Information for Parents and Guardians
What is this research study about? This is a University of Birmingham study. It looks at the things that help, and do not help young people to engage democratically on race and faith equality issues at school and in society.
Why is my child’s school invited to take part? We chose your child’s school because it is representative of the diversity of urban schools we wish to include in the study. The study is focused on Year 10 pupils as this is an important time for the development of their civic, social and political awareness.
What does the study involve? Your child is invited to take part in a few activities (assuming they are in Year 10). The first is a ‘photovoice’ activity. Here, we give pupils a digital camera for two days each, and ask them to take photos of things that represent how they feel about social issues such as race or faith identity and inequality. For example, they might take a photo of clothing or hairstyles that represent their culture, a community event they feel represents a positive perspective, a photo representing unequal conditions in a part of the city, or a snapshot of a social media post that expresses how they feel on a social issue. The images will be discussed in a 1-1 interview, and together we may choose some of these for a group workshop they are happy to share with 4-5 other pupils and on the project website. There are ground rules in place to make sure the photos taken and used are safe and appropriate. The group workshops will involve enabling pupils to bring in other ways of expressing themselves, e.g. through art or music. With teachers’ permission are also conducting lesson observations in (subject areas), and with community groups’ permission, we observing activities inside the school and events outside school that enable young people to express their identities and values.
What’s the benefit for my child? We will use the findings to support all schools to further improve how they support young people to engage inside and outside school on important social issues that may affect them. We will also give your child’s school access to a dedicated resource bank which the teachers can use to support teaching about equality and citizenship.
Is the research confidential? Yes. Your child and the school will not be named. Anything we quote from your child or any image we share in research reports and presentations will be completely anonymised (and faces and other identifiers in images will be blurred). If you have any concerns about your anonymity, please let the research team know. The only rare exception to this rule, which we advise all participants about, is the unlikely event we witness a serious safeguarding issue that we must inform the school’s Designated Safeguarding Lead about.
Can I withdraw my child from the research? Yes. Your decision to permit your child’s participation in these activities is completely voluntary. You can decide to withdraw your child at any time. The school and the research team handles these processes sensitively and respectfully, and there will be no negative consequences for you or your child for not taking part. You are free to withdraw your child at any time during the interviews or workshops. You can also withdraw your child’s interview and/or workshop data up to one month after the data collection takes place by contacting the research team at a.kandemir.bham.ac.uk (Asli, for Birmingham schools) or m.rahman.5@bham.ac.uk (Shajed, for London schools). Please note you also have the right to opt your child out of being observed in school lessons, and a separate opt out form for lessons is included in the information letter you will have received.
What will happen to my child’s data? We upload the interview, observation and photo data to our encrypted computers and our secure institutional online platform for the project period (to 2025). The data will be deleted from here once all project analysis is complete. As a normal research practice, our data will be held on our secure institutional long term server for 10 years, and then completely destroyed.
Where will I find out about the study results? We will publish our main study findings in a project report on our website, and share them in an online stakeholder launch event. We will also share links to open access academic journal articles and headline national survey results from the study on our website and social media. You can follow us on social media (@UoBEdResearch) to find out when the results will be out, and we will ask your school to let you know when the results are ready too.
What are the possible disadvantages of taking part? It is unlikely there will be any disadvantage to taking part. However, as we are asking about sensitive equality issues, we will provide your child and you with resources that might be useful to them in thinking about these issues.
Who has approved this study? The study has been approved by the University of Birmingham Research Ethics board, and funded by the Leverhulme Trust.
For parents who have received an information letter about the research in the 2023/24 school year:
– Please read the Fair Processing Statement at the end of this page or on your information letter.
– If you are happy for your child to take part in the photography, interview and workshop activities, please sign the consent form (in the information letter) and send it back, or you can complete the consent form online at the link provided on the information letter.
-If you are happy for your child to be part of lesson observations with the rest of the class, you do not need to do anything else. But remember you have the right to opt your child out of these observations, and other pupils will not know.
– If you decide that you do not want your child to participate in the lesson observations, please let your child’s school know. On the information letter, we provide you with a link to some sample text that you can email the school with if you wish to withdraw your child from the survey.
– If you have a question about the study, please email Asli (for Birmingham schools) at a.kandemir@bham.ac.uk or Shajed (for London schools) at m.rahman.5@bham.ac.uk
We will collect and process your and your child’s personal data to conduct the research project, as explained above on this page. This information is being collected as part of a research project concerned with freedom of expression on race and faith equality issues in young people’s lives by the School of Education in the University of Birmingham. The information which you and your child supplies and that which may be collected as part of the research project will be entered into a filing system or database and will only be accessed by authorised personnel involved in the project. The information will be retained by the University of Birmingham and will only be used for the purpose of research, and statistical and audit purposes. By supplying this information you are consenting to the University storing your information for the purposes stated above. The information will be processed by the University of Birmingham in accordance with the provisions of the Data Protection Act 2018. No identifiable personal data will be published. For further information on your data privacy, please visit this link.