IP Teachers on the Next Generation of Innovators & Creators
October 4, 2021
In celebration of World Teachers’ Day, the WIPO Academy is sharing the experiences and insights of two notable educators who have made a significant impact on the next generations of innovators, creators and entrepreneurs in Romania and Trinidad and Tobago.
The Academy works with educators and curricula setters in ministries of education across the world to help promote innovation and creativity education through intellectual property (IP) in primary and secondary school curricula. The efforts and trainings are organized under the WIPO Academy’s IP4Youth&Teachers service.
Romania: Elena Roxana Vișan
Following in her mother’s footsteps, Elena Roxana Vișan decided to pursue a career as a social sciences teacher. She graduated from Valahia University of Targoviste with a specialization in Law and the Bucharest University of Economic Studies with a specialization public management, after which she completed her doctorate in administration sciences at the National University of Political Studies and Public Administration of Romania. She then became a schoolteacher and twenty-three years later she is still shaping the minds of young learners. Roxana currently focuses on interdisciplinary creativity, entrepreneurship and IP education covering secondary school classes such as “Inventions of Ancient Civilizations”, “Romanian Traditional Brands” and “Inventors’ Journals”.
Roxana was first introduced to creativity, entrepreneurship and IP education at a training course for teachers that was jointly organized by Romanian Copyright Office (ORDA) and the WIPO Academy in Bucharest in 2016. Ever since, she has been involved in training school teachers and students on IP, including IP workshops for students, national competitions to promote national inventors and World IP Day celebrations. Roxana also developed a practical guide for teachers on teaching IP, and year-long IP trainings for students at pedagogical colleges who go on to become teachers in the national school system.
Romanian youth are very creative. My dream is to promote the importance of IP because it is a new paradigm for human development that the nation needs for socio-economic growth.
Elena Roxana Vișan, Social Sciences Teacher, Queen Marie National Pedagogical College (Romania)
She often faces the challenge of convincing her students and their parents of the importance of IP courses and assignments as IP is not a compulsory subject in the national curriculum. From an administrative standpoint, she also struggles to squeeze in IP topics into the limited hours of the curriculum which is packed as is, but she manages to link IP to many school subjects through effective time management and sheer perseverance.
In her role as a teacher she has mentored several young creative students. Roxana was also recognized for her excellent mentorship of a team of girls who participated in the Technovation Girls Challenge in Romania, which was organized in partnership with the United States of America. Her group developed a digital tool for the visually impaired.
I love my profession and I want to continue inspiring students to tap into their creativity because they are the light of our society.
Elena Roxana Vișan, Social Sciences Teacher, Queen Marie National Pedagogical College (Romania)
Trinidad and Tobago: Nisa Suepaul
When Nisa Suepaul was in secondary school, her younger sister was killed in a vehicular accident and in the most difficult period of her life, it was her school teachers who rallied around her and supported her through the tragedy. In appreciation of all that her teachers have done, Nisa decided that she wanted to do the same for others and pursued a career in teaching. She studied Economics, Business and Education at the University of the West Indies and the University of Sheffield, and Law at the University of London. She started as a business teacher for the secondary school students at the Lakshmi Girls' Hindu College in St. Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago. As an educator, she realized that the archaic methods of teaching which involved taking notes and memorization were not as effective when compared to the more practical approaches that encouraged students to use their creativity. Her lesson plans grew to feature hands-on exercises that helped hone in on the creative skills of her students. She credits Bloom’s Taxonomy as the methodology that enabled her to do so.
After her years as a schoolteacher, Nisa was promoted to Curriculum Officer at the Ministry of Education of Trinidad and Tobago. She felt like she could make a greater impact as a Curriculum Officer through her input on the design, development and implementation of curricula which would benefit all schools in the country. In her role as Curriculum Officer, she is responsible for 650 business teachers across secondary schools in Trinidad and Tobago. She emphasizes to her teachers’ group the importance of using practical creative exercises that link to IP topics in order to help them develop the ‘Ideal Caribbean Citizen’, fostering an entrepreneurial nature through creativity and innovation among the youth. Most Business subjects under Nisa’s purview, include elements of entrepreneurship, creativity and how to protect IP rights. She knows that she has achieved significant impact among teachers and students as national examination results for business classes at the secondary school level continue to noticeably improve.
Nisa also facilitates a number of entrepreneurship competitions and initiatives for students in Trinidad and Tobago. Since 2017, students have been exposed to the annual National Secondary School Entrepreneurship Competition, which consists of a virtual game for groups of students who have to start a business with a certain amount of money. The top three teams that generate a profit at the end of the competition win. She is particularly proud of several winners who have gone on to start their own businesses using the ideas they developed during the competition. Nisa recognizes that the success of the competitions to integrate innovation, creativity and IP education into the business curricula of secondary schools is dependent on the support of the private sector, as students get to develop practical knowledge from experiences at SMEs and larger corporations. She is also grateful for the public-private sector partnerships that have provided the necessary funding, and for the efforts of the business teachers at the Ministry of Education for bringing entrepreneurship to life in the curriculum.
My best advice to anyone starting out in IP education is to embrace it. Find ways to incorporate IP into the curriculum immediately. We owe that to our young creative minds.
Nisa Suepaul, Curriculum Officer (Trinidad and Tobago)
Ultimately, Nisa hopes to see a greater focus on IP at every level of the education system in the near future. Despite her busy schedule as a Curriculum Officer, a small business owner, and serving on several national committees including the Board of Queens Hall, a performing arts theater in Port of Spain, she plans to pursue a doctorate in IP education. When she has a moment of free time, she loves to unwind with Latin dance and quality time with her family, mainly her two daughters who are currently in secondary school. She always makes sure to impart her knowledge of IP rights to them when they compose songs, together with friends.