the profound ways that it has shaped our development and our society. View the full video of Jeremy Rifkin’s talk at the RSA.