News & Blog

Educator Placement Month 2020

19th February 2020

In May 2019, over 40 educators from across Edinburgh, Midlothian and East Lothian took part in the region’s first ever Educator Placement Month. Over the course of the month, these teachers, careers advisors and lecturers went out into industry to gain valuable insight into a huge variety of jobs and sectors.

Why did educators get involved?
The educators involved were keen to hear first-hand from professionals in different industries about their career pathways and what skills and qualities they’re looking for in their future workforce. Educators also wanted an opportunity to experience these different work environments so that they can more effectively demonstrate to young people how different curriculum subjects apply to a wide range of careers.

Educators have also been able to enhance their lesson plans with up to date industry insight and relate what they’ve learnt into a classroom.

100% of the educators involved said they would recommend industry insight placements to another educator.

“Thank you for the opportunity! It's really invaluable to get out of the classroom and see how other people work.”

“Thank you for organising the placement. It was really insightful, I gained a lot and this can be handed down to our pupils. I also made industry links which will come in useful in the future.”

Why did employers want to get involved?
Many employers in our region are keen to engage with schools and build meaningful partnerships with educators in the classroom. The response from industry for Educator Placement Month was overwhelmingly positive and businesses from across the region put their hands up to host.

Among the sectors represented were tourism, STEM; biosciences/energy, financial services, creative, hospitality, food & drink manufacturing, Third Sector, construction, engineering, digital and film.

70% of the employers involved were keen to explore further collaboration with the school and the full 100% said they would recommend hosting an educator industry placement to another employer.

“We really enjoyed having a group of teachers join us for the day.”

“I feel the time was well spent, as the teachers said they will be able to actively use what they learned on the day in the classroom to be able to give "real-life" examples to make their lessons even more relevant.”

Educator Placement Month 2020!
If you’re an educator or an employer and would like to take part in Educator Placement Month 2020, please contact the DYW team at dyw@edinburghchamber.co.uk.