21C Skills Lab wants young people to be the boss

The Like A Boss programme (L.A.B) www.likeaboss.org.nz is a new and innovative program for secondary school students to build their own people or planet focused business and to develop 21C skills along the way over the course of a school term.

The new Kiwi based program has been developed by 21C Skills Lab and will enable young people to develop 21C skills – creativity, communication, design thinking, global competence and financial literacy and entrepreneurship to name a few.

“We may not know what jobs our students will be doing in the future, but we do know the universal ‘how-to’ transferable skills like teamwork, tenacity, curiosity and creativity. L.A.B explores all these 21C skills in a fun, rich, immersive and learning experience which is available free to schools,” says co-founder and director of 21C Skills Lab Justine Munro.

Championing L.A.B will be young Kiwi social entrepreneurs Kendall Flutey of Banqer and Levi Armstrong of Patu Aotearoa. Both successful young social entrepreneurs Flutey and Armstrong have been living and breathing 21C skills in their own business. They share their experience of running a social enterprise with students - fronting L.A.B learning videos, hosting the L.A.B Awards, and sharing insights on social media.

According to Flutey L.A.B is an awesome way for students to be exposed to the skills they're going to need to thrive in the future.

“The world and workforce of the future is changing so quickly! It requires a new set of skills over and above what I was taught at school. By embracing this future and jumping into something like L.A.B students will start preparing for the dynamic future which they'll be a core part of,” says Flutey

The L.A.B Teacher Toolkit provides teachers with a clear and comprehensive “plug and play” learning guide.

Each student is provided with $20 of start-up capital to create, launch and operate their own venture. With teachers learning alongside them and young Kiwi role models to inspire them, this course allows students to make a difference in and outside of the classroom

“L.A.B is a terrific way to bridge the gap between school teaching and real world experience as it allows business people from the community to share their experience with the students as business coaches,” says Munro.

To learn more about Like A Boss programme (L.A.B) click here www.likeaboss.org.nz

L.A.B has developed by 21C Skills Lab; supported by the Spark Foundation; and modelled on the Foundation for Young Australian’s $20 Boss programme.

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