The Evaluator's Cookbook

Exercises for participatory evaluation with children and young people

Angus McCabe, Katrice Horsley

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2008
• Print ISBN: 9780415453417
• eBook ISBN: 9781134053230
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Education General

Participation is a vital element of working with children and young people – ensuring that services are meeting their needs as well as promoting citizenship, resilience and general well-being.

The Evaluator's Cookbook contains 21 participatory evaluation exercises for use with children, young people and families/community groups. Attractively and clearly presented, the exercises are very easy to use and come with suggestions for use and instructions on how to create the equipment needed. They will appeal to a wide range of people and can be used in a variety of informal and formal settings and most of the exercises are suitable for use with disabled children or children with special needs, as well as people with English as a second language. The book also explores why, how and where participatory research and evaluation should take place and provides suggestions on how the findings can be presented in imaginative ways.

This unique book is an invaluable resource for those wishing to consult with children and families or evaluate social, health and education services in diverse cultural settings.

Main Courses

A space of our own

Ingredients

• Shoe boxes (one for each participant or for a group of about 4)
• Pipe cleaners
• Plasticine
• Bits of card and coloured paper
• Scissors
• Glue
• Colouring crayons/felt tips

Method

• Identify the subject you wish to explore, e.g. school, hospital, their home
• Ask children to use the materials to build a 3-dimensional model of how they would like the subject area to be
• Ask them to label their models, provide clocks to show the amount of time they like to spend there, menus to show what food they would like to eat (if applicable), mini music CDs to show what music they may want to listen to, etc
• Ask them to share their spaces with the rest of the group and explain their reasons for designing them this way
• Discuss the findings

Preparation time 30 minutes	Cooking time 30–45 minutes	Energy level 5	Quantity Up to 20

Whilst this was primarily designed for children it has also been used very successfully with adults to explore their responses to a service. It is important to ensure that materials used are attractive to both genders; these can include clay, wood, wire, boxes, as well as fabrics and stickers, etc.

CD covers

Ingredients

• Blank CD covers
• Glue
• Pens
• Scissors
• Range of magazines/images that appeal to the group
• Card cut to fit into the CD covers—two pieces per participant

Method

• Ask participants to think of a subject they would like to explore—perhaps themselves, their education?
• Ask them to make a collage image of how the subject appears to others on a piece of card (Image 1)
• Ask them to create a collage image of their personal experience of the subject (Image 2)
• Ask them to think of acknowledgements—such as you find in CD covers—do they have any they would like to write? If so ask them to write them on the back of Image 2
• Do they have any lyrics/words that link into the subject? Can they make any up? They should place these on the back of Image 1
• They should place Image 1 in a CD case to make the front cover. Image 2 should be placed so that the acknowledgements are placed outward to make the back cover—the image being on the inside
• Invite the participants to share their personal CDs with the rest of the group

Preparation time Collection of inclusive collage materials	Cooking time 30 minutes	Energy level 5	Quantity Works better with smaller groups of older children

This exercise was found to be particularly successful with teenagers. It is really a variant of ‘Gingerbread People.’

It can be adapted so that ‘collections’ are made that cover different areas of a service, such as access, range of activities, etc.

Collages

Ingredients

• A selection of magazines, images and catalogues that cover the area you wish to explore. Remember to be as inclusive as possible when choosing these images
• Glue
• Scissors

Method

• Ask participants to fold their paper in half
• Identify the area you wish to explore, e.g. health, school, particular services, etc
• Ask participants to cut out images of the subject as they experience it. They should stick these on one side of the card in any shape they wish
• Ask participants to imagine how they would like the area under discussion to be and stick images on the other half of the card
• This can be done in small groups or as an individual exercise
• Discuss findings

Preparation time 1–15 minutes	Cooking time 30 minutes	Energy level 4	Quantity Up to 30

This again is an adaptation of ‘Gingerbread People’ but is a little more accessible to those who may have more limited fine motor skills and would experience problems with finely placing images within an outline.

Preprinted icons or images can be used if a more focused response is needed.

Heraldic banners

Ingredients

• Large pieces of canvas (if working in groups). Small pieces of canvas if working individually
• A range of fabrics, felt, cotton, etc
• Ribbon of varying thicknesses and colours
• Glue guns or Copydex
• Scissors
• Gaffer tape
• Pieces of dowling
• Images of heraldic design/banners to share

Method

• Cut the fabric into large/small banner shapes
• Identify the area you want to explore, e.g. school, health, access to services
• Ask participants to divide up their banner into sections and think about the area to be discussed. They should sketch some images from their ideas onto paper first
• Ask participants to design the banner based on their experience...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• Foreword
• Introduction
• Using the recipes
• Thinking about the recipes
• Starters
• Main courses
• Puddings
• Presentation
• The Virtual Cookbook
• Ingredients—exercise templates