Analysis of Entrepreneurial Education in Secondary Schools: Teaching the Next Generation of Innovators

Abstract

Australia lags globally in equipping youth with enterprise skills. Enterprise Education (eE) is seen as having potential value to every student, being transformative in nature providing students an opportunity to develop a range of entrepreneurial competencies such as self-efficacy, creativity, problem-solving, confidence and lifelong learning habits deemed important for the world of work (Foundation for Young Australians in The new work order. Ensuring young Australians have skills and experience for the jobs of the future, not the past. https://www.fya.org.au/app/uploads/2021/09/new-work-order-2015.pdf, 2017; Jones in How to teach entrepreneurship. Edward Elgar Publishing, 2019). In recent years there has been a significant push for entrepreneurial skills to be taught in Australian schools to prepare students for life and contribute to the future of work. Moreover, there is no mandated policy to recognise the place and value of the positioning of Entrepreneurial Education (EE) in the Australian school curriculum. Additionally, the formal assessment process for determining whether students achieve the capabilities associated with the development of entrepreneurial skills is also absent. Given that these skills are not formally developed or assessed in schools, the focus should be directed at teaching all children the enterprising capabilities from an early age, today, to prepare them for action tomorrow and to help capitalise on the new ecosystem of entrepreneurs and innovators that the nation is building in order to remain competitive and enable young people to thrive in a dynamic and ever-changing world. This chapter shares findings from a study designed to develop a baseline understanding of enterprise programs in Australia.