National Education Service
Let’s train people leaving education to support teachers and institutions, giving them the experience and confidence to find work
The economic crisis caused by Covid-19 has hit young people leaving education hard. The challenge of getting a job has become even more difficult, and the risk of them falling into the vicious circle where no experience=no job looms gloomily ahead.
Restrictions and constraints forced by coronovirus are resulting in schools applying different models (e.g. blended learning). So, what if young people were trained to support schools? Imagine the educational equivalent of military service. We could upskill and train education leavers to run online learning circles, as part of a ‘National Education Service’. Not only would this give the education sector the support it needs, but those leaving education would gain crucial experience, confidence and connections to find work.
How it works
Teachers nominate a learning circle for learners to join, or a learner can request to join a circle - a circle could be at class level, school level, country level, or globally.
Each circle has a teacher and a facilitator to manage the group who provide support and structure - the facilitators are the recent education leavers.
Learning circles could also consist of ‘supporters’ who are retired people, people out of work, or just motivated others.
Facilitators are trained in the skills they need.
Circles can be on topics, projects, themes, or can be syllabus based or revision groups
Value to the user
Provides support to learners, support to parents/families and support to institutions
Upskills education leavers to support teaching and learning
Ability to engage with peer groups in communities
Helps drive learning in remote scenarios
Provides new role models beyond school and home
Provides students with agency in defining a new educational model through learning circles
Upskills education leavers to support teaching and learning
Ability to engage with peer groups in communities
Helps drive learning in remote scenarios
Provides new role models beyond school and home
Provides students with agency in defining a new educational model through learning circles
How is this different?
Model is unique and hasn’t been done before
Supports solving educational, economic and wellbeing challenge
Possibilities for learning circles to go across age groups (and not be defined by school year group)
Enables development of international citizenship skills and Sustainable Development Goals realisation
Not limited by price point or only available to the privileged
Not just academic focus
Industries/charities can lead learning circles
What’s needed to make this happen?
Training programmes
Pedagogical models
Collaboration tools
Understanding of learners’ pain points
Community peer to peer platform, with built-in monitoring for safeguarding
Local government support, or a community of schools willing to pilot it
Challenge
Budgets in schools, and associated school model needs to be more flexible
Have your say
Are you already working on something similar? Do you want to get involved with this?
Reckon we’ve got it all wrong but know the solution we’re looking for? We’d love to hear from you - drop us a comment below.