Future TalentEd Summer Term 2020 Summer 2020 | Page 18

SPEAKERS FOR SCHOOLS
Robert Peston:
Inspiring all
young people
to thrive in a
new world
of work
Despite a long and successful career
in journalism, Robert Peston’s single
proudest achievement is founding
Speakers For Schools. In an exclusive
interview with Future TalentEd, he explains
how his education charity is helping to
support young people during lockdown
and how coronavirus may change
the world of work.
Words: Sarah Wild
“Education has always been close to my heart,”
says journalist and presenter Robert Peston. “I
went to Highgate Comprehensive in north
London in the 1970s, and I’ve always been a great
believer in state education, and particularly the
comprehensive system.
Moving from print to broadcast journalism in 2006 boosted his
visibility, and his commentary on the 2008 banking crisis for the
BBC made him a household name.
“At that point, I started to receive invitations to speak in schools,”
he explains. “And all of them came from privileged schools such
as Eton, Winchester and Westminster. But the kind of school I
went to didn’t get in touch.
“I went on Eton’s website and saw that every week distinguished
people – from former prime ministers to trade union leaders –
would speak to the boys. Having access to individuals who were
leaders in their field, with extraordinary knowledge of the world,
reinforced all the advantages of their school. I thought ‘this isn’t
fair; these people should go and talk in state schools too!’’
A little research revealed a combination of barriers for the state
sector. “The teachers were ludicrously busy and didn’t have the
time to think about these kind of extracurricular activities,” explains
Peston. Quite often they didn’t have the confidence or the
networks either.
“And there was something even worse,” he notes. “When a public
school got in touch with someone like me, they assumed you
would do it for nothing – almost that you would regard it as a
privilege to talk to their pupils. Whereas state schools would
occasionally approach people, but they would quite often go
through their agents and would end up paying them quite large
sums of money to speak.”
Having phoned a range of his contacts (“one of the things about
being a journalist is that I know thousands of people!”) and
ascertained that most would be keen to speak in state schools,
Peston partnered with the Education and Employers Taskforce
to set up a website.
“Essentially, it was a dating agency between schools and live
speakers. Schools would pick from the list, we would make
arrangements with the speaker, and it just took off. The schools
were keen to have inspirational speakers and the speakers enjoyed
being asked challenging questions by young people.”
“I think the relative value of jobs
is going to change. We’ve learned
much more about the value of
public services”
Virtual talks and work experience
Today, Speakers for Schools is an independent entity, providing
some 1,200 speaker sessions last year; over its 10-year history it
has so far reached more than 900,000 students. Its extensive
speaker directory crosses industries and specialisms, ranging
from CEOs of major companies to national journalists, arts people,
scientists, leading entrepreneurs and academics. Notable names
include particle physician and TV presenter professor Brian Cox,
former prime minister Theresa May, Ian Hislop, editor of Private
Eye and Frances Morris, director of the Tate Modern.
During lockdown, its virtual programme maintains young people’s
access to inspirational talks; Oscar-nominated writer and director
Armando Iannucci was one recent online participant.
However, Peston is keen to run ‘live, physical’ talks in schools as
soon as social-distancing rules allow. “If you’ve grown up in a
jobless household and don’t have people telling you that you can
aim high and that you matter, the motivating effect of having a
powerful, successful person come to your school and talk to you
directly is really important,” he stresses.
For now, the charity’s work experience programme has also
gone virtual, with tasks set and assessed by leading firms over
video calls. Signed up employers including Cisco, the Opera
Holland Park, Marie Curie and BP.
Projects are designed to be practical and engaging; for example,
recent work experience with Morgan Sindall involved young
people coming up with designs for a building in the Middle East.
Prior to lockdown, a physical experience involved students making
puppets and running creative workshops with children when
they joined north London’s Little Angel puppet theatre for a week.
The aim is to help level the playing field for young people from
all backgrounds and to give them “an equal chance to make the
most of themselves”.
“It had bugged me for ages how unfair the allocation of work
experience was,” recalls Peston. “Routinely, in TV and newspapers,
a mate would ring up and say, ‘can my kid come and work with
you?’. It’s quite hard to say no, but it isn’t fair that the work
experience goes to kids simply because they have parents who
have a network. Also, when kids are doing it because mum or
dad has asked them to, they often don’t really want to be here.
They don’t get much out of it and the organisation doesn’t give
enough thought to what the experience might be either.
“Speakers for Schools works with employers to help them offer
work experience that is valuable, and because the kids we get
are often from more challenging backgrounds, they’re excited
to be learning about the world of work and the opportunities.
The businesses themselves say that these kids are making a
contribution to the culture and morale of their organisation.”
The outlook for young people
In addition to talks provided by inspiring individuals, themed series’
provide insights into issues such as ‘the world of work in 2030’
and the skills needed to thrive.
“For example, resilience and adaptability,” says Peston. “We’re
living through unprecedented industrial change with the rise of
robotics and artificial intelligence. It’s affecting every kind of work.
And we’re going to live through a new series of massive changes
to how we work brought about by this virus. I suspect there will
be many more people working permanently from home. That’s
an interesting thing for young people to think about.
“I also think the relative value of jobs is going to change. We’ve
learned much more about the value of public services. Healthcare
is one area where there will be richer and better-paid opportunities,
and in education too, because we’re learning how important
preparing children for the changing world is going to be.
“I think it’s going to feel a bit like it did after the Second World
War,” he continues. “We’ve seen the importance of the state
sector in getting us through this, and I suspect there will be more
jobs in the coming years in the public sector, which will grow
significantly larger relative to the private sector. It doesn’t mean
fewer good jobs, but it does mean that where and what those
jobs are will change.”
The charity’s impact
50%
of Speakers for Schools’
activity is with the top
40% highest-need schools
70%
of its events take place
outside of London
93%
of state-school teachers said
that hosting an external speaker
helped to broaden students’ aspirations
about potential jobs
80%
said that talks encourage pupils to
believe in their skills and abilities
Greater job security and collective action
Peston is quick to acknowledge the inequalities experienced by
young people today. “The gap between the wealth and power
of older people versus young people has widened way too much
over the past 15-20 years,” he admits, referencing spiralling
house prices.
Working conditions have become “much more precarious. We’ve
moved to a world of freelance and short-term or zero-hours
contracts, and less job security. There is a greater onus on young
people to make their own way in the world, rather than being
helped by big institutions for whom they might work for decades.
Some of that, I think, is going to change due to the events we’ve
been living through.
“One of the important lessons we’ve learned is that we’re stronger
when we work collectively. I think we will see a return to more
job security and collective action to help people experiencing
challenges. I suspect some of what’s happening will create
institutional structures, which will mean that young people feel
a bit less isolated, alone and precarious.”
“The key thing is for younger people
to invest in themselves, to take their
education seriously”
Despite the unique obstacles faced by gen Z, he is optimistic that
good jobs and rewarding careers will be available and that some
conditions may even change for the better.
“We’re a rich country,” he says. “We don’t know the pace at which
the economy will recover, but it will recover. There will be challenging
times, but if I were a younger person, I wouldn’t be too disheartened
because there will be plenty of opportunities, particularly with
this industrial revolution, the rise of these technologies. The key
thing is for younger people to invest in themselves, to take their
education seriously. I’m not remotely trying to minimise the
challenges they face, but they also shouldn’t be too disheartened,
because we will find a way.”
Learning to motivate yourself
While he is clear that his own generation has “a responsibility to
make sure that kids don’t suffer excessive damage as a result of
this health and economic crisis”, he believes young people can
help themselves by “having the discipline to do the work they
are set by their schools, but also to do more. I realise that if you
don’t have broadband at home, or a laptop, these are fine words
from me, but all I’d say is ‘do what you can with whatever resources
you’ve got’.”
He adds that school closures are teaching young people both to
value education and how to work on their own. “The most important
thing I learned as I was growing up was how to motivate myself.
That’s incredibly helpful to your employability. Millions of kids are
having to learn how to work without supervision. The more of a
self-motivator and a self-starter you are, the more employable
you’ll become.”
SPEAKERS FOR SCHOOLS
Speakers for Schools’ Inspiration
Programme provides a network of
today’s most inspiring figures across
business, arts, politics and more
donating their time to help inspire
students to fuel their ambition. All
state-maintained secondary schools,
colleges and academies in the UK are
eligible to apply for a speaker free of
charge. Its Experience Programme
connects schools with industry-leading
employers for work experience
placements and insight days.
Virtual talks and work experience
are also available.