{"id":2514,"date":"2019-05-06T12:03:51","date_gmt":"2019-05-06T12:03:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/switching-it-up-i-presented-my-phd-research-to-a-group-of-5-7-year-olds\/"},"modified":"2025-04-05T12:42:01","modified_gmt":"2025-04-05T12:42:01","slug":"switching-it-up-i-presented-my-phd-research-to-a-group-of-5-7-year-olds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/switching-it-up-i-presented-my-phd-research-to-a-group-of-5-7-year-olds","title":{"rendered":"Switching it up: I presented my PhD research to a group of 5-7 year olds"},"content":{"rendered":"

Around a month ago, I was approached by my local Rainbows leader, asking if I\u2019d be willing to come and give a talk to Rainbows about suffrage and the importance of voting (AKA my favourite topics). If you don\u2019t know,\u00a0Rainbows is a section of GirlGuiding<\/a>, the UK\u2019s largest youth organisation for girls. Rainbows are usually between the ages of 5 and 7. I know this because I used to be a Rainbow back in the day!<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

I immediately said yes, because what could be better than chatting about my PhD with future voters. But then, I felt nervous. I felt nervous because I\u2019d only ever presented my research to adults, and although I am becoming much more confident delivering papers to my peers, the thought of speaking to a group of 5-7 year olds was a little daunting.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

It was daunting for a few reasons. I wanted to explain my research and the history of suffrage in an accessible and non-jargon-y way. I also didn\u2019t just want to talk at them, as if I were a teacher delivering a lecture. I wanted it to be fun, and I wanted to encourage debate.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

So I decided to approach this talk in a VERY different way than I would usually do. Firstly, I wanted my presentation to be visual. Usually I\u2019d do this with a good old PowerPoint presentation, but the Rainbows group meets in my local church hall, and having been there on numerous occasions during my childhood, I knew that bringing technology was a no go.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

So I decided to go for the most low tech option that still provided cool visuals. I grabbed a big old flip chart, got some scissors and a glue stick, and I made (IMO*) a pretty cool presentation.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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Now I\u2019m not a particularly \u201ccrafty person,\u201d but I was pretty pleased with the results! I also made a RIGHT mess of my room.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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The other thing that I decided to do was dress up as a suffragette.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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If I\u2019m honest I\u2019ve been wanting to do it for AGEEES, because who doesn\u2019t love dressing up. It was really simple too. I already had a black maxi skirt and a white long-sleeved shirt, and my summer sunhat (\u2018cause we all know that Edwardian\u2019s LOVED headgear). I used about a billion bobby pins to do my hair, and the\u00a0beautiful sash<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0the badge<\/a>\u00a0I brought from Etsy for around a tenner!<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The Rainbows really liked my costume, and it was a great way to open my talk with the question: can anyone tell me what I am dressed up as? The final (and probably most important because she IS adorable) was my Suffraduck: <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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Soz for two posts in one day, but I am now the proud owner of a suffraduck. Seriously, I will buy anything suffragette related! ___________________________________ #votesforwomen #suffragette #suffraduck #capitalism<\/a><\/p>\n

A post shared by Laura<\/a> (@lauranoakes_) on