“I think there’s a certain level of understanding that we bring when we interview young people ... There’s also an understanding of South Asian culture that’s there. We understand that on a really personal level”
- Sampurna, Young Evaluator
The Audience Agency has been evaluating Our Shared Cultural Heritage (OSCH), a project led by young people aged 11-25 years. OSCH works with young people from the South Asian diaspora in the UK, as well as in Bangladesh, India and Pakistan, to explore shared cultural heritage and how museums can become more relevant and engaging places to explore identity and connectivity.
How the project works
As part of the project, young people have led a range of projects and events based at Manchester Museum, Glasgow Museums and internationally, which has opened dialogue and led to tangible change within partner settings.
"Our projects include a wide range of activities, from photography and hip hop workshops to exhibitions and bookmaking, bookclubs and youth collectives. Exploring themes including decolonisation, colourism, identity, mixed heritage and gender. The breadth of this work reflects the diversity of the countries and people involved in OSCH and their rich cultural heritage."
- Our Shared Cultural Heritage Project
Young people have reported that the project has empowered them to make change and has helped them to develop a range of new skills.
How the evaluation works
The project is evaluated through staff and young people reflection sessions, a quantitative survey, observations and one-to-one interviews. Two cohorts of paid young evaluators have been recruited and trained by The Audience Agency since project inception to support the evaluation, contributing qualitative data in the form of case studies based on events they have observed, interviews they have collected and creative journals based on their reflections. The young evaluators are of South Asian heritage or have an interest in South Asian culture, which brings important perspectives and lived experience to our critical analysis.
In the words of the Young Evaluators
Young evaluators Sampurna and Lena share their thinking on what the Young Evaluator role brings to the project, the challenges of evaluation and the skills they’ve developed:
Q. What does the role of a Young Evaluator at The Audience Agency involve?
Sampurna | We evaluate the project in a lot of different ways. It depends on which events we're specifically evaluating. Sometimes we lead focus groups, I've done one to one interviews before and some people have led surveys. I’ve also done observations where I’ve attended events and sessions. Our job is to see if the OSCH events are meeting with project objectives. We have all the objectives and we sort of ask people questions in relation to those, to see whereabouts in the aims, the OSCH project is. We undertook in-depth training at the start of the project. We were taught how to conduct interviews, focus groups, things like transcriptions, data storage, consent and how to conduct yourself in interview situations - asking appropriate questions and how to get the most out of an interview as well. I felt really supported after the training. |
Lena | I’ve been evaluating the Radical Readers event as part of the OSCH programme, which is a book event led by apprentices and OSCH Collective members from Manchester Museum. My role is to observe the sessions, looking at how the host is facilitating, how the event is running. I’ll also look at the participants and their engagement including those using the chat box. |
Q. What are your observations of the OSCH project?
Sampurna | It’s given a lot of young South Asian people a voice in museums. They are really trying to reclaim this space and speak about the issues that really matter to them. |
Lena | OSCH is not afraid to have conversations about taboo subjects. They talk about discrimination and racism and things. |
Q. What does youth voice bring to the evaluation?
Sampurna | I think there’s a certain level of understanding that we bring when we interview young people. They feel more comfortable. Especially because a lot of us are going through the same thing. There’s also an understanding of South Asian culture that’s there. There’s some discourse analysis about what we specifically mean and the experiences we share. We understand that on a really personal level. Things like, reclaiming the space, if you don’t understand this history, then it's more difficult to engage with. |
Q. Can you describe any skills you’ve developed through the role?
Sampurna | It’s taught me how to be an active listener and seek to represent other people's experiences. How to conduct an interview. It’s opened a lot of doors for me. It was the first job that I got when I was 18. |
Lena | It’s really helped me confidence-wise. I’m quite a shy person and I never used to speak out but now it’s easier for me to talk, even with someone I haven't spoken to before - I can have an easy flowing conversation. |
Q. What are some of the challenges of evaluation?
Sampurna | You can’t validate people’s experiences. You've got to find a way to prod and not necessarily agree or feel the need to share your opinion. It’s a hard line to tow. Having that lived experience though means I can relate to what they’re saying and represent that in an authentic way – I'm able to make recommendations because I understand what they’re sharing. |
Lena | You have to be really organised and know exactly what you’re going to do. You have to be really ‘in that moment’.Sampurna: |
The project is managed by the British Council in partnership with Glasgow Life, Manchester Museum and UK Youth. It is funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund's Kick the Dust programme.
