ZINE BUT NOT HEARD
Zine but not Heard is a collaborative project that uses multimedia zine making to facilitate conversations between informal science educators and care experienced young people and their foster carers.
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​Zine but not Heard is funded by UCL Grand Challenges under the Justice and Equity Priority Theme.
Phase 1: No typical care story?
In 2020, a group of 9 foster carers and 8 care-experienced young people took part in a research project on understanding experiences of fostering relationships. PhD student Eva A Sprecher worked with peer researchers Debbie Hill and Ikesha Tuitt, as well as supervisors Professor Nick Midgley and Dr Michelle Sleed, to understand themes in these experiences of fostering relationships.
The findings of this research project were written up into an academic paper published in Adoption & Fostering. This paper is open access so anyone can read it by clicking on the button below!
Phase 2: Creating a zine!
At the same time as Eva, Ikesha, Debbie, Professor Midgley and Dr Sleed were looking at the data using a research lens, our care-experienced artist collaborator David Grimm was illustrating the data. David was given anonymised extracts of data to pick out what felt resonant to him and create a series of illustrations.
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The findings of this research project and David's illustrations are brought together in the Zine 'No Typical Care Story'. This zine is a useful resource for advocates, foster carers, social workers or social work students, researchers or any professionals working with care-experienced people.
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You can download the full zine PDF by clicking the button below.
Phase 3: Informal Educator Workshop
Eva and Dr Ellie Armstrong, who holds a PhD linked to informal education themes, then co-hosted a workshop for informal science educators, to build confidence, skill sets and knowledge about the experience of care experienced young people and their foster carers. This workshop was co-designed with Dr Delyth Edwards and Rosie Canning who brought perspectives from their own research on the intersection between museum and informal education spaces and care-experience.
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The aim of the workshop was to share and co-constructed ideas and reflections for educators to use to building confidence, representation and participation of care experienced young people and their carers in informal science education.
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The workshop was organised around an Activity Zine co-created by Eva, Ellie, Rosie, Delyth and the illustrator, David Grimm. You can download this zine by clicking the button below.
CONTRIBUTORS TO ZINE BUT NOT HEARD
We have been very lucky to work with a number of collaborators on this project. As well as the collaborators below we would very much like to thank all participating young people and foster carers for sharing their experiences so generously. Special thanks also to Professor Nick Midgley and Dr Michelle Sleed who supervised the research component of this project and all the attendees to the educator workshop.
DAVID GRIMM
Care-Experienced Artist Twitter @DavetheCareBear
DR DELYTH EDWARDS
Sociologist in care-experience
Twitter @delythedwards
ROSIE CANNING
PhD Student, Co-founder of Care-Experience and Culture
Twitter @Rosie_Canning
IKESHA TUITT & DEBBIE HILL
Peer researchers
Twitter @DebbieAnneH
