When I was a student in secondary school, the national science museum did a talk at the school and taught us things that were not on the national curriculum but that were worth knowing. They presented this information in an interactive presentation with workshops that followed. I enjoyed this as someone who learnt things best in a visual way and some of what I learnt that day I still remember and is useful information to know. I have asked a range of other people if their schools provided this sort of experience and they all responded with a yes meaning this teaching technique is something that is commonly used in schools around the country, however it seems only available for science and creative subjects.

https://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/learning/outreach-we-visit-you 

Knowing how effective visual learning really is I decided this is the way I want to solve the problem at hand. So taking inspiration from the National Science Museum I have decided on a company that can be hired by schools to do workshops on certain life skills that can be carried into their futures. Students could pick what skills they want to learn and have practice in with some being for everyone i.e. sewing, cooking, survival skills would be of those to choose from where as a lesson of maybe money management would be for everyone. Schools could hire this company to do talks and workshops on set skills that they do no offer themselves meaning it can cater to all schools and not repeating  anything on a schools individual curriculum.

This could work on its own however this company will only help for one day so to help carry on the learning into the home or just past education and into independent living, an app or website that young people can refer to when they need tips on a certain skill. This can mean that if a school does not offer the workshops for their students they can use a piece of soft ware that can provide a similar experience with videos talking though topics. It would be a social media/ video sharing site that can be used at all ages to help them in what every skills they are lacking in.

This week I created a persona of my target audience. I took the feedback from my primary and secondary research and wrote out a script with- an overview of who they are, scenarios related to the audience and problem, goals and pains of the scenarios, their behaviour and their needs when it comes to a solution to the problem.

After I wrote this up opened indesign and created the following design and layout.

 

For my primary research I decide I wanted to survey my target audience together as many responses as possible and also interview a teacher get their opinion on where they think schools are going wrong in teaching life skills and if they see it as an urgent problem that needs a solution.

After trying to get hold of a teacher that i was familiar with and failing I chose to survey my back up research group. 18-22 yr olds who have recently (within the last 3 years) moved away from home.  I created two very simular surveys but altered them for the two age groups. This would allow me to compare answers from both demographics and see if there was pattern in education and if students see this as a problem at 15-16 or is it something you realise is an issue when you are faced with having to use skills you haven’t learnt in a real life situation.

15-18 results Life Skills Survey (Responses) – Form Responses 1

18-22 results Life Skills (Responses) – Form Responses 1 (1)

What I got from doing this research

• On the 18-22 survey I asked the question ‘Do you think you would have been ready for independent living at the age of 16?’. The response was mainly no however when asked my target audience the similar question ‘Do you think you are ready for independent living?’ the main response was yes. Before young people have left school they most likely believe they don’t need to learn these skills and they believe they are already set for facing the world alone however it seems when you going independent living you realise you do need those skills.
• 100% of all the people who answered the surveys wished their schools taught more life skills skills which proves this really is a problem that needs a solution and now.
• All the responses to the survey show that schools do not teach money management and basic law at all. Two things that seem obvious to know and to be taught and things that could could impact someones life if they never learn these.
• the last question on both ‘ Are there any life skills you think schools should teach that have not already been mentioned in this survey?’ gave surprising answers. Out of the young people between the ages 15-18, only one gave answer to this where as on the 18-22 survey all but one answered this. This may show that young people don’t know what skills they need to be taught at school until they leave which is then too late to ask for support. However I can only make this assumption as I didn’t require an answer this question meaning the people who didn’t answer the question didn’t for this reason.

This week I had the chance to discuss the problem I intend to solve with a group of people who gave me feedback and helped me expand what I had already discovered about the topic and gave me more areas to research that could help develop my work further. We made notes and displayed them in a clear form.

 

 

The Sutton Trust

https://www.suttontrust.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Life-Lessons-Report_FINAL.pdf

The Sutton Trust is a foundation that aims to improve social mobility in the UK. They do this through “evidence-based programmes, research and policy advocacy” which is why I am examining this foundations work to help my project.

This report is all about the problem of life skills not being taught in schools and gives 3 case studies that give us an insight into the problem and gives me a broader idea of the problem and proves this is a problem all over the nation and not just the East Midlands education which I am already familiar with.

This report covers;

Why it is so important that this problem is solved and the effect it is having on young people.

Information on the national curriculum and the extent of the problem nation wide.

The challenges that may arise in schools if this problem was to be solved.