[New post] Engaging Schools in Criminology: Reflections from the British Academy Summer Showcase
thebscblog posted: " The British Academy (BA) Summer Showcase is a free festival of ideas that celebrates research from the humanities and social sciences. Each year they host a schools day that invites students in years 12 and 13 from local schools to attend talks and w" The BSC Blog
The British Academy (BA) Summer Showcase is a free festival of ideas that celebrates research from the humanities and social sciences. Each year they host a schools day that invites students in years 12 and 13 from local schools to attend talks and workshops led by researchers and learned societies. This year, the British Society of Criminology was invited to be one of the learned societies at the event to engage students in the work of the BSC and discuss what a degree in criminology entails. Suzanne had recently completed her LITE fellowship demonstrating the need to engage students in schools to help inform them of what to expect from a criminology course in higher education, and the BA Showcase was deemed an ideal opportunity to take this work forward.
We decided that it was important for a current student to be involved in the event, someone who could speak directly to those interested in pursuing a degree in criminology. We were delighted when Phoebe offered to help organise and the attend the event. Members of the Learning and Teaching Network worked collaboratively to design suitable activities and Phoebe played a key role in the design of the marketing materials, ensuring that we could engage and inform attendees.
On the 17th July we headed to London and joined the showcase, which featured displays of innovative research and information stalls with learned societies. We designed two main activities for the event. The first activity was a crime myth busting exercise whereby students had to distinguish crime and criminology truths from crime and criminology myths. In the second activity, students had to match the correct answers to a series of questions about crime and criminal justice. Both activities drew on criminological research and official statistics to help challenge students' preconceptions and prompt discussions on key criminological questions.
We were encouraged by how interested people were in the activities we had designed for the event, and colleagues from other learned societies taking part in the day were keen to test their knowledge about crime before the students arrived. The students attending the event were enthusiastic about the activities we had planned and took part in both in small groups. Many of the groups had a good understanding about some key facts concerning crime, but there were some issues that they were not aware of that came as a surprise to them. For example, the students were interested to learn about the reality behind crime statistics concerning knife crime and to discover that fraud is the most common type of crime. This provided a valuable opportunity for us to talk to the students about where their assumptions about crime and criminal justice had come from and why challenging misconceptions about crime and people who commit crime is important. Through our conversations, we worked with them to think about the role and power of the media in shaping public perceptions and the ways in which they might think about media representations differently in the future. The students were inquisitive and asked thought-provoking questions which enabled us to show them the range of specialist areas that can be explored in criminology. This allowed us to have conversations with the students about how the criminological discipline explores a wide variety of issues and how they connect to other social, political and cultural issues.
As a student representing the BSC, Phoebe really enjoyed speaking to students who already had an interest in the discipline, as they were engaged in asking questions and finding out more about what a criminology degree could lead to. Furthermore, students who had not previously considered a criminology-based degree or career were brilliant to talk to as they were really inquisitive, and a lot of them left the event feeling inspired to consider the topic further.
Phoebe's favourite part of the day was talking to the students and answering their questions about her experience at university, I feel that it was useful for them to get a genuine insight into what the degree would involve. A lot of the students were surprised by the myth vs fact answers, and this inspired them to ask questions about why our justice system functions as it does. In asking these questions, the students began to form their own independent opinions about criminology and become engaged in the subject.
The event demonstrated the value of the BSC engaging with schools. It was clear that students were able to discuss their interests in criminology to help inform their decision making about possible career paths and future study. It was also evident how many misconceptions of crime and criminal justice exist amongst those who have an interest in the topic. By engaging more with schools, we can practice a public criminology, showcasing the work of criminological research and engaging young people in important contemporary issues. The event was also beneficial to teachers who were accompanying the students. The teachers took part in the activities and requested to take away leaflets to distribute to their students. We found it immensely helpful to understand young people's interests in the subject and to consider how the BSC can get involved in further work to engage schools more widely.
About the authors
Dr Suzanne Young is an Associate professor in Criminal Justice at the University of Leeds and is the Chair of the Learning and Teaching Network. Suzanne's scholarship interests are in the areas of student engagement, active learning, and technology enhanced learning.
Dr Helen Nichols is a Senior Lecturer in Criminology at the University of Hull and leads the Talking Teaching with Criminologists podcast for the Learning and Teaching Network. Helen's research focuses broadly on contemporary adult male imprisonment with core interests in the experience and impact of imprisonment.
Phoebe Thomas is a final year student on the BA(Hons) Criminal Justice and Criminology course at the University of Leeds. Phoebe's dissertation and work experience focused on the prevention of violence against women and children in domestic and public settings.
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