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Social Entrepreneurship

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CONTENT

What is social entrepreneurship?
Why is social entrepreneurship required?
Who are Social entrepreneurs?
Integration of social entrepreneurship into�education systems: Why / how?
Some examples of Social Entrepreneurship Education

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‘We live in a fast-changing world, and producing more of the same knowledge and skills will not suffice to address the challenges of the future. A generation ago teachers could expect that what they taught would last their students a lifetime. Today, because of the rapid economic and social change, schools have to prepare students for jobs that have not yet been created, technologies that have not yet been invented and problems that we don’t yet know will arise.’

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What is entrepreneurship?

Creating value for others

Creative problem- solving

Spotting new opportunities

Getting things done

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What is social entrepreneurship?

Creating value for others
Economic value
Environmental value
Social value

global problems

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Why is social entrepreneurship required?

Social challenges

Environmental challenges

Social innovators & change makers needed

Social inequalities

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Who are Social entrepreneurs?

Social entrepreneurs

Developing businesses for a social or environmental purpose
Bringing hope to most disadvantaged communities
Reducing inequalities (e.g. Youth unemployment, income inequality)
Agents of positive change

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Social entrepreneur

Social change makers dealing with social problems

Helping to build a fair and equal society

Developing innovative way to change the wrong

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“Social” entrepreneurship

financial

environmental

social

Social enterprise
society

The World Economic Forum has made it clear that business should not fundamentally be about financial profit. Its motto is ‘entrepreneurship in the global interest.’ But, by and large, financial profit is the single measure of business success.

Prioritising economic value over social or environmental value distorts the way businesses are set up and run. Entrepreneurship, at its root, is about creating value. At its best, it is about creating value for other people and the world, as well as for the entrepreneur. It is about creative problem solving; about spotting new opportunities; about successfully navigating shifting sands; and about getting things done. But when the only value that matters is economic, entrepreneurship can create more problems than it solves.

We recognise the model of social entrepreneurship when it balances financial, social and environmental value. Such businesses are ‘social enterprises’. Social enterprises reinvest the money they make back into their business or the local community. This allows them to tackle social problems, improve people’s life chances, support communities and help the environment. So when a social enterprise profits society profits. This means that the entrepreneurship the world actually needs is labeled as ‘other’.

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Traditional education systems vs 21st century skills

Education systems operate at a massive scale, and arguably have remained largely unchanged at a fundamental level since the 19th Century. Can this global education system provide today’s children with the skills they need to thrive in our modern world? Can it provide the solutions to the social and environmental problems facing us in the 21st century? education should be re-designed and adapted to fit a much more ambitious challenge than in the past. Integrating social entrepreneurship, with its focus on tackling social and environmental challenges, would be a smart move. If things are so unsure, if we don’t even know what problems young people will need to face, our approach should reflect more of the core skills they need. Uncertainty needs creativity, boldness, experimentation and collaboration. If we want young people to graduate from education systems as active, open and assertive citizens, we have to invest in creative, bold and collaborative education systems. The quality of a country’s education system is largely measured by the attainment of children in a narrow set of tests. The resulting Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) rankings are pored over by policy makers and national curricula adjusted to improve performance.

But while maths, science, and reading are all competencies our children and our world need, they are at best a fraction of what is needed by a happy, healthy, human being, or indeed a happy, healthy society or planet.

Whatever we are learning, and however we are learning it, can be more meaningful if it can be put in, or draw from context, community, society and other sources

Slowly making its way into the education system

Providing a framework to develop the skills and understanding to live a good, meaningful and fulfilling life in the 21st century

we are still using education systems designed for a different time and, in many cases, a different country.

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Core skills

critical thinking & problem solving

collaboration & communication

student leadership

digital literacy

creativity & imagination

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Education needs social entrepreneurship just as much as social entrepreneurship needs education

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The world needs…….

change makers

value creators

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Why is social enterpreneurship important?

Values

Creating values-driven entrepreneurial opportunities for children
Learning lifelong lessons about creative value for others and addressing problems

Change

Inspiring them to become the change makers and value creators
Building the social capital of children & creating systemic change on a global scale

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Scaling of these efforts

co-production between teachers, children, entrepreneurs & the community
intervention & coordination between the organisations
expertise, influence and resources of teachers, social entrepreneurs, funders & governments

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Role of teachers

Teachers having a central role
Professional development of teachers needed

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Role of funders

Persuading goverments to invest

Piloting innovative approaches

Spreading ideas between countries

Enabling successful models to adapt and evolve

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Social entrepreneurship in schools

Universities offering masters and undergraduate degrees as well as extra-curricular activities
Social entrepreneurship in schools receiving little attention until now
Not taught as a subject in isolation
Embedding it into the fabric of the school

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Not enough social�entrepreneurs

Composing only a tiny fraction of the world’s economy

Less than three per cent of the world’s population engaged in social entrepreneurship

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Social entrepreneurship�education

Integrating early
Taking a broad approach
Relevant framework for learning
Leading to financial inclusion and job creation with most immediate impact

should integrate entrepreneurship into education much earlier, particularly when we consider how children and young people develop core skills and when entrepreneurship isn’t just about creating economic value or companies. Where young people are leaving education early, under pressure to earn a living for their families, entrepreneurship education may provide a more relevant framework for learning. Teaching English in this context would improve export competencies. A more practical application of maths and science would facilitate viable agribusiness models, leading to financial inclusion and job creation. In areas of the world where people are poorest, or where unemployment is highest, entrepreneurship education will have the most immediate impact.

the broad approach taken towards education at primary and even secondary school is much better suited to introducing social entrepreneurship than the narrower subject specific focus at university.