Why Entrepreneurship?

Entrepreneurship is a component of the redesigned curriculum that can assist in meeting the requirements for the curricular area of Applied Design Skills and Technology (ADST) in grade 6 through 11 https://curriculum.gov.bc.ca/curriculum/adst

Design thinking is emphasized in the entrepreneurship component. The Applied Design, Skills, and Technologies curriculum builds on students’ natural curiosity, inventiveness, and desire to create and work in practical ways. It harnesses the power of learning by doing and provides the challenging fun that inspires students to dig deeper, work with big ideas, and adapt to a changing world. It provides learning opportunities through which students can discover their interests in practical and purposeful ways. Entrepreneurship can be taught using a scaffolding of skills, building upon our natural ability to imagine. Using this framework, educators at all levels can help young people engage with the world around them and envision what might be different; experiment with creative solutions to the problems they encounter; hone their ability to reframe problems in order to come up with unique ideas; and then work persistently to scale their ideas by inspiring others to support their effort.  

“Entrepreneurship education empowers young people to see the world as opportunity rich, and to craft the lives they dream to live.” Tina Seelig

In addition to honing the curricular competencies for ADST, developing an entrepreneurial mindset assists young people in developing many valuable skills that in the BC curriculum’s core competencies. Competencies come into play when students are engaged in “doing” in any area of learning. This includes activities where students use thinking, collaboration, and communication to solve problems, address issues, or make decisions. The ultimate goal is for learners to employ the core competencies every day in school and in life, and for the core competencies to be an integral part of the learning in all curriculum areas.

https://curriculum.gov.bc.ca/competencies

• Communication-The communication competency encompasses the set of abilities that students use to impart and exchange information, experiences and ideas, to explore the world around them, and to understand and effectively engage in the use of digital media.
• Thinking– Critical and creative thinking competency encompasses the knowledge, skills and processes we associate with intellectual development. It is through their competency as thinkers that students take subject-specific concepts and content and transform them into a new understanding. Thinking competence includes specific thinking skills as well as habits of mind, and metacognitive awareness.
• Personal and Social– Personal and social competency is the set of abilities that relate to students’ identity in the world, both as individuals and as members of their community and society. Personal and social competency encompasses the abilities students need to thrive as individuals, to understand and care about themselves and others, and to find and achieve their purposes in the world.