Big Wide Talk makes a difference by working directly with parents and practitioners where they live and work. Specific projects are agreed with local authorities, schools, children's centres, and other organisations responsible for the delivery of services for children and young people. Big Wide Talk applies its own method to each project within costed time-bound plans.

The method has seven actions: agreeing starting points/next steps; doing exciting things with children and communities; being with and observing children; co-operating; documenting; instigating change; thinking and talking. It requires that children, parents, practitioners and politicians, whatever their status and attributes should be seen as equal participating citizens.

Click around the map below to see how Big Wide Talk's method delivers services in the following areas and works to address the issues of the day:

The method relies on deliberative dialogue and participative action research. In each project, parents and practitioners draw up their own proposals for service improvement and change.

What does the method do?

It simultaneously delivers first level family support, professional development and locally driven commissioning, addressing the gap in educational achievement between the poorest and better off children; the reconciliation of family and employment; the inclusion of children with disabilities, and the eradication of child poverty. It requires children, parents, practitioners and politicians, whatever their status or attributes, to be seen as equal participating citizens.

Big Wide Talk tackles urgent issues:

finding sustainable ways to reconcile family and employment; closing the gap between the educational outcomes of rich and poor; enlivening poor communities; making services, including education, fit for purpose and locally responsive; finding non-business-model approaches to the provision of services that combine the best in management practice with the professional practice and many others.

Who does what?

National team:

Research, analysis and documentation work demanded of each project or programme of work; plans and monitors each project or programme of work; secures funding for each project or programme of work; ensures that all project work is managed and completed to specification; brings together all members to share and disseminate what has been learned.

Animateurs:

Animateurs work at local level to ensure adequate engagement of parents and practitioners and to support them in the use of the Big Wide Talk participative action research method and related tools.