The Social Entrepreneurial Skills Toolkit is designed to support the development of social enterprise and entrepreneurial skills within the higher and further education curriculum. The project aimed to identify the skills, knowledge, and capabilities students requires to fulfil the role of a social entrepreneur and to reflect these within the curriculum.
An audit tool was created that identifies the key knowledge, skills and capabilities that should be included when designing a social enterprise learning experience: the Pedagogy of Social Enterprise Model (see Section One of the Toolkit). This evidence-based model comprises six key components of learning that should inform social entrepreneurial skill development.
This audit tool will be an asset for course teams, enabling them to assess the currency of their curriculum and support the delivery of needs-led education. The wider toolkit provides valuable resources to support social enterprise delivery as a learning experience.
You can learn more about the project’s methodology and findings in our Final Report.
Social Entrepreneurial Skills Toolkit
Section One: The Pedagogy of Social Enterprise Model
This audit tool identifies key knowledge, skills and capabilities that should be included when designing a social enterprise learning experience. The Pedagogy of Social Enterprise Model is evidenced-based and comprises six key components of learning that should inform social entrepreneurial skill development.
Section Two: Learning Company Model
This section illustrates an alternative to the traditional work-based/placement learning opportunity whereby students instead work with practitioners on real issues and projects to enhance skills and capability development.
Section Three: Social Enterprise Module
A module (FHEQ6) is introduced that demonstrates how students managing a small piece of independent research enables the development of social enterprise and the importance of value and the management of social impact.
Section Four: Mentoring and Coaching
Mentoring and coaching is a key feature of success in social enterprise. This set of editable PowerPoint presentations highlights and reflects on the core competencies required to enable successful mentorship.
Section Five: What is Social Enterprise?
A collection of resources that help to illustrate the nature of social enterprise and entrepreneurship and what it might become as we look to the future.
Section Six: Case Studies and Guides
This section highlights a selection of case studies and “how to” guides that are freely available that can be used to provide an application and illustration of social enterprises when delivering learning opportunities.
Section Seven: Methodology and Findings
This section provides details of the final report illustrating the process undertaken during the project to develop the toolkit.
Section Eight: Academic paper
The aim of this paper is to map out a new, global, cross-disciplinary framework from a teaching and learning perspective. The authors call for global empowerment of entrepreneurship education in the higher education sector, using examples from different countries worldwide, specifically Ghana, India, and the UK.
This paper sets out the vital importance of entrepreneurship in teaching and learning. It proposes a new pedagogical social enterprise model incorporating and emphasising the ‘think globally, act locally’ ethos in a sustainability context.
- Social enterprise as a model for change: mapping a global cross-disciplinary framework - Entrepreneurship Education
Halsall, J.P., Snowden, M., Clegg, P. et al. Social enterprise as a model for change: mapping a global cross-disciplinary framework. Entrep Educ 5, 425–446 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s41959-022-00084-w
Project lead:
University of Huddersfield
Project partners:
University of Bolton, City College Plymouth and University of Huddersfield
Other Collaborative Enhancement Projects
QAA supports a number of projects every year, covering a range of topics and interest areas. Each is led by a QAA Member, working in collaboration with other members institutions. You can find more information on all projects, and access resources and outputs, on our website.