Building a ‘normal’ that’s fit for the future
Every young person has a right to unshakeable confidence in their ability to shape the world for better. They have a right to the know-how of developing fresh ideas to ease the issues that matter to them. It’s not a new idea for pupils to apply their learning to challenges that nobody knows the answer to, but it’s still all-too-rare. TYF and partners are on a mission to fix that.
Remote learning has opened a wide range of new possibilities for pupils and students to build skills and capability for the tough road ahead. A group of education partners with proven track record are building an online coaching network to support pupils as they grow insight, creativity, STEM and ethical capability by wrestling with real-world challenges set by businesses and government and NGOs. We need your help.
Closing the gap
Many excellent organisations are running hacks, environmental activities, outdoor days and in-school or hands-on activities but not many of them help employers and people learn together. Better connections between the organisations needing progress on complex problems and the minds of young people whose employability and careers will be defined by those same issues can bring untold benefit for all. Future-focused online workshops can help employers build curiosity with well-designed questions, and coach young people as they create practical ideas for change that make a difference in the real world.
Co-designing solutions that work
A growing team of education providers are working together and deliver real-world learning that bring learning alive for pupils and students using interactive Zoom coaching. With funding from businesses and foundations and education support from Cardiff University and Cardiff Metropolitan University, curriculum-ready lessons for learners 3–23 years old will be delivered live online for free for individual classes by experienced coaches, trainers and teachers. We are gathering teachers’ thoughts on five questions:
1. What are the greatest benefits you’d expect pupils to get from working together on well-designed real-world challenges to create solutions they can implement?
2. Assuming that lessons were delivered to the highest professional standards and free to use with no limit, how many times a term might you use them with a single class over an academic year?
3. What’s the most important thing that support like this could bring to you as a teaching professional?
4. From your experience since the start of the Covid-19 lockdown, what elements are making most difference in ensuring that online learning works for learners?
5. Would you be interested in helping us design and trial our next stage of coaching sessions to make them powerful enough to change the world?
Please take a couple of minutes to send us your thoughts on these questions via SurveyMonkey and reply here to ask a question or get involved.
Example challenges
Child-Friendly City. Cardiff City Council are on a mission to make Cardiff the UK’s first ‘Child Friendly City’. Prior to the shutdown, TYF were working with social change agency Platfform and the council to develop real world challenges set by the health board, the council and progressive local businesses about the changes they’d make if they were serious about being a child-friendly organisation, sharing with every school in the city.
Hospital design When Hywel Dda Health Board start formally planning the detail of their proposed new general hospital, they’ll already have creative, fresh ideas to consider from a group of 28 cross-discipline students who scoured the world for innovation practices that could be included in the design, and presented them to the executive board.
Cooling futures We brought the CEO of SureChill together with A-level students to spark new ideas about ways of using their tech-based cooling and wellbeing solutions to even greater effect.
Food technology The co-founder of Growing Underground one of the world’s leading next-generation hydroponic food businesses shared ideas with students and took away ideas worth exploring further.
Learning Partners
We’re talking to existing and potential partners around the world about ways to create game-changing free resources for schools that optimise pupils’ readiness for change. Those in the conversation include:
AimHi. Science-based educators with quirky and smart science lessons to inspire student participation
Beyond COP 21 Symposium. Connecting school communities with action on sustainable development
Compass for Life. Values-based education to help pupils develop goals, values and action plans
Dreamtank. Online organizer of hacks and experience-driven programmes to unleash the genius of change
Dubit. The world’s largest kids’ agency, designing immersive education and entertainment
Earth School. 30 days of nature and environmentally focused Quests for students around the world
Invento Lab. Linking enterprise and sustainability with B Corp principles and real-world learning
ISSET. The International Space Station Education Trust links STEM problem solving & imagination for pupils
Pactful. Social innovation programmes to address the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.
Reboot the Future. Helping young people build social movement informed by the ‘Golden Rule’
Rubbish Science. Empowering young people with systematic strategies for science-based problem solving
The Weaving Lab. Creating conditions for collective action around shared purpose
