Makerspaces A to Z: Enterprising

I recently launched a new blog series, Makerspaces A to Z. You can read all about the letter A, B, C and D. Thank you to all those who shared their thoughts about those posts using the #MakerspacesAtoZ hashtag. Thank you also to those who shared their thoughts about letter E words there, as well. Letter E words shared included: Experience, Eclectic, Ethereal, Efficacy, Emerge, Energy and more! Those who know me well, might have thought my selection for Letter E would have been Elon Musk, and while I was tempted…

Letter E represents Enterprising.

I do not read many magazines anymore, but one that I read consistently is Harvard Business Review. Although entrepreneurs are oftentimes written about in their publication, I have been more interested in the pieces that focus on being an enterprising person. What does it mean to be enterprising? There are a number of definitions, including: “Having or showing initiative and resourcefulness”, “Ready to undertake projects of importance or difficulty, or untried schemes”, “Energetic in carrying out any undertaking”, “Having the ability to think of new activities or ideas and make them work”.

Enterprising is oftentimes associated with starting a business, or an enterprise, but really, it has nothing to do with making money. It encompasses a set of attributes or characteristics of someone, such as: adaptable, confident, strategic thinker, innovative, courageous, imaginative, creative, driven, resourceful, original, ambitious, determined, persistent, and passionate. Those people might or might not go on to be entrepreneurs and start their own businesses. What is interesting to me about being enterprising is that it takes entrepreneurship to another level.

Entrepreneurs are enterprising, but you can be enterprising without being an entrepreneur.

So while, yes, fostering that entrepreneurial spirit certainly has become an invaluable feature of many makerspaces, arguably more meaningful, is fostering enterprising characteristics in our learners. Not all students will be entrepreneurs, but all students are capable of enterprising behaviors. Enterprise skills will benefit students no matter what path they take in life (or even what planet it is on).

About

Laura Fleming

Laura has been an educator in the state of New Jersey for 20 years. She has been both a classroom teacher and media specialist in grades K-8 and currently as a Library Media Specialist for grades 9-12. She has played a prominent role in education as a writer and speaker and has served as an educational consultant on Next Generation teaching standards and tools. Laura co-hosts the Movers & Makers Podcast, and is the author of the best-selling, Worlds of Learning: Best Practices for Establishing a Makerspace for Your School (Corwin, 2015). Laura is also the creator of a digital badge-based professional development platform in which educators all over the world earn badges in acknowledgment of their professional learning. Her library Makerspace has garnered national attention and has served as an inspiration for schools across the country. She is also a recipient of the National School Boards ‘20 to Watch’ in Educational Technology Leadership for 2014 and was recently nominated as a White House Champion of Change for Making. Laura is also the creator of the ‘Worlds of Making’ Digital Academy, which provides makerspace professional development for teachers. Her goal is to create learning experiences that empower and equip students with the necessary skills to effectively produce and consume content across multiple media platforms. She is also driven to enable educators and cohorts in applying these innovative methods and cutting-edge technology in their fields of expertise. Laura is an educational consultant, thought leader and speaker on education, librarianship, and technology.