Samhlaiocht to bring Entrepreneurs to Life!
Theatre Techniques to get Students Thinking Outside the Box
"The entrepreneur is our visionary, the creator in each of us. We're born with that quality and it defines our lives as we respond to what we see, hear, feel, and experience. It is developed, nurtured, and given space to flourish or is squelched, thwarted, without air or stimulation, and dies." So said Michael Gerber, entrepreneur, small business guru and best selling author of five books.
And with just such an ideal in mind, Kerry Enterprise Board CEO, Tomas Hayes, came up with a novel way to help develop and nurture young entrepreneurs - using theatrical techniques, those used by actors to help them prepare for roles, to help Transition Year students investigate and develop their instinctive skills and talents and help them bring the 'Entrepreneur Within' to life! "I thought it would be a fantastic way to get students thinking about what it means to be an entrepreneur," says Tomas.
He then contacted Kerry-based Arts organisation, Samhlaiocht, who brought an understanding of the Arts and Theatre to the table to complement Tomas' experience in the business world. "We're delighted to be working with the Kerry County Enterprise Board," said Jason O' Mahony, Director of Samhlaiocht. "I did a Masters in Business at UCG and have always loved combining the Arts with Business and vice versa."
And while the programme will utilise techniques from the Arts it will be results oriented with students competing for a prize that will provide seed capital of 5,000 euro to over fifteen start-up businesses in five schools through out Kerry.
The project will be delivered by Jikijela, a Sligo based company that specialises in Brand, Customer Experience and Business Culture Design using creative facilitation techniques developed for the business community. A number of differing techniques will be used, including 'Forum Theatre', which is a method that centres on the students actively creating scenes that an entrepreneur is likely to face and then 'acting' out possible solutions. The students are involved in the construction of the scenes, and are encouraged to develop inputs and suggested altered outcomes.
Debate is encouraged and an arena for practical, interactive solutions is provided. The students take part as the 'scene' unfolds, further encouraging them to think, to reason and to act like entrepreneurs. It is crucially a collective experience where all the Students strive to see alternative angles to the problems of starting up a business and to then resolve those problems in an imaginative, creative fashion.
"We're looking forward to rolling out the programme," says Jason, "and we're convinced that it will work for one simple reason - because it's fun! The non-traditional methods used will encourage Students to think in non traditional ways. In the business world, entrepreneurs see opportunities everywhere but others see only problems. The programme encourages students to look beyond the problems and to actively seek out opportunities, teaching them to act like Entrepreneurs, teaching them to think like Entrepreneurs, teaching them, in short, to be Entrepreneurs!"
"We're going to roll out the programme in five schools through out Kerry," adds Tomas. "With Samhlaiocht and Jikijela on board, we have professional facilitators with a background in both business and theatre who will deliver a programme that's designed to dovetail with other work being done in the area. The programme can function as either a back-up Entrepreneur programme or a stand-alone project. We are anxious to get started, get feedback from the Schools and link into other programmes."
The programme will take place over the school year 2008 - 2009 and is designed to fit into individual schools learning plans and the school curriculum ensuring the least possible disruption with the maximum results.
The Programme is being delivered by Kerry County Enterprise Board and Samhlaiocht, the premier Arts Organisation in Kerry, and interested parties should contact Tomas Hayes of Kerry County Enterprise Board on 066 718 3522.
For more information on Kerry Enterprise Board, please log onto www.kerryenterprise.ie
For more information on Samhlaiocht, please log onto www.samhlaiocht.com
For more information on Jikijela, please log onto www.jikijela.com please also log onto www.jel.ie
"The entrepreneur is our visionary, the creator in each of us. We're born with that quality and it defines our lives as we respond to what we see, hear, feel, and experience. It is developed, nurtured, and given space to flourish or is squelched, thwarted, without air or stimulation, and dies." So said Michael Gerber, entrepreneur, small business guru and best selling author of five books.
And with just such an ideal in mind, Kerry Enterprise Board CEO, Tomas Hayes, came up with a novel way to help develop and nurture young entrepreneurs - using theatrical techniques, those used by actors to help them prepare for roles, to help Transition Year students investigate and develop their instinctive skills and talents and help them bring the 'Entrepreneur Within' to life! "I thought it would be a fantastic way to get students thinking about what it means to be an entrepreneur," says Tomas.
He then contacted Kerry-based Arts organisation, Samhlaiocht, who brought an understanding of the Arts and Theatre to the table to complement Tomas' experience in the business world. "We're delighted to be working with the Kerry County Enterprise Board," said Jason O' Mahony, Director of Samhlaiocht. "I did a Masters in Business at UCG and have always loved combining the Arts with Business and vice versa."
And while the programme will utilise techniques from the Arts it will be results oriented with students competing for a prize that will provide seed capital of 5,000 euro to over fifteen start-up businesses in five schools through out Kerry.
The project will be delivered by Jikijela, a Sligo based company that specialises in Brand, Customer Experience and Business Culture Design using creative facilitation techniques developed for the business community. A number of differing techniques will be used, including 'Forum Theatre', which is a method that centres on the students actively creating scenes that an entrepreneur is likely to face and then 'acting' out possible solutions. The students are involved in the construction of the scenes, and are encouraged to develop inputs and suggested altered outcomes.
Debate is encouraged and an arena for practical, interactive solutions is provided. The students take part as the 'scene' unfolds, further encouraging them to think, to reason and to act like entrepreneurs. It is crucially a collective experience where all the Students strive to see alternative angles to the problems of starting up a business and to then resolve those problems in an imaginative, creative fashion.
"We're looking forward to rolling out the programme," says Jason, "and we're convinced that it will work for one simple reason - because it's fun! The non-traditional methods used will encourage Students to think in non traditional ways. In the business world, entrepreneurs see opportunities everywhere but others see only problems. The programme encourages students to look beyond the problems and to actively seek out opportunities, teaching them to act like Entrepreneurs, teaching them to think like Entrepreneurs, teaching them, in short, to be Entrepreneurs!"
"We're going to roll out the programme in five schools through out Kerry," adds Tomas. "With Samhlaiocht and Jikijela on board, we have professional facilitators with a background in both business and theatre who will deliver a programme that's designed to dovetail with other work being done in the area. The programme can function as either a back-up Entrepreneur programme or a stand-alone project. We are anxious to get started, get feedback from the Schools and link into other programmes."
The programme will take place over the school year 2008 - 2009 and is designed to fit into individual schools learning plans and the school curriculum ensuring the least possible disruption with the maximum results.
The Programme is being delivered by Kerry County Enterprise Board and Samhlaiocht, the premier Arts Organisation in Kerry, and interested parties should contact Tomas Hayes of Kerry County Enterprise Board on 066 718 3522.
For more information on Kerry Enterprise Board, please log onto www.kerryenterprise.ie
For more information on Samhlaiocht, please log onto www.samhlaiocht.com
For more information on Jikijela, please log onto www.jikijela.com please also log onto www.jel.ie
1 Comments:
It is a very unique way of bringing out the entrepreneur within, I agree it would work though.
Peek into the business lives of our successful young entrepreneurs today. See the YES movie at www.TheYESmovie.com its from Louis Lautman.
By
Munin, At
September 16, 2008 at 7:54 PM
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