Last week some of our team embarked on a mini road trip taking in schools from Waterford, all the way to Limerick and on down to Kerry. There are more to follow next week with school visits in Laois, Offaly and Northern Ireland.
Every year this is an opportunity to meet with students and teachers and to see The B!G Idea programme in operation.
The key takeaway from interviewing students and teachers was that The B!G Idea is making an impression with them all and that Mentor feedback and visibility throughout the programme is a vitally motivating factor for all the students.
Mentor feedback was referred to as a pivotal point in the programme, with teachers saying that students were on first name basis with many Mentors! They had spent time researching the bio’s and websites and learning about jobs and possibilities that they didn’t know existed. One student from last year’s programme commented that while she had always had in her mind that she’d like to be a teacher, she is now looking at the possibility of becoming a product designer; something she would not have considered before embarking on the programme.
The energy in the classroom was bubbling through and one of the key driving factors for students has been that they have ownership of the project. Choosing the brief themselves really resonated with them, they led the research and they connected with the Mentors to create their B!G Idea. When asked about the skills they developed through the programme, creative thinking was the obvious choice but many students also identified an increase in confidence and resilience skills as well.
In one school, which was an all-boys school, the boys made comparisons between working on The B!G Idea and playing on a football pitch. Resilience, f-Learning and positive mindset are all transferable skills developed in The B!G Idea and as these boys have learned, they are beneficial in a multitude of ways. Whether it’s to solve issues in work, on a sports pitch or in day to day life, these skills are clearly invaluable life-long skills.
Another school made this same association but with their school play rather than the football pitch. They are currently practising for their play and found that working on the video and doing the exercises in class for The B!G Idea has given them new-found confidence when taking on the roles in their plays. Once again, the power of transferable skills is evident.
Other students commented on the impact of learning about issues that they did not realise were important to them. For these students The B!G Idea really challenged their thinking. The issues that the students have chosen to work on this year are all relevant and important ones and seeing the students understand that they can make inroads into real change is so powerful.
As always, the road trip was invaluable. It highlighted all the good that The B!G Idea is bringing to so many and also the positive effect that Mentor input has on their journeys. It was evident that The B!G Idea is engaging young people to be more creative, to be more curious and to work together to activate real change.
