Dr Vicky Mountford-Brown

• Lecturer in Creativity & Entrepreneurship Newcastle University Business School
• Development of educator and student resources for professional development in enterprise and entrepreneurship education. Creative Spark Project Lead (December 2020 - July 2022).

What are your research interests/interest in the work of Creative Spark ?

My research interests interweave with the Creative Spark project in many ways.  I am interested in the enterprise and entrepreneurship education (EEE) pedagogy and the development of entrepreneurial identities.  Through my interests in identities, my sensitivity to diversity and difference I hope to carry out some research focussing on the different cultural contexts of EEE in terms of the approaches and resources it involves. 

I am a passionate advocate for the role of EEE in developing 21^st century enabled graduates and in strengthening innovation pipelines in all strata of societies and commerce, so the Creative Spark project provides space for me to develop my interests in new, exciting contexts.   As a Fellow of Enterprise Educators UK and ambassador of the excellent EEE at Newcastle University, the opportunity to develop collaborative ways of working in education and sustainable international partnerships remains an exciting one.

Why do you think Creative Spark is important?

Creative Spark makes an important bridge between countries and the funding to establish meaningful ways of creating avenues for knowledge-exchange and sustainable working partnerships in education and creative industries. 

Creative Spark is important to enhance entrepreneurial education and skills development at all levels.  It is important for us all as EEE practitioners to better understand different audiences and needs and to be able to develop our perspectives and work accordingly.  

Finally, Creative Spark is energising!  Linking with a network of brilliant, passionate people across multiple countries is truly a fantastic opportunity.

What you’ve done in the Creative Spark project so far?

I had the pleasure of meeting many Educators from Azerbaijan in their initial visit to Newcastle, before I joined Newcastle University Business School (NUBS) in my current post.  Since joining NUBS I have taken part in a number of project activities and took over the leadership of the project from my predecessor Professor Matthew Gorton.  I was lucky to have the opportunity to visit Baku in February 2020 and work with a number of fine educators and professionals during my stay.  In particular, the 2-day Train the Trainer programme co-developed and co-delivered with Andrea Lane.

Since the pandemic impacted and affected all of our working lives, my project focus has been to develop a series of online resources to help manage the challenges of reverting to online education delivery.  This also has included several webinar series designed to bring educators to share in best practise throughout these extraordinary times.

What you’re interested in seeing happen in the Creative Sark project in the future?

The focus I am most interested in during the remaining project lifespan is to try and affect sustainable and meaningful change so that our efforts can impact beyond the scope of the Creative Spark funding.  To facilitate this we hope to engage the Ministry of Education to try and establish ways in which EEE can be embedded into University institutions (and educational pathways) in Azerbaijan.  It would be great to establish a form of professional recognition for the passionate educators who are innovating in their teaching and support with students.  I would also like to see a real joined-up focussed effort across the partnerships to tackle the issues surrounding cultural, contextual factors in educational resources and partnerships.