Adults' and children's friendships across social class and ethnic differences.
Lead Research Organisation:
University College London
Department Name: Humanities and Social Sciences
Abstract
Public and political concern about the quality of everyday life in socially and ethnically mixed inner urban localities has intensified since the urban disturbances of summer 2011. This research will examine the somewhat neglected issue of the intimate micro social processes of friendship and how these relationships help to shape everyday life in diverse inner urban localities for adults and children. Thus we will examine adults' and children's friendships in 'super-diverse' (Vertovec, 2007) urban localities and explore what those friendships reveal about the nature and extent of ethnic diversity and social divisions in contemporary multicultural society. We will explore the extent to which adults and children become friends with those who are differently socially situated to themselves and examine how differences in social and/or ethnic background shape and impact on those relationships, addressing in particular the ways in which those differences are routinely negotiated and managed. Through a qualitative study of children's friendships in urban primary schools, their parents' thoughts on these and the adults' own experiences of socially and/or ethnically mixed friendships, we will contribute both theoretically and empirically to current debates around difference and diversity, social capital and social cohesion. Friendship is often assumed in policy and political terms to have an informal 'social glue' quality that has the potential to bring individuals together despite disparities and differences in their background. We will draw on the existing body of research on friendship and on social capital, which points to the possibilities and potentials of such friendships, and we will address the lack of empirically informed knowledge as to how such friendships are made, maintained, missed and interrupted in social environments characterised by extensive social difference and division.
The project is focused on the friendships adults and children make in and through primary schools. In super-diverse localities, primary schools can be places where adults and children who have very different lives are likely to meet and interact. We are interested in what adults think about their connections and relations with other parents and their children's friendships with their peers. In this context the project addresses how these relationships and friendships contribute to parents feeling part of - and taking part in - a school community and in how these experiences of friendship facilitate a sense of embedded-ness and belonging to the localities in which people live. The research will generate a data base of just under 100 individual and group interviews. This will comprise 72 in-depth interviews with teachers, headteachers, and parents, and 18-21 group discussions with primary school children (age 8/9), based on visual representations (socio-graphs) of their friendships. Interview themes will include: the teachers' views on the amount of social mixing visible in the children's friendships, and the school's contribution to school-community cohesion; the children's description of both positive and difficult points in their friendships, their awareness and negotiation of difference; and parents' understanding of and reactions to their children's friendships, how they and their children react to and seek to manage moments of difference, as well as parents' own friendship patterns and experiences. Our data will contribute empirical evidence to the often rather abstract debates on social cohesion; assess the potential of individual friendships to contribute towards that cohesion in heterogeneous areas, and offer data evaluating the role of the school in contributing to the development of resilient mixed communities and social cohesion.
The project is focused on the friendships adults and children make in and through primary schools. In super-diverse localities, primary schools can be places where adults and children who have very different lives are likely to meet and interact. We are interested in what adults think about their connections and relations with other parents and their children's friendships with their peers. In this context the project addresses how these relationships and friendships contribute to parents feeling part of - and taking part in - a school community and in how these experiences of friendship facilitate a sense of embedded-ness and belonging to the localities in which people live. The research will generate a data base of just under 100 individual and group interviews. This will comprise 72 in-depth interviews with teachers, headteachers, and parents, and 18-21 group discussions with primary school children (age 8/9), based on visual representations (socio-graphs) of their friendships. Interview themes will include: the teachers' views on the amount of social mixing visible in the children's friendships, and the school's contribution to school-community cohesion; the children's description of both positive and difficult points in their friendships, their awareness and negotiation of difference; and parents' understanding of and reactions to their children's friendships, how they and their children react to and seek to manage moments of difference, as well as parents' own friendship patterns and experiences. Our data will contribute empirical evidence to the often rather abstract debates on social cohesion; assess the potential of individual friendships to contribute towards that cohesion in heterogeneous areas, and offer data evaluating the role of the school in contributing to the development of resilient mixed communities and social cohesion.
Planned Impact
The project is timely. Current policy interest in the possibilities of sociality, civility, community and informal forms of social capital for achieving social cohesion, inclusion and well-being mean that the project's potential impact is significant. One of the central ambitions of this project is to highlight ways in which schools and contemporary policy making in the field of ethnic and cultural diversity might usefully engage with the affective and intimate forms and practices of social interaction that are connected to local schools and environments. Policy makers will benefit as the study will contribute empirical evidence to the current debates on social cohesion. This project will add the necessary detail as to how children and adults develop relationships across social class and ethnic differences, and what degree of impact such relationships have on how adults and children understand and feel part of their locality and relate to 'others' within it. Additionally we will offer an evaluation of the role of the school in contributing towards building resilient mixed communities and developing social cohesion. This aspect of the project is likely to be also of value and interest to educational policy-makers and education practitioners. The data on children's friendships and parental attempts to manage these will be of interest to a range of education professionals, as these issues can contribute significantly to children's well being at school, and may be the subject of parental approaches to teachers, if children's friendships prove problematic. The issues covered in the research will have particular resonance for teachers, education providers and community organisations in diverse localities.
There are four main aspects to the way in which the research will dialogically involve policy makers, practitioners and users.
The first relates to local policy and community actors. We will convene a local advisory group drawn from the broader North London locality. The members will be selected from among key individuals within the case study schools, from parents and user networks across the public and third and community sectors, and academics with relevant expertise. This group will operate to enable and encourage an active process of knowledge exchange between the group, their networks and the research team. The group will meet twice during the project's lifetime. As well as allowing us to report on emergent findings, again the purpose will be to facilitate knowledge exchange, encouraging and enabling participants to suggest ways in which the project might fruitfully be developed. The meetings will be an opportunity for dialogue, rather than exposition.
The second relates to the national level. We will organise two end-of-project workshops, aimed at engaging with academics and wider audiences drawn from education, public policy and third sector organisations, and inviting them to engage with the findings that are emerging from the project.
The third is centrally expressed in the project's research design. This recognises the need for an iterative, active and reflexive engagement with key stakeholders, such as the head teachers and teachers, in order to feed in findings, discuss meanings, and 'test' interpretations and policy implications. Project interviews with headteachers will include dialogue about the project's findings. The issues arising from the fieldwork will be discussed in a more detailed way with these participants from the start and throughout the project.
The fourth relates to the possibility and necessity of wider public engagement. We will be utilising various media to open up discussion around the project, including a project web-site, the use of a blog, and through radio programmes such as Radio 4's Thinking Allowed.
There are four main aspects to the way in which the research will dialogically involve policy makers, practitioners and users.
The first relates to local policy and community actors. We will convene a local advisory group drawn from the broader North London locality. The members will be selected from among key individuals within the case study schools, from parents and user networks across the public and third and community sectors, and academics with relevant expertise. This group will operate to enable and encourage an active process of knowledge exchange between the group, their networks and the research team. The group will meet twice during the project's lifetime. As well as allowing us to report on emergent findings, again the purpose will be to facilitate knowledge exchange, encouraging and enabling participants to suggest ways in which the project might fruitfully be developed. The meetings will be an opportunity for dialogue, rather than exposition.
The second relates to the national level. We will organise two end-of-project workshops, aimed at engaging with academics and wider audiences drawn from education, public policy and third sector organisations, and inviting them to engage with the findings that are emerging from the project.
The third is centrally expressed in the project's research design. This recognises the need for an iterative, active and reflexive engagement with key stakeholders, such as the head teachers and teachers, in order to feed in findings, discuss meanings, and 'test' interpretations and policy implications. Project interviews with headteachers will include dialogue about the project's findings. The issues arising from the fieldwork will be discussed in a more detailed way with these participants from the start and throughout the project.
The fourth relates to the possibility and necessity of wider public engagement. We will be utilising various media to open up discussion around the project, including a project web-site, the use of a blog, and through radio programmes such as Radio 4's Thinking Allowed.
Organisations
People |
ORCID iD |
| Carol Vincent (Principal Investigator) | |
| Sarah Neal (Co-Investigator) |
Publications
Vincent C
(2017)
'The children have only got one education and you have to make sure it's a good one': parenting and parent-school relations in a neoliberal age
in Gender and Education
Vincent C
(2016)
Children's friendships in diverse primary schools: teachers and the processes of policy enactment
in Journal of Education Policy
Iqbal H
(2016)
Children's friendships in super-diverse localities: Encounters with social and ethnic difference
in Childhood
Vincent C
(2016)
Encounters with diversity: Children's friendships and parental responses
in Urban Studies
Neal S
(2016)
Extended Encounters in Primary School Worlds: Shared Social Resource, Connective Spaces and Sustained Conviviality in Socially and Ethnically Complex Urban Geographies
in Journal of Intercultural Studies
Vincent C
(2017)
Living in the city: school friendships, diversity and the middle classes
in The British Journal of Sociology
Neal S
(2013)
Multiculture, middle class competencies and friendship practices in super-diverse geographies
in Social & Cultural Geography
Vincent C
(2015)
Parenting priorities and pressures: furthering understanding of 'concerted cultivation'
in Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education
Jones H
(2015)
Urban Multiculture and Everyday Encounters in Semi-Public, Franchised Cafe Spaces
in The Sociological Review
| Description | Drawing on a data set of 114 interviews, the project has delivered significant theoretical and empirical findings regarding affective social relationships within locally based, complex, socially and ethnically diverse urban populations. We detail these key findings below. The research shows that the adults and children who took part in the study did make and maintain friendships with those socially and ethnically different to themselves (RQ1: 'Do socially and ethnically mixed adult and child friendships exist ?'). However, for both adults and children, ethnically mixed friendships were more common than cross-class friendships. The children, more so than the adults, mixed across both ethnic difference and social class; indeed very nearly all the children had close friends from a different ethnic group to themselves (we defined 'close' as meaning amongst their 'top five' friends). There were also close cross-class friendships, a majority of the children had close friends - in their top five - who had a different social background to themselves. However, when we looked at who the children said their closest friend was, there were still a significant number of friendships across ethnic difference (nearly three quarters). There were far fewer 'best friend' friendships across class difference (just over a quarter of the children). For the adult participants, school was a source of support, contact and friendship networks for themselves as well as their children. School based friendships varied from thicker to thinner levels of intimacy: 'deep' friendships through 'lighter' friendships, to friendships of arrangement and 'nodding relationships'. Although there were examples of deeper friendships, for the majority of adults' school-based friendships tended to be 'lighter', more temporally and spatially tied to the period of the children's attendance at school. Friendships did take place across difference, but more sustained/deep friendships did not tend to cross class difference, although there were a few examples of such friendships across ethnic difference. However, in response to RQ 2 ('How is class and/or ethnic difference perceived and negotiated?') we argue that despite this tendency to view difference as an inhibitor to friendships, it was possible to identify a small group of parents who were from minority ethnic backgrounds, and had access to middle class resources, who had an explicitly open attitude towards difference and who acted intentionally and purposively, to develop social relationships across difference. It is also the case that the adult respondents in general practised mixing and homophilly in different parts of their daily life, in different circumstances, to different extents and based on different spaces e.g. (school, work, religious, political, cultural community groups/societies). RQ 3 asked 'How do adults understand, experience and respond to class and/or ethnic difference in relation to children's friendships?' We highlight here the strong support for children attending diverse schools, but paradoxically few parents sought to facilitate children's mixed friendships out of school. Children's out of school time was still very much organized by their parents and they tended to spend this time (at e.g. paid for clubs/activities or religious classes) with others like themselves. We also developed a policy-relevant analysis (shortly to be published) of how teachers in the three case study schools addressed issues of friendship and diversity, as part of a wider programme of social and emotional learning. In response to RQ4 'Do mixed adult friendships create and sustain social and cultural exchange, capacity and resource?' we argue that despite this propensity for 'sameness' in adult friendships, relationships in the three playgrounds where very diverse families gathered at the beginning and end of the school day are generally amicable. The primary schools were a key site in which social interactions across difference took place. Even casual interactions - simple everyday 'hi hello, how are you' exchanges between parents - were felt by research participants to be important for creating friendly atmospheres - of social connection and exchange - and a sense of belonging in the school and its immediate surrounds. Although adult engagement across difference is slight, we suggest that the routine, day-to-day presence of being in the school world requires attention to be paid to others and builds processes of civic conviviality, that is, the collective use of the shared social resource of the school requires engagement with and recognition of others. |
| Exploitation Route | There are a number of possible areas for development: - We have discussed the way in which schools and teachers engage with friendship issues and tensions, the need to take children's friendships seriously, and the tenor and direction of common approaches to Social and Emotional Learning (SEL). However this was not the main focus of our project and it would be interesting to do some more classroom based work here, focusing on approaches to SEL across a range of sites, particularly focusing on teachers' responses to encouraging friendships across class and ethnic diversity. - Classroom based research would also allow a more detailed picture of the development of children's friendships, the formation of networks and the durability of these. It would also provide more understanding around how newly arrived children (often recent migrants) form friendships in the classroom and settle into school. - Developing our findings on adult friendships could include a consideration of how the informal capital of school friendship networks might be used to develop inclusion and neighbourhood strategies, and to develop thinking about friendships as a key social relationship in understanding personal lives and decision making. - The localities in which the case study schools were based were gentrified to different degrees and the process is obviously an on-going one. In the most established area of gentrification, working class adults who had grown up in the locality, spoke about feeling marginalised in terms of the arrival of new services and communities. Our study is helpful in mapping the way in which gentrification needs to be recognised as taking uneven and partial forms in different localities and that this will impact on social relationships within them. Further research could explore tensions around the process of gentrification, a particularly topical issue in contemporary London. - Some of the families to whom we spoke were recently arrived migrants, struggling to varying extents with the re-settlement process. Further research could explore the ways in which new migrants seek to develop social networks. |
| Sectors | Communities and Social Services/Policy,Education,Government, Democracy and Justice |
| URL | http://friendshipacrossdifference.com/ |
| Description | Our findings have had three main audiences to date: 1) academics, policy makers and practitioners, 2) the research participants at the case study schools (involving children, parents, teachers, governors) and 3) a wider public. 1) Academics, policy makers and practitioners Our research with its focus on friendships that children and adults make, maintain, or avoid with those different to themselves in terms of social class and/or ethnicity, contributes to current and recent work in geography, education studies and sociology. In terms of the academic audience, we have attended, at the time of writing (update Feb 2018) ten national and international conferences, National Science Week 2014, UCL Festival of Culture 2017, and five invited seminars. We have also used the research methodology and findings to inform teaching at undergraduate and masters level at UCL Institute of Education and the Universities of Surrey and Sheffield. We have six published papers to date in peer-reviewed, international journals, and one book chapter. We have also written a full project report, launched 1st July 2015, at UCL Institute of Education. This was a well-attended project launch to which we invited academics and policy makers. We fulfilled a book contract with Palgrave Macmillan for the manuscript delivered in October 2017 and the book was published in 2018. The research has been featured in ESRC's Society Now (spring 2016, no. 24). Our advisory group for the project included teachers, policy makers and academics, and they provided us with invaluable advice during the course of the project and useful contacts in terms of dissemination. We presented the research findings at a UCL Institute of Education Research and Development network conference in June 2016 that brings together practitioners from IOE partner schools, and also distributed copies of the final research report and a booklet, 'Children Talking About Their Friends' (see below). In 2017 we participated in the consultation held by the Mayor of London for 'The Mayor's Vision of a Diverse and Inclusive City' by speaking with Frances McAndrew (GLA Strategic Lead for Diversity, Inclusion and Social Integration). In 2019 we presented the research findings at the launch of the new Centre for Sociology of Education and Equity at UCL IOE. Ours was one of two presentations and then a panel was asked to respond. The panel included London's Deputy Mayor for Social Cohesion, a representative from the NEU (teachers' union), a well-know educational journalist and campaigner (Fiona Millar) and a representative from The Challenge. The papers generated considerable discussion with the panel and with the audience. 2) The research participants The staff at the three case study schools, and parent and children participants received feedback specific to their school after the fieldwork period. This took the form of three short, accessible reports per school written for each of the three main audiences at each school - teachers, parents and children. We sent the reports to parent participants, and arranged to visit the schools to feedback directly to the children and staff. These feedback sessions sparked considerable discussion amongst child and teacher audiences. Over the life-time of the project we became aware that in order to maximise our engagement and reach with parents, children and the school community, we needed to visit the schools, rather than invite participants to UCL Institute of Education. However, meetings held at school can also be problematic for parents to attend owing to work and child-care commitments. Another strategy was needed. After careful consideration, we arranged to attend the three case study school summer fairs (June 2015). We had a stall at each, banners to identify ourselves, and a tombola activity (to attract people to the stall and to 'fit in' with the summer fair modus operandi). We produced a shorter, more accessible form of our final project report, and also an additional booklet entitled 'Children Talking About Their Friends'. The latter was a structured compilation of the children who participated in the research talking about why they liked their friends, the tensions around friendships, and how these could be resolved. We saw this booklet as a starting point for parents and teachers to talk about friendships with children, and for children to read the words of others, reflecting both the highs and lows of friendship. This booklet was additional to the project outputs we had originally planned. Copies of this booklet and of the summarised research report were very well-received at the summer fairs, often acting as a 'way in' to talk with people who were visiting the fairs about the specific issues highlighted by the research on friendship across difference. The strategy of disseminating the project's findings through attendance at the summer fairs proved to be a successful and innovative one, and allowed us to engage in conversations about the research with the diverse population of teachers, families and others from the local communities who attended the fairs, many of whom had not had prior involvement with social research projects. 3) The wider public The research as a whole has been reported in the TES (https://www.tes.com/news/school-news/breaking-news/theres-no-such-thing-race-or-class-%E2%80%93-long-were-classroom-study-finds), the BBC (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-33329575) and was The Guardian's Research of the Week for 3/7/15. In 2017 we presented research findings at i) UCL Festival of Culture (series of talks to UCL staff and students and wider public) ii) to 300 plus A level sociology students and their teachers as part of a conference on sociological research, and iii) participated in a BBC R4 broadcast 'A culture of encounter'. We kept a well-maintained project website, which has had, to date, over 3000 visitors. This featured a regular blog entry that engaged both with the progress of the project, and also discussed events in the public domain, including the Birmingham 'Trojan horse' events, and various media stories of the moment (e.g. an incident related to a child's birthday party that made local, national and international headlines). We continue to up-date this blog, on a less frequent basis. We also tweeted about the progress of the project, and have been re-tweeted. We have written a blog for the British Education Research Association, and two for the UCL IOE blog (latest September 2016). We have also compiled a poster for the UCL London 2034 event (summer 2016) that aims to introduce research in an accessible manner to a broad cross-section of the public. The research was also discussed in the UCL Festival of Culture 2017.An article in The Telegraph in Feb 2019 also discussed the research. There will soon be a Faculti interview with Carol Vincent talking about the project (filmed Feb 2017) which will shortly be available on https://faculti.net/. A meeting is planned with representatives from The Challenge, 'the UK's leading charity for building a more integrated society' to discuss the project findings. We expect that when our book is published, we will have another opportunity to introduce the issues highlighted by our research into the public sphere. |
| First Year Of Impact | 2015 |
| Sector | Education |
| Impact Types | Cultural,Societal |
| Description | Discussion with Frances McAndrew (GLA Strategic Lead for Diversity, Inclusion and Social Integration) as part of a consultation on "The Mayor's Vision for a diverse and inclusive city". Strategy not published yet |
| Geographic Reach | Local/Municipal/Regional |
| Policy Influence Type | Contribution to a national consultation/review |
| URL | https://www.london.gov.uk/sites/default/files/microsoft_word_-_final_diversity_and_inclusion_vision_... |
| Description | A level sociology |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | Talk given to A level socilogy students and their teachers as part of a morning of talks from sociology colleagues |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| Description | Advisory group: second meeting, presentation of findings |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | Yes |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Participants in your research and patient groups |
| Results and Impact | We received some very useful feedback on our findings which helped us shape our project report. See above. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
| URL | https://friendshipacrossdifference.com |
| Description | Attendance at case study schools summer fairs |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | We visited the three schools summer fairs in order to disseminate the research findings to the respondents but also to other parents and people who lived in the localities of the school. We had two publications - an accessible report on the research overall, and a booklet entitled 'Children Talking About Their Friendships' (both specially written for these events). We engaged in considerable discussion with people attending the fairs about the research and its findings, and people often responded that they had not thought previously about the issues around diversity which were raising. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
| Description | Blog for British Educational Research Association |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Further interest in project stimulated and some individuals made direct contact. As above |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
| URL | https://www.bera.ac.uk/blog?select-blog-category%5B%5D=early-years-primary-education |
| Description | Blog for UCL IOE |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Further requests for information about the project See above |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2013 |
| URL | https://ioelondonblog.wordpress.com/2013/02/27/if-your-childs-name-is-ariadne-will-her-best-friend-b... |
| Description | British Educational Research Association Conference 2014 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other academic audiences (collaborators, peers etc.) |
| Results and Impact | Talk sparked questions and discussions afterwards. Feedback was useful in helping further develop analysis presented at conference. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
| Description | British Sociological Association Conference April 2014, University of Leeds |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other academic audiences (collaborators, peers etc.) |
| Results and Impact | Talk sparked questions and discussions afterwards. Requests for further information on the project |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
| Description | Conference paper: American Educational Research Association Conference 2014 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other academic audiences (collaborators, peers etc.) |
| Results and Impact | Talk sparked questions and discussions afterwards. Requests for information about the project |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
| Description | Conference presentation (University of Kent) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | A presentation at a University of Kent international conference on 'Parenting and Personhood: Cross-cultural perspectives on expertise, family life and risk management' |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
| URL | https://blogs.kent.ac.uk/parentingculturestudies/pcs-events/previous-events/parenting-and-personhood |
| Description | European Conference for Educational Research 2013, Istanbul - paper presentation |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other academic audiences (collaborators, peers etc.) |
| Results and Impact | Talk sparked questions and discussions afterwards. Useful discussion afterwards informed our own thinking at this early stage of the research |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2013 |
| Description | European Conference on Educational Research, Budapest 2015 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other academic audiences (collaborators, peers etc.) |
| Results and Impact | Talk sparked questions and discussions afterwards. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
| Description | Feedback to case study school 1 (children, parents and teachers) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | The aim was to feedback to the teachers, respondent children and parents at case study school 1. We prepared three brief and accessible versions of our findings (hard copies), and sent parents theirs via post. We visited the school to feedback to children and teachers. The face to face feedback sparked questions and discussions. This particular school underwent significant changes in senior management just after the feedback, so we are unable to trace any impact on school policy. However, we did generate considerable discussion amongst the children around friendships and diversity. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2013 |
| Description | Feedback to case study school 2: teachers, parents and children |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | The aim was to feedback to the teachers, respondent children and parents at case study school 1. We prepared three brief and accessible versions of our findings (hard copies), and sent parents theirs via post. We visited the school to feedback to children and teachers. The face to face feedback sparked questions and discussions. Senior staff at the school engaged in considerable discussion re the school's approach to SEL (social and emotional learning). |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
| Description | Feedback to case study school 3: teachers, parents and children |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | The aim was to feedback to the teachers, respondent children and parents at case study school 3. We prepared three brief and accessible versions of our findings (hard copies), and sent parents theirs via post. We visited the school to feedback to children and teachers. The face to face feedback sparked questions and discussions. Our input stimulated senior staff at the school to discuss how teachers respond to friendship tensions amongst pupils. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
| Description | Friendship project launch |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | This was a project launch featuring ourselves and other academics working on related issues introducing the focus of our research, and related theoretical resources. It also launched our website. This event identified publicised the project and research team. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2013 |
| URL | http://friendshipacrossdifference.com |
| Description | Institute into Research for Super diversity (University of Birmingham) Conference 2014 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other academic audiences (collaborators, peers etc.) |
| Results and Impact | Talk sparked questions and discussions afterwards. Attendance at conference helped us to develop our thinking |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
| Description | International Association of Cross Cultural Psychology, France, 2014 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other academic audiences (collaborators, peers etc.) |
| Results and Impact | Talk sparked questions and discussions afterwards Enquiries about research |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
| Description | Invited seminar at British Academy, 2015 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Other academic audiences (collaborators, peers etc.) |
| Results and Impact | Talk sparked question and discussion afterwards |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
| Description | Invited seminar at Centre for Family Research, University of Cambridge, 2014 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Other academic audiences (collaborators, peers etc.) |
| Results and Impact | Talk sparked question and discussion afterwards |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
| Description | Invited workshop/seminar - 'Role and Relevance of Middle Classes for Urban Restructuring', Dusseldorf |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other academic audiences (collaborators, peers etc.) |
| Results and Impact | Talk sparked question and discussion afterwards |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
| Description | Media interest in friendship and diversity study |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
| Results and Impact | We had press coverage by the BBC, the TES and we were the Guardian's 'Research of the Week' (3rd July 2015). The direct impact is difficult to trace, but the press release was tweeted and retweeted by major organisations, including LSE, and journalists. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
| URL | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-33329575 |
| Description | National Science Week 2014 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Sparked discussion and requests for further information As above |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
| Description | Postgraduate teaching - UCL IOE |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | Talk sparked question and discussion afterwards Ideas taken up by students in assignments |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
| Description | Presentation to advisory group on interim findings |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Participants in your research and patient groups |
| Results and Impact | The advisory group presentation was a presentation of initial findings to a group comprising of practitioners and academics. A useful debate was generated and we received productive feedback on the direction of our research. New connections developed between the research team and the advisory group which will inform the direction of the research |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2013 |
| Description | Project dissemination event: UCL IOE July 1st 2015 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | We had available copies of our full research report, and our published and under review papers. There was considerable discussion during the day in response to our presentation. We have had several requests for further information from individuals and we also had media interest (described separately) |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
| URL | https://friendshipacrossdifference.com |
| Description | Project website: friendship across diversity (including blog) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Over three thousand people have visited the project website to date. One of our blog entries received 108 hits. Traffic increased during the life of the project website suggesting that public interest increased. Some of the blog entries were re-tweeted. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2013,2014,2015 |
| URL | https://friendshipacrossdifference.com |
| Description | Radio 4 programme: A Culture of Encoutner |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Dr Iqbal took part in a BBC R4 programme on encounters with others |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| URL | http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b09dxz1b |
| Description | Royal Geographic Society Conference, London 2014 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other academic audiences (collaborators, peers etc.) |
| Results and Impact | Talk sparked questions and discussions afterwards. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
| Description | UCL Festival of Culture 2017 (presentations open to members of the public) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an open day or visit at my research institution |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Talk given to members of the public. Sparked questions and discussions |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| Description | Undergraduate teaching - UCL IOE |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Undergraduate students |
| Results and Impact | Talk sparked question and discussion afterwards Ideas taken up by students in assignments |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014,2015 |
| Description | Video for academic research platofrm Faculti |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
| Results and Impact | Short recording for Faculti where I discuss the research and its implications. This has only just happened, so I do not yet know how many people it will reach or its impact. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| URL | https://faculti.net |
| Description | an article in The Telegraph referencing our research |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | The journalist was writing an article on friendship across difference and I spoke with her about our research to inform her article |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| URL | https://www.telegraph.co.uk/family/parenting/comes-playdates-social-class-last-parenting-taboo/ |
| Description | presentation at launch of new Centre for Sociology of Education and Equity at UCL IOE |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | The presentation was part of a launch event . There were two papers of which ours were one and then a panel discussion. The panel included the Deputy Mayor of London, Fiona Millar (journalist) and spokesperson from the teachers' union, and third sector organisations. Considerable discussion resulted with panel and with audience. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| URL | https://www.ucl.ac.uk/ioe/departments-and-centres/centres/centre-sociology-education-and-equity |