PhD studentship: Investing in the next generation: evaluating the impact of Lyric Hammersmith Young People’s Programmes

London South Bank University

London South Bank University is a dynamic, inner-city university with a diverse multi-cultural population of some 17,000 students and around 1700 staff. For over 100 years the university has provided top quality teaching and learning, underpinned by relevant research and delivered in an environment that is focussed on the needs of its students and the wider community. Our students and staff come from all over the world, making our campus truly multicultural.

Lyric Hammersmith

The Lyric Hammersmith is one of the UK’s leading producing theatres. For more than a hundred and twenty years it has been responsible for creating some of the UK’s most adventurous and acclaimed theatrical work. It has also gained a national reputation for its work with and for children and young people and creates pathways into the arts for young talent from all backgrounds. The Lyric’s dual commitment to producing the highest quality contemporary theatre, whilst nurturing the creativity of young people is what makes it unique within the cultural ecology of the UK.

The Project

Many community art programmes are under threat in UK today, due to austerity measures. Another problem emerging in the current economic climate is that for children and young people from non-privileged backgrounds it is becoming increasingly difficult, and often impossible, to have a career in the performing arts. It is vital for cultural institutions to help young people access and engage with live theatre.

Over the past decade the Lyric Hammersmith has established a national and international reputation for its work with children and young people. In particular its Young People’s Programmes recognise the power of bringing young people into the Lyric to create work in a professional theatre alongside professional artists. It is now 3 years since the Lyric reopened with expanded creative education facilities and it is now the largest creative hub in West London. In the past year, it achieved 40,000 attendances at participatory activities for age 0 - 25.

The Young People’s Programmes team needs to develop an evaluation model for their programmes that will enable them to increase the impact they are making within their community and wider. For this reason they are interested in supporting a partnership PhD student, who, over a period of three years, will evaluate the impact of Young People’s Programmes, considering:

• Range of young people taking part
• Impacts on behaviour and soft skills over time
• Impacts on attendance and attainment in education settings
• Length of time engaged at Lyric and range of projects engaged in
• Mapping of pathways through and beyond the Lyric’s programmes including into employment and training within the industry
• Case studies and success stories

Key skills and selection criteria

• Good relevant first or upper second class honours degree in theatre, applied theatre or education
• Evidence of interest and experience in audience research, applied theatre, and theatre and education.
• Experience of software packages e.g. Microsoft Office and computer statistical analysis (e.g. NVivo, SPSS)
• Ability to research subjects using libraries, the internet and other information resources.
• Ability to analyse critically educational programmes and case studies
• Ability to communicate in writing and verbally, the outcomes of the work to commercial and scientific audiences.
• Ability to work within a team of both industrial and academic supervisors, to communicate flexibly, at all stages within a structured timetabled project.
• An understanding of equality and diversity policy and their practical applications.

Application Procedure

Informal enquiries can be made to Dr Elena Marchevska: [Email Address Removed]

Interested applicants should apply via UKPASS by 5 p.m. on 27th April 2018: https://pgapp.ukpass.ac.uk/ukpasspgapp/login.jsp

Quoting reference PGR015.