Enterprise Education, 10 January: Alastair Falk
In what seems to have been an unusually busy period for the Guild, it was gratifying that good numbers found time to support the programme of evening discussion meetings, which have been led generously by distinguished visiting speakers. Two such events have taken place in 2007, both held in the delightful setting of Notre Dame University thanks to the kindness of Freeman Professor Geoffrey Bennett. The first attracted a record turn-out of over 20, to hear Alastair Falk, Director of the Academy of Enterprise, the Reed Foundation, give a fascinating and stimulating presentation on 'Enterprise Education'.
Alastair analysed skilfully the somewhat uncertain status of this concept, drawing on parallels from other countries. He argued that enterprise is not synonymous with entrepreneurship, but embraces a set of skills and attitudes which are to be fostered throughout schools' activities. Britain, in the form of Government policies and papers, has embraced the idea of enterprise education with some enthusiasm, but it is slightly less clear how government thinks that it is to be understood and implemented: its place in the curriculum is not always clear-cut, although the introduction of citizenship and of work-related learning has offered it some kind of home. There can, too, be a tension between seeing it as a 'subject' and a set of 'cross-curricular' approaches. Enterprising schools, Alastair argued, encourage everyone to be more enterprising: to show initiative, resourcefulness, innovation; to be forward-looking, outward-facing, risk-taking. In encouraging students to develop enterprise capability, schools must look at how this is supported by such ideas as financial capability and business and economic understanding, since the requisite skills do not develop in a vacuum.
In a curriculum dominated by individual subjects taught in such a way as to generate a string of examination passes, enterprise education can act as something of a welcome antidote, offering a different mindset. For that reason, teachers habituated to working in a national curriculum-dominated mode may not, at least without training and external support, be the people to encourage risk-taking, and schools may not always be the ideal places for students to become risk takers. There are dangers both in trying to squeeze enterprise in as an additional content-area and in allowing it to be dissipated throughout the curriculum. The focus should be not on subjects but on successful learners, confident individuals making an effective contribution to society.
Alastair's presentation was followed by vigorous discussion on the key concepts: there was debate on whether schools were well geared to deal with enterprise, on the proposed distinction between enterprise and entrepreneurship, and on generating partnerships between schools and external agencies. Much support was shown for the concern expressed about the all-pervasive nature of preparation for testing, and for the view that education must be about giving young people a preparation for life and an all-round education in skills.
Discussion continued, for some of the group, over dinner: there was no doubting that the session had proved not only highly entertaining, but - in the best sense - provocative and challenging.
Gifted and Talented Education, 7 March: Deborah Eyre
The second evening focused on a theme with some obvious connections: education for the gifted and talented. The invited speaker was Professor Deborah Eyre, Director of the National Academy for Gifted and Talented Youth (NAGTY) at the University of Warwick since its inception nearly a quinquennium ago. The assembled guests arrived, helped themselves to some of our host's excellent wine, and waited. And waited. Finally, a message came through that because of a fire on the line, Deborah's train was marooned somewhere between Oxford and London, and her ETA at NDU was not before 7.30 pm. This was something of a blow: Hamlet without the Prince, alas. However, all agreed that we had enough ideas and experience of the topic to be self-directed until Deborah arrived. And indeed we did: all twelve present contributed to a lively discussion, looking at issues such as: the nature of giftedness and talent; identifying a group - who should be in such a group, and was it helpful to have one? We wondered whether the curriculum as currently constituted catered adequately for the most able (in science, for example). We also asked if there was a tendency to see giftedness in too narrowly 'academic a fashion', with an under-recognition of those gifted in practical skills, for example. There was a discussion of whether higher education did, or should, take much account of young people's experience of gifted and talented provision, such as the excellent summer schools run by NAGTY. Some members drew on their experience of the London Gifted and Talented's programmes, and wondered if there were dangers in extending the constituency's definition too broadly, with consequent loss of focus.
Finally, at 7.50 pm, the Prince appeared on stage. In ten minutes Deborah Eyre enthralled her audience with a brilliantly-executed précis of the key issues she saw in the field of gifted and talented education: she established the need for methods of learning that responded to the needs of able students and which were not always to be found in the basic provision of all schools, and she argued for the 'English model' in which an enrichment of the curriculum and of the core learning of students was enhanced by specific opportunities to become apprenticed to experts. Anxious not to waste the opportunity to hear from Deborah, almost all members stayed on past the usual closing-time to engage her in discussion, passing on some of the insights from the discussion before her arrival. It was excellent that Deborah was able to join the small group of diners, and over the meal we ranged far and wide over the intriguing field we had started to explore. We were particularly grateful that Deborah had persevered and her presentation was a fine example of 'multum in parvo': a concentrate of excellence.
And so the planning of these evenings passes, not before time, into the expert hands of the Education Committee. May it enjoy great success and attract ever more Freemen to join these discussions - and may its organisers be spared the acute neurosis occasioned by the threatened non-arrival of the London train.
David Taylor, Lower Warden
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