As part of the Royal Academy of Engineering’s active work to build an inclusive education system for engineers, join we held a live panel discussion of the report: ‘Reimagining practical learning in secondary schools: A review of the evidence’.
The Academy is marked the publication of this research in collaboration with Professor Bill Lucas and Dr Janet Hanson, from the Centre for Real-World Learning at the University of Winchester.
Despite growing recognition of its contribution to the development of critical engineering skills, practical learning still tends to be seen as a lesser alternative to academic learning, remaining misunderstood and underappreciated. This equips educators with restrictive tools that fail to not only build competent engineers, but also to engage the entire talent pool.
This research serves as the first step to tackle practical learning’s mischaracterisation, reach beyond unhelpful educational binaries and reimagine the future of whole learning.
Programme
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5.20pm |
Zoom waiting room opens |
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5.30pm |
Welcome address |
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5.35pm |
Introduction to the report |
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5.45pm |
Panel discussion |
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6.00pm |
Q&A |
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6.25pm |
Closing remarks |
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6.30pm |
Close of event |
Dr Rhys Morgan
Director, Engineering and Education, Royal Academy of Engineering
Professor Bill Lucas
Professor and Founder of the Centre for Real-World Learning, Warwick University, Bill Lucas is Professor of Learning and Director of the Centre for Real-World Learning (CRL). He founded CRL and the Expansive Education Network, together with Professor Guy Claxton. Bill is also the co-founder of Rethinking Assessment, a movement arguing for a major overhaul of the assessment system in England Bill is prolific, award-winning writer and speaker on the subjects of learning and creativity. He has authored and co-authored over forty publications- and alongside Dr Janet Hanson co-authored the Reimagining practical learning in secondary schools: A review of the evidence report. Bill was appointed by the OECED as co-chair of the strategic advisory group for the 2021 PISA test of Creative Thinking, served as an academic adviser for the Durham Commission on Creativity in Education, and subsequently co-author of its first report in 2019. Currently, Bill is curating an online platform, Creativity Exchange, for Arts Council England and surveying as an international education advisor to the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority in Australia, to Vinnvard in Sweden and to the OECD/CERI research into critical and creative thinking in France. Bill also co-leads the Fellowship Programme of THIS, the Healthcare Studies Institute at the University of Cambridge.
Hilary Leevers
Hilary joined EngineeringUK as CEO in January 2019 and leads the organisation in its ambition to inform and inspire young people and grow the number and diversity of those coming into engineering. Prior to her appointment she was the Head of Education and Learning at Wellcome, building a team to improve science education through research, advocacy, funding and interventions. Hilary also previously served as Assistant/Interim Director at Campaign for Science & Engineering, working on a breadth of policy issu es, and as Assistant Professor at the Centre for Molecular and Behavioural Neuroscience, Rutgers. She is a governor of a 516 comprehensive school.
Laura Watford
Laura has been a longstanding leader of science education in Portsmouth. She has taught science for 13 years and is currently on maternity leave from her role as Director of Science at Castle View Academy. For the last six years, Laura has also served as Teacher Coordinator Connecting STEM for the Teachers Programme, running a network of STEM teachers in Portsmouth. Laura has run STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) based activi ties throughout her career and serves as CEO and cofounder of STEMunity, a national UK charity, developed in response to the pandemic to heighten student access to STEM activities and opportunities in Portsmouth and Sheffield. STEMunity works within the STEM community of professionals, teachers, academics and students to design activities and opportunities to inspire future engineers. They have developed online escape rooms which have been accessed by 23,000 students across the UK and are currently filmin g activities which will give students a taste of the exciting STEM careers available in their local areas.
Jorden Birch
Jorden Birch is a secondary science teacher and STEM lead with over 10 years’ experience, working in the South Yorkshire area. As part of her role as a teacher coordinator for the CST programme with the Royal Academy of Engineering Jorden has developed a large network of collaborating STEM teachers and industry professionals within the South Yorkshire region. Jorden is a CPD facilitator for STEM Learning and a STEM mentor as part of the WIPRO programme. Jorden also has experience developing international curriculum . resources for countries such as the USA, Egypt and Japan. Jorden is the cofounder and COO of STEMunity. STEMunity are a UK wide ch arity and have been running for 1 year. During this time, they have developed national international STEAM curriculum support, national digital learning platforms and developed strong partnerships between industry and schools.
Elvis Tinago
Elvis , RS Components Tinago is an Education Community Engineer at RS Components, his role focused upon creating opportunities to engage young engineers. Elvis holds an MEng in Aerospace Engineering from the University of West England (UWE) completed with a placement year at RollsRoyce plc. Elvis is the first Engineering Leadership Scholar from UWE and represents the Royal Academy of Engineering within the Early Career Engineeri . ng Professional Engineering Committee. He is also a member of the Royal Aeronautical Society D&I committee Elvis is a Brightsparks 2020 award winner, awarded to exceptional young engineers between 18 w ithin the UK.30 years of age Elvis is also an active STEM Ambassador and has previous experience as a Fresh Advisory Board Member for the Electrocomponents’ Education GrassRoots tea volunteering at City Year UK. m and
Amelia Jephson
Amelia is a Senior Systems Engineer at Atkins working within the Aerospace, Defence, Security & Technology sectors. Soon after joining the company’s graduate programme in 2016, Amelia studied for an MSc in Systems Engineering through the Systems Engineering Masters Apprenticeship Programme where her thesis looked at the application of machine learning to Model Based Systems Engineering techniques. Amelia sits on the INCOSE UK Council as the Chair of the Early Careers Forum, a group set up to help members new to the discipline gain professional skills and networking opportunities. She was a finalist in 2020’s Women of the Future Awards, recognising future female leaders in the UK.