West Coast New Zealand

Business organisations to engage with schools and to facilitate the partnerships that create authentic learning opportunities for students.

The Ministry of Education, in partnership with New Zealand Trade and Enterprise and with support from the Tindall Foundation, is engaged with clusters of schools on the West Coast, in Nelson, Manukau and Northland to develop and establish the effective processes and actions that are going to make a difference for students in developing the attributes of enterprising people.

The West Coast cluster has developed an active and very supportive structure for engaging the community and schools in real partnerships to support E4E learning for students. The approach is unique, and builds on the strengths of the region in making things happen and embraces the ‘can do’ attitude which underpins the E4E thinking.

What are the qualities that an enterprising teacher possesses? Why are those qualities desirable? How can enterprising teaching practice be developed?  Since March 2007, I’ve been making regular visits to E4E teachers, and together we have explored these questions.

Most teachers I have met are already enterprising in many ways. They already try to relate what they teach in the classroom to the real world. They want to see students use their creativity. They would love to see students taking responsibility for their own learning and they want to see them well prepared for the world outside school. But the reality of school life with all its complexity can mean that teachers need to use their enterprising skills to overcome many barriers. My job has been to help teacher’s bridge the gap between ideal and reality.

Together we have explored how to hand over to students more responsibility and to not protect them from consequences in the real world. We have helped them to gain confidence through taking calculated risks. Many students have blossomed through this approach.  There are no easy answers. Every school is different, every class is different within that  school and every student has different needs. Change has occurred most effectively in schools where teachers have support from the leadership in the school to take risks themselves and to build relationships with those in the community. Teachers play a key role in encouraging and modelling enterprising behaviour.