The Natural Change Project

I was honoured to be invited to attend a rather unusual and new leadership training programme organised by the World Wild Life – The Natural Change project. The location was fantastic – Knoydart on the west coast of Scotland

The web site contains blogs from those that were on the programme – all prominent in education fields. The programme is in its first steps and I will update the blog on the site as things unfold. I think it is an exciting way to look at leadership change. We are all in an environment that is changing so fast and what we have done in the past really does not fit with where we are going now as the tectonic plates of change are  no one has the right answer and we have to think differently and in a new mind set…..

Enterprise in India

Around the world a stronger focus is developing around enterprise in education and no more so that in India. The enterprise education interactive web portal gives an insight into where enterprise is going within this country and a variety of support resources are contained within.

Future Jobs – Future Ideas

The Futures Channel was founded in 1999 with the goal of using new media technologies to create a channel between the scientists, engineers, explorers and visionaries who are shaping the future, and today’s learners who will one day succeed them. A variety of excellent resources are on the site and they have an excellent application for all educationists at all stages of teaching.

Easy to use navigation and pupils will find it a great source of knowledge and inspiration and maybe encourage them to look at different careers areas that they had not considered before.

A Free Enterprise Resource

A wealth of web sites exist around the world for enterprise….but where are they ? This one has been developed in England but is free to all around the world. It has a variety of ideas , documents, research etc.

Enterprise Village is the online component of Enterprise Network providing a one-stop shop for all those with an interest in enterprise education, primarily in England, but, also, beyond. You will find a wealth of resources, information, professional development and support for enterprise education in the primary, secondary and tertiary sectors. Going forward, the Enterprise Village will be adaptable to the needs of its community of users, allowing them to create a profile of their interests, location and professional which will enable Enterprise Village to deliver a customised selection of news, resources and events directly to each individual user.

Adding Up To A Lifetime

After the recent turmoil of the financial markets the implications of young people having an understanding of financial education are paramount – for it was this lack of knowledge that caused the spiral effect.

Adding up to a lifetime (AUTAL) is an interactive resource supported by Prudential with more than 25 hours of learning activities. Its purpose is to equip young people with knowledge and skills required for them to make informed choices when they face personal and financial decisions at various stages of their lives. As students work through the resource they will discover some of the implications that financial decisions made earlier in life can have on them at later stages including retirement.

Influence of fathers on their child’s education

Came across an interesting article from the Fatherhood Institute regarding the influence for fathers on their child’s education. Do not take the wrong end of the debate mother’s do have very powerful influence as well and in some areas an even greater influence. Since 1975 considerable research has been going on looking at this issue and some of the findings are very pertinent. A small-scale Scottish study ( Henderson 2007) was carried out in 2007 in South Lanarkshire with the programme Father Figures  giving an indication of how much fathers were engaging with their children’s learning and marries the increase that is being seen in America. This research summary Fathers and their children’s education  gives a very concise overview for the reader with good additional references for the reader to follow-up.

Several reliable studies have shown high levels of interest by a father in his child’s schooling and education, his high expectations for their achievement and his greater direct involvement in their learning, education and schools to be associated with their better educational outcomes. These include: better exam / test / class results; higher levels of educational qualification; greater progress at school; better attitudes towards school (e.g. enjoyment); higher educational expectations; and better behaviour at school (e.g. reduced risk of suspension or expulsion). And these outcomes do not derive from the school-involved fathers already being richer or better educated. Whatever the father’s socio-economic level, his high involvement paid off.

Poor children and education

A new research paper was sent to me by Linda Brownlow at Strathclyde University which you may find useful in your research.

The paper from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation “The importance of attitudes and behaviour for poorer children’s educational attainment” makes interesting but disturbing reading as it explains its finding into why children for poorer family backgrounds have low educational attainment. The study focused on the broad range of factors under the umbrella term ” aspirations, attitudes and behaviours” and seeks to give the reader a deeper insight into what the differences  are  between poor and affluent families that create this gap; belief in themselves, aspirations for HE, parental engagement in early years, the parents own cognitive abilities.

The study draws on research from four rich large scale longitudial sources of data capturing groups of children growing up in the UK today.

Some of the key point raised about why children do well at school include ; belief in their own ability, understanding that their  behaviour and actions are self driven, pupils see school as worthwhile. It made me think along two routes that we are pursuing in Scotland at present ;  if we continue to drive forward the enterprising pedagogy and approaches within Curriculum for Excellence then a greater percentage of under achieving children from poorer families will raise their aspirations and at the same time begin to see a value in the school curriculum – parents of these children will also have an understanding of what schools are trying to achieve and it may raise their cognitive ability. The other area that the paper is strongly supporting is that of early intervention where it reports that  investment of time in the early years can begin to close the gap with the children’s cognitive scores. The findings suggest that government policies aiming to change mothers’ and children’s attitudes and behaviour during primary schooling could be effective in reducing the growth in the rich-poor gap that takes place during this time.  This supports the extensive research and findings of Prof James Heckman USA who has carried out numerous studies in this area.

://www.jrf.org.uk/publications/educational-attainment-poor-children paper link  – March 2010

A new Copie 2 baseline report on enterprise in education

An interesting document was sent to me by my friend in Spain Iván Diego Rodríguez at Ciudad Industrial del Valle del Nalón  ..called COPIE II BASELINE STUDY ON ENTERPRISE EDUCATION – an EU enterprise initiative and project. The report is very well written and highlights clearly the developments of enterprise in education across the Eu and gives an insight into its continued policy develop within the EU since 1997 . The baseline report also give an insight into the development of entrepreneurship in Flanders and Finland.

The Spirit of Malawian Entrepreneurship

Picked up this amazing book as a going away present from my colleagues at Learning and Teaching Scotland – The Boy Who Harnessed The Wind. An amazing story of a teenage boy, William Kamkwamba,  who at aged 15 built his own windmill to put electric power into his home…inspired  by reading a book in the school library – true education.

In the book a quote that should make us in the western world stop and think – Africans bend what little they have to their will every day. Using creativity, they overcome Africa’s challenges. Where the world sees trash, Africa recycles. Where the world sees junk, Africa sees rebirth ”

His profile was raised when he asked to present his story at TEDGlobal 2009 where he talked to an audience of over 450 delegates from around the world about his idea and what he hoped to achieve.

Think Exist – Your personal quote site

A great site Think Exist that will let you choose an inspirational blog and then post it of to the person that you are seeking to support

http://thinkexist.com/quotes/top/