Afternoon Session: Evaluating Culture Change
Two threads of work came together in the afternoon. There are seven different evaluators working across the project – one for each beacon and one for the NCCPE. These evaluators spent the morning reflecting on the lessons they were learning about the issues, challenges and opportunities being faced in each setting. These were fed back immediately after lunch.
The evaluators then joined tables, and each table was assigned a question that had been posed by one of the delegates. Responses to these questions were fed back at the end of the day:
• What new concepts, methods and philosophy of evaluation are emerging through the Beacons?
• Next time someone confidently state that we can’t reward or incentivise engagement because “there’s no way of assessing engagement success”, what should I tell them?
• What balance should there be between quantitative and qualitative methods to evaluate the whole Beacon impact?
• How can we capture change as it happens? “Live” so to speak as well as through reflection?
• How do we capture the effects and benefits of partnership building on culture change?
• What’s the purpose of evaluation? Will it change policy and make a difference in the sector and externally?
Single Voice in the Room
The session ended with the question: If there was a single voice in the room, what would it be saying about evaluating culture change?
1. Evaluators are part of change process and embedded in the learning process
2. We recognise that it is difficult to evaluate culture change. We genuinely want to know how to do it
3. The Beacons are working in a different way to many HE projects: less linear, more opportunistic way with less structure. How can we capture that difference and evaluate it?
Report compiled by Paul Manners (NCCPE) and Erinma Ochu and Suzanne Spicer (Manchester Beacon) May 2010
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All photographs on this page copyright David Oates
