Can we trust the kids? Of course we can!

When I was first presented with the idea of organising an “Unconference” for school age students, I must admit I was in two minds.  All the talk of blue sky thinking, original solutions and young people being given a free reign made the part of me that had been a classroom teacher for 17 years a bit edgy.

Then, as I pondered the idea of handing control of a conference over to a group of 14-18 year olds, the phrase “trust the kids” struck a chord with me. Memory after memory of when I had been stunned by the insight and wisdom school age students had shown in some excellent lessons I have been lucky enough to observe or indeed teach came flooding back.

There was the time when a student came into an A-level revision class with a grid of the past 8 years examination papers that accurately predicted eighteen of the twenty questions that came up that year. It may have been difficult for me to sanction, but the rest of the class certainly thanked her.

And the time when another student thought he could explain the forces in circular motion to the class better than me, he was right. We all got some exercise and we all learned something!

An “Unconference” traditionally has no agenda or structure, so we are bending the rules a bit with Monday’s event as we have four introductory speakers kicking off the proceedings to introduce some thoughts on science and education, science and careers, science in the media, and science and the environment.  However, the spirit of an “Unconference” is to allow it to be driven by its participants and this is certainly embodied in the afternoon sessions where students will fully determine what is discussed and what the outcomes should be.

Looking back to my Head of Science days I think I would have been extremely reluctant to allow my students out to a day with no agenda, but one thing I have learnt is if you want an original project to actually happen you just have to go out and do something.

Certainly that has been my attitude since taking the job of manager of the L’Oréal Young Scientist Centre here at the Ri nearly three years ago now. I was determined to help young people see that science is not a body of knowledge to be regurgitated but is something that you live and do, to discover the wonders of the world around you. Brian Cox recently tweeted that he could “start to see what biologists got so excited about” after studying photosynthesis and that is a man who has definitely seen some wonders, but new personal discoveries still fascinate him.

And whilst it is with certain trepidation that we hand over the Faraday lecture Theatre – where the likes of Michael Faraday, HG Wells, David Attenborough and Roger Bannister have all given lectures – to a gaggle of teenagers, it is also with hope and anticipation.  They’ll have the run of the corridors that house the original apparatus and papers of many of those who have researched, lectured and lived in the building including Humphry Davy, Michael Faraday, John Tyndall, James Dewar, William Bragg, Lawrence Bragg and George Porter.  I can’t wait to see what insights and innovation that these surroundings inspire.

It is also vital that students realize that science is a creative discipline requiring clear but original thought, this is why the RiUnconference is such a natural fit for the L’Oreal Young Scientist Centre to be involved with because it is all about young people being given a voice on issues that continue to stump adults and for them to be listened to.

As always it has been great to work with the staff both here at the Ri and at L’Oréal and with such great keynote speakers (Hugh Montgomery, Maggie Aderin-Pocock, Sallie Robins and Alom Shaha) who amazingly have submitted to a 10 minute time limit, this will be a great event with results that I am sure will surprise.

If you are interested follow the #RiUnconference on twitter.

David Porter is a former teacher and Manager of the L’Oréal Young Scientist Centre at the Royal Institution. The centre aims to ignite a passion for scientific discovery in students and encourage curiosity-driven learning. On Monday 26^th September the is hosting an “Unconference”. The Ri Unconference is the first ever national event where 150 14-18 year olds from across the UK will be invited to debate the future of the science sector and have the opportunity to shape the future of science policy and decision making.

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