Benefits for school and college staff

Curriculum change provides new opportunities for teachers and tutors to introduce learning materials and work with individuals from outside of the usual education system.  It is a statutory requirement for young people to undertake careers education from Year 7 to Year 11 as well as broader aspects of work-related learning at Key Stage 4.

  • The Economic Wellbeing and Financial Capability Programme of Study, introduced in September 2008, has brought the range of work-related learning activities together in a way that enables teachers to clearly see the ways in which employer engagement can enhance the work in this area of the curriculum.
  • A guidance document and framework to support economic wellbeing - Career, work-related learning and enterprise 11-19 - sets out support for those in charge of the provision of economic wellbeing and gives clear guidance on the type of activities suitable for delivery of each element. The document also gives guidance on leadership, management and coordination, as well as planning provision, assessment and accreditation.
  • The 14-19 reforms make employer engagement an imperative: students in this age group must draw upon the expert input from employers.
  • Literacy and numeracy activities in primary schools often draw on reading and number partners, with volunteers visiting schools on a weekly basis to do activities with particular pupils.

Employers can help young people via a range of activities. The most important of these are outlined below.

 

Development of teaching materials

Teachers and employers can work together to create relevant subject materials. Such materials can help to deliver the most up-to-date subject knowledge with a 'real life' context for students.

  • Teachers and employers can work together to develop innovate and exciting learning project briefs for students.
  • Teachers and employers can work in partnership to adapt materials that are in everyday use in the workplace and adapt them for classroom use. Materials include: marketing and PR documents; training manuals; administrative materials; and accounting packages.

For more information and videos on how teachers and employers working together to develop teaching materials, visit the Diploma support programme website.

 

Delivery of a wide range of curriculum areas

Partnership with employers can bring new perspective to subjects for both students and their teachers, as employers can bring with them a deep subject knowledge and broader range of theoretical and applied experience.

  • Inclusion of employer input into subject delivery can allow teachers to offer their students a wider range of teaching and learning styles. Employer input can be achieved through:
    • learning visits to employers' premises for talks;
    • demonstrations;
    • work shadowing;
    • work experience;
    • employers coming into the classroom to give talks;
    • support projects, such as enterprise activities
  • In certain circumstances, industry experts can even deliver some of the curriculum, to allow schools to offer a wider range of subject and qualification choices to students.

 

Skills for a changing world

The world is moving fast, and teachers are currently trying to prepare students for jobs that don't yet exist. By working with employers, teachers can ensure that they have their students receive the most up-to-date knowledge and experience of the working world as possible.

  • Opportunities to work with employers will give students insights into the types of skills that are needed in the workplace both generically and specifically
  • Involvement of employers in the curriculum will allow students to develop their functional skills and personal learning and thinking skills with closer reference to the requirements of employers

Teaching staff can also make use of relationships between schools/colleges and employers to keep their professional skills up to date.  Employers in industrial sectors relevant to subject specialisms can provide opportunities for job shadowing and buddying to make it easy for teaching staff to understand the economic world into which their students will ultimately emerge.

 

A 21st-century curriculum

Employers can work alongside teachers to develop teaching materials. This can lead to the inclusion of high levels of theoretical and practical knowledge in the materials. Furthermore, employers will provide a wider range of subject expertise and experience, resulting in high levels of theoretical and practical knowledge and a greater variety of approaches to creating the material.

  • When employers work with teachers to deliver curriculum materials, students benefit from a much wider and more stimulating range of learning experiences: they will have the opportunity to learn in the workplace as well as be taught by professionals in school.
  • Employer participation in the provision of careers education, information, advice and guidance can transform young people's knowledge and understanding of pathways to learning and work. 

'As careers education, information, advice and guidance becomes an integral part of the role of the classroom teacher and with diplomas and many other vocationally related subjects becoming more popular, there is a need to ensure that students can relate their knowledge, understanding and skills to the real world. Employer participation in the provision of careers education, information, advice and guidance can help to give students this understanding by supporting curriculum areas and supplying realistic examples from the world of work.' Debbie Godwin, advanced skills teacher and skills for life and community involvement coordinator, Greensward Academy

 

Motivational experiences

Teachers can ensure that school subjects are relevant to adult and working life by working with employers to develop and deliver teaching materials. Students can therefore be assured that their school work has meaning and value outside of the classroom.

  • Opportunities to spend time on employers' premises will offer some exciting dimensions to students' learning experiences and help to ensure their engagement and enthusiasm for their school subjects.
  • The development of working relationships with employers will enable students to understand the level of attainment to which they need to aspire and help them to set themselves realistic targets.

For further evidence of why it makes difference visit Research Reports.