SiS Catalyst (FP7/MML action plan/ University of Liverpool / 2010-2014)

SiS Catalyst was a four-year FP7 EU funded project under the Mobilising Mutual Learning action plan frame, based on the idea that as children are the future, we must involve them in the decision of today. SiS Catalyst was about finding, refining and applying ways to involve children as societal actors in the decision making process that will affect their lives. It was also about empowering young people and making sure their voices been truly listened to and not just heard. SiS Catalyst was about education in both formal and informal settings, and it aimed at enabling the process of mutual learning to happen between partners and associates, pulling together global elements and identifying local solutions to similar problems. The project was on a global scale, involving advisers and associates from all the five continents around the world.  

Link: http://www.siscatalyst.eu/     

The products of SiS Catalyst include:

The SiS Catalyst book 

SiS Catalyst produced a book entitled ‘Children As Change Agents for Science and Society’ outlining a radical new educational agenda which places children at the centre of how we meet the challenges of the 21st century. It draws upon the achievements of SiS Catalyst and was launched in the House of Lords, London in February 2015. Contained within the book are descriptions of the twelve Responsible Research and Innovation tools which were developed by the SiS Catalyst consortium. 

This book offers the beginning of the creation of a new roadmap for science with and for society by the simple act of recognising child-en as societal actors. The landscape of public engagement has now changed as a consequence of children being recognised as a ‘public’ in their own right. It also questions the role of higher education in this new landscape; how can universities be catalysts for the sustainable development that our world so urgently needs. The SiS Catalyst travellers propose that Children’s University type activities have the potential to become the bridge for academics not just to work with children but also to co-create knowledge with them. 

This is a radical dialogue, which will require humility and openness within the higher education sector and a genuine desire to embrace change. However the third message that the SiS Catalyst travellers brought back with them is the very positive message, that not only must we change, we can change! 

The following tools, and the book itself are available on the SiS Catalyst website. http://www.siscatalyst.eu

How to Listen to and Empower Children 

Listening to, and empowering young people is a duty when developing science for and with young people. However it is also an opportunity. This is a key idea in the children as change agency model. Building ways to engage children in different ways is a responsibility, both in the context of legal frameworks, such as the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child Article 12, and if we are to meet the global challenges of the 21st century outlined above. It is also, a way in which professionals working with children empower themselves in their own work. 

We produced a guide targeted in particular at three categories of professionals who are ‘the change makers’ on the day to day level: 

  •  organisers of science in society activities 
  •  facilitators of science in society activities 
  •  scientists involved in science in society activities

The Guide has four modules: 

Module 1: From science to empowerment

Communicating in science is a matter of recreating a meaning for scientific knowledge in a context different from the one in which it was produced. This module contains exercises and principles to sup- port scientists in communicating with children in empowering and engaging ways. 

Module 2: From engagement to governance

Educators, museum explainers, teachers... are “listening to” the children all the time. It is a different challenge to include children in the governance of a project or enable them to contribute meaningfully to the decisions regarding an institution’s life. This module looks at methods of integrating children into how organisations are managed and led. 

Module 3: Evaluating participation Self-reflection is the core of change-agency work. 

Module 4: The Dialogical approach

Underpinning the practical techniques to listen and empower children there has to be a philosophical base. This module is based on Paulo Freire’s ideas of education in which teacher and student are subject of the action of learning. It consists of a set of exercises which deconstruct some of the deep- rooted assumptions regarding the teacher:student relationship. This process encourages practitioners to question what education is, and encourages them to see it as a process of collective and continuous formation. 

The contribution of the SiS Catalyst project here is not to offer a rigid blueprint of training modules that should be replicated the world over. It is to present a set of flexible tools that practitioners in dif- ferent contexts and countries can draw upon in their own way to support their own change journey, and that of the students they work with. 

View the Guide: http ://siscatalyst.eu/listen-empower

Peer mentoring 

Harnessing the power of the networks is what will take the children as change agency movement forward beyond the SiS Catalyst project. Peer mentoring was the method by which this power was utilised to both extend and enrich the network under SiS Catalyst, as well as perhaps the major vehicle for innovation in the project. Peer mentoring on a global scale is a very powerful action. It enables partners to explore the work implemented by their peer in a different region, country and culture. Through the peer mentoring exchanges a pair of associates meets at each other’s institution to learn from the ‘Other’, and reflect upon the ‘Self’. The Mentoring Associate programme enabled a group of 36 science organisations, universities, museums and other intermediaries in science communication to learn from each other across the whole terrain of the children as change agency ecosystem covering: governance and strategic alignment, programme development and social inclusion. 

We have used our own Mentoring Associates programme as a case study to inform guidelines for organisations hoping to facilitate peer mentoring in their own context. 

You can view the guidelines here: http ://siscatalyst.eu/peer-mentoring 

The Diversity & Inclusion map 

The Diversity & Inclusion map is a self-assessment tool for organisations and practitioners who are involved in science engagement programmes with children. It aims to assist organisations in refining and improving the essential aspects of their work: 

the impact they aim to achieve; 

  •  the strategic embedding of programmes and their sustainability; 
  •  cooperation, networking and communication skills; 
  •  engagement with target groups and inclusiveness; 
  •  evaluation and monitoring efforts. 

The map is based on a four-stage model: 

Stage 1: Assess impact through the self-assessment questionnaire. 

Stage 2: Reflect on the results and use the benchmarking tool to enable an in-depth comparison with other programmes and organisations across the EU 

Stage 3: Translate, prioritise and put what had been learnt into action using the planning tool and a self-support manual which contains a range of tips and tricks and references to interesting literature with regard to creating a safer and more inclusive environment for children and staff. 

Stage 4: Embed evaluation of the changes implemented as part of the self-assessment process. 

The Diversity and Inclusion Map includes examples of evaluation tools that can be used at this point. 

More information: http ://siscatalyst.eu/dimap

Engaging students 

Student engagement is a vital part of the change agency ecosystem. When students become involved in science communication projects it is a win-win situation, where all participants involved gain from the experience. The students themselves gain vital experience, skills and networks, all essential additions to their CV. The young people will meet role models, interacting with people who are generational go- betweens, and the project benefits from the wealth of knowledge and energy the students can bring, whilst also being able to give an accurate picture of what higher education is at this exact moment. SiS Catalyst made it possible for twelve students to work on eight projects around the world. 

Several key points to orientate this work in the future emerged from the SiS Catalyst experience, which have been compiled into a set of guidelines for internship hosts. Originally developed as a pilot activity over the course of SiS Catalyst, ‘What is Science?’ is a self-contained workshop project, designed to be easily set up by any institution or organisation that works with students. It does not require much in the way of resources and can be delivered to any number of primary schools. It is a project that allows students to get involved as much or as little as their time and inclination allows, whilst still delivering a high impact workshop to the 10-12 year olds it is aimed at. 

You can view these resources here: http ://siscatalyst.eu/engaging-students 

What We Recommend Workshops 

The most powerful mechanism by which children can be empowered is by enabling their voice to influence the policies and activities that affect them. This means going beyond working with practitioners to change how they work with children or formulating views on their behalf. 

The SiS Catalyst Project designed and implemented a series of workshops held in 20 different countries during 2014. What We Recommend: The voices and opinions of young people
provided the opportunity for groups of 10 to 16-year-olds to reflect on education and to make recommendations on different aspects of Science and Society and access to knowledge. The What We Recommend workshops enabled the young people to consider and learn about their own decision- making. Young people were able to gain a greater understanding regarding their choice of options, and to develop a deeper comprehension about choices that they are making in their own lives both now and in the future. 

Following on from this successful workshop series, a guidebook was created to encourage and allow others to host their own events. 

You can view it here: http://siscatalyst.eu/WWR 

The AHA Album 

A basic objective in the SiS Catalyst project was to encourage more science and research organisations to recognise young people as a group with whom you can, and should, have dialogue with. Fundamental to this is equipping young people to be able not just to articulate their experiences through mechanisms such as bespoke sessions like What We Recommend, but to capture these throughout the learning journey. Tools are needed that enable young people to build their own narrative of success that then gives substance to the dialogue they can then have with institutions. Such tools should recognise individual developments and in particular ‘non-formal’ learning experiences. 

The ‘AHA Album’ is an eye-catching booklet suitable for children aged 7-1 3 years. It aims to capture those ‘Aha’ moments when children realise change in both what they understand and what they know. They are also able to describe the actors, institutions or environments that helped create these moments through their learning journey. 

Children are encouraged to share this information with peers, relatives and those organising the pro- grammes. This can be done either in a direct and personal way by exchanging the gathered information and/or passing back the entire album to the issuing organisation. A website has been built where these ‘Aha’ moments are captured, contributing to the development of the collective narrative of children-led change. 

You can find more information here: http ://siscatalyst.eu/aha 

Responsible Research and Innovation Tools E-learning Courses 

Three e-learning courses were produced on topics aimed to address the key areas and audience for the SiS Catalyst project. The aim was also to reach the wider audience within the education community. 

  •  Many organisations working to engage children in new and challenging ways face their own challenges, often in maximising impact with limited resources. How they manage the information and knowledge they have within the organisation is crucial. Capacity building offers interactive tools that organisations can apply to their own contexts to enable them to build their capacity for change. 
  •  Working Ethically helps organisations and practitioners to develop ways of embedding ethical practice into the fabric of their work with children. In particular, it looks to help them navigate that line between protectionism and paternalism. How can we be mindful of the vulnerabilities of children, yet at the same time look to empower them? 
  •  Developing Creative Websites for Children covers the state of the art analysis in the field of web site development for children. Users can find useful and practical tips and examples of best practices, taking into account the very different preferences, abilities, capacities to manage information, needs, interests and searching habits as well as with cognitive and motor skills of children com- pared to adults.

You can access these courses at: http ://siscatalyst.eu/elearning-courses

Change in Action – the Catalyst Case Studies 

The core of the SiS Catalyst project was the different ‘case studies’ of children as change agency in action. These eight projects acted as pilot studies of how to take work with children in different and contrasting ways. 

There were a series of messages for policy- makers coming out of the Change in Action part of the SiS Catalyst project: 

  •  Create critical mass if you want innovation and learning to occur. 
  •  Embrace diversity in how learning is delivered. The aim is not to find ‘the best’ programme. There will not be one optimum approach.
  •  Incentivise partnership between government funded agencies (in particular schools) and those working in change agency. The better outcomes from this aspect of the Catalyst project came from new partnerships across sectors. 
  •  Accept unexpected outcomes. Some of the most positive changes were ones that the organisations did not expect. 
  •  Finally, recognise the extent of challenge. In the case of the SiS Catalyst project most of the organisations attempted to reach out to new groups of learners: which in the majority of cases meant those from groups experiencing some form of social marginalisation. If a project/ organisation is not explicitly created to target such groups then to do so is a major challenge. As several recognised here, organisations need to do different things, not just deliver their existing programmes differently. 

There is a very powerful message emerging from the core of the Catalyst project: If you create space in which children as change agency organisations can innovate and the support to help them do so, then they can change what they do, how they do it and who benefits.

View the case studies here: http ://siscatalyst.eu/case-studies

Working Ethically

At both the philosophical and practical level children as change agency looks to embed an ethical radar into the work. The question of the purposes of education and the very society that we wish to build through it are ethical ones. Is it right to try and prepare children for a society that is unsustainable and a future that they have to in- habit but cannot shape? Attempting to place children as societal actors rather than societal subjects, is itself an ethical decision which carries with it a vision of the good or just society. 

The SiS Catalyst Project created a space where practitioners were able to develop their own visions for education, and use the frame of ethical consideration to help them do this. In itself this is a message coming from the project. While practitioners may focus their energies on delivering activities for children, they are not and should not be divorced from the broader issues that shape their everyday work. They need the space to be able to connect this work with such issues for it to have meaning to children and themselves. 

Working ethically is not just an issue of reflection, it can permeate throughout the day to day deci- sions of those working with young people. The SiS Catalyst project developed two brief guides and an e-learning course to assist in this endeavour. They are suitably generic to apply across contexts. 

View them here: http ://siscatalyst.eu/ethics

The SiS Declarations Booklet 

Essential to advocating for change is developing techniques to distill the views of the community or group into succinct messages for policymakers that include clear messages of what needs to be done, and how, with realistic, achievable ways of realising change. The SiS catalyst approach was to develop a series of ‘declarations’ via different consultative techniques, which we refined and linked to four conferences. 

The declarations were intended to support and be one element within a “pan-European mutual agreement process” and a vehicle to foster a common understanding of children as partners in the development of policies at the European Level. 

All declarations were placed online for sharing and endorsing– either as an individual, or as an institution. It was difficult to get as broad an ownership of the declarations as hoped. Practitioners may not be authorised to speak on behalf of an institution, whilst University managers and other decision/ policy makers can doubt the value of just endorsing a declaration. These challenges show again that achieving change requires coordinated effort across a range of areas. Practitioners and managers both need other forms of support and engagement alongside something like the declarations to give them the legitimacy to endorse them. 

The SiS catalyst experience provides important pointers to the need to address this challenge despite the difficulties associated with it. The power of belief in the rights of children and the imperative of overcoming social injustice provides the energy that drives forward those across the world who sub- scribe to the change agency agenda. However, this belief is not shared by everyone. There has to be ways of engaging those who have not ‘bought in’ to the agenda. The declaration approach is one way of trying to do this, whilst at the same time as the Catalyst experience has shown strengthening practice. 

You can read more about the declarations here: http ://siscatalyst.eu/declarations 

Academic Book 

Crossing science in society and social inclusion agendas: Engaging the academic community 

Engagement with the academic community is a fundamental part of engaging children in the processes of change. While there may be some dispute regarding the extent to which academics, particularly in the field of science, are themselves marginalised from the policy process, they remain the architects of the evidence base and the shapers of knowledge. While it differs much across countries (and within them) they also retain significant autonomy within higher education enabling them to structure how HE engages with all young peop- le, and particularly those from under- represented groups. 

The SiS Catalyst project from the outset ensured that the academic community was part of the change ecosystem. The project produced a series of academic papers and a collection of these will be published in 2015. ‘Listening and Empowering: Crossing the social inclusion and the science in society agenda in science communication activities involving children and young people’, confronts some of the assumptions embedded in the relationship that children have with science and those who communicate it. It argues that while children are one of the main target groups for the communication of science, they are positioned as recipients of knowledge excluded from the dialogic approach that aims to ensure that scientists listen and have a dialogue with the public, or excluded altogether from science by their economic or social backgrounds. 

It brings together examples of how to confront this exclusion by providing spaces where dialogue with children can be developed, and how these spaces can be used to open up the potential for institutional changes. 

http ://siscatalyst.eu/crossing-agendas 

Convincing Policy Makers 

The children as change agents agenda is an unashamedly ambitious one. It requires fundamental change, not the tinkering around at the edges that characterises much of what passes for educational reform. But to achieve this change takes a whole series of smaller steps. There is no big bang solution. The SiS Catalyst policy seminar series was an attempt to develop a model that could move us along the road of change. The aim was to bring policy makers together with a range of other stakeholders to develop a shared agenda. The thread running through the ecosystem that SiS Catalyst laid the foundations for was that impact can only be achieved collectively and this requires a shared agenda to work from. The policy seminars were an explicit attempt to build this agenda at the strategic level. 

SiS Catalyst delivered policy seminars in eight different countries testing different ways to bring stakeholders together, in particular implementing seminars as stand-alone events or as an annex to other bigger events. Using this experience, a set of guidelines was produced to aid others in planning, implementing and evaluating their own policy seminars. 

Read the guidelines here: http ://siscatalyst.eu/policy 

"The children as change agents agenda is an unashamedly ambitious one. It requires fundamental change, not the tinkering around at the edges that characterises much of what passes for educational reform.“ 

All of the these responsible Research and Innovation tools are available on http://www.siscatalyst.eu

  • No labels