The Innovation Through Interaction Project Developing Sustainable Education Through Enterprise Programme completed 2006
The Innovation Through Interaction Project offered secondary schools the opportunity to develop sustainable education through enterprise opportunities for their students. The objective of the programme has been to develop school/business partnership projects which benefit both the students and businesses involved. These partnership projects have been aimed at the promotion of attitudes, values and skills that support entrepreneurial activity and business success in our community. The development of short-term partnership projects between schools and the business community sector can provide an authentic context for learning. These projects allow students to use the whole world as a classroom and learn innovative and enterprising skills as a result. The programme for 2006 built on the successful exemplars from both the original Innovator Project and The Innovation Through Interaction Projects completed in 2005. Schools involved in the Innovation Through Interaction Project in 2006 received funding support. Teachers, students and business community members received training in the following areas: * Interactive learning and teaching strategies. * How to link with the business community sector using enterprise partnership projects as a vehicle. * Training in interactive broadband communication tools to help facilitate communication between the schools and enable the sharing of ideas. The objective of The Innovation Through Interaction Project is to both encourage innovative and entrepreneurial activity in the school, and ensure the development of a sustainable model for future projects. The school may also explore other avenues, such as sponsorship, to develop a sustainable model. Venture Southland provided overall project management and a high degree of flexibility existed to allow each school develop a model of programme delivery that suits their unique situation. A lead teacher or Cell Cordinator in the school took on the responsibility for managing the programme within the school. Professional support, teacher/student/partner training, teacher release, seed funding and a communications network were made available to support the school as they developed their model. Linking to other enterprise programmes, local projects, industries and regional initiatives within the wider Innovation Through Interaction Project enabled a school to foster community and development opportunities. Individual businesses could support the programme by association and promote positive school-business relationships. These relationships encouraged the development of positive business attitudes and highlight career pathways to potential future employees.
This project was supported by: New Zealand Trade and Enterprise: Enterprise Culture and Skills Activities Fund, Venture Southland, Venture Southland Charitable Trust and the Southern Institute of Technology. | 
