On my first day, I was asked to provide a two-page summary (backed up by stats) of England’s education system, by the end of the next day. It was going to be used as a reference by the people in charge of some of the world’s most innovative school systems, so it needed to be clear and accurate. Writing the summary was exhilarating – like academic research on fast-forward - and I knew I was in the right place.
Since then, most of my work has been more long-term – predominantly as part of the Learning Futures project, which is focused on finding strategies for tackling student disengagement. But the energy of that first week has remained. In addition to education, I’ve worked in health and sustainability, writing speeches and pamphlets, designing workshops, giving presentations, and helping to shape the strategy in the projects I’m working on.
At the end of my internship I applied for a job at the Innovation Unit as a ‘researcher and project coordinator’ and was accepted. I’ve been here since then, and since I arrived as an intern in September 2009 I’ve gone from being a complete outsider with an expertise in post-war British theatre, to someone right in the centre of public service innovation.
