What teachers wish employers would support them with on Green Skills
Hear from Connectr's Teacher Advisory Board about what they're looking for from employers when it comes to upskilling on Green Skills & Green Jobs.
The Teacher Advisory Board on the Green Skills Workshop:
The importance of climate change, sustainability and the future of Green Careers is of huge significance. The future that all schoolchildren will enter into and the evolving workforce of the Industrial revolution 4.0 provides new opportunities for employment.
The Green Skills Workforce Coalition was initiated by Connectr, with backing from Nesta, 60 major UK employers, and the Careers & Enterprise Company, it tackles a critical green skills gap identified by research in various sectors by 2024-2025.
Only 7% of students are aware of employers offering environmentally related jobs, but 72% of current students are willing to accept lower salaries for such opportunities.
These statistics have prompted the Coalition’s efforts to bridge the awareness gap. In our efforts to be the trailblazers in young educators understanding of the Green Skills future we have worked with our Teacher Advisory Board to develop an effective and engaging Green Skills Programme. The Teacher Advisory Board is comprised of an excellent group of Educators, Careers Leads, and Curriculum organisers providing unique insights into how to prepare students for the Green Revolution.
3 main learnings from the Teacher Advisory Board:
- Reflecting the real-world is crucial:
“The focus should be specific to Green Careers and interactive elements that give students opportunities to use the skills needed in careers in this sector. Tangible examples/case studies and activities are often the highlight and highest impact of these types of workshops”
“Student Respond best to practical exercises – e.g. design a solar panel car, look at the components of cars, design a sustainable garden. Employers engaging to bring in these ideas has a great impact”
“It needs to offer something different to what they’re already doing in the classroom”
- Links with employers are powerful:
“Sometimes with some students what the employers are saying can hold more weight that school subjects as they see it as ‘real world’”
“It would be great to involve local companies such as BT, Siemens, Sizewell. It would also be good to link with the essential soft skills”
- Timing is everything:
“Students normally apply for their Higher Education and future plans quite early in the academic year, would it be ideal for employers and workshops to run from October to January, so that students are well informed on their progression route and prepare their CV’s, Linked In profiles and portfolios for future roles”