"Inspired to Engage": placing employability at the heart of the student experience

This presentation celebrates the positive impact of collaborative industry-facing projects upon undergraduate students studying photography. Using an array of examples drawn from the last three years, I demonstrate the value of such 'live brief' projects to clients as well as to students, and how they enable staff to place employability at the heart of all our activities. I place them in context by drawing on Johnny Rich's recent HEPI paper, Employability: degrees of value (Nov 2015), which articulates the notion of "three components" of employability: knowledge, Skills and social capital. I show how these elements can be developed and nurtured into full bloom by applying a blend of inspiration, enthusiasm and a highly visual approach to collaborative practice in a diverse range of business and creative environments. i conclude with some remarks on the potential of visual imagery as a tool to measure the impact and effectiveness of teaching.