We have recently concluded a co.laborative ‘Unbox Your Future’ project, with Castle Donnington College and a couple of our trusted creative collaborators, Sally and Charles.
This project wasn't just about giving a window into our creative business; it was about injecting real-world, purposeful experience into the academic journey to challenge the students outside of their comfort zones and learning essential skills to prepare them for the world of work.
We challenged a group of Year 9 students with a brief straight out of our creative agency: to research and articulate their school’s culture and values, but entirely from their unique student perspective. Working in teams, they utilised tools like Canva to design content and present their concepts.
The initial response was telling. The highly collaborative approach was, quite literally, alien to them!
Accustomed to the defined assessment criteria of individual tasks, the idea that they could think for themselves, operate as a team, and express their actual feelings about their ‘product’ the school, took time to process and adjust too. Our mission was to push them outside their comfort zone and equip them with the tools necessary to thrive in the modern world of work.
What emerged was a powerful display of the skills successful professionals demonstrate daily: critical thinking, creativity, collaboration, and, perhaps most importantly, the ability to take constructive feedback.
This experience raises a crucial question for the wider educational landscape: If collaboration is the foundation of the creative sector and many other industries, why does our system overwhelmingly focus on individual assessment?
We are not currently providing our future leaders with the essential skills to navigate education into a purposeful and fulfilling career.
His dedication goes above and beyond to provide such remarkable working encounters for his students.
This journey has revitalised our commitment at co.lab to focus our energy on offering more experiential learning opportunities and working with academia to provide a more rounded and holistic experience.
By leveraging our expertise and intellectual property of working in innovative educational partnerships with some very talented and committed education professionals, we’re dedicated to nurturing the talent of tomorrow and helping purpose-led organisations invest in the early career opportunities that are effective and sustainable.
Lifelong learning allows people to progress and grow throughout their lives, so it’s vital we encourage and inspire this from a young age.
Ready to inspire young people to thrive? Check out our ‘Invest in next gen’ webpage to get started!
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