Open Visual Thinkery
In the UK, the government are bringing in an apprenticeship levy, the details of which are still a bit sketchy, which prompted me to capture these details in a quick sketch at the excellent “Making Apprenticeships Work” event hosted by City & Guilds.
I’m all about apprenticeships. Proper apprenticeships. Not sausage-factory apprenticeships (unless it is actually in a sausage factory – which would probably be awful, but with obvious benefits…)
Shed. Check. Swiss Army Knife. Check. Soldering Iron. Check. Raspberry Pi and associated bits. Check. Motto: to solve problems and to find problems that need solving. Check…
When I was at University, the word “engineer” had some odd connotations in my head. Geeky, sterile, boring. It seemed so theoretical, so mathematical. I thought that engineers became engineers by doing an engineering degree at University.
Since those days, I’ve met engineers who have never been near a University. They are defined by a way of thinking – a spirit of engineering, if you will…
A came across this lovely Scott Adams (creator of Dilbert) quote here: Thinking like an Engineer.
The recent Digital Leaders conference was entitled “Building Digital DNA”. Jacqueline de Rojas (VP at Citrix) spoke about women in tech (or the lack thereof).
I was thoroughly impressed with some female students I met a few weeks ago whilst doing some visual thinkery for UCL Academy. They had no problem seeing themselves as future engineers. Sure enough, looking inside the school, I could feel the project-focused creative engineering vibe flowing through their learning spaces.
I believe this is a cultural problem, and we would do well to continue to revisit this question.
I really enjoy trying to find visual metaphors for abstract concepts. Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, its a bridge of course – to a profession. TechBac…
The UK has a growing skills gap. There are predicted to be over 14 million skills shortages by 2020. Created for City & Guilds.
Over the last 30 years there’s been a whole lot of tinkering with vocational education. I’m not sure if we’ve made much progress. Inspired by this report by City & Guilds.
This image reflects on the core principles of an apprenticeship, which were outlined in a report by City & Guilds – definitely worth a thought.