A series of courses designed to share best practice for training in the screen industries is being rolled out by ScreenSkills. The first course of ‘Train the Trainer’ - best practices for training in the screen industries - has so far been taken by 180 industry trainers and a further three specialist workshops will make their debut in October and November.
Developed with training and teaching experts ccConsultancy, the courses are funded by ScreenSkills using National Lottery funds awarded by the BFI as part of the Future Film Skills Programme.
A pilot of the first course was held face-to-face in early 2020, after which the course was rolled out more widely as an online module and delivered nine times between April and June.
Building on their existing skillsets, participants explored practical strategies for creating engaging, interactive and inclusive training. Topics covered include identifying factors that enable and inhibit successful learning experiences, methods for reducing barriers for learning, adapting activities and resources to engage successfully with aspiring screen professionals, and using video conferences professionally. Participants were also able to benefit from individual mentoring support.
Nearly 95% of course attendees were satisfied with what they learned. One participant said they had found the programme “excellent, simple, clear and concise, and the presenters did a great job of modelling all the exercises”, while another remarked that “this was one of the best training sessions I have attended – both online and in-person.”
In response to interest expressed during the courses, ScreenSkills will be offering three additional free specialist workshops to help trainers improve their practice even further. Bookings for these one-day workshops are open now:
- Supporting neurodiverse trainees: a training session on 28 October that aims to improve awareness on how trainees who are neurodiverse or have specialist education needs and disabilities can be supported.
- More effective practice in online learning: a training session on 9 November which explores and evaluates a range of digital approaches and e-learning tools.
- Supporting trainees for whom English is a second or other language: a training session on 12 November that focuses on effective and inclusive approaches to help ensure that non-native speakers can fully participate in training.
ScreenSkills has also adapted the best practices for training in the screen industries course to help universities and colleges move their courses online. So far, around 90 further and higher education lectures have benefited from this support.