ethical and sustainable thinking

Entrepreneurial minds are not just dreamers distanced from the world that surrounds them. They are able (or should be) to assess the consequences that their ideas and actions have on other people, on society, on the environment. Enterprising teachers and students should therefore work on analyzing their ideas in ethical and sustainable terms, adapt ideas according to the situation or social needs, or take ethical and sustainable principles as a trigger for new ideas. 

Ethical behaviour

Solving real –life dilemmas in class is a good way to introduce your students to ethical thinking.  The topics could be inspired by situations that children and young people can closely relate to.

Example of a real-life dilemma: 

Lea has been offered something she really wants. Unfortunately, it's terribly unfair to a lot of other people and she knows it. Should she allow herself to benefit from an unfair situation?

Real-life dilemmas help students to see the different nuances of the meaning of acting responsibly, which is a relevant competence not only related to entrepreneurship. You can explore many other scenarios at the Daily Dilemma Archive. 

Sustainable thinking

What entrepreneurs should always have in mind is that what they do today will have an impact on theirs and everyone’s tomorrow. This entails thinking what consequences an action might have on the community, environment, economy and society as a whole.

Fair trade is a good example of a topic, which you can tackle in the classroom. By learning more about fair trade, students in both primary and secondary education can learn more about the relationships between farmers, businesses and consumers and how we can produce food in a sustainable way.

Primary school 

‘Tea in Malawi – what happens when you choose Fairtrade?’ is a learning activity for ages 7 to 12 which allows students to learn how tea is grown and how Fairtrade works. Through a series of group work students will examine the different factors that influence tea production and they will play a game where they would make decisions about how money is spent, taking in consideration workers.

Secondary school

‘Leandro and the mysterious case of the disappearing and reappearing river’ is a learning activity (ages 12+) that tackles the question of how human actions influence environment and climate through a discussion on the process of producing tea. You can use this activity or create a similar activity to bring their attention to situations where our actions have a durable effect on nature, society and economy.

You can explore other activity created by the Fairtrade Foundation here. 

An ethical doubt I can use in my classroom: 
During the course on pests and plant diseases, and the use of agrochemicals.
"You are a farmer and you have  a serious problem with a disease of  your crop. The agrochemical you must use is dangerous for the consumer, unless you harvest after 7 days. But the market offers high prices now and prices will drop next week. What will you do?

Boosting a sense of initiative and entrepreneurship in your students - European Schoolnet Academy Mooc