Impact case study database

4.1. Pathways to impact

The UofG team’s research has made a significant contribution to changing mediators’ practice through government programmes and the work of NGOs. A project website, which contains resources including a searchable database of books, serves as a knowledge exchange portal. This ensures sustainability and provides a platform for the training of new partners who cannot benefit from in-situ training. The research ultimately benefits displaced children and young adults by reducing the negative effects of transience and offering a pathway into literacy for those without access to formal education. Precisely because of the transitory nature of their lives, obtaining evidence at this final stage of impact is extremely challenging. This case study, therefore, focuses on the mediators as the primary beneficiaries of the research.

Image 1: Mediators working with picturebooks during a Toolkit workshop.

4.2. Changing the practice of mediators in Mexico

In 2017, a research-based consultancy for the Mexican Ministry of Culture resulted in the creation of a new government programme. The Director for Reading Promotion at the Ministry was aware of the underpinning research due to her attendance at Arizpe’s invited lectures at the Universidad Autonóma de Barcelona and the Universidad de Zaragoza in 2011. The resultant Programme ‘Reading with Migrants’, in which the government invested approximately USD50,000, extended the existing training for ‘Salas de lectura’ (reading room) mediators (confirmed by collated evidence **[5A]**). This initiative was implemented in response to the presence of an estimated 140,000 immigrants in Mexico and 3 million people displaced due to poverty or violence.

Through the Programme ‘Leer con migrantes’ (Reading with migrants), mediators working in areas of high concentration of migration or forced displacement were trained to use picturebooks and the Mediator Toolkit in order to work more effectively. Training was initially completed by 264 mediators working in 10 states, who have subsequently worked with approximately 4,000 readers in refuges for migrants or community spaces (confirmed by the Programme Coordinator’s estimate **[5B]**). In 2018, the Mexican Ministry of Culture produced an associated publication [5C] derived from Arizpe’s interventions which was made widely available online to mediators and the general public, thus extending the reach of the Programme.

The earthquake in Central Mexico in September 2017 set back the roll-out of the initial Programme. However, a new Programme, ‘Metaforas para la reconstruccion’ (Metaphors for reconstruction) was rolled-out in Mexico City and three states: Puebla, Oaxaca and Morelos (confirmed by associated publication **[5C]**). This response shows how the model can be quickly adapted to different situations. The Director for Reading Promotion at the Mexican Ministry of Culture wrote: “we should highlight that the programme and methods designed by Dr Arizpe were not only of great relevance in the work with migrant populations, but also […] in the design of cultural programmes of reading promotion for the work in different adverse and emergent contexts.” [5A]. Arizpe, McAdam and Hirsu subsequently interviewed mediators involved in the recovery Programme, who confirmed that they had used elements of the Mediator Toolkit in their practice (confirmed by output **[5D]**).

In 2018, a new government administration in Mexico changed the priority of such programmes, however, a new relationship has since developed between UofG researchers and the current administration. Despite this change in administration, the use of the Mediator Toolkit has become self-sustaining due to its utility to mediators. Evidence of the change in their thinking, as well as on their practice, was gathered through interviews. For example, Mediator A said: ‘Then I took the training… I did not know… what the reality of that migrant context was… or how to work with them… and it was not about teaching them to read or [creating] an emotive reaction… I now have a structure for the activity for each session, I have an objective… before I did not know how to use picturebooks, now I rely on the images and the children or adults themselves to create the stories’ (confirmed by selected quotes from mediator interviews **[5E]**).

From 2018 onwards, the NGO IBBY Mexico (International Board on Books for Children and Young People) has taken up the training and adopted parts of the Mediator Toolkit into their own new ‘libraries for migrants’ project. ‘ Y de paso nos leemos’ is supported by a major US-based charitable organization, United Way, with funding of USD12,500, thus further extending the reach of the underpinning research (confirmed in letters from IBBY Mexico **[5F]**). While the funding amounts are relatively low, this project continues to demonstrate significant and cost-effective impact at international level, as outlined below.

Image 2: Just some of the picturebooks available to mediators through the project website.

4.3. Changing the practice of mediators in Egypt

UofG research also led to changes in professional practice among NGOs and third sector workers in Egypt in 2018. While the training in Mexico was being rolled out, an AHRC-GCRF Research Network Award enabled Arizpe, McAdam and Hirsu to collaborate with third-sector organisations working with groups of displaced children in Cairo. Egypt’s geographical position in the Middle East and North Africa region means it has often been a space for migration flows to Europe from the Global South. In recent years, Egypt has become a major host for Syrian, Ethiopian and Eritrean refugees, while over the past 50 years it has hosted Palestinian and Sudanese refugees. Estimates for the Sudanese community range from 750,000 to 4 million; and for the Syrian community up to 300,000.

The project team, with partners from the American University in Cairo and IBBY-Egypt, delivered workshops for educators on using the Mediator Toolkit, working across five NGOs: Fard Foundation, St. Andrew’s Refugee Service, Catholic Relief Service, Educate Me and Firefly. Each of these NGOs has since reported that the Mediator Toolkit is now part of their core practice resources—either in working directly with children or in the training of more mediators (confirmed by collated emails and reports **[5G]**).

For instance, Catholic Relief Service works alongside donor organisations such as UNICEF to support refugees and Egyptian children. Their work has extended the reach of the Toolkit, as they shared the training with 12 colleagues in March 2018, so that they could cascade it on to a further 120 kindergarten teachers and 1,250 village librarians [5G]. They reported that teachers had changed their classroom practices to include the use of picturebooks, so that: “ children who were often silent could express their ideas through the pictures and make up new stories in their own words to express themselves”. Teacher B said: “ There was a big difference in my approach before and after the training. Before the training, I didn't teach using stories, but after it I started using stories to help explain things to them and to help them to understand important themes” (e.g. such as racism). Teachers reported that using picturebooks enabled children to talk about their future intentions within the host country: “students started to speak about themselves and [would] imagine themselves in a specific profession and start to develop plans for their own futures” (selected quotes from mediator interviews **[5G]**).

4.4. Changing the practice of teachers in Chile

A third example of impact relates to changes in professional practice among teachers in Chile who were trained using elements of the Mediator Toolkit in 2019. The Coordinator of the National Reading Plan in the Ministry of Education in Chile was familiar with research conducted by Arizpe and had read about the Mexican Programme in the Ministry of Culture’s publication [5C]. As a direct result, she invited Arizpe to act as an advisor and used the research as a framework for developing the ‘Biblioteca Migrante’ (Migrant Library), a selection of children’s books on the themes of inclusion and migration, as well as workshops on reading strategies for teachers, to help them support increasing numbers of migrants arriving in Chilean schools. This training changed the perspective of the teachers who had previously ignored many aspects of the migrant experience. As one teacher said: *“We are often prejudiced without knowing… it made me reflect… this type of work made me understand the reality of the kids… we learned from this project.” (confirmed by invitation and evaluation report [5H]**).

Not all of these children (e.g. migrants from Haiti, Bolivia, Peru and Venezuela) speak Spanish or have the required knowledge for their age level according to the Chilean curriculum. Rather than immediately attempting to incorporate them in regular classes, the training has resulted in changes to practice in the use of picturebooks in order to integrate them gradually. This pilot programme was rolled-out at the beginning of 2018 to 50 schools with a high percentage of foreign students in the regions of Arica y Parinacota, Tarapacá, Antofagasta and the Metropolitan region. Three teachers from each of the 50 schools attended the programme. The pilot programme was evaluated through the Ministry of Education in December 2018 and 55 online surveys were completed. The conclusion was that the programme was ‘positively valued’ by mediators because it: ‘responded to the need to address the theme of migration and diversity through a format that allowed students to connect with the theme and their own experience, as well as renewing their enjoyment of books’ (confirmed by evaluation report **[5H]**). The programme was expanded to 100 additional schools in 2019.

4.5. Next steps

The reach of the Mediator Toolkit will be extended further through a commission to Arizpe and the UofG team from CERLALC (UNESCO Regional Centre for the Promotion of the Book in Latin America and the Caribbean). CERLALC’s plan, launched in May 2020, is to create an action framework for cultural intervention in crisis situations in Latin America. 10,000 copies of research-informed guidelines aimed primarily at educators, mediators and regional officials are now due to be published (confirmed by a letter from CERLALC **[5I]**). A collaboration between UofG researchers and the new Mexican Ministry of Culture administration also began in 2020, with an invitation to a webinar and an agreement to collaborate on a new research project (confirmed by collated evidence **[5J]**).