Enterprising Ways to Teach and Learn
(4 book series)

The Concept Enterprising teaching and learning will require or encourage students, not simply to ‘learn enterprise’, but to use their enterprise in learning any part of the curriculum. A less enterprising approach, on the other hand, will ‘rob’ them of the chance to use their initiative, be resourceful, make decisions, solve problems, look for opportunities and take risks in the way they learn. These less enterprising approaches can, in fact, permanently ‘de-enterprise’ students. The more enterprising approaches will empower them as self-starting learners for life

Generally, learning which is more enterprising draws on the great progressive traditions of education and involves students taking responsibility for learning, learning first-hand rather than second-hand, learning with and from one another, and learning to theorise.

More than ever young people need enterprise: the capacity and willingness to initiate and manage creative action in response to opportunities or changes, wherever they appear. They need not only to have ideas but do something about them, to take advantage of what might be rather than accepting what will be. They need to make things happen - even when life is difficult and uncertain. This is not just about entrepreneurialism in a commercial context, you need enterprise to look after yourself and others.

These books then are about two of most important aspects of modern life: learning and being enterprising.

The Series

The series contains four high quality books with over one thousand pages of ready to use ideas for the classroom.

Provides a comprehensive account of enterprising learning principles of enterprising learning, in particular

• making students more responsibility for their learning
• making learning more experiential
• making learning more cooperative
• making the learning more reflective

In addition Book One details how to make assessment and reporting more enterprising, and how to assess and report on enterprising capabilities. There is advice on developing enterprising programs at the classroom, school and systems levels. There are 16 ready to use activities for staff development.

Enterprise Activities are based on reality but do not take place in reality; they are simulations, games and other structured activities which require the students to be enterprising in learning any part of the curriculum. The 35 sample activities show how familiar learning activities can be refashioned to make them more enterprising

Each activity comes with step-by-step instructions: teacher notes, student handouts and suggestions on variations. The samples are designed to provide educative experience in generating and appraising ideas, working in teams and other organisational patterns, designing and operating productive processes and so on. The book is a must for anyone who is trying to teach students project management skills or to assist them to learn through projects.

Enterprise Briefs are ‘real life projects’ designed by the teacher to achieve standard curriculum outcomes, while requiring the student to practise enterprise at the same time. Although the idea and structure for the project, along with the curriculum goals, are pre-determined by the teacher, once students accept the brief they have total responsibility and autonomy for carrying out the enterprise. Students can negotiate specific changes to the briefs.

The 43 Sample Briefs contain student handout and teacher notes: detailing timeline, the real-life challenge, the resources allocation, the assessment requirements and processes, recommendations for teachers, debriefing strategies, prompts and variations and extensions.

The book contains comprehensive advice on how to introduce and facilitate briefs.

There is also a step-by-step guide on how to write your own briefs.

Enterprise Projects are like Enterprise Briefs, except that students come up with ideas for the ‘real life’ undertakings and negotiate the curriculum outcomes with the teacher. In other words, besides carrying out the undertaking, students have responsibility for generating the idea, designing the structure, identifying the curriculum outcomes and providing evidence for assessment.

The book contains

• Case Study accounts of enterprise projects
• A Process Guide for setting up, running and winding down projects.
• An Advice Section on each stage of facilitating a project including
• Generating and appraising possibilities
• forming groups and organisations
• negotiating project learning contracts
• planning and preparing undertakings
• operating, producing, servicing and marketing
• assessing and debriefing.
• An Appendix of Samples
• legal guidelines
• job descriptions and application forms
• grant forms and approval systems
• project learning contracts
• checklists for running support workshops

Who is the series for?

All educators who wish to

• inject an element of purposeful learning in the general curriculum

• provide more authentic learning experiences for personal and social development programs

• highlight the role of enterprise in the modern vocational world.

• increase the chance of the student becoming a self-starting, independent learner for life

• empower students with the ‘premium skills’ of the millennium: the enterprising skills that make things happen.

 selected activities from the books available for download

Though biased towards secondary school, college and vocational teachers, alert elementary teachers will easily translate materials and adjust activities for younger students.

Information on obtaining the books:

Enterprise Design Associates Pty Ltd
Telephone: 03 6231 3970 
Fax: 03 6249 7142

Email: edap@ozemail.com.au

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First published October 31, 1999. Last modified March 23, 2001.