The objective of the project was to use findings from previous research to inform the design of resources to support schools in building safe, respectful and ethical school and pupil cultures and communities, both within and beyond the formal curriculum (e.g. ‘Personal, Social, Health & Economic Education’ (PSHE) / ‘Relationships & Sex Education’ (RSE)). These resources draw directly on the evidence and have been co-designed with young people and expert frontline providers.
This project was funded by the University of Surrey’s Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) Impact Acceleration Account (IAA).
The original research
The original research was borne from a collaboration between Dr Emily Setty and a co-education independent boarding school. School leaders were committed to thinking differently about formal and informal education and interventions designed to respond and address the issues that pupils face in their contemporary lives. However, they knew that before taking steps to create change, they needed to explore the diverse perspectives of pupils in order to take a pupil-centered approach to understanding the issues. Dr Emily Setty spent two weeks living in the boarding school observing and interacting with pupils in their day-to-day lives. The research covered a vast array of topics relating to living and being in the contemporary era (including digital technology, sex and relationships, bullying and shaming, self-image and mental wellbeing, among others).
The research showed that young people have a powerful role to play in shaping the conditions of their own and one another lives. They wanted education and interventions that spoke to their concerns and respected and celebrated their agency and the diversity and complexities of their lived experiences. It was found that the issues they face were rooted in their broader peer and school cultures and climates, and reflected broader socio-structural inequalities and injustices. Formal PSHE and RSE sometimes resonated, sometimes did not, but ultimately had little long-term impact on their experiences and behaviours. For that, there was a need for more pupil-led, embedded approaches that account for the social, cultural and institutional cultures in which young people are operating.
The current project
The current project involved working with young people and frontline experts to develop and design resources that can support schools in tackling the issues and better meeting pupils’ needs within their lived contexts. Specifically, the project addresses:
- Shame, bullying and an ‘anti-snitch’ culture
The research suggested that while peer culture can be a space of safety and support for young people, it can also – both on and offline – feature intense social policing, judgment, shame and bullying. Gender and sexual stereotypes and normative expectations abound, which can lead to the normalisation of harmful and abusive behaviours, as well as an ‘anti-snitch’ culture that inhibits positive bystander intervention. This project therefore explored how to equip schools to meaningfully tackle these issues and harness the positive potentialities within young people’s peer cultures to create change.
- Topical and complex social issues
Young people are living and developing in a time of immense change. #Everyone’s Invited, #MeToo, Black Lives Matter (BLM) and other social and environmental justice campaigns and movements are critically deconstructing taken-for-granted ideas and ways of being, and attract strongly-held views on all sides (as well as create confusion and uncertainty for many!). Young people are also now navigating and creating new norms and standards of practice, e.g. in the online world, and with regard to gender and sexual identity. These issues can be challenging to explore in schools in a safe, inclusive and meaningful way, and this project has looked at how schools can be equipped to do so. The aim is for pupils to lead the way on identifying and defining the issues, and to capitalise on the passions and lived experiences of pupils.
- Institutional culture and staff attitudes
The original research found evidence of the power of the ‘hidden’, ‘invisible’ and ‘ignored’ curricula within the school. While solutions have to be pupil-led and rooted in their peer cultures, it is also necessary to pay attention to the structures and cultures within the school, and how staff model and communicate (and thus reinforce or challenge) particular norms, assumptions and beliefs to pupils. This project has explored how schools can be equipped to identify how wider institutional cultures play a role in their pupils’ lives and how to empower staff to reflect upon and harness their role as educators.
- Pupil-centred and youth-led education
The young people who participated in the original research were passionate about the need to design PSHE and RSE that offers them opportunities to identify the issues and lead the discussion. It goes without saying that implementing such approaches within schools is challenging. There are the imperatives and objectives of the school to consider as well as how to ensure that such education challenges taken-for-granted ideas and equips young people with the knowledge, skills and outlooks that they need. This project has explored how this could be done successfully, looking both at the design and the delivery of the curriculum.
Supporting schools beyond the project site
The findings from the original research are not unique to the boarding school and thus this project is intended to produce resources that will be of value to all schools. However because they are being designed within this particular context, it was imperative that the project engaged with a wider set of voices. The frontline and experts working on the project brought an invaluable perspective and the diverse team of young people actively contributed to shaping the final guidance and resources based on their perspectives and lived experiences. We also want to hear from you. Please have a look at the guidance and resources and get in contact with us if you’d like to talk further about how we can support and work with you as a school.
Transforming School Cultures 