Child Participation Case Study
The Ark is a dedicated cultural centre for children. We create opportunities for children, along with their families and friends or with their school, to discover and love art. Through our work with leading Irish and international artists, children can enjoy performances in our unique child-sized theatre, view engaging exhibitions or participate in creative workshops.
The Ark Children’s Council is a unique opportunity for a group of children of 4th, 5th and 6th class (aged 10 – 13 years) to gain special access to events at The Ark for a full year. The Council are mentored and guided by Ark Artist in Residence Shaun Dunne, a playwright and expert drama artist facilitator. They work together collaboratively over the course of the year, engaging with and responding to The Ark’s busy program.
The council members have at least one key event each month with our Artist in Residence, attendance on these days is required. As well as these bespoke drama workshops, the council have exciting opportunities to look behind the scenes, work with The Ark staff, see and respond to work in development and meet and work with visiting Artists. During their year they can also avail of their ‘Access All Ark’ pass which means they can attend any program or event at The Ark for free.
The Children’s Council is free, but it does require commitment and consistent attendance to the program. Spaces are limited and a new council will be formed every 12-24 months.
In September, following an extensive recruitment process, The Ark welcomed the largest Children’s Council to date. The 2021-2023 Children’s Council is comprised of 38 children from schools in and near Dublin.
Children attending DEIS Schools account for over 50% of our current Children’s Council. We have been able to provide access for children living in emergency accommodation through a partnership with Focus Ireland and to children living in direct provision.
Shaun Dunne, The Ark’s Engagement and Participation Artist in Residence facilitates the sessions with The Ark Children’s Council. The Ark’s Engagement and Participation Coordinator is present at all sessions and takes note of all views expressed and feedback from the Council. Following each session, they write up a report on the session which includes all feedback given by the children. They send this report to The Ark Director and any other relevant members of staff. They also discuss the Council’s feedback as part of their one-to-one with The Ark Director every week.
The Ark Director includes a report on the Children’s Council as part of her bi-monthly meetings with The Ark Board. She explains to The Ark’s Engagement and Participation Coordinator how The Ark Children’s Council’s views are being taken into account by The Director and/or the Board.
The Ark Engagement and Participation Coordinator fed back to The Ark Children’s Council explaining how their views have been taken into account and the reasons for decisions taken.
The project on which we involved children in decision-making
This consultation process with The Ark Children’s Council was for their views on marketing decisions around Still Loading…, a work-in-progress festival which took place as part of Dublin City Council’s Cruinniú na nÓg 2022. The logo and the copy (the description of the festival or event). There were other elements of Still Loading… that smaller sections of the Council were directly involved in, including giving direct feedback to the artists as they developed the piece they were going to share, and designing the feedback area for the event in order to gather feedback from the audiences after the shows. However, for this case study, we are focussing on the marketing and promotional decisions as one aspect that the whole Council participated in.
The decision-makers that facilitated and listening and acting on their views
The Ark’s Engagement & Participation Coordinator and Marketing Coordinator actively listened to their views and The Ark Director signed off on the process and ensured that the views of the children were acted on.
| Things we considered | What we did |
|---|---|
| The space or setting where we got their views (this may include online settings) |
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| How you identified the children and young people to be involved |
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| How you involved those who were directly affected by the topic | |
| How early in the process they were involved in decision-making |
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| How the process was inclusive and accessible |
| Things we considered | What we did |
|---|---|
| How we informed young people about the topics on which we wanted their views |
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| How we made sure they knew their views would be taken seriously |
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| How we informed them about level of influence they could have on decision-making |
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| The methods we used to get their views |
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| How we made sure they could identify topics they wanted to discuss |
The methodologies used enabled children to raise any suggestions that were relevant to the description and logo for the event. |
| Please describe the topics and issues they raised |
We had an interesting discussion about the colours used for the circles of the loading symbols. Some members suggested keeping the circles all one colour whilst others favoured a rainbow of colours being used. This led to a discussion about the possible overuse of rainbows when it comes to children’s marketing. Some of the members felt that it can be overdone and that just because an event is child cantered, doesn’t mean it has to be covered in rainbow colours. Other children mentioned that although they agree with this, everyone has a favourite colour and it is nice when rainbows are used because it allows people to spot their favourite colour. |
| Things we considered | What we did |
|---|---|
| How we developed a report or record of the young people’s view |
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| How we checked back with them that their views were accurately represented |
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| How we involved the decision-makers who are responsible for influencing change (other than yourself) |
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| At what point we involved decision makers other than yourself in the process |
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| How we and other decision-makers showed our commitment to listening to, and acting on young people’s views |
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| How we supported young people to play a role in communicating their own views to decision-makers |
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| Things we considered | What we did |
|---|---|
| How we informed young people about the topics on which we wanted their views |
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| How their views were acted on by the appropriate decision-makers (what happened to their views) |
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| Whether we continually checked back with children and young people about the ways you used their views with decision-makers (if possible or appropriate) |
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| How they were given full and age-appropriate feedback explaining how their views were used (or not) and the reasons for decisions taken |
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| How we enabled them to evaluate the process throughout |
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| What young people said in the evaluation |
What changes were made because of children/young people giving their views?
The event was launched in May 2022. The final copy had been approved by the Council. The Council’s favourite logo design was used as the event image and was used throughout the event.
The final copy was approved by the Council which included their thoughts on ensuring child-focused communication and eye-catching buzz words such as ‘jam-packed, exciting, fun-filled. The most prevalent change that the Council wanted to make was a change to the colour scheme of the logo. Pastel colours were a favourite among many of the members. The majority felt that the teal used in the previous logo was a little dark and could be made more eye-catching by having a pastel background and layer the brighter colours of the circles on top. The Council also wanted to change the colour of the font from white to black so that it would stand out in the pastel colour.
Considering the Council’s feedback, we presented them with a few versions of the logo to vote on, each version incorporating their feedback in different ways. The Council chose a pastel version with black font and the positioning of the circles was tweaked to make the loading symbol clearer.
In response to the discussion surrounding the overuse of rainbow colours, the Council voted on a logo which compromised and kept the rainbow colours but had a faded effect on some of the circles, so it was less of a nod to a rainbow and more of a nod to a colourful loading sign.
The Council’s favourite logo design was used as the event image and was used throughout the event along with the copy. Still Loading 2022
This was the third iteration of Still Loading… which from the first version, was created as an event that the Children’s Council would be key decision-makers and influencers in shaping. With positive experiences on the first two versions, The Ark Staff were clear on how to carry out this consultation process and were confident in their assumptions of the success of the process. These assumptions were not proved wrong, with this process being just as positive and valuable as the previous two, with the material being shaped effectively by the children and in the way that they wanted
Having an online vote on versions of the logo to determine the final version was a new development in this process following positive digital experiences during online Council sessions during the pandemic.
It would have been great to ensure that the children were able to deliver their feedback directly to The Ark’s Director in person rather than indirectly. This can be considered in the scheduling of future processes.
Looking at a specific evaluation for this task would be helpful and might give further insights into the experience
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