Tag: Youth Voice

Youth Voice in Creative Schools: Reflections on Practice

From the very beginning, the Creative Schools programme has aspired to hold youth voice at the centre. Back in 2017 and 2018 when the programme was being conceived and designed at the Arts Council the National Strategy on Children and Young People’s Participation in Decision-Making was an important touchstone. The Arts Council was already embodying a commitment to participation in decision making in many of its programme like the Young Ensembles Scheme and Creative Schools offered another route to centre children and young peoples’ opinions.

Once the programme was established and the first 150 schools began working with their Creative Associates, we benefited hugely from support and guidance from Hub na nÓg to embed this way of working. As the programme has grown, we have witnessed the growth in confidence, experience and curiosity about youth voice among our community.

Since 2018, the landscape around Creative Schools has changed. There is now increased understanding and very welcome higher expectations of how children and young people will be listened to. New national policies for children and young people are clear in how young people have been consulted and there have been greater than ever efforts to ensure all children and young people are included in participation.

This publication is an attempt to capture, celebrate and share ways of working, reflections, ideas, and challenges that have been part of the journey of many Creative Schools. The articles provide a snapshot of the hundreds of projects and programmes which have creatively raised children’s voices. Of course, consultation with children and young people has been a feature of arts in schools and arts in other places for a long time but the scale and reach of Creative schools since 2018 has given us this opportunity to bring together some examples of recent practice, which we offer to anyone with an interest in this area.

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Young Audience Sector Research: Embedding the Voices and Rights of Babies, Children and Young People in the Young Audience Sector

This research was commissioned by the Young Audience Group and funded by Creative Scotland. The Young Audience Group is a collective of organisations and freelancers who have been meeting informally since 2018 to advocate for and raise awareness of the young audience sector. The collective is currently comprised of the following organisations and individuals: Action Boat, Barrowland Ballet, Catherine Wheels & Shona Reppe, Curious Seed, Frozen Charlotte, Imaginate, Independent Arts Projects, Lyra, Scottish Theatre Producers, Starcatchers and Visible Fictions. In 2021, research carried out by Cultural Radar identified key needs and priorities for the Young Audience Group’s ongoing work. Victoria Beesley led a second phase of research in 2023 exploring what a new network/ membership collective of freelancers and organisations working in the young audience sector might look like. This third phase of research is focused on two different elements: equity and access in a membership collective for the young audience sector – this research has been carried out by Kirstin Georgia Abraham; and the voices and rights of babies, children and young people within a membership collective for the young audience sector – this research has been carried out by Victoria Beesley and is the focus of this report.

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Youth Voice in Creative Schools: Reflections on Practice

This publication is an attempt to capture, celebrate and share ways of working, reflections, ideas, and challenges that have been part of the journey of many Creative Schools. The articles provide a snapshot of the hundreds of projects and programmes which have creatively raised children’s voices. Of course, consultation with children and young people has been a feature of arts in schools and arts in other places for a long time but the scale and reach of Creative schools since 2018 has given us this opportunity to bring together some examples of recent practice, which we offer to anyone with an interest in this area. 

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Participation in Practice in Child Welfare: Processes, Benefits and Challenges

Internationally, there has been a significant focus in policy and practice on the participation of children and young people in decisions that affect them, underpinned by respect for their rights under Article 12 of the UNCRC. While children’s participation has become a core focus for practice improvement in child welfare services, there is a dearth of practical examples of how participation is implemented in organisations. In this paper, we provide a reflective case study of participation in practice in the Youth Advocate Programme (YAP) in Ireland, a large non-profit child welfare organisation. YAP Ireland works with young people who are considered ‘high risk’ using a strength-based approach in a wraparound service that is family-driven and youth-guided. Drawing on qualitative interviews and focus groups with young people, parents, advocates, and staff and management, we describe and critically analyse YAP’s approach to participation. Critical factors in practice include a commitment to participation in policy, practice and culture at all levels of the organisation and scaffolding of participation by staff. Challenges include ensuring that participation principles are upheld consistently across the organisation and resourcing participation.

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