Gen Z figured it out and Gen Alpha is taking notes. Like many students about to enter the workforce, Generation Alpha, born between 2010 and today, wants autonomy in the workplace.
As technology and ways of working continue to shift and change, the appeal of driving one’s own discovery and choosing one’s own career is growing, too. Enter: Entrepreneurship.
By teaching durable skills and meeting the demand for student independence and autonomy in learning, early entrepreneurship curriculum prepares students for jobs of the future and across industries.
What are Durable Skills?
A more familiar term might be 'soft skills.' Skills like communication, creativity, problem-solving, critical thinking, leadership, and resilience are often now referred to as durable skills or skills that hold up across industries over time—durable skills have longevity. America Succeeds, a non-profit organization committed to modernizing education systems to drive equity and opportunity, is leading the charge in creating a framework for teaching and assessing durable skills. Why? Because they are needed for every job in every industry and are requested on seven out of every ten job postings.
So what happens when employer demand for durable skills meets student demand for autonomy in the workplace? A new generation enters the workforce, empowered to seek out and solve problems before they arise and adapt to whatever changes come next.
Our communities and schools need intentional and systematic approaches to strengthen the links between education and industry, including covering a wide range of skills gaps from financial tools to marketing and sales.
Skill Development & Career Exploration
Research from ZenBusiness found that 75 percent of Gen Z students want to start their own business, and 93 percent already have! It’s a generation of thinkers, doers and change-makers ready to build and lead businesses, and Gen Alpha is quickly following in its footsteps.
At the recent Uncharted Learning National Summit, American Student Assistance (ASA)’s CEO Jean Eddy addressed what it takes to engage this new generation of learners. Helping students explore and navigate postsecondary pathways through innovative, work-based learning is step one. Supporting them as they discover their purpose and passion is step two.
In Eddy’s book, Crisis-Proofing Today's Learners: Reimagining Career Education to Prepare Kids for Tomorrow's World, she explains that when students see a path that combines what they love with what they’re good at, what they can get paid for and what the world needs, we call it Ikigai. Ikigai is at the intersection of passion, mission, vocation and profession. It’s where excitement and innovation come to life. And it’s our job as educators to help our students find it.
Actioning Real-World Learning
Programs like mxINCedu and INCubatoredu prepare middle- and high-school students for the real world, so that they feel confident and equipped to pursue their passions and reach their goals outside of the classroom, before they even have a diploma in hand. At Naperville D203, in Naperville, Illinois, building an entrepreneurship ecosystem is a core component of real-world learning and preparing students for what's next.
“We offer students an authentic, collaborative entrepreneurship experience,” says Dan Bridges, Superintendent, Naperville School District 203. “Students at Naperville Central and Naperville North have the opportunity to create and fully develop their own product or service. Entrepreneurs and business experts serve as volunteer coaches and mentors.”
Jill Hlavacek, Director of Innovation and Learning at Naperville, says, “In the fall of 2017, we found a partnership with Uncharted Learning and adopted the INCubatoredu program to really help us foster that entrepreneurial thinking and innovative spirit in our students.”
“We also know and are driven by the fact that the earlier we can help students learn to work together, become creative problem solvers, and be proud of their ideas, the better opportunity they will have to succeed, no matter what career they pursue.”
From operations to engineering, the demand for durable skills is high. In fact, employers seek durable skills almost four times more frequently than technical or 'hard' skills, supporting the importance of creating these experiences for students to build these skills.
Entrepreneurship in Middle School
Around grades six through eight, students begin to explore their interests and strengthen their natural talents. It’s the perfect time to introduce entrepreneurship for both skill development and career exposure.
“Our eighth graders are embarking on a new entrepreneurship journey,”
says Lauren Poulsen, F.A.C.S. Teacher, Washington Junior High School, Naperville. “They come to class and talk about problems that bother them in the world, and then they actually develop a prototype, which is their solution to the problem. They pitch their company and their products to a shark team, and once they get funded, they can actually develop the products and sell them at a marketplace here at school.”
“They print off labels, create their own logo, and film commercials for their products,” Poulsen says. “A lot of groups use all of the different technology we have available in the school.”
Introducing mxINCedu in middle school has led to greater participation in entrepreneurship across the district and continues to positively impact student and teacher engagement. In fact, new connections are built between schools through entrepreneurship. “We’re lucky enough that the high schoolers come a few times each trimester to mentor our students,” says Poulsen. “They’ll look at their prototypes and give them feedback.”
Naperville educators are discovering new approaches to teaching, and students gain access to new tools, discover interests, build skills, and are exposed to career paths.
High School Entrepreneurship
Rooted in the same foundation as mxINCedu (authentic, real-world learning), Uncharted Learning’s high school entrepreneurship curriculum, INCubatoredu, students learn the skills and methodologies to create real businesses. This is learn-by-doing and different from traditional high school courses. Guided by four teachers at Naperville Central High School and Naperville North High School, more than 500 students every year take part in the course on a journey to solve problems or pivot existing ideas and build real businesses. “They won't fully realize how much they grow from August to June. And that is the biggest joy I get out of the class--seeing that growth with the students,” says Brad Neubauer, INCubatoredu Teacher, Naperville Central High School.
“The best thing about this class is meeting different people with different expertise,” says INCubatoredu student, Sam. “I've contacted numerous manufacturers already who have told us about our product. It’s nice that I'm doing this when I'm 17 years old, so I’m able to go into college and continue learning from this as I move forward in my life.”
Mentor Magic
From manufacturers to other local and emerging entrepreneurs, business professionals to community members, mentors add subject matter expertise and a professional voice as students dive deeper into developing their business ideas. Gene Nolan, INCubatoredu Teacher at Naperville North High School, says, “The key to the program is the mentorship that the outside business professionals bring.”
Through mentorship, high school entrepreneurship students get a taste of various careers— a strategist, designer, engineer, marketer. They see these roles firsthand through mentors and try out these areas as they develop ideas and businesses. Students are free to fail and try again, strengthening important skills like adaptability and resilience.
“What it means to be a student team mentor is to give that real-world experience and advice to the students,” says INCubatoredu mentor Al Okyne, CEO of Okyne Media Lab. “As they work through things, whether it’s incorporating or setting up their websites, the students are seeing, ‘This is real. This is what it would be like to start a business.’” Another student, Aarit, adds, “It helps to have a guiding voice, besides just your teacher, to help you out with your business.”
Entrepreneurship for All
Naperville recognized the opportunity to bring entrepreneurial tools and mindsets to a wide range of students outside the construct of ‘business.'
Naperville educators took part in Entrepreneurship Across the Curriculum (EAC), a professional development series designed for and by educators. This PD equips teachers with the tools and practice of entrepreneurs, which can be applied to ANY coursework or syllabus.
The workshop connected teachers across the district, and teachers left with actionable strategies, not just theory.
Nicky Mullenix, a F.A.C.S. teacher at Madison Junior High School in Naperville, finds exciting ways to blend new learnings from EAC with the tried-and-true techniques that made her the teacher she is today. “This workshop is very practical,” Mullenix says.
“You want to start the activities you learned the very next day in your classroom!”
Another middle school teacher helped empower their students not only to build a business and a product but also to take the idea all the way to the district leaders. This product was so compelling and relevant the district placed an order!
New instructional strategies can fuel educators’ passion for their craft and students benefit.
Naperville Leading the Way
Adminstrators and teachers in Naperville are squarely focused on providing experiences for middle- and high-school students that challenge the status quo in the spirit of ensuring future readiness and connection with community.
Students are guiding their own discovery, taking coursework and earning endorsements around certain focus areas. They’re taking the initiative to get ahead of the game and gain employability skills and, in some cases, even earn college credit.
“Students in the INCubatoredu program live up to our mission of being self-
directed learners, collaborative workers, complex thinkers, quality producers, and community contributors,” says Superintendent Bridges. “What they learn during this experience can shape what they do in the future in an incredibly positive way.”
“This is not a time-spend. This is an investment,” says Kaylin Risvold, President and CEO, Naperville Area Chamber of Commerce, and INCubatoredu mentor. “It’s made me better. It’s made our students better. They’re really awesome. They’re really talented. And it gives me so much hope for the future.”
This blog post includes testimonials and content from these sources:
- Naperville FACS video
- Where are they now? video
- Business INCubatoredu 2024 social media highlight video
- Naperville 203 INCubatoredu 2023 video
