I’m Jack. I’m about to enter my final year as an English Literature student. Over the summer, I was a Collaborative Research Intern for Dr Emily Wingfield’s Project “Birmingham Stories: Evaluating the Effectiveness of Place-Based Literacy Programmes,” which was a collaboration with the National Literacy Trust.
I came across the Collaborative Research Internship scheme when engaging in some ‘productive’ procrastination on one of my summer term assignments; opening the emails I don’t usually look at. Within one of these emails were a description of this research scheme and the opportunities available to work alongside researchers on different projects. ‘Birmingham Stories: Evaluating the Effectiveness of Place-Based Literacy Programmes’ particularly stood out to me as it seemed most aligned with my interests in education alongside my degree subject: English Literature. In my interview with Dr Emily Wingfield and Kyle Turakhia, National Literacy Trust’s hub manager for Birmingham, It was clear that my interests in secondary education could be integrated further into the internship structure.
After the interview and accepting my offer, I had been directed to focus my research on creating a pilot workshop on West-Midlands-based gothic literature for Key Stage 3 secondary pupils in the area which would eventually see this project being moved into local schools around Halloween. This gave me the opportunity to dive into the rich cultural heritage of Birmingham in a way that I hadn’t done before, illuminating stories and local folklore that is often neglected on a wider national scale. The tasks that I was assigned included assessing the resources that already exist when it comes to the Gothic as well as creating my own that were specific to Birmingham. Alongside this, I worked on a literature review that compiled the most useful aspects of the Birmingham literary landscape for this project.
One of my favourite parts about this internship was how the research worked alongside the more practical and active work within the community that the Birmingham branch of the National Literacy Trust carried out. One of the events I managed to get involved with was the community consultation at the Library of Birmingham. The aims of this event revolved around meeting with senior figures in the community who work in the publishing and education sector. With these groups, we discussed what the best approach for the National Literacy Trust would be in Birmingham to increase literacy rates and engagement in literature in general. It was such a great opportunity to engage with senior figures in fields of work that I want to go into in the future, hearing their insights into how education and publishing can work alongside charities such as the National Literacy Trust to increase the prospects of children and young adults especially.
Another example of community engagement that this internship gave me the opportunity of getting involved with was the NLT’s Literacy Festivals that took place for both schools and members of the public in youth centres around Birmingham. During these events, I was able to run workshops that piloted the outcomes of my research by teaching some of Birmingham’s ‘spookiest’ stories to these groups whilst also writing their own. This was incredibly rewarding and allowed me to witness how my research will be used within the charity’s mission.
I would highly recommend that people check their unopened emails and take up the valuable opportunity that the Collaborative Research Internship provides. Thanks to Kyle, Emily, and the National Literacy Trust team for letting me see and assist with all the great work that you do.
Jack Talbot, BA English