Learning Democracy for Fun

In a context of disenfranchisement, Education for Democratic Citizenship (EDC) is crucial so children and young people can better learn democracy (Sant, 2019). But currently, schools struggle to offer EDC that is engaging to young people from lower-income communities. Non-formal education has an important role to play in more inclusive provision of EDC. We know that embodied and object-based activities where young people physically play with objects and others (e.g. sports, boardgames, crafts, outdoor trips) can engage youth from all social backgrounds (e.g. Batsleer et al., 2022). Yet, the potential of these recreational activities for EDC has not been empirically investigated (Sant and Da Costa, 2024).

Learning Democracy for Fun has been developed in partnership with Charlestown Youth Centre (CYC), a youth club of the Greater Manchester Youth Federation (GMYF) in North Manchester. The PhD student will be embedded in the CYC, investigate how young people learn democracy as they engage in recreational activities, and use this new knowledge to co-generate new pedagogies.

The project will be scaffolded for the PhD student to increasingly contribute to the design of EDC activities for CYC youth. In phase 1, the student will conduct non-participant observations of youth workers and young people in the CYC. In Phase 2, the student will take a more active role through participant observations. In Phase 3, the student will carry out object-based interviews with CYC members (Woodward, 2019). In Phase 4, the student will lead Participatory/Creative work with CYC members (Kerr & Ainscow, 2024) and co-design a pedagogical Framework to include recreational, embodied, and object-based practices in different formal/non-formal EDC contexts.

This project represents a unique opportunity for a PhD candidate who has experience working with young people, who is interested in socio-political and educational theory, and who wants to make a difference in addressing political inequalities.

Eligibility 

Essential criteria

• Enriched DBS Checked or willingness/ability to pass Enriched DBS Checked.
• Commutable distance/proximity to Charlestown Youth Centre. The student will be required to be in the centre up approximately 3 afternoons a week in some stages of the project.
• Possibility to carry out research after school hours and during school holidays, following CYC schedule and calendar.

Desirable criteria

• Experience working with children and/or young people.

Academic requirements 

• Bachelor’s (Honours) degree at 2:1 or above (or overseas equivalent); and
• Master’s degree in a relevant subject – with an overall average of 60% or above, a minimum mark of 60% in your dissertation (or overseas equivalent)

English language 

• IELTS test minimum score – 7.0 overall, 7.0 in writing, 6.0 in other sections – or equivalent test and scores
• To demonstrate that you have taken an undergraduate or postgraduate degree in a majority English speaking nation within the last 5 years.

Application procedure 

The application deadline will be Midnight (GMT) on 28/02/2025. Apply online for PhD Education at the University of Manchester.

Under Section 6 Research Details select ‘Yes’ to Are you applying for an advertised project. Insert the project title as stated at the top of the advert. It is recommended when entering the name of the supervisor to simply enter this and not use the supervisor search function.

Please indicate in Section 9 Funding Sources your intention to apply for the HSIF Studentship.

Please ensure all required supporting documents are included at the time of submission, as incomplete applications may not be considered. Your application must include the following:

• A copy of your Bachelor’s academic transcript and certificate.
• A copy of your Master’s academic transcript and certificate. If your Master’s degree is pending, please provide an interim transcript.
• If you have completed more than one Bachelor’s or Master’s degree, please provide evidence for each. If your transcripts are in a language other than English, you must provide an official English translation. If your weighted average mark or GPA is not included on these documents, please also include an official document from your university verifying this information.
• An academic CV, summarising your employment history, publications and highlighting experience demonstrating your research potential.
• Supporting statement of a maximum of 700 words indicating why you would like to undertake this studentship and explaining how your focus, experience, and skills link to the research outlined above
• Example of a piece of academic writing produced by you of up to 5,000 words (you may consider submitting two shorter pieces if these deal separately with conceptual and empirical analyses). This may be an academic essay or chapter(s) from a dissertation, in which case, an abstract or introduction outlining the context/aims/research questions of the study must also be included. In Section 12, upload the Writing Sample under Research Statement/Proposal and label it clearly as “Writing Sample.”
• You must nominate two academic referees (including one from your most recent institution). Your referees will be contacted directly via the Referee Portal following the submission of your application form. You may wish to contact your referees to request they submit your reference in a reasonable timeframe as this forms part of the review process;
• A PhD Proposal is not required.

If you have any questions or would like to discuss this further, please contact Dr Edda Sant (edda.sant@manchester.ac.uk)

Formal interviews: Interviews are expected to take place week commencing 17th March 2025.

Equality, diversity and inclusion

Equality, diversity and inclusion are fundamental to the success of The University of Manchester, and are at the heart of all of our activities. We know that diversity strengthens our research community, leading to enhanced research creativity, productivity and quality, and societal and economic impact.

We actively encourage applicants from diverse career paths and backgrounds and from all sections of the community, regardless of age, disability, ethnicity, gender, gender expression, sexual orientation and transgender status.