Reflections on an event designed to involve young

people in the ‘quality’ conversation.

U n i v e r s i t y o f t h e F i r s t A g e F o r A r t s C o u n c i l E n g l a n d

! !

“How do we know it’s propa belta?”

Contents !

Introduction Context, aims, objectives

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Methodology Reflection on the peer led process

Outcomes of the event and emerging themes Next steps and recommendations

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Appendix !

a) Outline of the day !

b) What young people said !

c) The day in tweets !

d) Blog

Introduction

This summary report attempts to capture a series of observations from the event ‘How do we know it’s propa belta’?’ held at The Sage, Gateshead in November 2012. The report was created based on written notes and observations available from the event and from our own personal experience of being there- but we urge anyone reading it to also view the film footage of the presentations and interviews given by the young people who attended. At the time of writing this report, these were not available to directly quote from and we feel sure they will add great strength to an understanding of the events outcomes. We would like to begin this evaluation by offering our thanks to everyone who made the event possible - James Mackenzie Blackman, Dawn Williams and Kelly Huscroft in particular. We’d also like to comment on the professionalism, commitment and maturity of the team of Peer Facilitators who co-led the day and the young delegates who gave up their time and engaged so thoughtfully in the debates and discussions of the day. If this is a sign of the standard of work that will emerge if the Arts Council chooses to engage with young people in this way again, we feel confident that the future looks very bright. UFA www.ufa.org.uk

Context, aims, objectives Arts Council England Goal 5 of the 10-year Arts Council strategy, ‘Achieving great art for everybody’ states “Every child and young person has the opportunity to experience the richness of the arts and culture” Arts Council England identified an immediate priority underpinning this goal, to work with the sector to further develop a discussion around the issue of Quality within work for, by and with children and young people. Arts council England describe their own approach as …

The event ‘How do we know it’s propa belta?’ was the next milestone on this roadmap – it was the second quality seminar, held at Sage, Gateshead to meet the Arts Council’s aim for a ‘young people-led and facilitated event putting the voice of children and young people at the heart of the debate’

“One of facilitation (…) to develop bottom-up solutions built upon practitioner experience and expertise, through a series of commissioned research activities, sector workshops and potential development of tools to help signpost the way to existing good practice and frameworks.”!

A ‘roadmap’ was created including a number of key milestones. The following milestones had all been achieved prior to the event this report evaluates

• Establishing an external reference group to support Arts Council in developing an appropriate methodology and outcomes • Commissioning the National Foundation of Educational Research (NFER) and Shared Intelligence to undertake a literature review of a range of quality frameworks used across the cultural sector • Holding the first quality seminar, at CBSO, Birmingham, with online conversations initiated across the sector • Publishing literature review findings, including suggestions around seven quality principles • Identifying potential emerging principles

The seven draft principles 1. Striving for excellence 2. Emphasizing authenticity 3. Being inspiring, and engaging 4. Ensuring a positive child-centred experience 5. Actively involving children and young people 6. Providing a sense of personal progression 7. Developing a sense of ownership and belonging

Who are the UFA? The University of the First Age is an education charity with a national reputation for leadership programmes for young people. Our involvement in this event built upon our national experience of supporting young people to be Peer Trainers and Facilitators and also upon the ethos of our Young Researchers and Evaluators programme which has placed young people at the heart of similar ‘quality’ debates within education. Once commissioned, UFA were given a brief to respond to created by the external reference group and Arts Council England.

Aims To explore the principles of how young people judge the quality of artistic experiences with, by and for them. Objectives

- To enable young delegates to reflect on the emerging principles - Explore the young delegates’ own experiences of high quality arts experiences - To identify the methodology they use for reflecting and reviewing their

experience – with particular attention to any digital tools - To enable the young delegates to create ideas and inspiration for the steering

group about how they would like to be involved in the coming years of the project

Methodology Upon commission, the UFA worked in partnership with Sage Gateshead and the Bridge North East team in order to

1) Involve an identified team of young leaders form the North East in the planning and design of the event

2) Train the team of young leaders to develop the confidence and skills required to facilitate the event and coach small groups of their peers through discussion based activities.

3) Work alongside the young leaders to co-facilitate a one-day event for a small representative group of young people from each of the regions.

The Bridge North East team took responsibility for recruiting the young leaders and worked with their Bridge partners across the country to identify young people who wished to attend the event. Each Bridge was encouraged to invite young people who regularly engage with the arts and young people who choose not to engage with the arts. The UFA’s approach to working with young people The UFA operates under 5 Core principles and also uses a set of Learning Values that represent the qualities we actively seek to help young people develop and become aware of though any UFA learning process. These underpin all the work that UFA designs and delivers.

UFA’s belief in the power of peer led learning The UFA believe that when young people have something to offer others, they become involved in a reciprocal relationship, promoting an ethos of help, sharing, hope and caring. Young people taking on the role of Peer Tutor or Peer Facilitator realise they have a positive contribution to make to the group, organisation or community in which they are working, and as a result they grow in self-regard, realise they have a voice, and the sense of community grows

UFA’s Core Principles • Building a sense of BELONGING to

the UFA •LEARNING modelled on action research •Developing trained LEARNING TEAMS •CONNECTING home, school and community •An unshakeable BELIEF in the potential of all to achieve success

UFA’s Learning Values • Openness & generosity • Transferable learning • Accepting challenge • Ethical & responsible • Being engaged • Developing positive dispositions • Comfortable with complexity • Intrinsic enjoyment of learning

UFA’s use of a challenge framework The event was framed as a research and presentation challenge – importantly, this challenge was real and was set by the authentic voice of the challenge, the Arts Council, at the welcome event. The whole event was then building towards helping young people meet the challenge independently. The UFA frequently underpins learning-focused events with a challenge framework. Our challenge approach originated from that of problem based learning (PBL), also known as inquiry, enquiry or project based learning. The challenge framework pulls together the following features into a holistic learning experience

Each of these features were used as a planning tool for the event and asking the Peer Facilitators to design the day with these in mind provided a tried and tested model from which to start. Experience has taught us that this challenge framework supports young people in developing the qualities of being reflective, relational and resourceful. It also provides a structure that motivates and maintains engagement.

Positive relationships: A focus on building positive relationships and teamwork Setting the challenge: ideally challenges should be set by real people, for a real reason and shown to a real audience Questioning the challenge: Learners question the challenge in order to plan how to meet it – taking responsibility for their own learning. Highlighting the process: Learning to learn; goal setting; forward planning; reflection and review are part of the programme Bigger than us: Connecting with the wider world The final product: Produce the final product, present, perform, display.

The Peer Facilitators training The two training days took place in Newcastle and allowed UFA to work with the young people for approximately 10 hours in the build up to the event. The training days focused on 3 key areas

1) Helping young leaders think about the emotional climate for learning and how to select activities that would help the delegates to connect, feel comfortable to share and safe to contribute.

2) Interacting with a suggested framework for the event and generating new ideas for how best to enable the delegates to understand the task ahead and engage with their challenges in meaningful way.

3) How to facilitate group discussion – with particular emphasis on the use of coaching questions that would take thinking deeper.

The ‘quality’ event ‘How do we know it’s propa belta?’ Young people arrived the day before the event and were welcomed at the Sage with a performance and a meal at a local restaurant. Hotel rooms were booked and paid for for all young delegates. At the welcome event, Laura Gander-Howe set the context and issued the young people with their Challenge

“As a team agree on and present 5 recommendations that you would make to arts organisations about how they can recognise a quality arts experience for young

people to watch, take part in or lead.” Fun, interactive, physical and practical activities then ensued. Allowing young people to chat and create connections, form teams, share their arts experiences and stories and begin to unpick the challenge. For example they began to identify the methods they use for assessing the quality of food, music, holidays, schools and other things in their everyday lives. Finally the young people were led through 3 workshops that all aimed to prepare them for their final presentation challenge Workshop 1: Explore it The delegates explored their feelings towards and understanding of the 7 principles that had emerged from the previous quality event and research thus far. Workshop 2: Design it The delegates worked with their teams to create their own set of quality principles Workshop 3: Review it The delegates worked with their teams to create ideas for how young people could be actively involved in the reviewing and assessing the quality of arts experiences. They were then given 45 minutes to prepare a presentation and all presentations were viewed by a live audience of accompanying adults and the Quality steering group.

Reflection on the peer led process What Impact did they have? Asking the peer facilitators to contribute to the design and planning of the event was very useful. Their suggestions helped us to simplify complex issues and language, helped us identify what the delegates needed to understand to meet the challenge. The peer facilitators designed from recent experience of what had worked for them and this certainly contributed to the quality of the event. In the original model of just one day’s training with the facilitators, this level of input would not have been possible.

- Having a Peer Facilitator give the keynote speech at the start of the day set the

right tone for the event communicating from the outset that value would be placed on the contribution of young people.

- The Peer Facilitators were effective role models throughout, they joined in the discussion and debate, sharing their own ideas but also stepped back when appropriate and skilfully facilitated conversation, ensuring everyone was heard. They modeled supportive and respectful relationships.

- Removing accompanying adults from the room and from the small group discussions removed the need to say the ‘right thing’ and gave a freedom of conversation that led to honesty and authenticity. To achieve this desired method of working – the Peer Facilitators were not just adding value but were in fact essential.

What were their Limits?

- The Peer Facilitators had not been offered enough training or support to deal with any behavior management issues that may have arisen. When the day came, this was not in fact needed - in the case of it being needed; adults were ready to step in, but it’s important to note this would inevitably have changed the day’s dynamic.

- The Peer Facilitators had varying levels of skill in terms of scribing the discussions they led. Being able to identify the key phrases and words to be noted whilst simultaneously facilitating is a challenging task. So three roving adults acted as scribes but were unable to be at all groups at all times – a recording device would be useful for future events to eliminate this need and the possibility for missed opportunity.

“The$facilitators$helped$guide$our$views$but$it$didn't$feel$like$they$were$running$the$day.$It$was$easier$to$relate$to$them$&$they$helped$us$articulate$ourselves.$Because$they$were$younger,$we$didn't$feel$intimidated$&$felt$like$we$could$say$what$we$wanted$rather$than$just$say$what$they$wanted$to$hear.$Whatever$we$said,$the$facilitators$helped$reinforce$it”$Team$OYAP$Trust,!Bicester

Outcomes of the event and emerging themes

Emerging themes Reflecting on the whole event including discussions, presentations, the young people’s recommendations - we have observed ten themes. Ideas that were repeated in various ways and often enough to be significant. 1.Family and belonging

When reflecting on their own personal, positive ‘Quality’ arts experiences this feeling of family and belonging was frequently cited.

2. Freedom to do your own thing, be yourself

Again, when reflecting on positive, ‘Quality’ arts experiences this theme came to the fore multiple times

• 42 young people attended the event in total, representing 8 of the 10 Bridge regions.

• The delegates were predominantly arts users but approximately a quarter were young people who did not regularly engage in the arts.

• Ages ranged from 15-22, a number of art forms and settings were represented including Museums, Libraries, Theatres, Music Venues, Youth settings and Youth Offending Units.

"You want to go to a place and feel, 'yeah I feel ok here”

“In drama it’s that feeling that … you’re like a family…you’re all as one … you feel as one whole person…your thoughts get inspired”

$

"Everyone in the arts is expected to be flamboyant...what if you want to be

different? You might not want to be completely out there and different...

everyone is so caught up with trying to be original that they are out-doing

each other and end up missing the point." !

3. False Promises

When reflecting on their personal, negative, ‘low-quality’ experiences, one theme that emerged focussed on building up expectations, specifically through the promotion and marketing of projects or event. Young people shared their sense that at times, the efforts made to recruit young people to a project, the ‘offer’ used to make it sound appealing, were sometimes false promises and led to young people feeling disappointed or let down. "They promised us... They promised us... It was terrible... it made me realise

I could do it better. I know what works, it irritated me that they got it wrong.

They hadn't listened to us. They didn't have any trust in us."

4. Tokenistic involvement instead of authentic leadership Young people told us that they had experienced a lack of trust in young people to lead or be involved in a meaningful way. Sometimes this referred to artistic processes such as being directed without being given chance to contribute their creativity. Sometimes this referred to a perception that funding was not made available to young people because their ideas weren't trusted. Young people expressed many times over, a desire to take on roles that mirrored the roles of the 'adult-world', for example, as advisors, assessors and specifically to continue to represent young people through the creation of a shadow arts council. Young people felt that in some cases in would be right for these to be paid roles.

5. Need to simplify and not overcomplicate Young people commented on the use of language in relation to both the 7 principles and also to the general communication skills of practitioners working with them. They identified quality in the adults who were able to be clear, straightforward, honest communicators. They queried what they perceived as additional and unnecessary language within the principles.

!“We think there should be a Young Arts Council – to continue in the

spirit of today” !

“We recommend you don’t use language like “young people get a SENSE of ownership” Take the word ‘sense’ out – surely you

really want young people to just own it!” !

6. More exposure to professional work Young people felt that there was a 'loop' of experiences that they needed to encounter in order to be able to reflect on the quality of your own work and on the work of others. This ‘loop’ had to include seeing professional work that inspired and gave something to aspire to. 7. Passionate people This was very important and 'passionate' was an adjective that was used continually throughout the day. It is important to note that young people often found this passion from their peers as well as in the professionals they worked with and made calls for more use of young people as role models, coaches in schools and in the arts sector.

8. Online tools Young people made some reference to successful ‘apps’ and web based devises that had become widely accepted forms of collecting reviews – the most commonly cited example being trip advisor. Young people felt there was a transferability of these ideas to actively reviewing the workshops they take part in, the exhibitions they visit, the welcome they received from venues etc. One team commented on the usefulness of a place where you could compare professional reviews with reviews made by young people to get a multi-level perspective. 9. The media There was a strength of opinion that it was unfair that national and influential reviews of art are often written by a relatively small group of journalists or critics. Referring for example to the suggestion that there were just two well known, permanent theatre critics writing for a national broadsheet newspaper with a great deal of influence. Young people felt they were not being exposed to a wide enough number of views and found it logical that work designed for young people as audience should be reviewed by young people. Again, a paid role was discussed. 10. Removing Barriers Young people showed a great deal of awareness of the things that stop young people from either saying yes to culture or progressing in their chosen art-form. They spoke about organisations that had worked hard to remove such barriers but also expressed frustration about an unbalanced representation of young people who are visible as participants and artists. Other barriers discussed were funding and trust.

"This industry is like a family. Take things from others. We're being

inspired by older people, take it now, make it bigger and other young people

will be inspired by us." !

Next steps and recommendations

1. Creating a direct line of communication with the young people who took part Being truly committed to involving young people in a meaningful way starts with honoring the young people who took part – we recommend that the steering group allocate someone to be responsible for communicating with the young people who took the time to be involved. They need to see the report, hear the ensuing plans, and find out what has happened as a result. Perhaps one of the Peer Facilitators from the North East could join the steering group in a liaison role? 2. An alternative version of the 7 principles The possibility of amending the existing principles to reflect the young people’s views or having a young-people friendly version needs bringing to discussion. If it has not already been considered, a decision may be needed about whether it is the intention that young people will practically use or interact with the 7 principles further, if so, there have been clear messages from the young people that they need some attention in terms of the language they use. In general young people agreed with the importance of the 7 themes being suggested but they also suggested others. They also felt some of them involved repetition. They felt that ‘striving for excellence’ simply begged the question ‘What is excellence?’ and was almost the same debate as ‘What is quality?’ They frequently chose to describe the way something made them feel rather than describing the action or intention of the subject and this could be an interesting approach for a second, alternative version of the principles designed for use with young people. Below is an attempt to demonstrate these ideas – PLEASE NOTE - this is an interpretation of their ideas and feelings that we have made since the event and is not a model put forward by the young delegates. We would advise that if a young-person friendly set of principles were to be created, a smaller working group of young people be involved in their precise design.

!

3. Repeat this process/this event at local level Involving young people in discussing and debating the issue of ‘quality’ should be an essential part of striving for improvement for all organisations. The content of this event could be produced as a model for replication. We believe there is the potential for a greater level of youth-leadership of the event than we were able to demonstrate in Gateshead given the appropriate time and resource. We also believe that involving an organisation with a leadership and learning pedagogy rather than an arts organisation is important to ensure the quality for the young peoples involvement and leaders. The UFA would be very willing to be further involved though there are many other organisations that may be appropriate including Young Advisors, Change Makers. Using our Peer Trainers model, those young people involved as leaders in this event could be given the chance to train those that attended as Peer Facilitators and lead this event with other young people in their region- thus beginning a cascade of the model.

!!Emphasising!authenticity! Young!people!feel!free!to!do!be!

themselves!and!do!their!own!thing!

Being!inspiring!and!engaging!Young!people!feel!inspired!by!passionate!professionals!

Ensuring!a!positive!child!centered!experience!

Adults!continually!put!themselves!in!young!people!shoes!

Actively!involving!children!and!young!people!

Young!people!trusted!as!artists,!decision!makers!and!role!models!for!their!peers!

Providing!personal!progression!Young!people!are!given!the!chance!to!keep!progressing!

Developing!a!sense!of!ownership!and!belonging!

Young!people!feel!like!they!belong!to!something!

4. Further roles for young people be explored There were clear recommendations from young people to involve them further in formal roles. It could give a clear and strong message if the Arts Council modeled the involvement of young people in such roles first, for example, if it hasn’t already been done, could there be recruitment of young people as part of their teams of artistic assessors? There were three roles or ideas that could be considered: Young people as assessors or as researchers and evaluators. Suggest the steering group look at existing models and evaluate their usefulness. Young people as reviewers In addition to developing roles, could Arts Award resources be developed to begin developing these skills further as part of Bronze, Silver, and Gold? Could a journalistic training/toolkit be developed and opportunities brokered with media providers? A national schools competition to encourage review writing of cultural trips as part of literacy? The young people attending the event were clear that paid or incentivised roles should be developed A Young People’s Arts Council This could be explored – perhaps tasked with a specific ‘quality remit? The UFA’s experience of youth-led leadership teams is that they only thrive when tasked with an authentic piece of work to apply themselves to. 5. Young people work collaboratively with professionals to design an on-line app modeled on Trip Advisor. This really speaks for itself. An audit of which of the Bridge organisations are attempting something similar before commencing this at national level would be logical. !

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A) What did young people say

Written results

(recorded formally on prompt sheets by young people at the end of each 30 minute

workshop)

In response to

‘2 most useful things we already do to review or assess our experience’

• Peer review – talking to friends

• Online reviews

• Word of mouth

• Twitter

• Dialogue review (w.o.m)

• How you connect to the piece

• Questionnaires before and after the event

• Facebook groups – used like a chatroom/online noticeboard

• Hear-say (telling friends and families)

• Trial run --- review

• Magazine

• Social networking sites, word of mouth

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In response to :

‘2 of our best, new ideas, for involving young people in reviewing and assessing

the arts’

• Secret reviewers – evaluating at the end of the session

• Online forums – linking all arts together/promoting good business

• Apps (like trip adviser) to get YP thoughts on bands/gigs/events/performances

• Young reviewers groups (paid in tickets to gigs)

• A variety of people reviewing so to get a range of opinions

• More secretive and unbiased from different backgrounds and cultures of arts

• Use twitter more – make it more personal, funny and visual: humour to appeal to

young people

• Instagram - make more visual connections

• Art advisor ‘trip advisor’ with arts instead of just professionals (include senior

status)

• Youth involvement (ofsted style)

• 118 art. Database, website, phone number

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In response to :’

Top 3 ways we know it’s quality when we’re watching it’ –

1. Believable

2. Atmosphere

1. Energy

2. When the performance is original

3. Want to see it again

1. Feel an emotion

2. Forgetting you are an audience member

3. Not easy to forget

1. If you aren’t embarrassed to bring people to see it

2. Originality and skilled and relatable practitioners

1. Makes you feel inspired

2. Relationships between performers and audience

3. If you enjoy it or are just interested

1. Interactive

2. Variety

3. Contemporary

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In response to :

‘Top 3 ways we know it’s quality when we’re taking part in it’

1. Organised

2. Inspirational person hosting

3. Further opportunity/being able to actively participate

1. Wanting to come back

2. Stimulating

3. Progress

1. Involvement

2. Enjoyment

3. Response from audience

1. When we don’t get bored and check time

2. It’s with a group of people who connect with you eg age appropriate. Feeling

belonging

3. The providers are passionate

1. Being able to make it your own

2. Encouragement/freedom of projects

3. Cooperation between participants

1. Experience

2. Motivation

3. Feeling of achievement

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In response to :

Top 3 ways we know it’s quality when we’re leading it …

1. Showed personal development –what you could do

2. See the benefits in the audience – enjoyment

1. Good feedback

2. People come again

3. People look interested

1. Communication

2. Flexibility

3. Approach and equality

1. If you’re passionate about it

2. Getting experienced artists to lead it

1. Knowing it gets a message across/fits a purpose

2. 16-19 can lead

3. Directing ability

4. Respect

1. Enthusiasm

2. Progression

3. Modern

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In response to

‘Our team recommends the 3 most important ingredients of quality arts

experiences are’

• exciting and intriguing

• People feel free to be themselves (leaders and participants)

• Sense of progress/get something out of it

• Passion

• Originality

• Clear communication

• Removing barriers for participants

• Not considered as children

• Fun

• Them listening to you/asking for your opinion

• Be like a family

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In response to

‘Our 3 recommendations for how to involve young people in assessing and

reviewing quality are.’

1. Reviewers group (paid via gigs/workshops)

2. average aggregated review system (eg amazing, youtube appstuff)

3. Awards for good experiences ‘ credibility awards for shows and venues

1. Social media- instagram

2. Pay them to do it – if they are passionate

3. Research target audience

1. Art advisor

2. youth involvement

3.

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Notes taken

from discussion and team debates

Notable comments whilst reflecting on their own memorable arts experiences

"I like to be in control. I like it backstage. The whole process of setting it up and being

involved In something that people are going to enjoy... I've never wanted to be on stage but

I can be involved in it, making it happen."

Two lads reflecting on their involvement in theatre/drama

“In drama it’s that feeling that … you’re like a family…you’re all as one … you feel as one

whole person…your thoughts get inspired”

“We got to meet Danny Boyle!”

“Since I worked with them (RCS) that’s all I wanna do, is just be there”

In 3 days I knew friends like family…it connects you to people so much

Kyran shares his positive experience and personal journey as a young artist

"we're constantly told, 'you're too young, you don't know how to...' When you're 14 they

think you don't know. It took us 5 years. We got turned down by the Arts Council, but we

still did it."

"it's the best feeling in the world"

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"take every opportunity you can. You never now where it might lead."

“In the industry there are lots of walls; The Lyric has taken them down. They encourage

us, we are given the opportunity”

“Inspiration gets passed on; it’s to do with passion & determination”

“makes you realise that you have made a difference… We inspire young performers”

"This industry is like a family. Take things from others. We're being inspired by older

people, take it now, make it bigger and other young people will be inspired by us."

• The story about the play in a week in Cornwall given from the front...

Teachers signposted him to the lyric to help with asperges

When ‘spitting rhymes at school he was told by peers “you’re whack”

But he was given permission by Deanna to ‘do his own thing’

“Even if you don’t iike it- you learn something’

It took us 5 years to get our play produced but we did it.

Connie shares her negative and personal experience on a play in a wk project

"they promised us... They promised us... It was terrible....it made me realise I could do it

better. I know what works, it irritated me that they got it wrong. They hadn't listened to

us. They didn't have any trust in us."

There was no trust

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They didn’t let us develop our own ideas

There were false promises about what it would be like and what we would do

The casting process was unfair

I just thought I could do this better

On not enjoying recent trip to theatre (blood brothers)

“I was depressed after watching it”

“It was dry” “out of touch”

“They didn’t do it properly”

“I’d shut all the theatres down”

“I like rap”

• Reflecting on volunteering at Beamish – “volunteering and work experience look

good on CV... Mams friend asked me to go, been 4 years. It’s about the place I’m

from”

• Arts Council funding – could there be transition funding for young artists?

• Took us 5 years, we funded it ourselves.

• “We were not trusted – our potential was not spotted. They promised to treat us like

professionals”

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Reflections on the 7 principles

1. Striving for excellence

2. Being authentic

3. Being exciting, inspiring and engaging

4. Ensuring a positive, child-centred experience

5. Actively involving children and young people

6. Providing a sense of personal progression

7. Developing a sense of ownership and belonging

6,3 and 7 should go together- they say the same thing

2 and 7 should go together

‘Striving for excellence’ is obvious – no-one wants to do something shit!

Does striving for excellence even need to be said?

“Its not about striving for excellence, its about striving for a response”

“We felt striving for excellence and personal progression are similar. Progression will

involve striving for excellence”

“Without ownership you won’t care. Ownership comes onto personal progression

naturally”

On being authentic “ what about if you don’t want to be ‘out there’ maybe you want to do it

in a non-authentic way?’

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On ownership’ “young people should get to decide … have your own say … write, direct it”

“what is it? We don’t understand ti”

On personal progression. “Maybe that can’t be externally influenced”

"aren't these over complicating it?"

"Bad experiences are just as important as good experiences. "

Talking about adults use of language - "They (yp) shouldn’t feel like they have a ‘sense’ of

ownership - they should just own it!"

"It's about provoking a response - it doesn't always have to be excellent, but it should

provoke a response."

"Everyone in the arts is expected to be flamboyant...what if you want to be different? You

might not want to be completely out there and different....everyone is so caught up with

trying to be original that they are out-doing each other and end up missing the point."

" Be yourself, be who you are. Be the best you can be."

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Circle of understanding – TASK : Place the principles that you don’t understand

or you want to question outside the circle

Arran ‘s group

• YP sense of ownership

What is it? Don’t understand it

Hannah

• Being authentic

• Striving for excellence

• Progression

Feel they are jargon. They sound similar. What is excellence is as big a question as what

is quality?

Jenny

• Striving for excellence

Shouldn’t be measured like an exam

It’s too big a word

Process v product – wondered if this was age related? Process important as a younger

child put product become more important the older you get

Bad experiences are just as valuable so maybe not everything should be excellent

Ruby

• Authentic

• Striving for excellence

• Positive child centred experience

‘Child centred’ is patronising, should just be ‘working together’

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Tommo

• Actively involving YP

• Positive child centred experience

These two seem very similar

• Being authentic

Sarah

These are such Ambiguous statements that they simply all mean different things to

different people. Its not that any of them are better or worse than others but we’ve all

interpreted them differently

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Informal discussion about quality

‘You need to involve young people at the point of developing the ideas’

‘ It can’t be boring half way along – I like today, fiddlies on the table, things that keep us

awake’

Marketing hype always leads to disappointment

We like facilitators who use simple, understandable words

Reflecting on a museum project she enjoyed.’ it was quite an unstructured thing – they

didn’t have fixed ideas’

Reflecting on reviews in national papers

“Its always the same man who reviews everything’

‘ They need younger people’

"You want to go to a place and feel, 'yeah I feel ok here'

(Q: so what makes it like that?)

It's the WAY some people do it. You can tell whether someone really wants you to learn or

not. Passion is really important

They give you feedback and that's good."

"At the moment I know what's going to go down well with yp. But the world moves on.

When I'm 10 years older I won't know what will be right for yp but now I do."

Lorem Ipsum 28

"you can put yourself in other peoples shoes, so you'll know what they want. If that was

me, what would I want?"

When I heard this conversation (much of it Godfrey in Jenny's group) what they were

talking about was care, the extent that people care about one another, care about the

experience and the quality of it and how much yp are getting out of it.

They also talked about it being almost like a rite of passage. The yp involved as

participants move on and step up to be leaders.

Quality is so subjective

RSC = top actors, lighting & scenery but it doesn’t mean you will enjoy it

Quality is not …when one actor can take away from the whole production and can make

you focus on them for the wrong reasons

Quality is not … when you are nervous for performer and waiting for something bad to

happen ( X Factor)

Quality is … Being exposed to new ideas

Quality is … When you forget you’re there

Discussing how we know its quality when we’re performing in it …

When someone you don’t know tells you you’re good

When a really good performer tells you you are good

You still feel good when the performance is over

Provoking a response – or if you have been provoked to respond is a good quality indicator

Lorem Ipsum 29

Everyone has a role

Time passes quickly

Discussing how we know its quality when we’re the organiser:

Incorporates many ideas from all points of view

Need to be flexible

Can’t have favourites

These 3 points could perhaps go in any box

Lorem Ipsum 30

Reflections on the day being led by peers (written)

'It was a good day! The adults seemed generally interested in our views. It feels like

something will actually happen rather than box-ticking! It would be good if they published

the report online so that we could see. The facilitators helped guide our views but it didn't

feel like they were running the day. It was easier to relate to them & they helped us

articulate ourselves. Because they were younger, we didn't feel intimidated & felt like we

could say what we wanted rather than just say what they wanted to hear. Whatever we

said, the facilitators helped reinforce it.' Team OYAP Trust, Bicester :)

Just to add, the group think events like this one are a really valuable way of bringing

young people together to forge new relationships. They've made some really strong bonds

with the other participants & are already planning trips to visit their new friends! Safe

journey to you too. Laura

Lorem Ipsum 31

The recommendations

Group 1

1) Quality is in the organisation

2) Quality is in the atmosphere - Good welcoming staff

3) Quality is when there is adequate funding

4) We recommend you create a system for secret review, online blogs, forums

5) Quality is when it feels believable & realistic

Group 2

1) Quality arts orgs will be removing barriers - not enough diversity in all types of arts

– gender/age/experience

2) We recommend an online Arts Advisor. Like Trip Advisor. There should be two

parts to it. 1st section is yp trained as reviewers and paid. 2nd section is ordinary

young people reflecting on their day to day experiences. That way we can compare

professional reviews with ordinary reviews.

3) We need engaging, inspirational projects – that keep us focussed, like today.

4) Quality arts orgs will be enabling young people to see professional work, theatre, an

important learning experience. All in it together

5) We recommend the creation of a Youth Arts OFSTED – we want to be involved in it

as young evaluators. Youth leading other youths – more peer mentor, coaching &

support

Group 3

1) We recommend that ‘positive child centred experience’ should not be the language

used – it’s patronising.

Lorem Ipsum 32

2) We recommend you don’t use language like “young people get a SENSE of

ownership” Take the word ‘sense’ out – surely you really want young people to just

own it!

3) Striving for excellence – this needs to be interpreted as being be the best you can be,

provoking a response

4) Being authentic – this should be changed to being open minded being unbiased

5) We think there should be a Young Arts Council – to continue in the spirit of today

Group 4

1) We recommend more young people go see work, enjoy it and get involved

2) More interactive events like this need planning and young people should be

involved with them

3) Quality is in variety – breadth.

4) Constantly learning – you only live once

5) We recommend you create a Website called the ‘Quality loop’ featuring reviews,

volunteering opportunities, events. It’s a learning circle

Group 5

1) Quality is originality

2) The way arts orgs communicate needs to be more visual – art is visual- so we should

use social media that allows for more use of images eg instagram

3) Quality is passion – we want adults to be passionate so that we can be

4) Arts orgs need to think more carefully about their target audiences, get better at

putting ourselves in their shoes. We need to hear more young people feeling “this

fits with me, I fit with this”

5) Young people need to be used more as role models and leaders within schools

Group 6

1) Excitement & intriguing – work experience, decision makers industry led/festivals

Lorem Ipsum 33

2) Authenticity – YP should not hold back, take us seriously

3) Quality is about Progress – learn, practice, and refine, personal satisfaction.

Relationships with key individuals, passing of the torch

4) Quality is about passionate people

5) Quality is within clear communication – adults using the right language

From ACE blog http://blog.artscouncil.org.uk/blog/children-and-young-people/quality-principle-5-actively-involving-children-and-young-people

Quality principle 5: Actively involving children and young people I’m confident that the event on Friday ‘How do we know it’s propa belta?’ would have convinced any cynic of the true value of actively involving children and young people (which is one of the seven 'quality principles' to come out of Arts Council's work on young people, the arts, and quality).

Friday’s event, commissioned by the Arts Council and hosted by Sage Gateshead saw nine ‘Peer Facilitators’ trained by UFA (the University of the First Age) lead a day for 45 young people from all over the country. A challenge was set for them to explore their own experiences of the arts, consider the theme of quality and work as a team to create five recommendations for arts organisations about how to recognise and measure quality in their work for children and young people.

Throughout the day our delegates (aged 15- 20) reflected deeply, their thinking was sophisticated, ideas were grounded in the reality of being a young person and their recommendations ranged from practical solutions to challenges issued to the sector about language and rhetoric – challenges that made most adults in the room mentally hold their hands up. Here at the UFA we’re continually striving to reach the top two rungs of Hart’s Ladder of youth participation (if you haven’t come across Roger Hart’s ‘Ladder'- check it out, it’s a great starting place for a frank and honest look at how well we truly involve young people in all we do) and our training supports any organisation that works with young people to do the same. We don’t always succeed - but I reckon this event was definitely up there on the top rungs. Whether it stays there depends on what happens next – if the young people’s recommendations aren’t acted on or taken seriously, the event will quickly fall back down onto the rungs of tokenism.

After coming to the Peer Facilitators with a basic brief and framework, they worked with the UFA over eight hours to re-think the questions that needed to be asked, the concepts that needed to be explored and understood, the language we were using and the activities that would engage 50 young people best. Without a shadow of a doubt – the day itself and my own practice was greatly improved by involving this team of Peer Facilitators in the design and facilitation of it. There’s a bit of pride-swallowing here – would an event I designed on my own have been less effective? I’ve taken a long hard look and I really think it would. The positive impact of involving a team of Peer Facilitators in the process wasn’t just felt by us. One young participant from Oxford said: 'The facilitators helped guide our views but it didn't feel like they were running the day. It was easier to relate to them & they helped us articulate ourselves. Because they were younger, we didn't feel intimidated

& felt like we could say what we wanted rather than just say what they wanted to hear. Whatever we said, the facilitators helped reinforce it.' What’s that? You don’t need to be convinced of the importance of young peoples voice? Thought not. In which case, if we’re already convinced - lets instead consider a question that Katherine Zeserson (from the Sage) finished the event with on Friday after watching the remarkable recommendations given by six teams of young people – 'Why don’t we listen more and listen better?' To involve young people well, really well, requires time and money. Maybe more time and money than we’re used to giving or asking for. Perhaps this is one of the reasons we doesn’t listen more and listen better. We wouldn’t bat an eyelid at an artist devoting a significant amount of time to research and development before an exhibition or a show, in fact we like it when there are pots of money ring-fenced for R and D- we applaud this as a sign that the funders understand where real quality comes from in the artistic process. So, do we put the same value on involving young people in the development of work we create for them? Do our funders? Do we use it a measure of the quality of the project? And perhaps most importantly, are we brave enough to admit when we’re not doing enough of it and not always get it right? So much of this quality debate will go nowhere if we can’t first identify where we’re lacking and where we want to get to. So have a go at using Harts ladder and ask yourself - where does your involvement of young people sit? Which rung? Where would you like it to get? And if aiming for rung 7 or 8 is right for you - are you prepared to put in the time, money and training it takes to do that meaningfully? I’m with Katherine on the listening issue - more and better please. Starting with a long hard look at our own practice Caz Brader is National Manager for the University of the First Age and is soon to take up the post of Director of Programmes at Curious Minds, the Bridge Organisation for the North West.

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