Future TalentEd Autumn/Winter Term 2020 | Page 20

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What does Samsung ’ s ‘ Not a School ’ offer young people ?
How does the programme work ?
Who is it for ?
Why take part ?
Why is Not a School needed ?
What is different and innovative about the programme ?
How did you work with 18- to 25-year olds to develop it ?
What is the role of your youth ambassadors ?
How can young people take part ?
What have you learned from this year ’ s cohort of students ?
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This is Not a School

PLAY VIDEO

Created for young people by young people , Samsung ’ s Not a School programme inspires participants to pursue rewarding careers and to drive social change , empowered by compassion and enabled by technology .

Tell us about Not a School …

Jessie Soohyun Park , head of corporate social responsibility , Samsung Electronics UK

What does Samsung ’ s ‘ Not a School ’ offer young people ?

Not a School was created to offer young people an unorthodox and collaborative educational experience that gives them the tools to achieve their potential and help create a better world .
It launched last year , driven by our belief that education can help young people to become the next generation to pioneer positive social change . However , to drive positive change , we need to nurture a generation that is both empowered by compassion and enabled by technology . Traditional routes to training and education don ’ t always have this result for everyone .

How does the programme work ?

This year , we introduced two different formats . The immersive course is a hands-on , collaborative experience with all sessions packed into a two-week programme ; the self-led option is an interactive , digital learning experience where everyone can choose their own level of engagement throughout the year .
Both options have taken an entirely digital format this year , due to external circumstances and to make the programme more accessible ; anyone from anywhere in the country can get the same amount of value and opportunity to participate .

Who is it for ?

It ’ s free and open to 18- to 25-year-olds , although the self-led option is open to anyone over 13 . You don ’ t need to be a graduate or have a particular set of qualifications . Everyone , regardless of ability or background , deserves the opportunity to learn , unlock their creativity , discover new skills and achieve their potential .
Everyone learns differently and has different commitments in their lives , which is another reason the immersive and self-led options work so well , because anyone who is passionate about making a difference can benefit from the course content in a format and timescale that suits them .

Why take part ?

We feel strongly that technology and education are key to creating opportunities for young people to tackle the social challenges they feel passionately about , so the structure of the programme is geared around developing four skills areas that will enable them to do so , whether through their chosen career paths or their personal lives : collaboration ; communication ; critical thinking , and creativity , as well as how to apply these to real-life situations .
Not everyone has someone in their network with the sort of experience to guide them in these areas . We are proud that Not a School gives money-can ’ t-buy access to a group of diverse and unorthodox mentors , activists , entrepreneurs and leaders who can inspire and empower course participants ( or architects as we call them ) to become the game changers of tomorrow .

Why is Not a School needed ?

We conducted research among more than 2,000 18-25 year olds in the UK , finding that only one in 10 young people feel confident about their job prospects at the moment and that access to education and training is a major barrier ; due to the recent economic downturn , more than 60 % of young adults say 2020 has increased their anxiety around unemployment and personal development , both inside and outside the workplace .
Interestingly , two-thirds don ’ t think school gave them the tools to succeed in life . Not only is there a gap between academic learning and the skills needed to tackle real-life issues , but external circumstances are making it tough to find alternative , practical routes to education . This is one of the reasons we moved the entire Not a School programme online this year .

What is different and innovative about the programme ?

The content and themes are designed for young people by young people . The structure is also designed to be inclusive and collaborative ; there isn ’ t a wrong or right answer , we want everyone involved to feel empowered to contribute .
Its objective is also different to other training courses because the skills it hones are holistic . While we are looking to find solutions to real-life , societal and environmental challenges that naturally impact participants ’ day-to-day lives , the way Not a School encourages them to think can also be applied to the workplace . The future will be driven by technology , so understanding how this can be woven into problem solving is another fresh and innovative element .

“ We feel very strongly that technology and education are key to creating opportunities for young people to tackle the social challenges they feel passionately about ”

How did you work with 18- to 25-year olds to develop it ?

Not a School started out as an offline education programme hosted out of Samsung KX , our brand showcase in King ’ s Cross , London . We engaged local community partners to help recruit young leaders , passionate about creating a better tomorrow for everyone , to form a Youth Advisory Board . Members helped us review and select the issues they felt were important to open conversations about , eventually forming the themes for our course . Additional members from our Not a School 2019 alumni have joined the board this year .
Our board members have helped co-create and design the curriculum and structure of the programme . Themes for this year have also been selected based on information surveyed from over 1,000 young people who pre-registered interest on the 2020 programme , sharing back with us their top social issues and themes they wanted to delve deeper into :

• Respecting our differences online : how can difference of opinion bring us closer together online ?

• Turning climate anxiety into positive action : how can technology unlock activism in everyone ?

• Solving inequality in education : how can technology allow us all to be ‘ educators ’?

• Building human connection in a digital world : how can we use technology to end isolation ?

What is the role of your youth ambassadors ?

We felt it was important to invite a diverse and wide range of experts and ambassadors young people looked up to , not only for their industry-leading experience in their respective fields but also for their inspiring personal stories .
All our mentors , experts and ambassadors are passionate about working with young people , but their expertise stems from a spectrum of professions , from digital content creators and artists to college masters and activists . Feedback from last year ’ s initiative shows that young people relate best to these real-life experiences .

“ The future is going to be driven by technology , so understanding how this can be woven into problem solving is another very fresh and innovative element ”

How can young people take part ?

Our self-led courses on FutureLearn will remain open to everyone right into summer 2021 .
It ’ s still too early to say exactly what the immersive course will look like next year . We want to continue adapting and improving Not a School based on feedback , staying close to the issues that matter most , which will inevitably progress and evolve . We ’ re keen to build on this year ’ s experience to continue to make the experience as accessible as possible next year .
What we can say , though , is that anyone who might be turning 18 within the next 12 months and is keen to be involved in next year ’ s immersive course should keep an eye on the Not a School website for updates on how and when to apply !

What have you learned from this year ’ s cohort of students ?

From initial feedback , we ’ re seeing that the experience of ‘ social learning ’ has been key to the programme , something that is most definitely possible online !
With the programme moving from a London-based offline course to a nationally recruited and publicly open version this year , the sheer diversity of architects has helped invigorate this social learning experience and enriched the programme , with a wider range of opinions and experiences being exchanged from all parts of the country , and even globally ; our self-led course is seeing learners take part from all corners of the world .
We ’ d love to continue building this community of like-minded change-makers to help them stay connected beyond the course and would like to invite them back to help co-create and design next year ’ s programme to ensure we are focusing on the issues and themes young people care about most .

CASE STUDY :

The youth ambassador

A ndriana Lagoudes , age 28 , is one of Not a School ’ s youth ambassadors and course mentors , sharing her expertise in strategic design and film-making . She outlines her role and how she helps young people to understand their own potential .

I was initially contacted by the project team to be part of Not a School ’ s Youth Advisory Board , which is behind the scenes , building the programme . I ’ d previously been invited in for workshops due to my experience as an underground street style creative .
I became involved because alternative education is my everything . Not a School doesn ’ t try to box people into an identity like normal education sometimes does ; it supports the idea that even when people are working in different disciplines , when they come together , they thrive .
My role as a mentor , in the second week of the immersive programme , is to take the ‘ architects ’ ( participants ) through a journey , where their creativity isn ’ t just about play , it ’ s about doing the work ; everything they discuss needs to become a reality in one way or another . We have a responsibility to give them actionable steps and empower them to take them .
Everything about the programme is interesting and innovative . Young creatives often go into the world thinking they need to be one specific , rigid thing . Not a School is a system that allows your complexity to unfold in front of you . You ’ re getting exposed to the industry straight away , and accessing mentorship from people who are ahead in the game by a couple of years .
Not a School is about investing time in yourself . It ’ s a fully immersive way of understanding where the world of work stands right now , and the ethical challenges , through a personalised experience that helps in your own professional development .

“ I became involved because alternative education is my everything . Not a School doesn ’ t try to box people into an identity like normal education sometimes does ”

All the course mentors are educators and students at the same time . Every time we do Not a School , there are so many things we learn about how to be better educators and how we can improve on communicating these essential professional life hacks to young people who share similar dreams to ours . Being in a team with people with this same purpose is extraordinary .
The programme suits anyone who has felt they don ’ t fit into the traditional education system or has ever felt ‘ othered ’; also , anyone who wants to understand their own purpose and potential , who feels they want to fit in a box , but that they don ’ t fit into any .
Choosing a pathway was always unsettling for me . Nothing seemed to fit the bill until I paid attention to my purpose . Even though I spent my university years gearing up to be a designer , I couldn ’ t help trying to think through the lens of social sciences . When I entered the world as a fully equipped designer , I found myself on a path of catching up with politics , economics , business and technology . While applying for jobs , I did a range of roles : from hospitality to copywriting , from creating album art to facilitating children ’ s workshops , and from art direction in the music industry to cinematography , editing and directing .
Having experienced 150 heart-breaking job applications that confirmed my unworthiness , I wish I ’ d known that people would respond to me better after meeting me in person . The biggest thing I ’ ve learned is that I don ’ t need to be one thing ; I didn ’ t take the traditional pathway and everything I ’ ve experienced up until now has formed who I am .
COVID-19 has given us a platform to open up conversations about where we need to do better , which is a good thing . Even in the face of real adversity , we all have a responsibly to take our lives into our own hands where we can . If you stay disciplined , stay interested as an individual and develop your understanding of how the world works right now , you are bound to be agile . But if you think nothing will ever come your way , your door is closed .

CASE STUDY :

The participant

C ollege student Tasneem Ahmed , age 18 , took part in Samsung ’ s Not a School immersive programme this summer . The experience changed her career ambitions and provided a new network of friends and contacts .

While the academic side of traditional school is great , Not a School is pretty amazing in providing teaching on how to approach difficult issues . I wish we ’ d been taught more at school about how to prepare for and enter the working world ; like how important it is to keep your CV updated and getting work experience in the industries that relate to what you want to do in the future .
What really interested me about the programme was the opportunity to understand more about how , as a society , we all approach problem solving in different ways . I wanted to learn new paths to tackling challenges , including how to include other people ’ s opinions and experiences . I wanted to push myself ; if you don ’ t dive into the unknown , you ’ ll never learn more .
I was really hoping I ’ d gain more knowledge about the important topics my generation is facing right now ; for example , I never knew that the Black Lives Matter movement started back in 2006 .
The immersive programme takes place over two weeks , from Monday to Friday , with sessions running from 9.30am to 5.30pm . You get a timetable and it ’ s different on week one to week two ; in the second week , you ’ re working on a project with a team , so you get more time to work on your presentations . You also get the chance to speak to the course mentors and ask them questions when you get stuck , which really reassured us .
Our team stayed online a little later on week two because we wanted to perfect our presentation and make sure the script and slideshow was smooth . We all chose to do this because we felt it was worth it .

“ I learned so much during the two weeks , including the sessions with the mentors but especially how to share our opinions respectfully and support each other ”

I learned so much , including during the sessions with the mentors but especially how to share our opinions respectfully and support each other . I found it really interesting to learn more about ‘ fake news ’ and how we can tackle it , as well as how technology can help keep us close to one another , even though we ’ ve been kept separate by the pandemic .
It ’ s incredible to be connected with different people , both the course mentors and experts , and the friends you make along the way . I ’ ve got really close to the people I worked with on Not a School and we ’ re going to stay in touch .
It made a difference that young people were involved in creating and delivering the programme because we could connect with them more easily . Because they were a similar age to us , it was like they knew what we were going through — they had already been there and faced some of the same challenges .
I originally thought I wanted to go into a career in something like marketing or communications , but since taking part in Not a School , I ’ ve realised I need to do something I love , so I ’ m thinking of doing film and East Asian studies at university . I ’ m fascinated by other cultures and Not a School showed me that through creative mediums such as film , we can help address some of the biases that exist in the world and reteach people that we are all equal . Even if we have differences , it ’ s so important to come together and support each other , especially during these difficult times . I ’ ve recently been talking to a friend who is on a media course at college about making a short film about societal differences , so watch this space !
It ’ s very hard to get into the world of work right now and college is challenging — because of COVID , it ’ s one week on and one week off at the moment . Part of completing most courses involves getting work experience , but there aren ’ t many spaces and so many people are applying .
My advice would be : don ’ t stop applying for things ; even if you get rejected , you have to keep trying . And keep updating your CV with anything you do that is relevant and shows you are working to improve your experience and skills – like Not a School .