How to Develop Tomorrow's Entrepreneurs Today
April 18, 2005

By Margot Carmichael Lester

The 2005 JA Worldwide Interprise Poll ™ surveyed kids ages 13 to 18 to discover which careers they'd be most likely to pursue. More than two-thirds (68.4 percent) said they'd like to have their own business. Some of those kids will found high-tech and biotech companies.

So what are the skills we should be teaching today's K-12 students to equip them to become tomorrow's successful entrepreneurs?

"Becoming a successful hi-tech or biotech entrepreneur takes more than technology and science skills," says human resources expert John Challenger, CEO of Challenger, Gray & Christmas. Technical skills are necessary, but softer skills like communication, motivation and resilience are often what make the difference between long-term player and flash in the pan.

Preparing students for entrepreneurial success requires a cross-functional, multi-disciplinary curriculum that stresses academic learning plus social skills, or EQ. "Schools should not be totally focused on knowledge acquisition," he asserts. "They need to emphasize EQ - to teach kids about getting along with each other and working together."

Anna Deveare Smith, actor, playwright and board member for the Center for American Progress, puts it this way: "You have to make a life in which people believe you and believe in you. So how do you cultivate yourself into someone people can believe in?"

Teamwork and Communication
It's no secret that start-ups that survive and thrive do so in part because of the founder's ability to build, leverage and maintain relationships. Successful entrepreneurs are able to develop lucrative relationships with funders, partners, employees and other boosters to get their businesses off the ground and keep them flying high. They have a unique ability to compel people to put their faith - and funding - on the line.

That's one reason school kids need more training in interpersonal skills. "Our students need to develop the ability to bridge to other people and cultures to create relationships," Challenger notes. "This sort of training brings people together from all sorts of communities to see themselves as they are. They'll learn by building social capital."

Skills-building Environment
One popular teaching method that develops these skills is the workshop model, which encourages students to work with their classmates and to present their work and respond to feedback on a regular basis in order to improve.

At the core of the workshop model is a classroom structure that supports differentiated instruction. Every student in a well-run Reader's, Writer's or Math Workshop classroom pursues the work that is most relevant to his or her development. Students have choices and must take ownership of their efforts. This builds accountability and self-motivation.

The workshop environment also fosters a sense of community in the classroom through collaborative feedback and small group activities that builds teamwork and increases cooperation.

Smith, a professor at New York University, says the best way to teach students resiliency and responsibility is ceding some control. "You charge them with making the culture," she explains. "You reward them for creating the community and putting their individual differences aside. And you expect them to bring the person with the most difficulty along."

Self-Motivation
Entrepreneurs have to do things on their own - at least at the beginning. They are self-motivated and self-possessed, which allows them to set meaningful goals and make smart choices - even under adverse conditions.

They take individual initiative toward meeting their goals. With every choice they make, they generate a result and then evaluate it to see if it propels them closer to their goals. No authority figure tells them how they're doing - they determine that themselves.

While school encourages kids to work on their own, it stresses the right thing in the wrong way. Most schools promote isolation and thinking in a box - the hallmarks of the traditional scope-and-sequence curriculum where every student does the same thing, the same way, at the same time.

Decision-making and evaluation are handled by the teacher; kids wait passively for directions, do their work, and wait again to find out how they scored. In these ways, school ends up working against the development of personal initiative and evaluative skills because it limits choice, discourages individuality, and removes students from the process of evaluating their own performance.

Self-Evaluation
Smith instills the values of self-motivation and self-evaluation in her students by changing the teacher-student dynamic. In her class, students grade themselves.

"It's interesting; they really don't like the power," she says. "They want to be told what to do. But I tell them, 'You have to do the work of being your own authority. If I allow you to believe I'm the big daddy who tells you you're good, that's not right.'."

Self-assessment can be a big part of K-12 classrooms, too. But it requires a shift for teachers from the traditional "sage on the stage" to the more effective "guide on the side." This can be personally challenging because it goes to the heart of a teacher's sense of self and his or her concept of role.

Additionally, the current emphasis on testing in public schools -- creating a situation where neither student nor teacher has responsibility for evaluating their results -- can make things even more difficult.

Never Say Die
Starting and growing a business means navigating turbulent waters. Buoyant spirits and steadfast determination keep top entrepreneurs afloat. "Those first years are rarely as successful as you'd hope, so you need a very strong drive," Challenger says. "Then you can start every day fresh and put your setbacks aside."

Teaching kids to bounce back from adversity isn't difficult, says Smith, who employs a straightforward approach.

"How do I teach resiliency? I'm demanding," she declares. By expecting kids to meet expectations and providing them the tools and time they need to meet them, teachers can help their students develop the habit of striving for excellence even in times of adversity. "You have to be able to look in that mirror and look in that mirror and look in that mirror and believe in the person you see, every day."

Raising the Bar
A recent survey by Peter D. Hart Research Associates/Public Opinion Strategies found that fewer than 25 percent of the students surveyed felt they were significantly challenged or faced high expectations in order to graduate. Even more interesting: the majority said they would have worked harder if more had been expected of them.

Yet many states are lowering standards and expectations by changing tests and taking advantage of statistical loopholes to avoid penalties under No Child Left Behind, which requires certain percentages of students in certain groups to pass tests in order for their schools to receive funding. In many states, this means students can pass tests with scores below 60 percent.

"Today's academic standards are too monolithic," Challenger asserts. "We need to get more complex and tie standards to actual situations so they're reflective of what's needed by employers and society."

Making an Investment
While not every grade-schooler wants to start a business, teaching every kid the skills required for entrepreneurial success has value because it will give them the confidence to find their place in the world.

"It's important for kids to find their most natural fit - their natural skills and talents - and continue to develop those skills," Challenger concludes. "We have to help them find their way into society."

Margot Carmichael Lester is a freelance writer and COO of Teaching That Makes Sense, Inc., an education consulting and reform company in Chapel Hill, N.C.
© copyright 2005 by Teaching That Makes Sense, Inc. Used by permission.

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