Startups are generally considered to be new, technology-focused companies that are less than five years old. For the most part, they aim to disrupt industry with innovations, grow in terms of users and revenues and provide value to customers and shareholders.
It may not appear that startups have much in common with English Language Teaching (ELT), but there is, in fact, plenty to learn from startups and the way they work.
By understanding how startups think and looking at their best attributes, we can bring more creativity to our classrooms. Not only can we find new ways for our students to learn, collaborate and grow together, but we can also help our students develop much-needed leadership and critical thinking skills.
At its core, startup thinking is about problem-solving and growth. User-focused and data-driven, startup teams theorize, research, plan and test their products on new markets. Their strength is in their agility, being able to "pivot" quickly: change products, services and technology based on feedback from their customers.
They also operate on a number of key principles, all of which can be applied in the classroom:
Startups are entrepreneurial by definition. Their staff work in teams, but also have no problem going it alone, finding solutions and taking responsibility for new projects and initiatives. These are all excellent traits to encourage in the classroom as they will not only help your learners in an educational context, but in their professional lives too.
By learning to be accountable to themselves, measuring their own progress and seeing their achievements, autonomous learners develop self-confidence and progress faster as a result.
It’s therefore important to encourage students to take responsibility for their own learning. Rather than being solely reliant on their teacher, autonomous learners seek out ways to practice and improve their language skills in ways that appeal to them.
To do this, brainstorm strategies with your students to help them find ways to use English outside the classroom. They could, for example, keep a journal in English, watch English language films and take notes, read short stories or news articles, or even set their technology and social media language settings to English.
Startups have a common goal: to establish a business model and achieve a product-market fit. This goal focuses people’s attention and develops rapport among team members. As an additional benefit of working together, startuppers learn their own strengths and weaknesses and begin to collaborate with team members with complementary skills.
By learning about your students’ interests, objectives and needs, you can find inspiration to design relevant class projects. These give your students a common goal and the chance to collaborate effectively. What’s more, project work is rich in language learning opportunities and makes students accountable to one another. This in turn increases motivation and provides a genuine context for language learning.
Startups are not afraid to get things wrong. In fact, all entrepreneurs embrace mistakes, as they are part of coming to the right solution. As Thomas Edison once said "I have not failed 10,000 times – I’ve successfully found 10,000 ways that will not work." ?Some startups go as far as to reward and celebrate failure – saying that it’s a sign that a person is trying to succeed.
Encourage students to see mistakes as learning opportunities. Creating a safe space in the classroom where everyone is treated with respect and mistakes are viewed as natural learning experiences. This will help your students learn the language at their own pace, without fear of ridicule.
Startups are famous for focusing on growth and believing in improving their products. They see both negative and positive feedback as opportunities to grow. By always seeking to optimize their products and services, they improve the user experience and earn loyalty.
Similarly, it’s key to foster a growth mindset in your learners. ?A growth mindset perceives intelligence and ability as attributes to be developed, whereas a fixed mindset sees intelligence and ability as innate and unchanging.
Students with a growth mindset will therefore believe they can improve, be more motivated and see more progress as a result.
Startup founders mentor and support their team members when they face challenges, when they need to grow and when they are not reaching their potential. This increases the value of the workforce and enables them to be more productive.
Teachers are often already naturals at this. We know how important it is to offer support to our students, especially when they are feeling frustrated or disappointed with their progress. With our encouragement and support, our students can achieve things they never thought possible. So perhaps, in this final point, startup leaders could learn a thing or two from us.
所要时间: 6.5分で読めます
蜜桃app Test of English (PTE)の旅に出ることは、特にそれが留学の旅の極めて重要な瞬間である場合、または英語圏の国でのキャリアや永住権への一歩である場合、神経をすり減らす経験になる可能性があります。この包括的な投稿は、PTEテストを受けることを決めた瞬間から実際に受験する日まで、プロセス全体をガイドするように設計されており、最初から最後まで心配のないさわやかな体験を保証します。
詳細なウォークスルーにより、自信を持って準備し、落ち着いた心でテストに臨むことができます。持ち物、持ち物、荷物の置き場所など、知っておく必要のあるすべてのことをカバーします。そのため、試験日が来たときに、 英語 テストに合格することに集中し、細かいことを心配する必要はありません。
所要时间: 約 5 分
スキル开発に投资する公司は、优秀な人材を维持する可能性が高く、他にも多くのメリットがあることがわかっています。チームの英语习熟度を高めることは、ビジネスに変革的な効果をもたらし、新しい机会、成长、従业员のエンゲージメントを高めることにつながります。しかし、公司の语学学习プログラムの実施は困难な场合があります。従来の目标设定フレームワークを使用することで、あなたとあなたのチームは、この困难を乗り越えることができます。方法は次のとおりです。
所要时间: 約 4 分
留学中または間もなく留学される方へ 新しい言語を学び、実社会で言語スキルを練習する方法についてアドバイスが必要ですか? 馴染みのない場所では、どのように始めればよいかを知るのは大変なことですが、少しの努力と役立つヒントに従うことで、語学力を向上させ、留学経験を最大限に活用することができます。
