NOISE Symposium Magazine

By

Symposium Project participants

INTRODUCTION

It is clear that where formal education works, it produces results, keeping Britain competitive financially and academically. On the other side however, the one-size-fits-all approach to learning often does not work, leading to increasing debt and disillusionment amongst the young creative people it seeks to inspire. What we were seeking to uncover as part of the NOISE project is, “what part does non-formal education have to play in the education of 15 – 25 year olds?” “How do we adapt current methods of learning to identify and enhance the talents of all our citizens, young and old?” “What could be done to develop a country of enthusiastic lifelong creative learners?”

Some of the UK’s leading entrepreneurs have dropped out of formal education and worked their way to success, argues Tom Mursell of notgoingtouni.co.uk. In many ways it can be proved that the formal education system stifles creativity and free thinking; Look at a selection of today’s leading creatives, many of who did not experience or complete creative degrees. E.g. Vivienne Westwood, Tom Dixon and Geraldine Hemingway. There is, of course, a place for formal education, but for the young creatives involved in this project, we feel that this place should be re-evaluated.

On 5th October 2009, some of the most prominent figures within non-formal education on European, National and Local levels came together to discover what needs to change and how the shift could be made. Our research had brought us into contact with the products, positive and negative, of the education system and ideas for the current and future policies. This was our opportunity to delve further, to ask the questions that needed answering and create a meaningful manifesto for our peers and the next generation of creatives.

We present our findings, drawn from all areas of education and all backgrounds. We give you our stories and our experiences. We welcome your thoughts and reactions to ensure a continuation of the dialogue that we have started within our group. We hope that our research and ideas will shape the future preparation of the next generation of creatives, to keep the British creative economy competitive and working, for the benefit of all its citizens.

NOISEfestival.com Symposium Team

Welcome to the NOISE project ‘Promoting Young Innovation, Creativity and Entrepreneurship through Non-Formal Learning Paths’. This project involved fifteen young NOISE creatives from across the UK to research the importance of non-formal education; especially in terms of aiding entry into the creative industries. The group researched policy, current affairs relating to education, their personal experiences and what they would like to see changed. The group felt it was important that their voices were heard as they, and future generations will be affected by gaps in formal education.

Over several meetings the NOISE group researched and planned ‘The NOISE Symposium’, held in Manchester during the Conservative Party Conference. The event established a dialogue between young people, the non-formal education sector and policymakers. Eight sessions were hosted by NOISE participants and senior policy makers responsible for skills, work experience, peer led education and UK and EU Government policies that influence a young person’s entry into the Creative Industries.

This magazine is a product of all the research and interviews completed by the NOISE Symposium Group throughout the project. It is a collection of all the hard work and research which the young team have done. The group have had first hand experience debating and presenting their chosen topics relating to non-formal education, questioning panels of professionals, filming the symposium, editing the DVD and designing and writing this magazine.

The teams’ contribution has been outstanding and it is hoped that this non-formal learning experience will contribute to their future successful careers in the Creative Industries.

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NOISEfestival.com

Contents Page 1

Introduction

Page 2

Contents

Page 3-4

What the Creative Industries are Looking for

Page 5-6

NOISE Curators on Informal Education

Page 7-8

Tube Map

Page 9

Benefits of Non-Formal Learning

Page 10

Non-Formal Education Case Studies

Page 11-12

Interviews with Labour and Conservative MP’s

Page 13

How to Change/Influence Policy

Page 14

NOISE Symposium Event

Page 15

Manifesto

Page 16

Credits

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What the Creative Industries are looking for?

NOISE Dream Jobs NOISEfestival.com Dream Jobs The NOISEfestival.com’s Dream Jobs’ project introduces leading creative industry employers to the best emerging talent through a unique work placement scheme. Recipients of a Dream Job get the opportunity to work with a leading creative company, to gain real work experience. It can be hard getting on the career ladder and NOISEfestival.com is helping young creatives get that first break.

NOISE has secured Dream Job work placements with MTV London and Sao Paolo; BBC and Cheshire-based Mackinnon and Saunders, models makers for Hollywood film Director, Tim Burton, Blueprint Magazine and BBC. Wayne Hemingway offered six work placements at Hemingway Design in 2007 and six in 2008, some of which have been offered permanent positions. He says,

‘23K is the

predicted student debt for students starting a degree in 2009’.

- ‘Push’ Student Survey 2009

“NOISEfestival.com is a crucial initiative that will not only enhance our cultural well being but also benefit the nation’s economic well being. The UK’s manufacturing economy has declined but our creative sectors are booming with a current contribution to the economy of some £14 billion. NOISE is good for the pocket and for the soul.”

Celine Shenton, a product designer, who completed a work placement at Hemingway Design, said “Getting a foot in the door of the creative industries is extremely hard, so I’m ecstatic to have a NOISE Dream Job placement. Wayne Hemingway is definitely an idol of mine, so I can’t thank NOISEfestival.com enough for giving me this once in a life time opportunity to work alongside him.” Go to www.NOISEfestival.com/DreamJobs to see on the job Dream Job blogs of other NOISE participants.

1 year

‘In there are as many students recruited to performing arts and media college courses as there are workers in the entire sector including cinema staff, computer games sales-people and lap dancers’.

- The New Statesman

NOISE tips on getting a work placement Know your stuff – don’t try to get a placement that is way beyond your skills. Be honest about your skills and work hard while you are there.

Make friends with the team at your company. No one’s going to notice you hide in the corner.

Research the company thoroughly before you approach them.

‘To do an Arts Degree for a

4%

male will result in a loss in earnings over their lifetime, compared with a male peer who is working in the Creative Industries but did not do an Arts Degree’.

- PricewaterhouseCoopers

Be prepared to work on a voluntary basis if you know that is all the company can offer. (Ask about expenses if this is the case) Know your rights about placements and internships, especially concerning wages, expenses and hours of work. If you are doing work equal to an employee, it is your right to be treated like one.

Have a designated time set aside for your placement and do the full length of the placement.

When you are looking for a placement, simply sending a letter or email is not enough. Follow up with a phone call.

Companies get hundreds of requests for work experience every day. Why should yours stand out?

Spell Checker is your best friend. If you misspell something on your own CV or covering letter what hope do they think you have in their company? Beware of your Americanisms too. Get a mate or a parent to check your application before it goes off.

Show initiative. Always strive to go that one step further. Putting that little extra effort in will get you noticed.

It can feel at times like your hitting your head against a brick wall. ‘We want experienced people’. well how am I supposed to get experience if no-one will give it me! Persistence, passion and you’ll get there.

Perhaps a company can’t offer a full 2 weeks, ask if you can shadow for a day instead.

What can you offer the company? Think about what you can give them, as well as the experience they are giving you.

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Perfect your tea- making skills. A good brew goes along way.

‘Only 13% of Fine Art graduates are working within the Creative Industries’ - Prospects.ac.uk The reasons for going to university used to be obvious; graduates would have a significantly larger salary than non-graduates in the same field, many of jobs were only available if you had a degree, the cost of doing a degree was greatly outweighed by the money you would be earning in the future and having a degree meant you were above average in your field.

Today, although there are a lot of positives about going to university, the difference between graduates and non-graduates is not What the Creative Industries are looking for?

so distinct, and none so more than in the Creative Industries. In this sector employers are asking less about qualifications and looking for experience and employable skills such as adaptability and ability to deal with clients.

The rising cost of a place at university and the increasing number of people with a degree, now means that graduates need something extra to be able to get the job they want – something that only non-formal education can offer.

NOISEfestival.com top tips

• Good communication skills.

Essential in every creative profession, whether you need to communicate with clients or colleagues or both. If you can’t make yourself understood, how are you going to be able to work with a team or clients?

• Real world experience

Having on the job experience can put you way ahead of your peers, and is something that cannot be taught.

• Ability to deal with clients

Know your briefs from your pitches, budgets from your mock-ups.

• Knowledge of realities and pace of the real world

Professional briefs don’t often give you a semester time scale! Pressing and changing deadlines are all part of the game.

• Work and business experience

Understanding the business side is just as important as the creative side.

• Passionate about what you do

Passion and enthusiasm for your practice and work will make you stand out. Don’t be shy of your work or expressing your ideas.

• Adaptability

Be able to work creatively round problems and in different scenarios.

• Good sense of humour

Be fun to work with. A shy figure in the corner will make you stand out but for all the wrong reasons!

• Core skills

E.g. if you are a graphic designer, know how to use a range of computer programs – Illustrator, InDesign, Photoshop, to set you apart from the rest.

• Talent

If you’re not destined to be the star designer there are plenty of support roles you can do.

• Commitment

Do you deserve to be working in your Dream Job? Are you going to give it more than anyone else?

10 years

The End of Work Experience as we know it In April 2009, the Government Department BERR (Department for Business, Enterprise & Regulatory Reform) released an updated policy on the National Minimum Wage as part of the Employment Act (2008).

This means that UK employers can no longer offer unpaid work experience, unless the participant is undertaking it as part of their educational course. This could prove problematic for young creatives who are trying to get work experience via placements, as it means that companies who can’t afford to take on placements will turn them away.

“There are three options for work experience students to not be paid for work experience and that is if they work for a voluntary organization, if they volunteer to carry out work experience or if it is as part of their course. There

‘Over the past , the creative sector has grown at twice the rate of the rest of the economy’.

- Tom Bewick, CEO of Creative & Cultural Skills

are some guidelines the DTI and HM revenue and customs which suggest that you shouldn’t volunteer to work for free for anyone for any longer than 4 weeks because it is crossing into exploitation.

What we try to encourage when we are recommending to employers whether to pay interns or work experience students at whatever level it is, is that if they’re carrying out a job that they would otherwise have had to employ someone to do, they should be paid at least the minimum wage.” – Rachel Harper-Wood, the National Council of Work Experience.

The reason that the government have made this change is to support people doing work experience of work placements, to ensure that they are getting treated fairly by employers

‘62% of people working in the creative and cultural industries are earning less than £20,000’ .

- Tom Bewick, CEO of Creative & Cultural Skills

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What the NOISE curators say...

“It’s not easy to get noticed as a creative person. There are 60,000 young people going through creative industry education every year. Now imagine you haven’t been through the creative education system? I haven’t been through the system, Paul Smith didn’t go through it and neither did Vivienne Westwood.”

Wayne Hemingway, NOISE Curator for Product Design & Architecture Hemingway Design & Red or Dead Fashion “I wanted to pursue creative work and I supplemented that with many different things from being a chef to being a milkman and a frame maker. But, alongside those supports I steered my desires into creating my own business, my own brand name.”

Mark Eley, NOISE Curator for Fashion Eley Kishimoto Design Label “I applied to lots of different universities. I applied to sixteen altogether and only got accepted at one. These days you only have to apply to one and you get accepted because you have to pay for your course now, so the Universities are desperate for numbers.”

Richard Billingham, NOISE Curator for Photography Turner Prize Nominee “There are maybe five main photographers shooting all the main images in fashion campaigns. Then there is a whole shelf of young photographers who are making images to fill a totally saturated magazine market. The whole system is based on the idea that you work for free for a magazine and that’s your shop window. You won’t be paid for that, you may get fifty pounds per page but hopefully you will get noticed and get a job, which is paid commercial, advertising work.”

Penny Martin, NOISE Curator for Photography Showstudio.com “What I appreciate about the British students is their sense of humour. That is something that will bode you well. What’s missing are core skills. Those skills could be in communication, in computer technique, in workshop skills and very often financial skills.

All of these things are as important as the design. You can design as much as you like but if you can’t communicate it properly to a client, it won’t go anywhere.”

Tom Dixon, NOISE Curator for Product Design Former Habitat Creative Director & Tom Dixon Design company “Art’s a very cruel sport and only the good people seriously get through. Young artists need to invent themselves and be with people of their own age and try and establish a new generation; There’s nothing new in that. Picasso started in that way as well. That’s why I like the NOISEfestival.com as it’s a little push to encourage people to establish their own, authentic voice.”

Norman Rosenthal, NOISE Curator for Fine Formerly of the Royal Academy of Art

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“Things like the X Factor annoy me, it’s coming at it from the wrong angle; nobody who really wants to do it will stand in a queue to be judged by Simon Cowell, that’s got to be the worst thing ever. If you really want to do it, you just do it, and that’s the best bit of advice I can give any young person with a talent. If they really mean it they will get on with it and hopefully get the breaks like I did.”

Badly Drawn Boy, NOISE Curator for Music

“Rejection breeds reinvention. You have to put yourself out there all the time, to be rejected. But, there will be somebody out there who will listen. If you are good at what you do, you will follow a thought process and you will find an inner reason to do it.

You’ve got to produce a body of work than can be viewed by yourself, always do it for yourself and then everything else will follow through.”

NOKI, NOISE Curator for Fashion “I’m thinking back to the years we had no work, and we had a lot of energy but we had no work. There was a fantastic engineer called Peter Rice, who I would say was a seminal figure, and he said to me ‘Zaha don’t worry, once you do one building or two buildings, they’ll be knocking at your door’. I would always say ‘oh yeah,’ he said ‘believe you me, you’ll be too busy to do anything’ and it’s true.”

Zaha Hadid, NOISE Curator for Architecture

“I think there is definitely a danger of a ‘skills crisis’. One thing that is not taught at design college is the commercial pace and realities – how to deal with clients, how to present your work to your peers. When you get out there and actually become employed, you then start to learn those things. It would be great if a lot of professional companies could pass that knowledge back into design schools, which would benefit the students.”

James Sommerville, NOISE Curator for Graphic Design Attik Design

“What employers have to do is to look at a freeform 3rd year project that this individual has done and guess whether they can apply that experience to something pragmatic and actually commercially oriented. Nobody is going to employ someone that isn't commercially oriented.

Peter Saville, NOISE Curator for Graphic Design

6

6

School

GCSEs AS levels

O Levels

Worke super

Amateur Photograp Caretaker

A levels

Band, DJing

Doing art in o

A levels

Car Boot Sales Red or Dead fashion Label

Fine

Hemingway Design MBE British Fashion Council Designer of year 1996, 1997, 1998

Degree

GCSEs

Photographing f

Housing Design Award

A levels Foundation Degree

Sh

Chairman of Building for Life

Young tate

Working on music with friends

A levels

Set up own music Working with company producing albums young people and workin with young people HND Level 5 Music

GCSEs

Designer of the Y

Foundation Degree in Music Martial Arts Instructor

Order of the British Em

Accountancy With Free AAT Training

Debt Collector

A levels

River Knowledge

GNVQ level 2 City & Guilds in Plastering

Head of Design at

GCSEs Retail Jobs

Contact Theatre

Key to Formal & Informal Timelines

7

Sean Barr Rob Park Amna Adam Hannah Mansell Tom Basista David Ault Ashley Middleton Rael Gough Sam Pedley Chaz Jupiter Stacey Mckweon Wayne Hemingway Tom Dixon Richard Billingham Damian Hayward

Fine Creative D

A levels Chef job Dropped out GCSEs

Created own company Untrained Designer Self taught in welding

Played bass a band Chelsea Art School

GCSEs

ed in a market

GCSEs

A levels

pher

BTEC in Photography

own time

Foundation Degree

Freelance Photographer

family

GCSEs Art Gallery

Art Degree

A levels

Freelance Artist

Exhibition at Barbican1994

Degree in Science Masters Degree in Astronomy

hortlisted for Turner Prize 2001 PHD in Astronomy

Diploma in Acting Artist project ‘News Per House’

Assistant Curator VIDA Exhibition GNVQ University Art History and Museum Studies

TateLiverpool Paid and unpaid work

Tom Mursell Sets Up Not Going To Uni.co.uk

Year 2008

River Knowledge

mpire

Freelance designer

Music promoter

Young Tate

Director at Habitat University Degree in Design and Illustration

Habitat

ss in

School

GCSEs Young Tate Foundation Degree

Foundation degree Patholagy

A levels Advanced Diploma in Fashion and design

Retail job

GCSEs Advanced Diploma Forensics GCSEs

NOISE Underground Education

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Benefits of Non-Formal Learning

for breaking down barriers into the Creative Industries When discussing non-formal education as a valid learning path into the creative industries, it is important to outline what the benefits of this way of learning are. Throughout the project, we have come up with hundreds of benefits of non-formal education. The most relevant in terms of entry into the Creative Industries which are not normally acquired through formal education are: Self regulated learning and motivation without accreditation When working professionally you have to be able to motivate yourself and generate work on demand. Keeping tabs on yourself to make sure you are getting stuff done on time and to a competitive standard is an essential skill.

Lifelong learning skills and commitment Bridging the age gap and cultural differences In formal education, students tend to be surrounded by peers.

This is not the case in non-formal education. People from different cultures and of different ages can give you life experience that cannot be learnt otherwise.

Real insights into the working

Learning from experts and people at the top of their profession can be very inspiring. work on demand. Keeping tabs on yourself to make sure you are getting stuff done on time and to a competitive standard is an essential skill.

You choose how, and what you want to learn rather than following a pre-determined curriculum which may not suit your needs.

Confidence Self discipline Getting to work or to a placement on time is your obligation. Professional companies won’t tolerate your punctuality problems, and you won’t be able to blag your way out of it!

Responsibility Non-formal learning is self regulated and self sought, and this gives you responsibility for your own education and related learning. Placements and internships can often be more difficult to secure than a place at university, so treat them well!

Real life experience and learning skills that may not be available in formal education such as understanding how a business is run Get out and make contacts Widening your networks will put you in touch with more people who you can approach for jobs and work experience leads.work on demand. Keeping tabs on yourself to make sure you are getting stuff done on time and to a competitive standard is an essential skill.

Free! Which is a lot cheaper than a loan...

There are a lot of common misconceptions about non-formal education – especially if it means not going to university. “It’s not worth as much.” “Degrees measure success.” “Formal equals intelligent.” “Non-formal is not as difficult as formal education.” Parents and teachers can play a big part in a young person’s decision on whether to go to university or not.

“As a primary teacher, I believe that non-formal education has a big place.

Far too often, it feels as if people think that we can teach children everything they need to know in school. There is not time for everything at school, and so the school system and other nonformal forms of education (clubs etc) need to work together to give children the full and broad education that they need. Spending time playing and learning in a very informal environment with parents, relatives and friends is also vitally important.”

Janet Cottenden, Bishop's Stortford

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“Through informal education i.e. learning on my own account out of my own interest I learned everything.

For this to have any hope of working the entire education system would need to be turned on its head.

Non-formal education is the only way of truly learning outside of the bias, constraints and general ignorance of both governments and society. The proof of this is the fact that nonformal education produced Einstein.

What else do I need to say?”

Mike Hewitt, Doctor of Music, Welsh Assembly College

“I strongly believe that formal education should become optional after Key Stage 3 (Year 9 or 14 years of age) as relevant to the individual. I think that it should be possible to teach the fundamentals of Arithmetic, English, Science and other useful subjects in nine formal educational years. In addition, a young person should be able to acquire the necessary interpersonal skills and citizenship that is vital in making him/her a well-rounded person.”

Charles Ositelu, IT Facilitator, Manchester

Case Studies Sam Pedley “My postcode stopped me from going to a music class. I wasn’t allowed to go because there were such strict rules about the area that the centre covered. My area is seen as middle class, but my background is far from it.

There are no youth centres in Stockport. I could chill with my mates in the local church but there wasn’t anywhere to pick up new skills without paying lots of money.

I had to leave Stockport to find somewhere that didn’t cost a lot and offered me a chance to learn something. I started going to the Zion Centre in Hulme, Manchester when I was 17. It’s a RFO (Regularly Funded Organisation) with lots of classes. I decided to join the gospel choir.

Going to The Contact Theatre in Manchester really helped me. All of their classes were free of charge, from the Poetry Classes to Freestyle Mondays. Getting involved in the showcase events and taking advantage of the networking opportunities really helped me to find both paid and voluntary work. I went on to teach singing, MCing and writing in schools and community centres.

I had a problem when I wanted to move from one college to another, as the qualifications that I had done at one, though similar, were not accepted at the other. So because of bad advice and the complication of the qualification system, I had to do more work than necessary.

I think it’s important to recognise that there are a lot of capable students that are being let down by the formal education system and that needs to change.”

Damien Hayward

Tom Basista

“I enjoyed primary school, but when I moved from London to Kent when I was ten years old, I found I was a year behind.

Secondary school didn’t really encourage my talents or interests. The connection between my interest in music outside school wasn’t picked-up on by school. I think all schools should encourage young people to build on their interests outside school, and that they should support individual students to pursue career options in what they are interested in.

I had an inspiring Maths teacher. She was Teacher of the Year and was the reason I achieved a GCSE in Maths Grade C. I struggled through most of my lessons, less so Art, and although I came away with Cs and Bs at GCSE, I always felt that I could have done better.

My dyslexia wasn’t picked up by school until I was doing A levels.

I think that schools need to consider the bigger picture when young people aren’t doing so well. There were several things going on in my life that affected me and my potential.

At the time, I felt compelled to go to university (and I think most young people feel this). I felt pressured to pick something to do that fitted the framework and my perception of what my parents expected of me.

Non-formal education, especially what I learned from friends involved in music when I was a teenager and later, has been invaluable in shaping my career as both a musician and a facilitator with young people.“

Amna Adam

“I struggled my way through primary and secondary education. I was diagnosed with dyslexia just before my G.C.S.E. exams. My parents were repeatedly told that I was not good enough to join mainstream education but they were so determined to give me the “I am originally from Qatar - I have been here in UK for two years same opportunities as other kids.

I am currently doing National Diploma in Fashion and Design, but I am also I signed up for college courses and found that they didn’t challenge me. I left college doing a Foundation year in Pathology . I have always had an interest in with no immediate intent of continuing my studies. Then in 2005 I became a mentee forensic science but I have always had passion for fashion, so I decided to member of Full Circle Arts, a disability arts charity. I found that the Non formal education do both at same time. route suited me because my new peers didn’t judge me on my disabilities. Over a 6 I have become unsure about where I will go next in my education because month period I became involved in my different workshops; one in particular sparked an the system in the UK is different to Qatar. We start primary school at age of interest in photography.

5, move to middle school at age 11, then high school from 14 – 17. All Non-formal education has given me the confidence to return to formal education. I students then go straight to university. ‘Dropping out’ of school in Qatar is started to study BTEC Art & Design at Manchester College of Arts & Technology, I then not an option at any point in your education. Students in the UK have so decided to go for an A-level in photography. It was meant to be a two year course but many choices to make - I think it is much more complicated here because the college couldn’t afford to run the course and scrapped it at the end of my first year. there are so many qualifications available, but little guidance to help you make choices. It’s difficult to tell which is the best option.

My experiences with formal education haven’t always worked out. I think that the formal My experience of formal learning in the UK is that it is less formal than in educational system needs to be updated to reflect the creative world around us. We Qatar where I did my GCSEs. I have enjoyed non-formal education more seem to be obsessed with league table’s exam results and other worthless white pieces than I thought I would, especially with fashion designing as it is all about of paper. practising being creative and making your own things.”

I still want to be a freelance photographer. I am currently studying for an NVQ in Photography.”

David Ault

“I have been in many different clubs and societies, done many workshops and so on, but I feel that all this can give you is a tool but not necessarily how to use them, and when that opportunity is given then the magic happens. I disliked maths for that reason that I was given lots of tools but no idea of how to use them or how it related to the real world.

I volunteered for Walsall Hospital Radio which gave me the confidence to think on my feet and in front of the microphone. I also partook in courses which gave media training and worked as a Planetarium Presenter before going to Drama School.

After Drama School and a few jobs to pay the bills, I travelled around India for 6 months with a touring theatre company. This job taught me more than 2 years at Drama School ever did as I was putting all the theory that I had learnt into practice. I was surrounded by successful people without qualifications.”

Hannah Mansell

”Non-formal learning has made me realise what I want to get out of my career. I have always been interested in Art, I remember being taken to see a Tracey Emin exhibition when I was just six years old.

When I was studying for A- level art I came across the young Tate website and signed up for a course called ‘Arts and Ideas’. Raw Canvas is part of a Tate initiative to organise events by young people for young people. I contributed to a collaborative installation which was created and displayed in Tate Modern in a day. Watching the public interacting with an artwork we had created together was incredibly exciting and this event fuelled my passion for non-formal learning.”

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A change is gonna come…

A revolution is defined as ‘quick, irreversible and often violent change.’ While we naturally deplore violence, NOISE are gunning to change the way creative Britain is taught. We put our young representatives in front of the key decision makers, Kevin Brennan, Minister for Skills and Universities and David Evenett Shadow Minister for Skills. Full interview transcripts can be found at

www.NOISEfestival.com/Symposium

Kevin Brennan: Minister for Skills and Universities NOISE: What are your views of informal learning? How can informal learning be encouraged as a valid learning path into the Creative Industries?

Brennan; Sometimes opportunities and doors are not opened to everybody.

Informal learning and projects such as [NOISE] are an excellent way to try and overcome some of that.

NOISE; Why then is there such a stigma between the Creative Industries and the more academic industries?

Brennan; Well it’s is an age old cultural thing in many ways, but you can make a living and contribute to the economy through the creative industries.

The important thing is to try and create a framework, and what the government can do is try and create the conditions in which creativity can flourish.

NOISE: Raising the school age to 18, do you think that will remove the benefits of informal learning to young people?

Brennan: The school age is not being raised to 18. The new law says that everybody up to the age of 18 should be in education or training. I think perhaps for too long we have had a focus on formal academic qualifications and not thought enough about pathways for people.

Kevin Brennan MP with the NOISE Team and NOISE CEO Denise Proctor It may not be a degree in English literature it maybe a creative cultural diploma and getting skills that will be very useful for them to use in pursuing a career in Creative Industries.

NOISE: What is the government doing to ensure creative industries are at the forefront of the nations thinking?

Brennan; Well actually there has been quite a bit of success really in trying to encourage and support creative industries in recent years and they now make up over 7% of the income of the country, employ a couple of million people and have been growing at twice the rate of other areas of the economy in recent years. That’s not all down to government it’s down to economic change and the talent we are lucky enough to have in the UK and the comparative advantage we have in some industries like the music industry were we have a strong international reputation.

11

David Evenett: Shadow Minister for Universities and Skills NOISE: What do you think about students that have not achieved formal qualifications or are just not suited to formal education?

Evenett: In principal raising the school leaving age to 18 is a good idea, however it will not suit everybody. If we are successful in the general election looking into ways to help non-formal training, and skills and education for people who are not suitable for the schools, or colleges NOISE:How are you going to encourage those skills? How are you going to find the talents?

Evenett: We want to look at an all-age career service that we can bring into the schools, asking and finding peoples strengths and talking to individuals about what their aspirations are.

NOISE: Some have gone down the academic route but it hasn’t always worked out. every time has it been for them and non-formal learning has come in and combined with academic then they have successful.

Evenett: We are actually re-channelling the money to meet the needs of the people you have highlighted. I think is the problem is we have been too institution- bound and we need to be more innovative, and we are looking at and policies will be put forward on that basis.

NOISE: What do you think of the governments idea that 50% of young people should go to university?

David Evenett MP with the NOISE Team

Evenett:I don’t think one should take figures. If people want to go to university, have the ability to go to university, who would get something out of going to university then we shouldn’t be saying what the figures should be-we should be offering a choice.

NOISE: So you are advocating a less targets based system?

Definitely. We don’t want targets, what we want is quality and opportunity Are there any plans to change the funding for non formal education?

Evenett: We believe that we set up a NEETs (Not in Education or Training) fund that is directed to non-formal ways of education and training as well. I totally agree with you and saying that at some times for some people it is not appropriate they do need to have the opportunity to train, or to work or to learn in a different environment and we are looking at that as well.

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Policy Making What do you want to see changed?

Get in touch with local groups relevant to what you would like to see changed. Research what they do; what kind of schemes are they running? Are they interested in your idea? Could it help them? Get involved with what they are doing Speak to the experts. All universities have specialist departments which you can openly talk to. In the case of the NOISE project we spoke to education experts at Manchester Metropolitan University.

As well as talking to the experts, it is important to talk to representative groups, who have been affected positively and negatively by policy decisions in the area. This will give you a good idea about what works, what doesn’t, and the people that the policy change will have the greatest affect on.

LOCAL LEVEL Contact your local council - Depending on what policy area that you wanted to look at - there would be several options – you could go directly to your local councillor, or the lead member for the policy area, e.g. skills and employment, or directly to the council department responsible for that policy area.

Discussions informed by a working model are always welcome, but new ideas and suggestions for working differently are too - The most effective route is probably a mix of all of the above. A well reasoned approach discussed with councillors and policy officers is usually the most effective way of influencing local policy.

Have changes made a difference on a local and or regional level? Do you think they could work on a national level? Local MP’s who are aware of how the changes have affected local life and benefitted residents may be able to take ideas to the relevant government department.

Local councils can flex Government policies to benefit the local area. This is because local needs may be slightly different from nationally; however they can be restricted by national requirements. They will still be happy to work to influence policy development at a national level.

REGIONAL LEVEL There are nine Regional Development Agencies in England. The role of the RDA’s is to best utilise the skills and natural assets of the region to ensure a sustainable and long-term future for everyone. Each regional development agency works to strengthen the region’s economy and used the regions natural assets. There are slightly different systems in Scotland which has 4 regions, Wales which has 2 and Northern Ireland which is one itself.

Your region may really need the change that you are trying to implement, but because each Regional Development Agency focuses on specific regional priorities, there may be another region that has a perfect working example of what you are trying to do. Take a look at what other regions are doing in the area that you are concerned about. How are their schemes implemented and how have they benefitted the residents?

Contact your RDA with evidence of how things are working in other RDA’s www.englandsrdas.com www.wda.co.uk www.scottish-enterprise.com www.investni.com When a government department wants to make a change to an existing policy, the first step is a Green Paper. (A Green paper is a consultation document on central government policy). This is produced after the relevant research has been done and summarises the findings. This would outline the changes in policy for feedback.

When the government decided they wanted to raise the age of young people leave education from 16 to 18, before it became policy, they had to outline why they wanted to do this and get further views and opinions. The 2008 Green Paper Raising Expectations proposed changes to the current government policy on the age limit of formal education but itself was not policy until recently early 2009.

NATIONAL LEVEL The next stage in the process is a government White Paper. This enunciates policy (they lay out a proposed policy) and contains ideas from the Green Paper that have been worked on following the feedback. A White Paper forms the basis of the bill before it is presented to Parliament. Although a white paper may on occasion be a consultation as to the details of new legislation, it does signify a clear intention on the part of a government to pass new law.

An example is The Learning Revolution White Paper which states the importance of informal adult learning. This is a government policy.

Policy is different from law or legislation, which are ‘Acts of Parliament’. Policy guides outcomes, while laws can prohibit certain behaviours.

Some White Papers may be commented on, and their contents debated before a bill is produced. The bill is then debated in the House of Commons several times.

Necessary changes are made and then the bill is passed on to the House of Lords. A bill may go backwards and forwards between both Houses until they have approved.

Once both Houses have agreed on the exact wording, the bill will eventually pass into law.

EUROPEAN LEVEL

The European Commission - Answerable to the EU Parliament - Implements decisions made by the Council - Ensures regulations adopted by the European council and European Parliament are implemented in member states

The European Council - EU’s main decision making body - shares legislative duties with European Parliament

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The European Union decision making triangle

The European Parliament - Elected by the people - can ask European Commissions to amend proposals and regulations - must give ascent to international agreements and proposed enlargements of the European Union - EU parliament is on equal footing with the EU council when legislating on important issues - They have the power to throw out legislation if an absolute majority vote against the council - Shares equal responsibility for the budget with the council For young people working with NOISE (and other similar organisations), the European Parliament is the most important part of the EU to look into when considering policy change. Members of the European Parliament (MEP’s) are elected by the people, and there are several MEP’s for each region in the UK. Find out who your local MEP is, do a bit of research on their background to see if they would be interested in what you have to say. For example, if you find an MEP in your area who has been a teacher, they may be interested in views and opinions on education.

NOISE symposium event “We want to see non-formal education being brought out of the shadows and considered as a valid alternative to university education when wanting to pursue a creative career.”

NOISE, 2009 Lawyers have the Bar. Doctors go to medical school, but the route to becoming a creative person (in fashion, graphics, architecture or music) isn’t as clear cut. Getting a first from a leading University offers no guarantees - only 13% of Fine Art graduates are working within the Creative Industries.* “One thing that is not taught at design college,” says James Sommerville, NOISE Festival curator for graphic design, “is how to deal with clients and present your work to your peers.

When you get out there, then you start to learn those things. It would be great if professional companies could pass that knowledge back into design schools, which would benefit the students.”

“If you actually look at the Creative Industries they aren’t demanding [academic] accreditation so who is?” asks Sarah Ross, NEET co-ordinator for Manchester City Connexions. “I think we have got to the point where we need to look at what the industry is [looking] for and what our education system provides” Dan Buckley is the Principle Consultant and Head of Personalisation at Cambridge Education. He heads a revolutionary peer assessed programme called Personalisation by Pieces.

Involving 22,000 participants, it gives students more control in the classroom.

outperform their formally-taught peers in the UK. With the teachers employed as facilitators, the students were linked online to ordinary people with an in depth understanding of the subject.

Buckley gave a group of schoolchildren teacher training and left them to teach each other. Buckley’s students went on to

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Buckley is not advocating an end to existing methods. ‘If I want to learn nuclear physics, the best setting for that is “formal”, but this is not right for everyone,’ he says.

Currently there is no nationally recognised body that receives direct funding for non formal learning, despite its worth to the booming Creative Industries. NOISE-with the help of curators like Wayne Hemmingway, Hollywood animators Mackinnon and Saunders and many others-already run a work experience programme called NOISE Dream Jobs that has led to employment opportunities for over 85 young people: "It's proving to be a source of recruitment,” said Hemmingway in 2008. “We get work placements in all the time but some of the best we’ve ever had have come through NOISE.” Noise aims to broker many more programmes like this on a local level. Tapping into their network of curators and industry professionals, Noise aims to bring those interested in the creative industries closer to those in the business via the Living Library-an online mentorship store where successful industry advice can be sought whenever it was needed.

NOISE is actively lobbying Government to change the way non formal education for the Creative Industries is funded and recognised.

www.NOISEfestival.com/Symposium.

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Manifesto These ideas are the result of the NOISE Symposium.

We believe that these recommendations could positively affect how future creatives are taught

NOISE YOUNG DELEGATES SAY...

Embed a culture of informal learning in early education.

Work to change stigmas surrounding ‘non-formal’ education.

Better define ‘work experience’ as Work Related Learning as this more accurately describes what it is.

Spend one day a week for a school term, working in

There needs to be another way of proving your capability and experience– other than through grades, such as peer led assessment.

We propose that once students have completed their GCSE’s, they have 5 years, or until the time that they are 21 to complete 2 years of compulsory education.

This would give them the chance to get some experience in the careers they are interested in.

Students should be given more responsibility over

a chosen industry.

their education – this would result in a more mature and involved approach to their courses.

Embed and advertise work related learning early,

Students should be able to choose whether they

not just two weeks around the age of 15, make it an ongoing process.

Non-formal education in the classroom – for example, peer led learning, learning through workshops and practical skills, not just for creative and practical subjects, but for maths and science too.

This would help students connect what they are learning to the real world.

More innovative and interesting ways of teaching classic subjects, e.g. have a range of different professionals teaching English and poetry: MC’s, novelists, journalists.

Develop a culture of mentoring in education. Older pupils passing on knowledge throughout school life, professionals passing on skills.

want to write an exam, do ongoing coursework, do a recorded audio exam, give a presentation, make a film etc. to demonstrate the experience they have gained.

This will make the qualification in itself more inspiring and allow the individual to feel more connected to the learning process. It’s about tailoring the grading process to best suit your skills – not just fitting into an exam board’s set metrics.

For NOISE to continue to develop non-formal education paths as a valid way of entry into the Creative Industries and to continue to use nonformal learning methods, such as NOISE Dream Jobs to give young creatives a stepping stone into the Creative Industries.

Credits NOISE Symposium participants Amna Adam, David Ault, Sean Barr, Tom Basista, Aaron Cunningham, Rael Gough, Damien Hayward, Ashley James, Charles Jupiter, Hannah Mansell, Steven McIntyre, Stacey Mckeown, Ashley Middleton, Robert Parkin, Sam Pedley & Andrew Tunney.

NOISE Team Denise Proctor CEO, Vic Turnbull Operations Manager, Rachel Southern Project Co-ordinator, Naomi Horlock Youth Facilitator, Gina Hewitt Event Manager, Gahmei Cheng NOISE Graphics, Craig Deeming NOISE Website, Jennifer Brookes Intern & Dan English Intern Urban Canyons Film Production Team Sebastian Peiter, Gareth Taylor, Mick Linehan, Tant Lay, Sharon Chapman, Waseem Rashid & Sam Warrington NOISE Symposium Delegates Helen Colley - Manchester Metropolitan University, Dan Buckley - Cambridge Education, Keith Lucas - Street College Oldham, Tom Mursell - Notgoingtouni.co.uk, Dougald Hine - School of Everything, Pat Dixon - Gallery 37, Fran Devine - Manchester Libraries, David Evennett Shadow - Minister for Universities and Skills, , Danny Fahey - Contact Theatre, Dominic Potter - Internocracy, Violet Tucker Gypsy & Traveller Inclusion Officer, Sarah Ross - Connexions, Cllr Sue Murphy, Lyndy Geddes & Bushra Jamil - Manchester City Council, Oshor Williams - Professional Footballers Association, National Council for Work Experience.

Chinese Arts Centre Manchester & all staff Get Involved Press Team Guest Editors Thomas H Green, Daniel James Henry Live Blogger at NOISE Symposium Andrew Ko -Manchester Business School Funders British Council, Manchester City Council, The Learning Revolution Festival NOISE curators Wayne Hemingway, Mark Eley, Tom Dixon, Zaha Hadid, Richard Billingham, Penny Martin, Noki, Norman Rosenthal, James Somerville, Peter Saville Other Contributors Kevin Brennan - Minister for Universities and Skills, Creative Apprenticeships, Keri Facer, Arlene McCarthy, Seth Brook

Promoting Young Innovation, Creativity and Entrepreneurship through Non-Formal Learning Paths Action 5 - Support for European Cooperation in the Youth Field Action 5.1 - Meetings of Young People and those responsible in the Youth Field