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Starcatchers: The Voice of the Baby

  • Area of Work: The ALLIANCE
  • Type: News Item
  • Published: 30th August 2023

New work on a major piece of research: Towards an arts-based methodology for participation for pre-verbal and non-verbal Children.

The Children and Young People Programme, along with the Health and Social Care Academy at the ALLIANCE and in partnership with Together (Scottish Alliance for Children’s Rights) recently hosted a panel discussion as part of the Being Human Series: ‘UNCRC, Beyond Incorporation’. As part of the day Rhona Matheson, Chief Executive from Starcatchers joined the event as one our panellists. Rhona shared information about new research focussing on the voice of the baby.

With the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) currently being incorporated into Scots law, Starcatchers and Dr Rachel Drury of Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, began work on a major new piece of research: Towards an Arts-based Methodology for Participation for Pre-verbal and Non-verbal Children.

What does this mean for Scotland’s babies?

Phase one involved lots of conversations, with artists, cultural venues, and organisations across Scotland. They wanted to understand what practices exist in the industry for listening to the voice of the youngest children in arts settings. They identified a strong shared understanding between early years artists of what the ‘voice’ of the child might mean, and how to offer an inclusive space for pre-and non-verbal participants. They presented our initial findings at an event in September 2022, and were encouraged by good attendance and engagement from professionals across the arts and early years sectors.

They were delighted to commence phase two of the project in early 2023 and hope you will join them on this journey of discovery. Connect with Starcatchers on their twitter account, @starcatchersuk to stay up to date with the research.

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