06/01/2023
This is the project brief I wrote that lead to the creation of this project.
After recently being assigned to the Work Programme after a long period without paid work, I discovered that the scope of learning new skills and gaining new experience on the Work Programme is as narrow as it ever was.
What IS provided are courses in general 'employability'. it appears to be a newly created purpose-built word because, as I type it, the red zig-zag line has appeared under it. Let's take a look in the dictionary and see if there's an official meaning.
"employable
[ em-ploi-uh-buhl ]SHOW IPA
1. able to be employed; usable.
2. capable of holding a job and available for hire.
noun
3. a person who is able to work and is available to be hired."
Really? Well that's the majority of the unemployed, right off the bat. We're all making ourselves available for work if it's offered, we're eminently usable, and we're certainly able to work and perfectly willing too. Yet, because at the current time we are out of work, we are treated as defective members of society who need re-educating, and then need re-educating again and again with exactly the same re-education we got last time. Honestly, it's soul destroying to be forced into this regime again and again. They tell you, you'll get a very important certificate that will let employers know that you're capable of working. It does't matter that you've held down several jobs already, worked as a volunteer, or that you have a pile of accredited qualifications that state you're capable of specific types of employment. It doesn't even matter to them that you already have this qualification. (Apparently, it becomes invalid the moment it's offered again.)
Courses in numeracy and literacy, CV writing, job searching, Interviews, and general IT skills are really all that is offered on Employability courses. There is no provision for people trying to get into (or get back into) specific kinds of work (and certainly none for proving a capability to hold down a job in the many creative industries), and most of the basic courses are things that, if you have been unemployed more than once in your life, you'll already be painfully familiar with.
So I wanted to create a project that would be more challenging and rewarding for me, and others with similar skills and interests. The aim was to do something that would help me provide evidence of my skills to employers and also be a rewarding experience in itself.
Let me know what you think :)
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Project to demonstrate knowledge, skills and experience
Aims of this project:
The aim of this project is to demonstrate knowledge, competencies, skills, and experience that is fully documented and can be viewed and assessed by potential employers as part of the participant's portfolio.
Format of this project:
Retell a folk or fairy tale in your own words. (You can also make up an original story, if you wish, or do a retelling of a story from another genre that is now in the public domain. You could also write something about your own experiences, or an essay on something that you know about.) This is to practise and demonstrate competency in writing.
Create illustrations for the story with the assistance of an AI image generator, such as Midjourney. This is to learn, practise and demonstrate competency in the use of this new technology.
Use a desktop publishing application to arrange the text and pictures in one of the standard book page dimensions, including title pages and front and back cover. This is to learn, practise and demonstrate graphic design skills commonly used in the publishing, advertising, and arts industries.
Export the finished story as a PDF file and also as multiple image files. This is to learn, practise and demonstrate competency in the exportation of documents created in desktop publishing applications in both printable document format (PDF) for the purpose of printing and onscreen reading and as a series of images for online sharing as part of the participant's online portfolio.
Skills demonstrated in this project:
Writing
Creating a narrative
Structuring a story
Crearing and utilising dialogue
Competency in the use of AI image generators
Writing text prompts
Using image prompts
Selecting most suitable images from those created
Desktop Publishing
Arranging image and text in a way that complements each, and creates an engaging reading experience.
Creating page layouts.
Choosing font size.
Picture editing - image processing, upscaling, downscaling and cropping.
Document your experiences working on this project:
This could be a a short oe long statement. A few sentences may be enough or may take a longer form. The important thing is to write about what you have learned.
Once this project is completed, feel free to follow this brief with another story.
A benefit of this project format is that as well as learning and developing your skills, you will also have created something by the end of it that you will be able to use as you wish.
