Take part in cultural sector research on workforce development needs and early years creativity
We would like to invite you to participate in an important research project that BookTrust is conducting on behalf of the Creativity in the Early Years Partnership,which brings together Arts Council England, Nesta, Art Fund, Youth Music, BookTrust, who share a commitment to nurturing early years (EY) creativity.
The Partnership’s early years vision is that every child has a creative start in life and is working to ensure universal, inclusive and fair access to creative opportunities and experiences from birth. To find out more about the research, please read on. If you are interested in taking part in one of our workshops in November, please fill out this short form to tell us a little more about you and your work, any accessibility requirements, and your preferred workshop or interview date.
About the research
The Partnership recognises a need in the cultural sector to boost inclusive, creative EY practice and specific programming designed to support EY creativity. As part of this, we are running research on the cultural sector’s Early Years workforce, exploring professional development needs, opportunities and challenges within the sector.
The research will involve:
- Three online workshops in November (11 November, 3:30-6pm; 14 November, 5-7:30pm; and 19 November, 1-3:30pm) – you only need to take part in one!
- Ashort online national surveyfor those working in the cultural sector – this will be shared on this page and emailed out from 21 October.
- For those unable to attend one of the workshop dates or those who require adjustments, we will be runninga number of one-on-one interviews at your convenience.
The sessions provide opportunities to share practice and connect with others working in the cultural education sector and your input will help the Partnership to determine the next steps to support the professional development for those currently working with, or looking to work with, children in the early years.
Who do we want to hear from?
This research focuses on understanding the professional development needs of those currently working with, or who would like to work with, children aged five and under in the cultural education sector (those working across music, theatre, dance, visual arts, literature, libraries, combined arts, and museums).
We are keen to hear from as many people as possible, from a variety of roles and employment types – whether you are employed, a freelancer, or a volunteer. We are hoping to speak witha diverse range of people in terms of time spent in the sector, seniority, those with hands-on experience running programmes or events for early years families, and those in larger organisations who may oversee workforce training needs. We particularly welcome interest from ethnic minorities, those from lower-income backgrounds, and those with long-term health conditions or disabilities. To help us share the research across the sector, we’d be grateful if you could share this email with anyone in your networks who you feel might be interested in taking part.
Taking part in the research
If you are interested in taking part in the research, please fill out this short form to tell us a little more about you and your work, any accessibility requirements, and your preferred workshop or interview date. This is to help us ensure that we are speaking to a broad range of individuals and organisations, reflecting the full diversity of the sector.
We are paying freelancers and volunteers £125 including VAT for their time. Please let us know in the above form if you are freelance or work in the cultural sector on a voluntary basis.
Please note that in the event we are oversubscribed, we may need to prioritise to ensure that we have a good mix of representatives across the sector. If this happens, we would encourage you to share your feedback through a short survey, which we will be sharing separately towards the end of October.
Your data
Please note that the research will be carried out in accordance with GDPR, meaning we will hold your contact details securely and only use them for research purposes, or to recontact you (with your consent). Any personal information will then be securely destroyed once the research has finished.
If you have any questions, please get in touch with Grace at BookTrust ([email protected]).
