Creative Industries and social inclusion: young people's pathways through informal & community learning in the performing arts
Lead Research Organisation:
University of East London
Department Name: Humanities and Social Sciences
Abstract
The UK government is championing creative industries as a solution to urban problems of unemployment and social exclusion of young people on the basis of limited evidence. To assess the value of this policy this study will investigate the life paths of young people aged 16 to 25 years who participate in community based performing arts programmes and chart their transitions into employment/unemployment and/or further and higher education. Through our study we wish to explain if, and how, participating in community based performing arts programmes makes a difference to the life paths of these young people.
We will interview young people attending four different performing arts projects providing 'creative' opportunities to find out how their attendance affects their decision-making about their future. Projects will be selected according to strict criteria including the provision of 'creative' opportunities, places of informal leaning, open to all young people and are financially viable over the research period. The reason for selecting four organisations is to increase our knowledge gained from the research which arises from being able to compare and contrast different performing arts programmes. Those participating in the research will include young people from a wide range of different ethnic backgrounds, including those with no formal qualifications and those with formal qualifications and a balance of different ages and gender. Our study adopts an inclusive, equal opportunities approach and participation in the study is voluntary. A minimum of 480 young people will be included in the study and they will be interviewed a number of times and observed over 18 months. This approach will enable us to examine a range of different situations and contexts which may, or may not, influence the life courses of these young people.
We will also examine the way in which projects work and how they teach young people new skills. We will find out how government policies are influencing the practices of projects and in turn how this affects the life-courses of young people. We will interview a minimum of 42 staff and local and national policy-makers to explore these issues.
The research will be led by Alice Sampson who has over 15 years experience and is an expert in evaluating social programmes designed to assist the 'social inclusion' of young people. The research will also be led by Graham Jeffery who is a leading figure in the performing arts field. A research assistant will be employed full time to conduct most of the interviews and observations.
Findings from the research will be widely disseminated by writing reports for young people and practitioners, writing papers for academics, putting information on a web-site, and organising seminars. The findings will include information on whether or not performing arts programmes make a difference to the life paths of young people and if they do, what difference they make. It will also contribute to the debates about the value of learning in and through the arts as a mode of social inclusion and as a means of promoting employment, the effect of government polices on the performance of community based arts organisations and further our knowledge about how best to assess these programmes and understand the decision-making processes of young people who are past compulsory education.
The cost of the research to the Arts and Humanities Research Council is £167,821.
We will interview young people attending four different performing arts projects providing 'creative' opportunities to find out how their attendance affects their decision-making about their future. Projects will be selected according to strict criteria including the provision of 'creative' opportunities, places of informal leaning, open to all young people and are financially viable over the research period. The reason for selecting four organisations is to increase our knowledge gained from the research which arises from being able to compare and contrast different performing arts programmes. Those participating in the research will include young people from a wide range of different ethnic backgrounds, including those with no formal qualifications and those with formal qualifications and a balance of different ages and gender. Our study adopts an inclusive, equal opportunities approach and participation in the study is voluntary. A minimum of 480 young people will be included in the study and they will be interviewed a number of times and observed over 18 months. This approach will enable us to examine a range of different situations and contexts which may, or may not, influence the life courses of these young people.
We will also examine the way in which projects work and how they teach young people new skills. We will find out how government policies are influencing the practices of projects and in turn how this affects the life-courses of young people. We will interview a minimum of 42 staff and local and national policy-makers to explore these issues.
The research will be led by Alice Sampson who has over 15 years experience and is an expert in evaluating social programmes designed to assist the 'social inclusion' of young people. The research will also be led by Graham Jeffery who is a leading figure in the performing arts field. A research assistant will be employed full time to conduct most of the interviews and observations.
Findings from the research will be widely disseminated by writing reports for young people and practitioners, writing papers for academics, putting information on a web-site, and organising seminars. The findings will include information on whether or not performing arts programmes make a difference to the life paths of young people and if they do, what difference they make. It will also contribute to the debates about the value of learning in and through the arts as a mode of social inclusion and as a means of promoting employment, the effect of government polices on the performance of community based arts organisations and further our knowledge about how best to assess these programmes and understand the decision-making processes of young people who are past compulsory education.
The cost of the research to the Arts and Humanities Research Council is £167,821.
Organisations
People |
ORCID iD |
| Alice Sampson (Principal Investigator) |