This paper considers a significant new curricular innovation for secondary school aged children in England: the introduction from September 2010 of education for economic wellbeing and financial capability as a statutory requirement of the well-being agenda. One of key delivery strategies identified to achieve this is the incorporation of ‘enterprise education’, already part of the entitlement curriculum in maintained schools in England and Wales. In doing this, the paper draws on current European initiatives in the area of enterpriose education and lifelong learning.

The research is underpinned by a number of broad, key questions arising from the national implementation of this initiative: first, is enterprise education a valuable and necessary element of the statutory curriculum for young people in schools? Related to this is a second question: How valuable is enterprise education - is it a political necessity in the current global economic downturn? This leads to a third question: how does the curriculum for enterprise education relate to different understandings of the aims of education? For teachers working in schools, these broad questions open up more practical ones that form the basis of the empirical data to be collected and analysed: first, what are teachers’ views of how enterprise education is intended to contribute to student inclusion? Second, what are the implications of this national curriculum development for the training of teachers working in this area? For the purposes of this conference paper, one of the questions will be taken and interrogated in detail. The focus will be on an engagement with the final question and on a critical analysis of two different aspects: first, how the curriculum in secondary initial teacher education across different subject areas will take account of pedagogy for delivering -  and for assessing - enterprising learning (Spielhofer and Lynch 2008). Second, the paper will explore the expectations of the trainee teachers in terms of their pedagogical preparation, a factor that has been identified as a critical success factor (Evans and Evans 2007; Macdonald 2009). In addition the paper will seek to examine the aspirations of existing teacher mentors of newly qualified staff entering the profession.

The research will also subject to critique the often cited theoretical framework underpinning policy and curriculum development in the area of well-being education generally: namely the ineluctable relationship between children’s well-being, and their achievement in schools (QCA 2007).

Evans, C., and Evans, B., (2007), ‘ More than Just Worksheets?: A Study of the Confidence of Newly Qualified Teachers of English in Teaching Personal, Social and Health Education in Secondary Schools’, Pastoral Care in Education, Vol. 25 Issue 4, p42-50. Macdonald, A., (2009), Independent Review of the Proposal to Include Personal, Social, Health and Economic PSHE) Education Statutory, London: DCSF. Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA) (2007) PSHE: Economic Wellbeing and Financial Capability: Programme of study (non-statutory) for key stage 3 and attainment target, London: QCA. Spielhofer, T., and Lynch, S., (2008). Assessing Enterprise Capability: Guidance for Schools. Slough: NFER.