Employability with Norman Cooley
Contents
1) First Steps
2) Designing the Course
3) Rolling out the course for the trial group of NEETS at Newham College
4) Results from the first version of Dramatic Changes
5) EU Project for the Erasmus Programme
6) Training the Hungarian Teachers
7) Training the Polish Teachers
8) EU Employability Conference at Newham College
9) Staff Day at Newham College
10) Conclusions
11) FEEDBACK from the NEETs
12) Feedback from the Hungarian Team Leader
13) Feedback from the Polish Group
14) Feedback from the Newham Staff Day
15) More detail on this course and lesson progression
1) First Steps
In 2014 I was approached by John Kester at Newham College to devise a training of Employability Skills using Drama, Role Play and Theatre Games initially tried out on a group of NEETs (acronym for No Education, Employment or Training) at the college. I was given a remit to create a group of 6 two-hour lessons using exercises, improvisation, drama, role play etc with PowerPoint presentation. The object was to make the topic interesting and fun as well as informative.
I created a timeline progression delineating every step (including small steps), any candidate takes to get a job and matched that step with at least one fun, informative and pertinent theatre game, role play or drama exercise to embed the knowledge and help the candidate have a genuine experience of what that step would be like to have a complete experience of what it is like to get a job. I designed the course to be a structured, step-by-step experience for the student, leading to a final lesson putting the entire process together with introductions at Reception, mock interviews, making a graceful exit and follow-up afterwards.
Through my years working as a professional actor, I also worked as a researcher during quiet times so I know the value of doing research. I asked John if I could sit in on a lesson with a group from Newham College to understand what was needed and who I would be teaching. At this lesson I witnessed something very interesting. There were two young ladies who were deaf and wore rather large coverings on their heads as they were Muslim. They were given an exercise to perform and I do believe they had a translator explaining what was required but due to communication issues around their deafness, they were unable to complete the exercise and sat down looking very dejected. I took careful note of that.
There were approximately 15 students in the group to begin with. This was a voluntary and extracurricular activity which did not require grading.
2) Designing the Course
After the introductions and warm-up exercises, I started the course with the nightmare/happy dream exercise I created. The point of the exercise is to help young people understand that they should aim to work in a job they enjoy. It’s a crucial point to make when teaching young people about the world of work. Find an area of employment you actually at least like if not love. Why spend 40 to 50 years of your life doing something you don’t like doing? I have a friend who is a very successful City executive who makes a million pounds a year and they detest their job. They told me it was too late to become the interior designer they once dreamt of being.
So in my course, we learnt all about how to match up your skills to the job description, how to answer questions at an interview, how to sell yourself at your interview, how to be the best candidate possible for the role, all supported by Role Play and Theatre Games. And at the last lesson, each attendee went through the entire experience of applying for a job from filling out the job application to arriving for the interview, introducing yourself at Reception, making your entrance, shaking hands and all the social skills around introductions, eye-contact during the interview, answering questions well, followed by the conclusion of the interview and making a dignified departure.
3) Rolling out the course for the trial group of NEETS at Newham College
While delivering the course I visited Newham College’s library and discovered they had a section on Employment and Jobs which I pointed out to the students and even more surprising, using my research skills I discovered that the Newham intranet had pages of adverts for jobs. Admittedly it wasn’t easy to find but my Newham contact who was helping me with the lessons didn’t actually know about it.
4) Results from the first version of Dramatic Changes
About nine or ten students completed the entire six weeks. The feedback from the course was extremely good. And as I had made absolutely sure that the hearing-impaired students were fully included in everything we did, one of them said in her feedback the course was very good but also useful to her in her daily life.
I heard back from Newham that of the nine who completed the course, five found jobs which was a fantastic outcome.
5) EU Project for the Erasmus Programme
Sometime after that, John Kester got in touch and asked me to revise the course and add even more Drama, more Role Play and Exercises, as the next group I was to present this to were two groups of teachers, one group of 10 from Hungary and one group of 10 from Poland as part of an EU project for an entire week each.
6) Training the Hungarian Teachers
When we got to the training I had a new liaison contact at Newham which was Marc Abbott who was terrific. These two groups were teachers, so I was actually training the trainers for these presentations. The groups were very different in temperament and in their ideas about education. I did make a point of finding out the dynamics of education in their countries and Hungary has no interaction between the teachers and the students. The students are ‘taught at’ by the teachers and there is no built-in attempt to engage with the students. So what I was teaching them was going to be brand new if not revolutionary.
7) Training the Polish Teachers
The Polish group were again very different. They rarely asked questions. They sat attentively and they did the exercises but something wasn’t right about their lessons. I was racing through my lesson plan when it dawned on me that they really didn’t understand what I was teaching them. They were afraid to admit in front of each other that they weren’t getting it.
So I had to start over with them but we got there in the end. I devised a new exercise which was based on a game show format to answer questions in an interview which worked very well. I really enjoyed teaching both of these groups and learnt a great deal from those experiences. I have learnt that one of the most vital skills I need in training the ability to adapt to the needs and circumstances of the students.
The feedback for both of these weeks was extremely good. And I was happy to take a couple of their suggestions on board.
8) EU Employability Conference at Newham College
The Conference at Newham College for the EU employability project called Dramatic Changes with the Hungarian and Polish delegations and Newham Staff.
Following the two trainings we later had a EU Employability Conference at Newham with several of the Hungarian and the Polish attendees, the relevant staff at Newham, and many attended from FE colleges around London.
I gave the keynote speech detailing what the process of my course was and what it was like to teach the different groups. Afterwards I was very surprised and pleased to hear that two of the Hungarian attendees used my approach themselves and actually got jobs teaching in Hungary. And interestingly, if rather sadly, based on my concept of don’t spend your working life doing a job you don’t like, one of the Poles had left education altogether.
9) Staff Day at Newham College
My last training in this area was also at Newham when I took the Staff Training Day presenting an abbreviated version of my course. Also very interesting and rewarding.
10) Conclusions
In conclusion, I have a varied skill set of Theatre and Acting work but also many years working in the City and I understand the world of work and how to get a job. I think it’s a very good combination for teaching Employability Skills.
My ultimate goal is results. In whatever I teach or train in, the results are what matters. The processes, procedures and techniques are all for naught if you don’t get excellent results and in this case it would mean helping young learners to find and stay in jobs they love.
11) FEEDBACK from the NEETs
From the students of the first NEETS training:
“Norman is a really friendly person and I really like his methods of teaching. I think he is so kind in giving feedback. I enjoyed this project and now I am ready for an interview.”
“First of all, I think it is perfect. I liked every lesson I did with you.”
“It was very good, very helpful. Gave me more confidence not only to work interviews but in life. Thank you.” (n.b. This feedback came from a deaf Muslim student. I had observed her in another class where she was neither engaged nor involved. I’m particularly proud of her comments.)
“I think the workshop was perfect and I learned more skills of interview. Thanks for helping me.”
“Everything was fine in my opinion. I enjoyed every bit of it. Hope we will have some (more) of this kind of workshop, with great people to motivate and inspire us.”
12) Feedback from the Hungarian Team Leader
“We all had an amazing 11 days in London! Not only the partner meeting, but also the training was fruitful, Norman helped us a lot to overcome all the difficulties. We realized some interesting cultural differencies, and we had to face with language boundaries as well but Norman’s flexibility and kindness helped us a lot. I hope that the Polish group will enjoy the training as much as we did!”
13) Feedback from the Polish Group
“As part of the international project Dramatic Changes (Project No: 2014-2-UK01-KA205-012138) Implemented under the Erasmus program and financed by the European Union.
This project aimed to test, create and develop the use of theatre and drama within the curriculum for young people employability and job skills training experiences. The project created an innovative strategic partnership, within the UE, which brought together voluntary, statutory and private sector youth workers and trainers, who support young people’s employability and social inclusion.
Mr. Norman V. Cooley conducted the training under the project in a fully professional manner, which was met with positive feedback from the participants of the training.
I recommend Mr. Norman V. Cooley as a trainer in the field of professional activation and professional skills.”
Kamila Witerska
Project manager on behalf of the University of Humanities and Economics in Lodz
“I really like the workshop method and I really like to be a member of a workshop, because it gives me the opportunity to experiment. It gave me a lot and so I think from a somewhat different perspective could also look at what I thought my strengths are and what turned out they are. I would definitely recommend.” – Polish Group Participant
14) Feedback from the Newham Staff Day
This session received positive scoring, with overall excellent and good ratings at 83.3%.
- New ideas, physical and inspiring as not only was he very professional but I can imagine he would instill a lot of confidence to his students
15) More detail on this course and lesson progression
- What position, secondment or job do you want? The choice you make may affect the rest of your life so it is worth thinking hard about.
- Do you have the skills to do it and if you don’t, how are you going to get them?
- Where do I find my ideal secondment, position or job?
- Look carefully at the Application or Job Description and match your skills to the Description making as many connections as possible and putting your skills and the required skills together like a puzzle on your application and style your CV accordingly.
- Applying for the job and writing a cover letter.
- Talking and self-expression exercises.
- Confidence building and lateral thinking exercises.
- Preparing for the interview.
- Learning to answer questions well, clearly and spontaneously.
- Learning basic selling skills.
- Learning interview skills and the very best way to answer questions and how to market yourself, using good body language and understanding interview dynamics. I found there were many interesting cultural issues around interviewing.
- Doing mock interviews and role play being both the interviewer and the interviewee.
- Learning the office etiquette around introducing yourself and shaking hands. Learning how to walk into an office reception and say who you are, who you are there to see and the time of interview. There were some very interesting cultural issues around this we addressed.
- Following up on the interview.
- What you need to do to keep the job.
- And finally all of this was then put into practice on the last day with an extended realistic job interview role play exercise with each student. Walking into Reception and Introducing yourself, waiting for the interview, shaking hands and greeting and entering the interview room, having a great interview and then making a graceful exit.