Architainment Lighting is pleased to have supported an event designed to encourage youngsters to consider a career in lighting design, by providing products to be used in a lighting design lesson.
The event was organised and run by Society of Light and Lighting Committee Member Kristina Allison. As vice-chair of the Education and Membership committee, Kristina regular reviews how the lighting industry provides education to those wishing to pursue a career in the industry.
After discussing the challenge of how to target individuals at an earlier age in life, when they are considering their future career options, Kristina felt the best way forward is to engage with pupils at school level and promote lighting design as an employment option.
Kristina said: “Historically there have been few academic routes into the lighting design profession, and the courses that are available sit at the higher education level.
“While more courses are being developed both nationally and internationally, these tend to be aimed at 18-year-olds and above.
“By this stage, potential talent for the lighting design industry have already decided on another career path, so the opportunity has been missed to encourage them into the profession.”
Kristina contacted her old secondary school and was invited to teach a lesson to Year 10 on the subject of lighting design, as part of the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) programme. She developed a lighting design lesson plan which included luminaires from the Architainment Lighting range, as well as other manufacturers.
The feedback from the school and the head of Design and Technology was that the pupils had taken a lot from the lesson. In fact, Kristina has been asked to return to the school in the next academic year to introduce the subject to the next year of Design and Technology pupils.
Architainment Lighting’s Managing Director Nic Tolkien said: “We were delighted to be able to support such an important and worthwhile event.
“SLL’s educational activity is integral to the future of our industry, and we are pleased that our support helped to make the event a success.
“We look forward to assisting with future events and helping the SLL to promote the lighting design industry as a great career choice.”
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