Giving Compass' Take:

• More schools are engaging in the entrepreneurial mindset to teach students the critical lessons of innovation and creation to better prepare them for the current workforce. 

• What are the challenges for schools to move beyond the traditional credits of the education system?

• Read about other innovative ways to prepare students for their futures. 

“Entrepreneurial mindset” is a buzzword.

It is a collection of behaviors, skills and competencies, knowledge and understanding and, of course, beliefs that, for many, intrinsically resonates as key to innovation and creation — and key to the future workforce.

The value in the phrase is the recognition that students need to develop new skills and competencies for this changing world, a world where, as workers, they will be making jobs, taking jobs that have not yet been imagined and joining a growing force of temporary workers.

The Kauffman Foundation is no stranger to the urgency the rapidly changing future presents. Through research and community engagement — including a vast regional survey, a large, community-engaged design thinking session, and an ideation team representing educators, parents, industry leaders, and civic change-makers — it’s clear that parents, educators, and employers all desire students to be better prepared for the ever-evolving future of work.

The reality, however, is that present-day high schools, in general, are focused more on preparing students for traditional college than on the realities of life and learning after graduation. A report produced by the Mid-America Regional Council showed that industry continues to signal that hiring pools, including high school and college graduates, lack the ability to exhibit core competencies in a productive way.

Innovating from the middle of America, district leaders across the Kansas City metro region are responding by activating a new paradigm within their high schools. High schools in the Independence School District link students to businesses and problem-solving opportunities in their communities, providing real-world learning that results in industry-recognized credentials and/or dual college credit.

We must foster a new culture in our education systems. Our K-12 schools will play an essential role in ensuring that students gain far more than a traditional high school diploma.

Read the full article about entrepreneurial mindset by Donna Deeds at The 74