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Nicole Amey - Entrepreneurial Educator & Year Level Coordinator
Kepnock State High School | Bundaberg, QLD
The Future Focused Learning Experience ‘It Takes a Village to Create Systems Change’ was an opportunity to showcase the great work undertaken at our school, Kepnock State High School, and community in developing a healthy ecosystem of innovation that is inclusive of educators, industry, entrepreneurs and the various organisations that our school community collaborate with. The ethos behind our ecosystem build is one of diversity that includes all young people, educators and stakeholders as a value add in an education system of change and reform for changemakers of the future. The workshop explores building an ecosystem in a regional school setting and beyond to foster meaningful connections with industry and other learning partners beyond the school gates.
Core principles in the workshop are of interaction with humanising elements which is imprinted with educators exploring their own values and motivations to make a difference. ‘It Takes a Village’ attendees explore what a ‘village ecosystem’ might look/sound/feel in their environment to develop human capabilities. The session is delivered as an interactive session with movement, conversation and action to take back to school and build an ecosystem. The focus is on how we might build a culture of the eco-village through identifying the entrepreneurs to tap into in your local village, consider the champion educators in the entrepreneurial space and the opportunities to connect, how to build onramps for a broader ecosystem through networks and how to make a village come alive through action. Think local, think big!
Every element of the workshop is immersive and interactive, allowing the participants the opportunity to yarn, ask questions and exchange knowledge which provides a learning focused experience. This allows conversations to be fluid and rich in culture, social capital, connection, collaboration, cooperation, trust, reciprocity and a focus on the common good. All the elements of an eco-village system and the driving force for an ecosystem enabler to be part of human connection and collaborations! Resources provided include tool kits to mind map, road map, gallery walk and yarning circles which allows opportunities to take back to the attendees own school setting and run a workshop to build the ecosystem capacity - a model of connections, stakeholders and entrepreneurial ecosystems.
A call to action is asked of all through Howard Gardner’s multiple intelligences ‘Inside the Octagon’ with a focus on the word ‘village’. How might we build a village with culture that is rich in social capital – collaboration, cooperation, trust, reciprocity, and a focus on the common good – to make the ecosystem come alive by connecting all the elements together?
Individual cards to ideate:
1) Numbers - How many….
2) Words - Where does the word come from…
3) People - Who…
4) Feelings - What emotions…
5) Nature - How does the environment...
6) Actions - What do people do…
7) Sounds - What songs have been written about it…
8) Sights - What images represent
Throughout ‘It Takes a Village’, there are multiple touch points for attendees to build dialogue and consultation to being a localised ecosystem start up and take back to school for continued growth. As a presenter of ‘It Takes a Village’, I have built valued connections from delivering the workshop that have impacted professionally and personally, such as the recent Chief Entrepreneurs ResilientQ Summit to Sea Mission, the localised E3 Educators Exchange and invitations to present at various 2024 education conferences, all of which enables robust growth in the ecosystem village that we continue to build at Kepnock State High School. All of which impact on the outcomes of transferable skills and employability for our changemakers of society.
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About The Author:
Nicole Amey is the 2022 Teens in Business Australian Entrepreneurial Educator, Year 12 Coordinator and Humanities Teacher who drives innovation for young people at Kepnock State High School, Bundaberg as well as building community engagement and strengthening the local innovation ecosystem. Nicole believes in entrepreneurial education as time and time again, she has seen the positive impact on students and staff. Nicole delivers entrepreneurial programmes through extra-curricular or programs aligned with the Humanities curriculum. Nicole is an intrapreneur, seeking to be involved in codesigning entrepreneurial programs and the development of a Global Entrepreneurial Credential. Nicole’s industry engagement and involvement in existing ecosystem activities has seen her identified as an ecosystem enabler from across Queensland at the Regional Ecosystem Symposium with Dept Tourism Innovation and Sport. She has been recognised and contributed to national research alongside a team of Australian educators as part of the Entrepreneurial Educators Exchange (E3). Nicole is passionate about empowering young people and driving systems change.
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