Cultivating The Entrepreneurial Spirit: Preserve creativity

Granting student to do what they want to do rather than to forcing them to follow directions, to compete what has been prescribe, or to comply with external expectations help to preserve creativity, another quality for entrepreneurs.

Traditional schools have been generally found to be either insignificant or suppressive of creativity. Boston College University psychology Professor John Dacey and his coauthor Kathleen Lennon wrote in their book Understanding Creativity: Thee Interplay of Biological, Psychological, and Social Factors:

Most young children are naturally curious and highly imaginative ....Unfortunately, it is necessary to conclude from the investigation of many scholars, that our schools are the major culprits.  Teachers, peers and the educational system as a whole diminish children's urge to expressive their creative possibilities.

(dacey&Lennon, 1998, p. 69)

This happens because traditional schools demand conformity and obedient. They are held accountable for passing as much of the prescribed content to children as possible. Thus their primary goal is to ensure that children comply with externally defined standard. Excessive focus on external indicators of success such as grades and test score can pressure children, sending the message that academic success is important, not for personal reasons, but to please others (Ablard,1997). As a result, children lose interest. Research has shown that parents of talented children pay little attention to external standards (Ablard & Parker, 1997) And the Summerhill experience shows that when schools do not pay attention to external standards, children become more confident and creative,

Cultivating The Entrepreneurial Spirit: Take initiative

From Yong Zhao- World Class Learner

Allowing student the freedom to choose what to do in school helps children learn to take initiatives, a necessary quality of the entrepreneurial spirit. When student are given the freedom, they have to take the initiative to decide what to do. And when they do what they want to do, they have commitment. In contrast, when asked to follow a prescribed routine, they simply follow direction. The more prescribed the work, the less opportunity children have to exercise their own will. And the more prescribed, the less risk is involved. As a result, children simply become followers who learn to conform,to find correct answers expected by adults.

School Rich environment

One of  the most important elements of a reach environment is the availability of a diverse group of adult talents - staff and others who can serve as a role models, counselors, critics, friends, collaborators, assistants and teachers. In the traditional paradigm, the teaching staff members are selected to teach the curriculum based on their contain knowledge and skills to transmit knowledge, but in the new environment, we need adult to be passionate and talented in working with students as a community member. The more diverse their talents, the richer the intellectual environments is in the school.
Yong Zhoa, The Global Learners: Freedom to Learn