Book Review                                                 Page 41

World Class Learners 

Educating Creative and Entrepreneurial Students

by Yong Zhao, Corwin, Thousand Oaks, Calif., 2012, 271 pp. with index. $29.95 softcover

Education today teaches many skills emphasizing communication and critical thinking. Yet few curriculum documents stress development of the entrepreneurial mindset that has become significant to survival in our modern society.

Yong Zhao, presidential chair and associate dean for global and online education at the University of Oregon, sets out clearly his thesis that traditional delivery of education provides for the learning of defined packages of information that may well be valuable but do not allow for student creativity and the freedom to practice entrepreneurial thinking.

The author believes the nations with the highest achievement on international testing do not encourage creativity and entrepreneurial exercises. Rather, they define core curriculum and deliver it to meet the criteria of standardized testing.

The emergence of the global society demands preparation for new types of jobs and the ability to know and move beyond the local career identity, Zhao says.

He cites several examples of the need for a new mindset that goes from finding jobs to creating jobs. His thesis is that educators must recognize this shift and adapt curriculum that allows for creative and entrepreneurial initiative if schools are to produce world-class learners.

Reviewed by Frank Kelly, executive director, Council of Ontario Directors of Education, Oakville, Ontario