The British Army: Employability Skills Workshops

Realising the importance of employability skills
http://www.army.mod.uk/employabilityskills

Aim

Create an interactive resource to be delivered by Army personnel in the classroom for 14-19 year olds.

Background

As an extension to Army in Education and the on-going activities that Army personnel offer within schools, the Army wanted to branch out into the area of Employability Skills.

To be offered as a free resource to schools and colleges, the interactive package of materials needed to provide a flexible approach, so that teachers can request a workshop to suit their needs, from a 30 minute presentation up to a half-day suite of activities.

What did we do?

We created a resource which had three distinct sections that could work independently or together– allowing for flexible delivery.

• The first section is a video based presentation which shows real soldiers identifying employability skills, before identifying how they can be seen in their workplace and their social lives.
• The second section is a reflection and goal-setting exercise, for students to set targets for improvement.
• The third section sees students working in teams to help the fictitious island of St Mark’s in a humanitarian aid mission, after it suffers an earthquake.

The resource engages students using news reports, radio clips, a magnetic map as well as the opportunity to complete a Personal Development Activity.