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Enspyre International Business Leaders Bootcamp 
The Enspyre International Business Leaders Bootcamp is a new course that I'm developing with Enspyre. I'm interested to know what you think about it, so please take some time to read through and comment on the different parts of it.
The theme of the course is "building better businesses by building better employees" and it was inspired by a problem that I see again and again. The problem is simply that most young Taiwanese people have been taught attitudes, ideas, and ways of doing things that are not appropriate for the new economy. As an employer, I am horrified by way young people think about their jobs. As an educator I am very frustrated that students don't learn effectively. And as a businessman I have to ask a very important question:
"How can my organisation grow if I can't hire people who can help me grow?" - and then I ask "Why should I hire anybody if they don't contribute anything?" If you understand this then you understand why there are so few Taiwanese multi-national companies.
 The goal of education in Taiwan is usually to enable students to get a good job. But the education system does not prepare students to be able to do a good job. They know how to pass tests, to recognise the 'right' answer, but they don't know how to find their own solutions to problems. In real life, there are no no multiple-choice situations where you can answer A,B,C,D or E. In real life, there is only one test: can you respond effectively to challenges?
I attended a Human Resources seminar recently, along with many hiring managers from major international companies and owners of smaller businesses in Taiwan. One of the things that became very clear was that very few people ever get a good job. There are too many graduates chasing too few jobs, and salaries are low. The only people who can earn a high salary are the ones who can offer their employer a competitive advantage in the global market place. These people must have a competitive advantage of their own, but they won't get it from the education system in Taiwan.
The Enspyre International Business Leaders Bootcamp is an alternative education program, designed to teach the skills and ideas that are useful to employers in the new economy. It covers practical money and time management, business education, problem solving, negotiating and presentation skills, web 2.0, and a formal study component focused on English for international tests such as IELTS, TOEFL and TOEIC. It can be taught at different levels: high school, university, and professional.
The different elements of the course are listed below for discussion. Click the titles to see the full article.(You'll need to register to be able to post your opinions. )
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There are two questions to ask about English learning. One concerns the knowledge students need, and the other concerns the way they use that knowledge.
I have spent many thousands of hours in classrooms with students in Taiwan. Even though they are very smart, most have great difficulty with the tasks required in international tests. (Taiwan ranks behind most other countries in scores of international tests.) They often have enough knowledge but lack the skills to use that knowledge effectively.
Also, many people make excuses. They say things to me like "my English poor because I don't have any opportunity to practise speaking, but my writing is OK." But then they fail the writing test they need to go to university overseas. Or they write an email to a customer or colleague in English, and the other person can't understand it.
I use the same book to teach writing skills to adults that I also us to teach junior high school students. Why? Because most Taiwanese adults write English to the same standard as a junior high school student! The truth is that high schools in Taiwan focus on studying vocabulary (because it's easy to test) but don't teach effective writing skills. And if a student can't write a report then he/can't can't give a presentation of that report.
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It has been shown that people learn best through experience, however in Taiwan the education still focuses on theoretical knowledge and test scores. One solution is to use role-playing games which allow students to see the outcomes of their decisions over time. These can be very stimulating as students are able to affect the outcome of the process, and learn from their mistakes, instead of simply repeating what they are told.
Some games may be played by individuals, others require interaction between teams. There are many computer-based role-playing games available which offer different advantages in teaching. I'm still looking, but have found three that are particularly useful in different ways:
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The truth is that a lot of people don't really want to be leaders. They want a "good job", and when they discover that there are very few good jobs available they decide to start their own business. But in most cases they work in their new business as if it was a job.
Very few people actually know how to run a business. They don't know how to manage their time efficiently, how to use their resources, how to make best use of people, or anything at all about money. Running a business is a management skill, and management skills are also the key to a successful career in a good job. If you don't know how to manage then you will never become CEO, so business skills are essential to everyone.
For me, business is fun. I know plenty about it, and I have some great strategies for helping students learn. The simplest is to run training courses as a money economy: students have to earn money by doing work given by their teachers, and spend that money to buy the goods and services they need to do the work.
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Obviously it's important to study the right things, but equally important is to use that knowledge.
Bootcamp should require the students to perform a variety of tasks that will challenge them and provide an opportunity to practise using English in a realistic environment. This is called activating your knowledge and is essential to learning.
Bootcamp provides five main areas for students to activate their learning:
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Bootcamp is the name given to basic training in military organisations. As well as basic skills, bootcamp teaches people to live and work to the rules used by the organisation. These rules exist because they enable people to get the job done, and have to be taught because the people in the bootcamp do things in a different way at first - they don't know how to get the job done!
At bootcamp, students are not allowed to keep lazy habits which will be harmful to them in the future. They are expected to improvise, to adapt, to overcome difficulties. And the only way to do this is to form new habits.
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Some people disagree with me, but I think you should enjoy your work.
I have a great 'job', although actually I work for myself. I sometimes work long hours, but I also make sure I take time off to have fun. More importantly, the work I do is enjoyable. I'm pretty good at it, I get a lot of pleasure from doing it, and it's rewarding in many ways. It's not "just a job" and I'm not only doing it for the money.
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