Regional Education for Enterprise Cluster Initiative

Clusters

Four regional clusters (West Coast, Nelson, Manukau, and Northland schools) have been participating in the initiative since 2007.

The Regional Cluster Initiative aims to:

• support schools in embedding enterprising attributes across the curriculum, and

• engage resources from the schools’ communities in this process.

The initiative is a three-year pilot, and findings will help inform future directions of E4E.

Partnerships

The initiative is structured around a number of significant partnerships, at a number of levels.

At the national level, there is a cross-government partnership consisting of the Ministry and NZTE, with support from the private sector (Tindall Foundation).

At the regional level, there are active partnerships between local government, regional economic and educational development organisations, and clusters of schools.

In addition, the New Zealand Council for Educational Research (NZCER) is supporting this initiative by carrying out an ongoing evaluation of the pilot.

How does it work?

The E4E Regional Cluster Initiative organisation consists of:

• a national coordinator, funded by the Ministry of Education, who works closely with regional coordinators, school leadership, and classroom teachers. Key to this role is the development of effective strategies and systems in cluster communities, which can establish the enterprising environments that enable students and teachers to develop enterprising attributes and approaches to learning
• a regional coordinator for each cluster, based in a regional economic agency or educational organisation, who acts as a school/community broker. They work closely with schools to help them 'team up' with local community and business organisations, to enable students and teachers to make real and meaningful connections with their learning in an authentic context
• regional clusters of secondary and intermediate schools, which comprise groups of enthusiastic, innovative teachers focused on piloting an E4E approach to teaching and learning. Each of these schools usually has an E4E lead teacher, supported by the school principal. The school leadership works closely with the regional coordinator, whose focus is to facilitate opportunities for teachers to engage students in enterprising and authentic, student-centred learning opportunities

NZCER is undertaking a cross-region evaluation of the pilot, which involves data collection and analysis from students, teachers, school principals, community, and business and regional organisations. The purpose of the evaluation is to gather important evidence about what works in New Zealand schools in enterprise education.