Evaluating the Changemaker Student Awards

This presentation focuses on the evaluation of a programme of Changemaker Student Awards developed and undertaken by an AshokaU university in England to engage and reward children and young people in partner schools for their social entrepreneurship and innovation. The Changemaker Student Ruby, Emerald and Sapphire Awards ‘recognise, support and celebrate the empowerment of students in making innovative and positive change in their school community and beyond’. University students and staff judge school students’ achievement towards Changemaker Student Award against seven criteria, leading to the awards: 1. Commitment to a Changemaker Student Team Ethos 2. Evidence of Empathy 3. Innovative for Change 4. Ownership and responsibility of change 5. Process of Change 6. Making a difference 7. Next steps Projects are decided by the school students and have included developing the school garden, healthy eating and democratic student councils. Partnership between Changemaker Student Awards schools and University works effectively on a number of levels. School students engage in the awards devised by the University to experience autonomy, evidenced by the varied nature of individual projects. School students lead projects to elicit positive change in schools, supported by teachers and university students and staff. Stakeholders work harmoniously to enable school students to venture beyond statutory curriculum ‘…in developing, exploring and using the life skills such as self-management, team work, self-esteem and empathy and become advocates of change’. University students gain similar skills by supporting and judging projects. An evaluation, conducted alongside several projects by university researchers, provides robust intelligence about the work. Changemaker Student Awards partnerships therefore present an integrated social entrepreneurship educational model, for which process and outcomes are positive for all stakeholders. Stakeholders’ perceptions of the impact of the Changemaker Student Awards project were captured. The legacy is the experience and the outcomes, for stakeholders to carry forward. Alongside curriculum enhancement, wider curriculum opportunities and skills development, project benefits include promotion of active student voice, particularly in regard to school improvements. Participating schools have gained benefits from recognition and publicity that the Changemaker Student Awards may bring, as well as links to the wider community, including partnership with the University. Furthermore, the Changemaker Student Awards provides evidence for school self- evaluation and external regulation, a current concern for most English schools. School students have engaged with higher education and both school and university students have gained employability skills and confidence to take beyond their formal education into employment and life.