Category Archives: Careers and Pathways

Careers and Pathways, Colleges, Community Learning and Development, Creative Scotland, Expressive Arts, Higher Education, Primary, Secondary

Scottish Chamber Orchestra: SCO VIBE

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Background to the project

The Scottish Chamber Orchestra is one of Scotland’s National Performing Arts Companies. The orchestra performs regularly in Scotland and overseas. In addition to this performing role, the SCO have an education programme. SCO Connect works to provide opportunities for schools, families, communities, and young people to engage with music. The SCO VIBE project is delivered by SCO Connect.

SCO VIBE is a new music opportunity which has been developed by the Scottish Chamber Orchestra in partnership with Edinburgh City Council. VIBE offers the opportunity for young people with some musical ability to come together in the holidays and work with professional musicians and tutors to write and perform music.

Vibe fusion band is aimed at young people who would not traditionally engage with the work of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra or the ensembles currently being offered by the Edinburgh City Council.

Recruitment for VIBE was focused on areas of multiple deprivation. SCO worked with schools, music teachers, and the City Council’s community education department to ensure that the programme targeted young people who may not otherwise have taken part in this type of activity. To increase the pool of young people coming forward, workshops were organised in schools in some of the more deprived areas to encourage participation of the target groups.

Purpose of the project

The project was designed to offer music development opportunities for young people, particularly young people who may not otherwise take part in this type of music activity (orchestral music). VIBE was also designed to be open to a broader spectrum of young musicians than other music programmes. The band includes non-orchestral instruments (guitars, voice, drums), and teaches music aurally, so there is no requirement for young people to be able to read music. This opens up participation to more ability ranges and types of instrument. Young people not only learn to play in ensembles, but also compose the music that they play

The project also provides opportunities for some of the more advanced participants to develop their skills in composition through an additional weekend workshop. These young people then support the younger members in composition.

The programme also offers volunteering opportunities for music students from Napier University and Edinburgh College. Students who take part as volunteers support the instrument groups within workshop sessions, and gain skills and experience in delivering music support at this level. The volunteers also benefit from working alongside professional musicians from Scottish Chamber Orchestra and Edinburgh city Council Music Service, learning new skills in teaching but also broadening their knowledge about possible career paths in the industry.

Project delivery

Three VIBE projects have taken place to date. Two were delivered in week-long programmes during school holiday periods – in April and July 2013. A third project took place over two consecutive weekends in October 2013. A future programme is being planned for early 2014.

While some participants are new to each event, others have attended each project.

Outcomes for young people

Young people participating in the summer programme reported having learned new techniques in playing by ear, improvising, and composing music with others.

“playing by ear – I was already trying to do that, but this has really forced me to practice. I’m so much better now”

“being able to listen to what’s happening, and adapt what you’re doing.”

Young participants in the SCO VIBE reported significant increases in their confidence in playing music. The setting, of composing and playing with other young people and adults in a mixed ability ensemble had given some the confidence to play more freely:

“I used to be really nervous of doing my own fills (drummer) – this is the first time I’ve really got into it and just gone ahead and done them”

There had also been an impact on young people’s more general musical ability:

“last time I came, I couldn’t do a flutter tongue. After the week, I could. You learn here just from being around other players, you learn from the air.”

“It’s really helping me with Higher music – lots of the terms I’ve been trying to learn, you just pick them up here, everyone is using them”.

Finally, although many of the participants are involved in learning music outside the band (for example a number are studying music at school at Higher and Advanced Higher level) they felt that being involved in SCO VIBE had been valuable experience of a kind which wasn’t offered elsewhere. It had added to their enjoyment and their understanding of music.

“It does feel professional here. This is how people come up with music when they’re in a real band.”

“It’s allowed me to play a lot more music”

“I want to play a lot more. Maybe join more ensembles or bands – it’s reminded me that music is fun and not just what we do for Higher.”

“This is a lot free-er than what we do for the Higher / advanced Higher”

Outcomes for young professionals

SCO VIBE also offers volunteering places for music students and graduates. The placements offer an opportunity for young and emerging professionals to work in a community education setting and experience a different way of teaching and supporting young musicians. The SCO also hope that there might be professional benefits for young musicians in making connections with other music professionals already working in their fields of interest.

Volunteers were motivated to get involved with SCO Vibe as it offered a unique learning opportunity:

“There aren’t any other ensembles of this size, with the variety of instruments and mixed age groups and abilities. I wanted to learn more about how it could work”

Volunteers reported that they had learned more about how to teach music in a different way and had also gained confidence in their own ability to teach and to support young musicians:

“This is a unique opportunity to learn. There aren’t any big ensembles like this anywhere else “

“Working here, helping to keep the group together and working in the right direction – it’s a great feeling to see it working well”

“I’ve really picked up a lot of teaching ideas from this. Different ways to do warm-up exercises, more ways to integrate improvisation into teaching…. This will make me a better teacher.”

“Seeing the growth in the group since Easter – young people moving forward, becoming more confident about taking part in compositions and playing more forcefully  – it’s fantastic”

“Even though I’m one of the youngest workers here, the other adults listen to me and treat me as a professional – that’s been a boost for me.”

The additional benefit for volunteers was that they had made contacts and connections with other musicians and professionals which had built their professional networks.

“I’ve made connections here with people who work at the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, and people who work in music tuition at Edinburgh city council. It’s been good to develop professional relationships with other musicians.”

“I’ve been chatting to other instrument teachers and finding out about other projects which might offer opportunities for me in Edinburgh – it’s been really useful”

“I’ve made connections here which might help me find work – spoken to people involved in other music projects I could volunteer in, met people who are involved in teaching instruments.”

Cashback investment: £30,000

Careers and Pathways, Community Learning and Development, Creative Scotland, Expressive Arts, Moving Image Education

Voice Of My Own (VOMO)

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Background to the project

Voice Of My Own (VOMO) is a film-making youth project which works to empower young people in the Borders to make high quality films about issues that are relevant to them.

Purpose of the project

The Filmlink project has two elements:

Access and participation:

  • six local youth groups will be supported to write, develop, and create a short film which will form part of a larger single film.

Learning and progression:

  • four young people, who have an interest and some previous experience in film making (usually as participants of previous VOMO projects), will be employed by VOMO as trainee producers to support the development of the above films. The trainee producers will learn from the professional staff, but also get real work experience which will build their CVs and support their aspirations to work in the film industry.

Project delivery

VOMO identified groups of young people in six locations across the Borders. Workshops were held with each group to develop a concept and script for each groups contribution to the film.

Filming has taken place throughout the summer in locations across the Borders. The final feature-length film will be screened late in 2013.

The trainee producers have each taken a role in supporting one or more youth groups to develop their film. They have also worked as assistants on all film shoots, supporting the production of the film. They are learning through supporting the young people, but also by working alongside industry professionals in the making of the film.

Outcomes for young people

  • Access and participation

The work with youth groups has provided opportunities for young people from rural areas of the Borders to access and participate in high quality in film projects. This project provides new opportunities for participation in areas with a dearth of activities for young people, but also provides opportunities for young people to learn new skills, to develop confidence and their creativity.

Some participants had previous experience of drama and theatre projects, but recognised that they had learned new skills in acting for film.

“It takes patience to get it right.”

“This is a chance to do more acting, in a different way.”

“I’ll maybe do both, film and drama.”

“It’s a bit less pressure, filming, than being on stage.”

Young people also reported that they had learned about the various roles available in film-making.

“Filming is so much better for people who don’t want to be on stage – there’s so much more you can do behind the scenes in a film.”

Some had changed their career goals as a result of taking part in the film-making programme:

“you don’t have to do everything, but there’s lots of interesting things you can do in film that I didn’t know about.”

“After next year, I want to do a college course in film making.”

Some participants also reported that they had learned more about the technical aspects of working in film:

“I’ve learned how to work in film. I’ve learned how to use the camera, how to use the equipment. I’ve definitely come away with lots of new knowledge.”

One young person taking part in the project has cerebral palsy and uses a wheelchair. The young people worked to identify a role in the film which he could play, allowing him to take part fully in the project.

“This is a great opportunity for X, a chance to take part in something which is accessible for him. The script has been adapted to allow him to have a full part.”

Outcomes for the trainee producers

Learning and progression

Each of the young persons selected to be trainee producers were identified as having skills and potential, but were also recognised as requiring some additional support to enable them to move into the film-industry.

The trainee producers have received a wealth of support and have developed their skills, in film making and but have developed their employability skills.

The trainee producer role includes supporting the larger youth groups to create their films. This has been quite challenging, as the producers are required to take control of a group of young people and ensure that the group work towards the completion of their film. As a result, they have gained confidence and self–esteem.

“I’m much more confident now. I can speak to a group of young people. I’d never have been able to do that before”

“I’ve got better at speaking up and joining in the discussions when we plan what we’re going to do”

The trainee producers are responsible for the administration of the film projects, which involves arranging permission to film, liaising with local groups and business owners. This has increased their planning skills and their communication skills.

“I had never done anything like that before. I was quite nervous about calling people, and tried to put it off when I could – but after you do it a few times, you can just do it”

Staff also reported that the trainee producers had developed better self-management (timer-keeping, planning, time-management etc.’

“One has got much better at managing her own day – turning up on time, eating at mealtimes to make sure she doesn’t ‘slump’ – she’s learned how to do that on her own.”

Finally, the producers had also significantly improved their technical skills in working with cameras, sound equipment, and editing software:

“I’ve learned so much about different aspects of film making, that you need to do it over and over again”

“I’m finding that I know how to use all of the equipment now, and I didn’t before”

“I’m getting better at doing stuff automatically. I suddenly realise that I’ve been adjusting the settings for the best image, without even thinking about it.”

The work experience also helped the trainees to develop new ideas about what they would like to do next. In some cases, the real-life experience of working with VOMO staff members had helped them to identify the specific areas they found interesting about film:

“I was always interested in the technology. That’s what made me apply for this opportunity. But now I’m really thinking about doing an audio technician course at college – and VOMO has helped me get there.”

“I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do. But it’s been really interesting, seeing the kind of options that there are. Working with adult film makers”

The producers were all young people with little or no work experience. Being employed by VOMO has given them a chance to build their cv and work history, demonstrating to future employers that they have experience of working full time. All the trainee producers felt that they had improved their employability through being a trainee producer.
Cashback investment: £29,540

Careers and Pathways, Community Learning and Development, Creative Scotland, Expressive Arts, Moving Image Education

Screen Education – mentoring and training in film and drama

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The pathways

Screen Education trains tutors in its model for developing young people in drama. The model combines learning through watching, understanding and making films. As well as the core tutors, Screen Education have recruited some of the older young people from previous CashBack projects to work as trainee tutors on the projects. These are paid traineeships, not only providing work experience but also paid employment opportunities for young people from areas of deprivation.

Trainee tutors are being mentored throughout the project by Graham Fitzpatrick as part of an Artworks Scotland programme focusing on the development of their individual practice as artists in participatory settings.

4 young people from the previous group have progressed into trainee tutor roles.

Yutsil Martinez

Yutsil participated in the Cashback programme in 2011-12, and was involved in making many of the short films, particularly the Man with No Name, in which he was lead actor.

In 2012/13 Yutsil has returned as a trainee tutor. He is interested in studying film making but for some time could not access college courses because of his immigration status.

However, Yutsil has continued to be very active in film-making. Through links in the industry, Screen Education has found work experience placements for Yutsil– he has had some voluntary and some paid work experience working with a production company making commercial adverts, and has worked on a ‘Scottish Short’.

In September, The Screen Education film, ‘Man with no Name’ was nominated for The Chris Anderson Award for Best Young Filmmaker 2013 (sponsored by the National Youth film Academy). As a result, Yutsil has been awarded an acting scholarship at the National Film Youth Academy in London after picking up Best Actor award at the event.

“The project was really helpful and I gained more confidence in wanting to work in the industry, it was great to work with great professionals in the field such as Graham, Sarah and Steven. Participating in these projects and shoots has allowed me to find more opportunities and meet other filmmakers and professionals. Watching how the team works taught me that you have to be serious about it but at the same time you can have fun doing what you love the most which is filming. Sarah taught me how to keep your forms organised and keep track of budgets by keeping receipts. Graham taught me how to talk closely to an actor rather than shouting across the set at them, also helps them feel comfortable and confident while being filmed. And Steven helped on how to prepare the camera, checking adjustments and settings on the camera, DSLR filmmaking and white balancing, focus pulls and lighting.”
Careers and Pathways, College Development Network, Colleges, Secondary

Inside a Kelpie – the finale to the Emporium of Dangerous Ideas

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The finale of the Emporium of Dangerous Ideas was held on June 19th inside one of the iconic Kelpies. It brought together over 100 people who had hosted and attended preceding events during the Emporium. Participants congregated at Helix Park and took part in a range of dangerous conversations en route to the Kelpies. Conversations were hosted by people who had facilitated events during the Emporium, giving participants an opportunity to catch up on anything they may have missed. Once inside the Kelpie, the Emporium was reviewed and the key themes of changing perspectives, risk and failure were explored.

The key reason for hosting the event inside a Kelpie was to raise awareness of perspectives, and how we may restrict ourselves by only viewing something (The Kelpies or education for example) from a particular standpoint. By exploring a Kelpie from the inside we were challenged to consider the different components through all of our senses, thereby changing our understanding and perspective. We were also able to consider the role and experience of failure by reflecting on events that didn’t go to plan or achieve the outcome that was hoped for.

An event like this has never been held before and it required a great deal of partnership work and creative thinking on behalf of the organisers, College Development Network, and their partner education and arts organizations. It provided a model for others in risk taking, celebrating failure and success and providing opportunities for participants to experience a change in perspective.

Throughout the event participants were actively encouraged to think differently, to reflect on their preconceptions and to imagine the possibilities of a change in their thinking and perspectives.

From feedback there would appear to be a willingness to take more risks and an acceptance that failure is an important part of learning.

“ Took away many thoughts…creativity is not hierarchial, always put ideas into practice regardless of expectation to fail, ….we need leadership which allows us to take proper risks if we never fail, we never know the real way to go push boundaries”. Event participant

One of the key things learned from this event was that participants expect us not just to talk about creativity and innovation in learning and teaching but to take risks, model different approaches and share experiences of failure.

Careers and Pathways, College Development Network, Colleges, CPD, Skills Development Scotland

Is Education Killing Creativity and Enterprise?

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College Development Network event as part of the Emporium of Dangerous Ideas

This key event of the Emporium of Dangerous Ideas, June 2014, highlighted creative approaches to curriculum delivery and enterprising approaches to learning and teaching.  In the morning sessions presenters, including Skills Development Scotland and the RSA, gave a national and international  overview of employability and enterprise while Dundee and Angus College and Team Academy explained how their approaches to curriculum delivery were radically different, and how they helped develop creativity, enterprise and employability skills in learners. In the afternoon, participants had the opportunity to take part in an enterprise activity facilitated by Team Academy teampreneurs illustrating how teaching can be done without a classroom or timetable and can be very much student focused. Participants then had the opportunity to indicate areas they were interested in taking forward realizing the potential for more innovative approaches to schools-college partnerships and delivery of a range of curriculum areas.

This event built on the success of the Creativity and Employability event for strategic partners of Scotland’s Creative Learning Plan, organised by Creative Scotland in May. It aimed to encourage practitioners to consider how they could develop a more creative and enterprising approach to learning and teaching and curriculum design within a wider European and Scottish context.

The event was organised by College Development Network in partnership with SDS, RSA and Team Academy and was attended by practitioners from schools, colleges and universities as well as partner organisations.

The event gave participants the opportunity to consider how they could radically change their curriculum design and delivery. By being actively involved in an enterprising workshop activity staff could realize the potential for teaching in a very different way, that could potentially lead to lessening the restrictions of the timetable.

Participants were encouraged to consider their enterprise and creativity skills and how they could use these more effectively in their work setting. They pitched extremely imaginative ideas for education businesses which would solve some of the current timetabling and resourcing issues impacting on education across all sectors.

As a result of the event, participants have agreed to work on some SQA units over the summer to see if it is possible to offer a curriculum that is more enterprising and creative.

TES article: http://www.tes.co.uk/article.aspx?storycode=6435209

Careers and Pathways, Creative Scotland, Expressive Arts, Secondary, Technologies

iCreate – a Youth Music Initiative Project

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iCreate engaged 173 young people, aged 12-17 years, from 11 secondary schools in Glasgow and Inverclyde in 300 hours of music technology workshops after school.

The project aimed to improve access to high quality education in the creative use of music technology for young people in Scotland and to increase skills in music production applicable to all creative arts. The fund had three intended outcomes:

  • Young people engage in learning activities that develop music making skills or music-centred skills including sound engineering and record production
  • Young people build their confidence, self-esteem and develop positive behaviours
  • Young people progress onto further learning and/or personal development opportunities (not restricted to music).

Project partners

Software Training Scotland delivered the training in partnership with 11 secondary school music departments and the Opportunities for All Co-ordinator, Inverclyde Council who identified those participants who would benefit most. Guest speakers from the creative industries raised awareness of progression routes and career options in the industry. Several participants were referred on to the Scottish Music Centre’s Music Plus mentoring programme and West College Scotland provided a venue for the More Choices More Chances group from Inverclyde.

Innovative approaches

A number of innovative approaches were used to meet project outcomes effectively:

  • Partnerships with music industry professionals have provided progression routes for participants
  • The project is mobile and provides high quality equipment for use by young people in venues which are accessible and local to them
  • Participants completed a skills profile to reflect on the skills they gained
  • Social media was used to connect young people and staff

Development of creativity skills

This project not only encouraged learners to develop their creativity skills, but also allowed trainees to develop their skills in supporting young people to explore their own creativity.

The project supported development of the following creativity skills in participants:

Constructively inquisitive:

Young people quickly became interested and found they could learn from the work and processes of other individuals/groups within project. They found listening to other groups/schools work intriguing.
Open-minded:

They listened to and learned from the artistic ideas of others.
Able to harness imagination:

They were required to have a vision of how recordings would develop.
Able to identify and solve problems:

Technical problems and artistic challenges were met and solved on a regular basis.

In addition, participants became:

  • Motivated and ambitious for change for the better, including in their own capabilities: young people developed the desire to improve skills in order to continually improve the output of their projects and sought to produce a higher standard.
  • Confident in the validity of their own viewpoint: producing work of a high standard and making a positive contribution built confidence in their own opinions particularly when followed by positive feedback from staff and peers.
  • Able to apply a creative process to other situations: the activity built technical creativity able to be applied across all creative arts and beyond.
  • Able to lead and work well with others, where appropriate: the project was highly collaborative with the lead role changing regularly depending on the current task.

Benefits for young people

72% of participants completed questionnaires at the end of this project, evidencing the following impacts:

  • 173 young people gained new skills in music technology and creativity
  • 4% have already gone on to further education in sound production
  • 89% reported an increase in their confidence and self esteem
  • 95% completed a recording / mixdown
  • 74% completed a skills profile
  • 3 trainees developed skills and experience of delivering creative activity to young people
  • 80% attendance rate
  • 96% said they felt their planning and decision-making skills had improved
  • 96% said their ability and confidence to work in a group improved
  • 100% said they thought the skills would be useful to them in the future
  • 2 tutors benefitted from professional development in Equality and Diversity in the Workplace Training and Special Educational Needs training

In addition, participants were encouraged to reflect on the skills they had developed. 72% have increased awareness of progression routes suitable to their needs.

Benefits for teachers

9 of the 11 teachers completed a report, which evidenced the following impacts:

  • Improved confidence in music performance, music technology and social skills
  • Improved behaviour and focus
  • Increased sound production skills

What we learned

As a result of this project, an informal partnership has developed with the Scottish Music Centre’s Music Plus mentoring programme, with young people being referred on to further develop industry skills and awareness.

The production of a body of work coming from a variety of schools, groups and areas had an inspirational effect on young people, with them able to compare and learn from others and showcase/be proud of their own work.

Other schools/groups that weren’t part of project in 2013 are proactively asking to be part of it.

Software Training Scotland are now working on a potential partnership with Inverclyde Trust for a music recording project for ex-offenders, as a result of this project.

Website: http://www.softwaretrainingscotland.co.uk/icreate_in_action.html

Sound recordings and photos: www.soundcloud/softwaretrainingscotland

Careers and Pathways, Colleges, Creative Learning Networks, Education Scotland, Secondary

Supporting Your Ambition – Employability and Creativity

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Supporting Your Ambition was a one-day conference, bringing together a wide range of partners to support and advise young people on careers, further education and training in the land based industries and creative sector. Parallel activities allowed pupil support staff, Head Teachers and other relevant officers to update and inform their practice.

The event, which took place in March 2014, aimed to give young people aged 15-25 years up to date advice and information on career and further education/training choices, and to provide a platform for them to have their say about future services and events designed to support them in making career decisions.

The event was developed by D&G Education Services through the Creative Learning Network (CLN) in partnership with the Employability and Skills Service in response to focus group feedback gathered in last year’s CLN programme.

Delivery partners brought together for the event were: LANTRA, Chamber of Arts, Community Learning and Development, Skills Development Scotland, University of Glasgow and West of Scotland, Dumfries College, Holywood Trust, SQA, Princes Trust & Inspiring Entrepreneurs, Barony College, DWP, Young Scot/Creative Scotland/Creative and Cultural Skills, Modern Apprentices co-ordinator DGC and Local Employers such as the Aston Hotel Dumfries.

Maximising potential through partnership

Through joint planning, the partners were able to create an event which was innovative in scope and scale and which capitalised on existing strategic partnerships. For the Employability Service, land based industries was an area of focus, and the CLN has close links with arts partners through its partnership with the Chamber of Arts.

By sharing their time and resources and creating realistic and joint expectations, whilst putting faith into a new partnership, they were able to create a multi-faceted event and develop new ways of working to support employability.

Developing creativity skills in young people

Participants were encouraged to be open-minded about the offer of the day, and to reflect on their own needs, skills and talents. They were engaged in continuous dialogue with a wide range of professionals in order to understand better what their next steps might be – either further/higher education, training or employment. Participants were also asked to share their ambitions for young people in Dumfries and Galloway and identify barriers affecting their decision making process; they confidently shared their views throughout the day.

The enthusiasm of speakers and facilitators created a real buzz which had a knock on effect for young people and other participants in terms of their own motivation and ambition for change.

“Dumfries and Galloway Council is leading on ensuring that our education and skills provision links directly to the workforce needs of our local employers.  Events such as this which bring together employers, young people and their career supporters help us to make sure that our young people are well prepared to become our region’s workforce for the future.  Similarly young people become aware of the opportunities available here in Dumfries and Galloway and begin to understand what skills and attitudes employers’ value in their employees.”

Lynne Burgess, Employability and Skills Service

“We truly wanted to get to the crux of what young people were thinking about their future careers and to listen and talk to them about some of the difficulties they encounter when making such big decisions. The feedback from the day gives us a clear picture of this and will help us move forward in how we practically support young people in Dumfries and Galloway.”

Lesley Sloan, Curriculum and School Improvement Team


What difference has the event made?

Further joint planning and information sharing is already taking place between Education and Employability Services and CLD who learned that young people really need their support and understanding of the pressures they feel trying to make their way in the world.

A hugely positive outcome of this project has been the strong partnership and close bond created by departments coming together who are all working for the good of the young people.

Although it is too early to say whether the event will have a direct impact on young people taking up further/higher education places, the organising partners hope that the event will attract more modern apprenticeship opportunities to the region through the MA Co-ordinator for Young Scot/Creative Scotland/Creative & Cultural Skills as well as increased numbers of young people taking up local job/training opportunities.

Next steps

Building on the partnership this year, the Employability and Education Services will continue to work together to plan for a similar event for 2015. Based on the feedback from this year, they are working towards a mini Scottish Learning Festival style event with a wider range of employers, partners, training and further education providers to support and advise young people. Together, they will create a bank of ‘good’ employers with a series of short film clips that will support young people in their decision-making. They will also create some promotional material based on people from the region who have ‘made it ’ to inspire young people to be ambitious and think beyond their original expectations. Follow up meetings are being arranged with the DG Modern Apprentice Co-ordinator and the Creative Scotland MA Co-ordindator to examine a] opportunities that have been taken up and b] opportunities to be explored with creative partners.

The Employability Service is also working on developing a regional employability award.

Careers and Pathways, College Development Network, Colleges, Technologies

Ripping up The Timetable

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Enterprising Education in Dundee and Angus College

Dundee and Angus College identified partnership opportunities with local micro and SME’s who offer real work projects to HND Interactive Media students. The teaching and curriculum adapted to meet the demands of real work and the knowledge and skill requirements of students, rather than the other way around. Peer learning became an integral part of the course as students taught each other and relied less on traditional teaching methods and the theoretical elements of the course were taught through a webinar system in the early evening to suit students’ preferences.

Challenging normal practices

The project sought to change the current learning environment and culture to reflect existing work practices and to deliver training and skills which meet the technical demands required by today’s creative industry sector. Working with Dundee Heritage Trust as a key partner the work not only had an impact on the teaching staff and learners but also delivered benefits to the clients and partners involved.

Learners took responsibility for their own learning and influencing the content for the curriculum. The standard of work produced was very high and motivation in learners is now higher than it was prior to implementing the project’s approach.

The project was innovative because it didn’t follow the curriculum timetable, adopting instead an integrated project approach to delivering the course. In a change to normal practices it was necessary to set up a project office to cater for quick turnaround of projects.

Developing creativity skills

Learners were encouraged to develop their creativity skills through hands-on problem solving, investigating and reviewing possible solutions, communicating, often complex, ideas to peer groups and clients. Similarly staff had to take a very flexible, open-minded, and at times reactive, approach to teaching and learning which has led to their work in other areas being more varied and interesting.

Learners demonstrated confidence in their own views and abilities, and in working well with others, by giving tutorials and supporting their peer group. They were able to apply their creativity skills to different settings and were more confident in carrying out other projects.

This case study was presented as part of the final day (April 2014) of the College Development Network’s Emerging Leaders Course, as a potential model of intra-preneurial education that could be rolled out across the college and the college sector.

For further information contact Fiona Muhsin at Dundee and Angus College  – f.muhsin@dundeeandangus.ac.uk