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Upwardly mobile?What can museum learning programmes contribute to social mobility
Miranda StearnHead of Learning, The Fitzwilliam MuseumUniversity of Cambridge Museums
The UCM consortium
Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology
Cambridge University Botanic Garden
Museum of Classical Archaeology
The Fitzwilliam Museum
Kettles Yard
The Polar Museum
The Sedgwick Museum of Earth Sciences
Whipple Museum of the History of Science
Museum of Zoology
The UCM will provide and facilitate inspiring and innovative encounters between diverse audiences and our diverse collections, informed by leading-edge scholarship and artistic practice.
UCM Mission
How might we make more difference to the children, young people and communities who have most to gain?
What is social mobility?
Social mobility is about breaking the link between an individual's parental background and their opportunities to reach their full potential in terms of income and occupation. It is about better opportunities for each generation and making access to these opportunities fairer, regardless of background. The State of Social Mobility in the UK, Sutton Trust, 2017
What are we trying to do today?
• Understand what is meant by social mobility, and be familiar with how to find out about social mobility rankings in your area
• Become more familiar with the existing evidence base and examples of current practice around museum / cultural learning and social mobility and be able to use this to advocate within our own settings
• Make links between the kinds of experiences and outcomes delivered through museum education programmes, and outcomes that might contribute to social mobility
• Apply this understanding and awareness critically to our own programmes and future plans
• Be aware of approaches to evaluating programmes aiming to support social mobility
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2018/jun/15/social-mobility-in-richest-countries-has-stalled-since-1990s
Social Mobility IndexJanuary 2016
Many of the richest places in England are doing worse for their disadvantaged children than places that are much poorer
(Social Mobility Index, Jan 2016)
• Areas identified as doing relatively badly given their level of deprivation include Crawley, Poole, Cambridge and Worcester; areas that do relatively well include Slough, Luton, Manchester, Birmingham, Huddersfield (Kirklees) and Halifax (Calderdale).
• East Midlands and the East of England are significantly are over-represented in areas that do significantly worse than expected given their level of deprivation.
• 3 Cambridgeshire local areas ranked in bottom 20% for Social Mobility: Fenland (6th worst), East Cambridgeshire (14th) and Cambridge (50th)
• All 3 were in the bottom 10% when ranked conditional on deprivation• Fenland ranked worst and East Cambs 11th worst for School Social Mobility• Cambridge ranked 5th worst, E Cambs 6th worst and S Cambs 19th worst for Youth
Social mobility
How can I find out about social mobility in my area?• The Social Mobility Index compares the chances that a child from a
disadvantaged background will do well at school and get a good job across each of the 324 local authority district areas of England.
• The Social Mobility Commission State of the Nation reports cover the UK (data sets for Scotland and Wales do not allow exact comparison)
• Check for ‘Opportunity Areas’ in your region
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/662744/State_of_the_Nation_2017_-_Social_Mobility_in_Great_Britain.pdf
Opportunity Areas
‘Opportunity areas will help local children get the best start in life, no matter what their background. Ensuring all children can access high-quality education at every stage is critical. We will focus not just on what we can do to help inside schools, but also create the opportunities outside school that will raise sights and broaden horizons for young people.’ (Justine Greening, Jan 2017)
The 12 opportunity areas are:West Somerset Norwich Blackpool North Yorkshire coastDerby Oldham Bradford Doncaster Stoke-on-Trent Hastings Ipswich Fenland and East Cambs
How do we know what makes a difference?
• International research (eg OECD Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development)
• Government research and evidence-based policy• Third sector research (Sutton Trust, Education Endowment Foundation)• Culture sector specific research (Cultural Learning Alliance, ACE)• Our own evaluation
https://read.oecd-ilibrary.org/social-issues-migration-health/broken-elevator-how-to-promote-social-mobility_9789264301085-en#page4 Published June 2018
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/667690/Social_Mobility_Action_Plan_-_for_printing.pdf
Practices of high performing schools• subsidising trips and extra-curricular activities for disadvantaged pupils; • working with local secondary schools to address the potentially negative
impact of poorly-managed transitions;• engage in a variety of community partnerships to deliver extra-curricular
activities (and work experience opportunities in the case of secondary schools);
• appeared to use pupils’ more idealistic aspirations (such as to become footballers or astronauts) as a ‘hook’ for other aspirations rather than seeing them as problematic,
• celebrated pupil success and achievements at every opportunity, building such celebrations into their weekly timetable and actively including parents.
• emphasised the importance of supporting teachers’ career development, regardless of any potential impact on retention;
• In London we found a greater depth and strength to schools’ networks, both in terms of the opportunities for ‘horizon broadening’ trips and visits that schools were able to offer pupils, and in relation to teachers’ own professional networks.
• Primary schools in the capital appeared to focus more attention on developing pupils’ non-cognitive skills such as confidence and resilience than those outside the capital.
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/732559/London_Effect_Qual_Research_-_Research_Brief.pdf
• Social mobility in the UK increased from a low base from the 1940s through to the 1970s.
• Since the 1980s, social mobility appears to have stalled or deteriorated in terms of social class and income measures respectively.
• We see three key drivers of social mobility: economic opportunities, capability development, and fair access to opportunities (both job and education opportunities).
• There has been some progress on these drivers in recent years, particularly in education, where educational gaps by socioeconomic background have narrowed since the 1980s.
• However, significant obstacles to social mobility remain:• Real wage growth has stagnated and income inequality has
grown. Millennials are likely to be the first generation in modern times to earn less than their parents.
• Large educational gaps remain and entrenched privilege continues in higher education. Students from lower socioeconomic backgrounds are still far less likely to attend university and students from the poorest households are 55 times less likely than independent school students to attend Oxford or Cambridge.
• Access to education and job opportunities is an ongoing issue with continued evidence of opportunity 'hoarding' through networks, information asymmetries, and social bias. Even when less well-off students attend the same university and study the same subject as their wealthier peers they earn over 10% less per year.
https://www.suttontrust.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/BCGSocial-Mobility-report-full-version_WEB_FINAL.pdf
The State of Social Mobility recommendations: Develop individual capabilities
• Interventions that tackle inequalities while children are young have potential for the most lasting impact. Early interventions are key given that most of the gap in educational attainment is created by age five.
• Teaching quality must be improved, particularly in disadvantaged schools. Teachers in the UK currently experience lower wages, longer working hours and have a less prestigious career than their peers in other developed countries. This needs to be reversed to attract and retain the most talented graduates into teaching.
• The 'summer gap', where more advantaged pupils continue to develop and less advantaged pupils fall behind, must be closed. This could be addressed through longer school days, with time dedicated to supervised homework, as well as compulsory digital programmes to support learning through the summer.
• State schools must do more to develop "soft" or "essential life skills" in less advantaged pupils, through a richer programme of extra-curricular activities.
• Promotion of the apprenticeship model and vocational tracks, including the new ‘T-levels’ will be needed to ensure the supply of skills meets the demand in the labour market. Apprenticeships should combine workplace training with off-site study, and lead to a professional accreditation. There should be a focus on higher and advanced apprenticeships, along with automatic progression.
• More should be done to increase the study of STEM subjects (particularly among women) to ensure young people are equipped for the changing world of work. Initiatives such as teaching coding in schools are welcomed.
https://www.suttontrust.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/BCGSocial-Mobility-report-full-version_WEB_FINAL.pdf
The Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) The Attainment Gap: 15 Key Lessons (2017)1. Early Years education has huge promise in preventing the attainment gap becoming entrenched before children start school.2. What happens in the classroom makes the biggest difference.3. Targeted small group and one-to-one interventions have the potential for the largest immediate impact on attainment.4. The transition between phases of education is a risk-point for vulnerable learners.5. The challenge of improving post-16 attainment is a particular issue for students from disadvantaged backgrounds.6. Pupil Premium funding is a valuable focus to support senior leaders in raising the attainment of disadvantaged young people. 7. There is a strong appetite for educators to engage with and use evidence.8. Robust and independent evaluation of high potential programmes is not only possible, but essential.14. Essential life skills (or ‘character’) are important in determining life chances and can be measured in a robust and comparable way.15. Sharing effective practice between schools – and building capacity and effective mechanisms for doing so – is key to closing the gap.
https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/public/files/Annual_Reports/EEF_Attainment_Gap_Report_2018_-_print.pdf
https://culturallearningalliance.org.uk/evidence/
https://culturallearningalliance.org.uk/evidence/
The Value of Arts and Culture to People and Society: An evidence reviewArts Council England, 2014
• Taking part in drama and library activities improves attainment in literacy.
• Taking part in structured music activities improves attainment in maths, early language acquisition and early literacy.
• Participation in structured arts activities increased cognitive abilities
• Students from low income families who take part in arts activities at school are 3 x more likely to get a degree than children from low income families who do not take part in arts activities at school.
• Employability of students who study arts subjects is higher and they are more likely to stay in employment.
Damian Hinds’ Vision for boosting social mobility
7 ‘Key Truths’ from APPG on Social Mobility:1: The point of greatest leverage for social mobility is the very earliest time in life. What happens between the ages of zero and three. Primarily that means what happens at home.2: You can break the cycle through the education you receive at school.3: Within education, the most important controllable factor is the quality of teachers and teaching.4: Your school days aren’t only about the days you spend at school; it’s also about what happens after the school bell rings.5: University remains the top swing factor determinant of later opportunities.6: It’s also possible to create second chances for people later on, with the right will, help and support.7: Someone’s personal resilience and emotional wellbeing can be as important as their exam results – and, of course, frequently linked.
Also announced: ‘a major piece of research work on how extracurricular activities, networks and the development of so-called soft skills can influence social mobility, looking at the gaps between disadvantaged young people and their peers’ and plans to use results ‘to take further steps on behalf of those children who aren’t getting the rich range of cultural experiences they need.’
https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/education-secretary-sets-vision-for-boosting-social-mobility
How are we already contributing?
• Programmes targeting disadvantaged children, young people and communities
• Programmes supporting high quality Early Years experiences• Programmes promoting teacher CPD• Programmes supporting accessible, high quality extra-curricular• Programmes supporting the development of ‘soft skills’• Programmes raising aspirations and offering insights into the work of
work• Programmes supporting varied post 16 pathways
Case study: Soham Village CollegeCase study:
Soham Village College
Joint fundraising
Museum visit embedded in school experience for every pupil
Cross-curricular planning with teachers
Extended project supporting literacy with Pupil Premium pupils
Museum involvement in school governance
“We were learning about new things in a fun way!”
“Definitely do it because you’ll regret it if not.”
“I thought it was going to be boring however my
opinion changed.”
“The students have particularly benefitted from working on an extended project, bringing together a number of different disciplines and becoming familiar with the Fitzwilliam Museum. The work that they produced was excellent and seeing their pride in completing the award to a high standard was fantastic. Because the project was deliberately centred around Macbeth, which the students are studying in school, we have also seen a positive impact on their English grades.”
Mary Wilcox, Deputy Head at Soham Village College
“During the project my daughter was always eager to complete the work set to the best of her ability and took time to ensure it met her standards of excellence. Not only has it developed her understanding of Shakespeare, but it has inspired her to do more art work and drawings at home. I would like to think this has had a positive impact on her Art progress. She would come home from the selected day at the museum and excitedly tell her family random facts about Shakespeare.
On completion of the project my daughter has transferred her enthusiasm to her school work. She even pleaded with me to take her to school after having a full set of braces fitted and being in pain so she could hand in her portfolio! The whole experience has allowed her to grow in confidence and knowledge.”
A parent
Case study:North Cambridge
Academy
Museum Ambassadors
Teacher training
Supporting transition
Celebrating achievement
CYP programming for friends and family
“They saw the project through from beginning to end over a year. They developed resilience when making decisions about what to include. They shared ideas and had to decide what made the book and what didn’t. They don’t normally get to do that in school. I saw an increase in confidence and resilience. They’re so proud of what they achieved and surprised that they managed it.”
Christine Brierley, teacher at North Cambridge Academy
“We are now the most improved school in the county and one of the most improved schools in the country. The progress which NCA has made- from improved results, a ‘Good’ Ofsted report, successful move to a new set of buildings and the partnerships with Kettle’s Yard, the police and Cambridge Gymnastics – it is unique within Cambridgeshire and its positive impact upon the community we serve is unparalleled.”
Case Study: Activate
30 pupil premium pupils over 2 years
Supported by City ‘Sharing Prosperity’ fund
Consistent, high quality, progression based cultural activity
Partnership across cultural organisations
Measuring impact on attainment and aspiration
How do we know what is working?
• Existing data sets (including Social Mobility Index)
• Cohort studies
• Higher Education Access Tracker
• Big data projects eg Cambridgeshire Culture Card
• Working with school-specific approaches eg PASS (Pupil Attitudes to Self and School survey)
BUT – Most of these show correlation (at best) rather than causality
• Project specific qualitative evaluation (including pre-and post project surveys, teacher surveys)
PASS looks at nine attitudinal factors that are proven to be significantly linked to educational goals. These are:• Feelings about school• Perceived learning capability• Self-regard• Preparedness for learning• Attitudes to teachers• General work ethic• Confidence in learning• Attitudes to attendance• Response to curriculum demands.
All pupils in the in the year group complete the PASS survey on a regular basis. This enables us to look at whether those participating in Activate show different changes in responses to those not participating
Case study: PASS and the Activate! evaluation
Case study: PASS and the Activate! evaluationQualitative evaluation mapping participant and teacher responses against project outcomes:
• increased educational attainment
‘She is behind at school and there are concerns about her progress mainly because of her lack of attendance rather than ability. She is often stressed – what ACTIVATE is doing is making her comfortable in the school and with other people – she is making friends’.
• increased aspiration
‘I want to be an architect’
• increased capacity for creativity, questioning and innovation
‘I have started to do more drama – because normally I am very shy, but drama helps me be more outspoken. I am not one to try new things and I don’t like to be the centre of attention, but with this I am starting to do that. It has increased my confidence a lot – I will put my hand up more and talk more.’
• Establish logic models, agreed with teachers, to clarify:• Intended outcomes for students and impact goals for programme• Proposed delivery methods based on existing evidence base• Immediate responses which will act as evidence of outcomes• Methodology for capturing those responses
• Design survey questions (often using pre-and post-activity surveys to measure change)
• Use consistent, technology enhanced approach to build understanding of impact over multiple programmes
Case study: Evaluating the Soham Arts Award as part of ‘Embedding and demonstrating the value of technology-enhanced cultural impact measurement for arts and culture organisations’
Case study: Evaluating the Soham Arts Award as part of ‘Embedding and demonstrating the value of technology-enhanced cultural impact measurement for arts and culture organisations’
Over to you
• Think of an activity in your museum that might have a positive impact on social mobility
• Use blank logic model to show how and why the planned activity is likely to achieve outcomes which contribute to social mobility, and what immediate responses you might observe
• Come up with 3 survey questions that would help you test this
To finish
1 thing I am hopeful about
1 challenge I am thinking about
1 thing I am going to do next
