Beyond (Un)Employment - 'The Hack' and its outcome

BEYOND (UN)EMPLOYMENT Ted Ryan – RnR Organisation

“Beyond (un)employment is a collaborative learning circle where we will collectively build intelligence and real-time, evidence-based perspectives on the future of (un)employment in our city.”¹

Funded by the Robert Bosch Stiftung and delivered by a network of Impact Hubs across Europe, ‘Beyond (Un)employment’ is an international collaborative project exploring the future of employment.

The Birmingham element of the programme recruited individuals from a variety of backgrounds and interests who, over the six months of the programme, have identified specific issues they wish to explore.

BACKGROUND – to this proposal

My focus was not on the specifics of employment but the preparation, education and learning that individuals undertake to participate within a labour market.

I wanted to explore an alternative to the subject-based curriculum offered within education, and investigate if Critical Analysis Skills could form an integral part of a curriculum. In addition to this, I wanted to explore how an individual continued to learn, beyond statutory or institutional involvement. Are we forever bound to accredited learning or are there other ways of learning, lifelong learning, through non-accredited routes?

The activity was segmented into five ‘component’ challenges

• Exploring the development of alternative ways of facilitating learning, relevant to the needs of gathering and consuming information in the 21^st Century.
• Identifying an environment where children and young people acquire basic knowledge within a process of learning how to learn and how to develop skills, how to make informed choices. (This can have an impact on how they choose the appropriate employment for themselves.)
• Developing ‘Patch’ learning throughout a life time, acquiring skills relevant and appropriate to your needs and interests.
• Questioning the role of ‘institutions’ and accredited qualifications, exploring alternative accreditation and ‘standards’ e.g. Open Badges (there are others)
• Developing an eco-system of simply learning and implementing it.

This proposition was developed during the Beyond (Un)employment Hack in October / November 2017.  As Cllr Ian Cruise, Birmingham City Council, had indicated a willingness to explore the issues outlined above, discussions focused on exploring how some of the components could have a practical implementation within specific areas within Birmingham  

There is a dichotomy of information – one the one hand achievement in Birmingham Schools and FE Colleges is improving, with more establishments being awarded outstanding category yet the LEP and WMCA continually talk about the low skills of the area; City and Region.

Some of the outer ring areas of Birmingham are facing major issues of economic reprofiling. The industries that these estates served are gone, school achievement may be improving but the economy that these communities served and befitted from has been replaced by the new digital economy.

The aspiration of previous generations to work in the major industries has no place now and has not been replaced by a drive towards digital.

Deprivation is hidden in such Wards, Longbridge, for example, is ‘mid-range’ (20/40) within Birmingham. It is within the bottom 10% of deprived wards within the country (2015 Index of Multiple Deprivation)

A more in-depth analysis of Longbridge Statistics indicates some LSOA² (Lower-layer Super Output Areas) in the Ward are of national average deprivation, between 30-50%. While other areas are ‘well within’ the bottom 10%.

Some of these areas are specific outer ring estates, serving specific schools. The free school meals data from these school as given on https://data.gov.uk/ reinforce this statistic, with all the schools on the estate having free school meals in excess of 50%, with an indication that, over a six year period, it is as high as 70%.

The South West of Birmingham became a focus for discussion during the ‘hack’ days.

During the ‘hack’ days, the initial outline of exploring a non-subject focused curriculum focused on how such a curriculum could be delivered within a mainstream school that is subject to inspection and Progress 8 assessment.

Discussion took place about the development of ‘other learning’, appropriate to the needs and circumstances of the young people, addressing issues that would enable students to develop Critical Analysis Skills, relevant to current and future labour market requirements.

Discussion acknowledged that 30% of students within the school are registered with special educational needs or disabilities (SEND).

Initial issues were agreed as

• Addressing outer ring post-industrial estate issues – aspirations and expectation of individuals, families and, by implication, the young people. This is related to the closure of the major employer in the area, MG Rover. While this happened over 10 years ago, there is significant evidence from other areas within the UK of long term issues, related to learning and employment issues, in areas where dominant industries have closed.
• Identifying relevant skills for young people that are relevant to the current and future labour market.
• Matching the possibility, indeed necessity, of developing different skills with the current or future, non-negotiable, external inspection and assessment process.
• What is the skills gap that is so often referred to by the GBSLEP and WMCA economic data³ and development literature.
• Peer learning and support.
• Family and adult learning provision Developing mentoring / support and inspiring programme for young people
• Leisure/youth provision.
• Links to FE, different curriculum provision for 14-16.
• Research success in schools with similar demographics.
• Realistic expectation and time line of development and potential delivery – while there can be external discussions and ideas, it is necessary to acknowledge the ability of the schools to not only ‘buy in’ but also to develop a programme including
• asking staff who are giving 110% to give a bit more.
• acknowledging the potential lack of ‘wriggle room’ within assessment.
• funding / finance / budget.
• potential partners’ silo mentality

In these discussions it was agreed that the school, while potentially leading on these issues, could not undertake such an extensive programme alone, and therefore, additional partners and programmes needed to be identified and nurtured - this would include the identification of successful schools in outer ring estates in comparative areas

Such partners and research would include

• Birmingham Education Partnership (BEP)/ Birmingham City Council 
• Whiteheath Centre Rowley Regis nd other home tutoring programmes - Home tutoring service – possible other services to be reviewed.
• Successes in Outer Ring estate schools - Ongoing success of students from lower socio-economic groups who have succeeded at school, therefore making the school a success, but is it sustainable?
• South West Birmingham Employment and Skills Board
• Careers and Enterprise, The Access Project, Gatsby Foundation report Exploring mentoring interventions - Developing peer and role model mentors
• Knowledge Based Curriculum - Potential impact on alternative provision
• Widening links to other Education Providers in the area – Bournville FE College, Other training providers, Princes Trust, Prospects, Colmers Farm, Turves Green (Boys and Girls) Kings Arc and St Thomas Schools
• Other adult and community learning providers and development agencies
• Youth service, voluntary sector organisations
• Health and well-being provision, including mental health support issues.

Continued Exploration

• Curriculum Delivery – potential activity 
• Wider community learning opportunities 
• Increasing aspirations / access to work / skills related development

On-going research

• Identify if a school was willing to explore these issues and become involved in further activity.
• Identify other / current provision – MATs, BEP,  etc. 
• Curriculum wriggle room within ‘Progress 8’ defined activities and subjects.
• Other wider provision – adult provision, out of hours activity, leisure, sport and youth activity. 
• Staff training requirements and needs.
• Community engagement - what do the young people and community want in related to skills development and support?; we often develop programmes to address identified issues, perhaps we need to ask the individuals what they want. What quick wins can be developed to impact on some of the issues and engage communities in a dialogue of development?

¹ Impact Hub Birmingham Web Site definition and outline of programme

² LSOAs (Lower-layer Super Output Areas) are small areas designed to be of a similar population size, with an average of approximately 1,500 residents or 650 households. There are 32,844 Lower-layer Super Output Areas (LSOAs) in England. 

³ Greater Birmingham and Solihull Local Enterprise Partnership Economic Strategy and ESIF development plan as well as West Midlands Combined Authority initial proposal both outline a skills gap in the area.