Teenage Kicks: Exploring cultural value from a youth perspective

There are growing concerns that many young people are increasingly being excluded from the arts and cultural activity as these subjects are being sidelined in schools and lack of funding for the arts is affecting their reach. This study asks a diverse group of young people about the kind of cultural experiences they value and what they feel that they gain through these encounters in order to build a robust argument for the arts to be reinstated in the lives of young people.

In contemporary accounts of cultural value young people's voices and accounts have largely dropped off the radar. Where they remain, they have tended to be restricted to analyses of young people's encounters with culture and 'creativity' in more formal cultural institutions and in schools or to debates on the implications of digital cultural spaces. Accounts have often been dominated by instrumental tales of potential future economic benefit and skills development.

This project works collaboratively with young people and a network of cultural organisations to explore young people's experiences and analyses of cultural value in order to inform contemporary discussion of cultural value. Building on recent generational and digital culture analyses of youth culture, as well as longstanding theorisations of 'youth cultures' in sociology, cultural studies and cultural geography the study will explore in detail young people's experiences of culture in relation to both the everyday and informal cultural experiences and their experiences of more formal cultural institutions. We believe that young people's voices may cut into the debate about cultural value in new and refreshing ways.

The study will be conducted in the wider policy context of the Henley Review of Cultural Education and will feed into policy and research debates around the value of the arts and culture in the development of 'well-rounded' young people. Cultural organisations involved in the project and others nationwide and internationally will gain a better understanding of the diversity of young people's cultural experiences and their responses to it. This will inform changes in policy and practice in relation to arts and cultural provision for young people. Our aim is to increase the evidence available for those working to ensure that all children and young people have meaningful access to the arts and culture in this difficult economic climate.

Young people will benefit from the research through their positive participation in the research process, including contact with the university researchers, developing their networks and knowledge of culture across the city, meeting and working with peers, and through their engagement in the process itself (including helping many of them secure their Gold Arts Awards through the critical and reflective contribution they can make). In turn this may lead to increased confidence, skills and expertise, encouraging more young people in the city to take up careers in the arts. As the project moves into its dissemination phase they will begin to see their ideas and areas of focus having an effect on policy at a local and national level and will feel they have a voice in in this process.Young people not involved in the research will also benefit through local and national policy taking 'youth culture' into account when making decisions about, for instance, resources for cultural organisations, education policy, including curriculum and the use of public space.

Cultural organisations in the city and beyond will benefit from the research by taking part in a sustained research and practice network with peer organisations and the University of Bristol - sharing and deepening learning and building better connections between each other. Through this strong peer network they will increase their capacity to engage in research to improve their knowledge and skills about their own practice, building their language and frameworks for thinking in this area. This, in turn, will support them to identify changes they can make to ensure a deeper and more effective engagement with young people, contributing to sharper policy and practice in relation to cultural value and investment in and around children and young people. The city will therefore be more able to remain a vibrant centre for arts and culture in the UK, potentially enhancing the quality of life, health and creative output of its citizens.

Teachers and youth workers will benefit from the research as it will give them a greater insight into what kind of experiences young people value culturally. This will be useful knowledge for them in developing curricula and lessons, as well as making decisions about the provision of extra- curricular activities. In the current climate in schools, where the arts subjects are being squeezed in favour of more 'academic' subjects, justification for developing a robust arts and cultural curriculum is needed more than ever.

Policy-makers and funders will benefit from the research through clearer and more pertinent articulations of cultural value of direct relevance to young people and their lives, in turn leading to better formulation of policy in this space. In relation to this they will also develop an improved sense of the areas and practices that young people see as adding cultural value and positive outcomes to their lives, in turn assisting with investment and funding frameworks and decisions.

The AHRC and the research community will benefit from the research through researchers on the project learning more from and about the needs and interests of cultural organisations in relation to research, and developing knowledge about the challenges and benefits of collaborative research work. The early career researcher on the project will be mentored to develop skills, knowledge and expertise as a highly competent UK researcher in the field of arts and culture. Other researchers and the AHRC will gain an increased understanding of the perspective of young people (a previously marginalised group) on cultural value, and the usefulness of 'generation' as a frame for thinking about cultural value which will feed into the wider cultural value project.