Young People and Ethical Enterprise

Up to a third of adults and, according to some studies, as many as two teenagers in three would like to start their own enterprises. Add to that the number of employers who expect school leavers to have a reasonable degree of business awareness and it’s clear that enterprise education has an important part to play in classrooms.

However, this does not mean teaching young people how to be the next Montgomery Burns or Gordon Gekko. Far from it, says Carole Whitty, a former deputy general secretary of the NAHT who is now working on the NAHT/Specialist Schools and Academies Trust’s delivery of enterprise education across the country. “We are not developing these skills in a vacuum, but in the context of a difficult global situation, both economically and socially,” she says.

This means ensuring that ethics and values are given as much attention as finance and strategy. Fortunately, recent events in the banking sector and environmental issues such as climate change are driving this to the top of the agenda; more business leaders are beginning to accept that decisions can no longer be made purely on the basis of profit and loss. “It is exactly the right moment to seize the day with social and ethical enterprise,” Carole says. “One of the things that we have learnt with the bankers is that if you are not ethical, it all goes wrong.”

The growing popularity of the social enterprise business model – where entrepreneurs use their profits to further a social or environmental goal rather to enrich shareholders or owners – also provides new ways of discussing how to make money and what to do with it. Learning about these different approaches feeds neatly into discussions around values, ethics and community cohesion as well as business, enterprise and finance. “It helps [young people] to understand their community and the different pieces that make it up,” Carole says.

“Schools have an obligation to work with their communities, but, more importantly, as educators we are growing the leaders of the future…Think about what kind of world you want and how you want it to be lead.” Teaching young people that business and enterprise can be used for much more than driving profits.

Motivating young people

Ethical enterprise is also great at exciting young people. Carole’s former school got involved with Comic Relief right at the outset; she was impressed at just how involved and enthusiastic her students were about both the issues involved and the creative challenges of fund-raising for Red Nose Day. “The whole school was inspired and participated,” she said.

But harnessing students’ entrepreneurial spirit does not have to be limited to fund-raising for big charities: everything from cake stalls to mentoring younger children can draw on this sort of skill. This also means that enterprise education does not have to involve starting new programmes; it can be as simple as formalising some of the schemes already underway and explaining how, say, managing the chess club provides experience that could come in handy running another type of business. “If you tell these stories in the language of enterprise you are getting people to see that they are doing things that are useful in themselves and that they are also developing [business] skills,” Carole says.

Branston Community College

Drew Cammish, a history teacher at Branston Community College, a business and enterprise specialist school in Lincolnshire, says that questions about enterprise and ethics can be incorporated into many subjects, from geography to English. Branston has links with the local Co-operative and has just earned Fairtrade school status. This means that, as far as possible, the school uses and sells Fairtrade products (goods which are bought from developing-world producers under strict conditions that ensure that farmers get a fair price); that it teaches about Fairtrade in at least three subjects; and that it takes action for Fairtrade in the school and in the community.

“Fairtrade is about working co-operatively, while [the students who are involved] also learn enterprise skills as well as about organisation and planning,” Drew says. Students have also made a link between the products that they buy here and what is happening in the developing world to the farmers who grow them. It’s something that genuinely interests them, he says.

Sir Thomas Boughey Co-operative Business College 

Sir Thomas Boughey Co-operative Business College in Staffordshire was one of the first Co-operative schools in the country, says Dave Boston, its head. The college chose this particular specialism – over, say, sport or music – because school leaders felt that it could be incorporated into the college’s entire ethos. “We can provide a balanced education with a strong emphasis on values,” Boston says. “The Co-operative values of self-help, self-responsibility, democracy and equality fit perfectly with the school’s ethos.”

The college has two young enterprise groups, both of which are run as co-operatives and which have in the past won awards for youth enterprise. For example, one is selling One Water, which is from Wales but puts the money that the business generates towards improving water quality in Africa. “Ethical enterprise shows that profits are not the only factor,” he says. “It can help young people to see that there are alternatives to the capitalist model.”

While most schools and colleges are already involved in enterprise activities, those starting from scratch might find it useful to sign up to an existing scheme. “You need a framework in which to develop it,” Carole says. That may mean finding a partner – the NAHT/SSAT already has links with Unicef’s Rights Respecting Schools Award (RRSA) and the Co-operative – or simply talking to other schools and colleges with established programmes. Another good idea is to persuade pupils who are natural networkers to get involved with any steering group, as this will help to spread the message throughout the school, Drew adds.

Find out more about the programmes and organisations mentioned in this article online at:

www.enterprisevillage.org.uk

rrsa.unicef.org.uk

www.co-operative.coop

www.fairtrade.org.uk

http://www.branstoncc.linc.sch.uk

www.stb.coop

www.co-op.ac.uk