British Business Embassy days - Education Summit

Speakers included Olympic gold-medal-winning athletes Steve Cram and Sally Gunnell, who discussed the extent to which schools can inspire youngsters into sport, noting that although good teachers can be inspirational, sports motivation must come also from joining up with local community clubs, sports clubs, etc.

UK education and skills exports are worth £14.7 billion pounds annually. Sir Michael Barber, Chief Education Adviser at educational publishing giant Pearson discussed keys to educational success and ways the UK is sharing our educational success internationally.

He detailed nine characteristics of great education systems:

• Globally-benchmarked standards;
• Good, transparent data and accountability;
• Every child on the agenda always – to challenge inequality;
• Recruit great people and train them well;
• Continuous improvement of pedagogical skills and knowledge;
• Great leadership at school level;
• Effective, enabling central department and agencies;
• Capacity to manage change and engage communities at every level;
• Operational responsibility and budgets significantly devolved to school level.

Sir Michael noted that great systems must combine:

• Universal standards and personalisation;
• Whole systems and autonomous schools;
• Best practice and innovations;
• Teaching and technology;
• Disciplinary and inter-disciplinary;
• Public and private;
• Strategy and implementation.

Across the world, there is a need for more scientists, from ensuring basic access to clean water to taking advantage of new technologies. Leading colleges, universities, trade associations and educational suppliers explored how students can be inspired into science and technology. For example, the Bloodhound land speed record project is being used to capture young people’s imagination through technology. Open University co-productions, such as Frozen Planet, are reaching almost a billion people globally.

The importance of entrepreneurship was celebrated with a Dragon’s Den-style competition between the enterprise associations of different universities. In discussing how enterprise can be embedded in education, presenters noted that entrepreneurship is mindset which can be developed in any student, studying any discipline – changing mindsets is the role of the leadership of an institution. 80% of top-growth companies are founded and managed by graduates. It was also noted that the only job growth taking place at the moment is from the starting of new, small dynamic companies.

The UK is home to some of the world’s top ten universities, a leading operator of international schools and universities and a leading innovator in distance and e-learning material and programmes.

 

The Global Business Summit on Education - Delivering a sustainable education and training legacy for major events

North Hertfordshire College

 

 

Panel Session

 

 

Sochi 2014 Olympics Organising Committee

 

 

Stellenbosch University

 

 

Excellence and Equality in Higher Education Inspired by London 2012

 

 

The Importance of Skills Training for Major Sporting Events

 

 

Sustaining Sustainability

Is the Sustainability Agenda Gathering  Momentum and Developing a Lasting Economic and Social Legacy?

 

 

Sustaining Sustainability: ARUP

 

 

Panel Session

 

 

The Eden Project

 

 

University of Bath