Vocational media research project. BTEC Creative Media.

1. Exploring skills for employment
in the media industry
An investigation into classroom
strategies
Victoria Grace Walden
Teacher of Media, Strode’s College
PhD candidate, Queen Mary, ULU
vwalden@Strodes.ac.uk

2. AIM
To develop a scheme of work and
resources for vocational media
teachers which helps them deliver a
curriculum suitable for developing
the skills young people need to
thrive in the media industry.

3. Autumn Term: Progress
BEFORE
Preliminary secondary reading: media education
& media industry skills
NOW
Secondary reading: vocational
education & pedagogy
Primary research:
Organisations, industry survey,
Teacher interviews, student
survey
Development: scheme of work,
lesson plans, resources

4. Findings - recap
Media vocational education
•
Public perception of media = academic emphasis in media education
•
Led vocational media still to be taught with ‘academic slant’ - ‘pre-vocational’
Media industry
•
•
One of the UK’s most successful sectors
Striking skills gaps: business management skills (not the focus of media vocational
curriculums)
Vocational education
•
•
Wolf: Need to develop English and maths skills, employability and work skills
But... Scepticism about large scale reform
•
Good practice: project-centred learning, real-life scenarios, simulations, competition,
modelling, reflection, problem-solving, and creative and critical thinking

5. Conclusions
•
’21st century industry focus’ = business / project management skills
•
Educational space, not just workplace simulation
•
Heed Wolf’s warning and history of Diploma: is it time for something completely
different or is it more productive to think about how those on the frontline can
develop students’ skills within existing frameworks?
•
Good practice: business management methodology meets excellent pedagogical
practice (both have similar aims).
•
Focus:
•
•
•
•
•
•
Developing independent learners who take responsibility for their own development
Reflective learners
Problem-solvers
Creative and critical thinkers
Adapt their thinking skills to different scenarios
Industry scenarios but with feedback, support and guidance from teachers
We cannot predict the shape of the media industry in the future (it
changes so rapidly), but we can help prepare young people to be
those at the front of these yet unknown developments.

6. Survey: Professionals V students
Professionals:
Most important:
Project management
Creative thinking
Problem-solving
Professional English
Recognised courses:
BTEC / 1 mention of A Levels
Students:
70% largest proportion of industry jobs are creative &
technical
Project management is most important aspect.
Then:
Creative thinking
Technical skills
Design and Creative skills
(Entrepreneurial skills and Professional English were
scored very low)
[Students have misconceptions about terms ‘project
management’ and ‘creative thinking’

7. Aims of classroom strategies
•
A structure with purpose needs:
– Instruction/ modelling –
•
•
student-centred approach
Transparent learning process
– Real-life scenarios and simulations
•
•
•
•
Competition
problem-solving
thinking creatively and critically
Open problems
– Support of industry professionals
•
•
Inspiration
contextualise learning
– Reflection and evaluation
•
•
‘agile’ project management
Self-reflection

8. The project
• Teaching instructional
pack
• Live brief
• Online blog space:
tracking the project
and resource sharing
• Business strategy and
excellent pedagogical
practice

9. Pedagogy
Education
• Student-centric
• Personalised learning
experience (students define
own deadlines)
• Creative thinking exercises
• Application of creative thinking
techniques
• Reflective learning
• Flipped vocational classroom –
large amount of the doing is
completed in own time
• Contextualised, project-based
learning
Business skills
•
•
Agile project management
SCRUMS:
–
–
–
–
5m: Define project backlog (list of project
requirements as priorities, what is the next sprint)
15m: KICKOFF: Define the sprint backlog
10m: SPRINT PLANNING: Develop schedule (how long
will each task take realistically and who will do them)
10m: DAILY SCRUM: Individuals state:
• What did you do since last scrum?
• What are you doing until the next scrum?
• What is stopping you getting on with your work?
(NOTE: This is about making commitments rather than
blame or problem-solving)
–
5m: SPRINT REVIEW MEETING: Scrum’s plan is
presented to the client (teacher) –informal meeting
based on negotiation and discussion
–
EACH SCRUM: New version of the scrum artifacts
should be saved:
•
•
•
Product backlog
Sprint backlog
Burnout charts

10. SOW: Week example
Monday
Training day
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
This lesson is
dedicated to
‘training’:
1st ½ of lesson:
STARTER:
Creative thinking
task
1st ½ of lesson:
STARTER:
Creative thinking
task
1st ½ of lesson:
STARTER:
Creative thinking
task
1st ½ of lesson:
STARTER:
Creative thinking
task
GROUPS: Apply
thinking from
starter to own
project
GROUPS: Apply
thinking from
starter to own
project
GROUPS: Apply
thinking from
starter to own
project
GROUPS: Apply
thinking from
starter to own
project
SCRUM
SCRUM
SCRUM
SCRUM
2nd ½ of lesson:
Implement
project
development
2nd ½ of lesson:
Implement
project
development
2nd ½ of lesson:
Implement
project
development
2nd ½ of lesson:
Implement
project
development
PLENARY: (15m)
Reflection (blog)
PLENARY: (15m)
Reflection (blog)
PLENARY: (15m)
Reflection (blog)
PLENARY: (15m)
Reflection (blog)
Hands-on
exercises with
equipment
Analysis and
enquiry (for
theoretical
element of the
unit)
Flipped
classroom
applied

11. How it will happen
• Training for teachers (remote / workshop)
• Implementation of project
• Evaluation from teachers and students
intermittently
–
–
–
–
Initial thoughts (from first lesson)
After first week
At production stage
End of project

12. Problems and limitations
The reform of vocational education –could this be a good thing? Could this research offer practical
improvements to the current system? How will changes affect the viability of this project in the
long-term?
Initial plan: Extra-curricula project aimed at those wanting to work in the industry focusing on a broad,
open problem: design a media product teenagers don’t realise they want.
Positives: - as a part-time teacher it allows me to supervise project
- abstract problem allows for creativity
Problems - too disassociated from working context
- too much extra demand on teachers (thus lack of enthusiasm)
- issue of rooming/ equipment demand
- extra workload on students as exams and final deadlines approach
- potentially too abstract
- time limitations (1-2 hours per week with students working in free time)
- not a live brief (thus potential for de-contextualisation)

13. Assessing success
• End result? – problematic – are students really
developing the skills or are they just lucky?
• Reflective stages – teacher observation and
student self-assessment
–
–
–
–
–
Confidence rating in different skills
Qualitative comments (Teacher)
Initial skills assessment
Exit interview
Teacher evaluation

14. What next?
BEFORE
NOW
Workshops with teachers
Publication of research
Sharing of resources (TES)
Teacher online forum –sharing
best practice
NEXT