This document discusses the need for increased lighting education in primary and secondary schools. Currently, lighting is not a standard curriculum subject and most students graduate unaware of lighting as a potential career path. The document proposes that visits from lighting professionals could help foster interest in lighting from a young age and encourage more students to pursue careers in the lighting industry. It notes that most schools are open to industry professionals providing career talks and that the type of lighting activities should be tailored based on the specific age, needs, and approved curriculum of each school.

1. Lighting Education – Through STEM
A call to Lighting Education
reproduced with the kind permission of
Barrie Wilde C.Eng; MCIBSE; FSLL. STEM SEA
…from Primary School pupils to………………………..6th Form College Students….
There exists within the UK a wealth of lighting certificates, diplomas and
degrees offered by colleges, universities, and various nonprofit lighting
societies. But the lighting professionals who will enrich our industry 16‐17
years from now are just starting primary school this year.
Most lighting designers and other industry professionals come to appreciate
lighting and learn about the industry as adults after they have left school, and
often after they have completed University or further education. This means
that many lighting designers, engineers, and other lighting professionals are
recruited from other allied professions….architecture, interior design, electrical
engineering, product design, electronics etc. Very few make an informed
career decision to become professionals within the Lighting Industry whilst still
at school!
The number of today’s lighting professionals that progressed through their
schooling years with an appreciation for lighting and its incredible impact on
the built environment is extremely low. Part of the reason is that lighting
education is not a curriculum subject in primary and secondary schools. There
are a few strands of lighting here and there, possibly in physics, biology or craft
and technology. But sadly, most pupils leave school unaware of lighting as an
industry or career; unlike related professions such as architecture; interior
design, electrical engineering etc. that always figure in Career Fairs.
Surely some time invested now in schools by the many and varied lighting
professionals would go far to cure this lack of awareness. To promote an
interest in children of all ages in light and lighting and its incredible influence
on our lives. To direct these children toward a lighting career and receive them
and their conceptual and innovative visual skills before they become blinkered
by prescriptive formulae, codes, rules, regulations, and standards. Or just build
on their knowledge and understanding of light as a life experience!

2. Schools and their needs
Most schools actively encourage “industry” to come to provide career and interest talks. I have been
visiting schools in the UK for the past 20 years talking to pupils of all ages and Key Stages. These
visits were supported by programs such as Opening Windows on Engineering (OWOE) – an
Engineering Council program, now closed – and currently as a Science and Engineering Ambassador
(SEA) for STEMNET, a national organization supporting the Department for Business Innovation and
Skills (BIS).
What lighting talks and activities can be given in schools will depend upon many factors (age, special
needs, curriculum projects, interest clubs, etc.) and need to be approved by the school. There is little
point in taking any lighting project into schools if it isn’t both wanted and approved. The rule
generally is:
 Schools set their demands
 STEM and SEA’s provide the suppliers
That isn’t absolute and set in stone though. It is perfectly feasible and appropriate to discuss with
schools tailored projects. Schools will often declare what they want, but through discussion a
provision for what they actually need can be made…..’want’ and ‘need’ are often poles apart! How
many lighting installations have we all seen that’s are a failure because the designer satisfied a
client’s ‘Wants’, rather than discussing and agreeing end user ‘needs’.
……Client ‘wants’ …….End User ‘needs’