Toilet Talk

School toilet policies have been in the news and are often a source of controversy and debate. However, rarely are the voices of young people centered in these discussions.

Toilet Talk is a collaborative and democratic research project involving Charlotte Haines Lyon (Education), Alice Little (Research Assistant and PGR), and Jamie Telford (Research Assistant). Whilst we have run one national parents' survey and a national teachers' survey exploring their experiences within schools, the primary focus of the project is exploring young peoples' experiences of school toilets through collaborative co-research and democratic methodologies.

Young people within 3 schools in Yorkshire have undertaken research and put forward solutions designed to improve school toilets. The school pupils have become youth researchers and engaged with the research usually for a period of 8-12 weeks. Facilitated sessions have taught research processes to young people and enabled coverage of research aims, methods and ethics before designing a project to enable them to further understand the problems within their school and then work with their peers and staff to improve the situation.

Sixth form project

Our initial group of youth researchers (aged 16-17) developed a project that examined toilet issues within their sixth form. These youth researchers identified that the use of the toilets as a social space was problematic, and they wanted to open up a conversation with school staff about how to tackle this issue.

Throughout the process the young people engaged with discussions about research methods, ethical considerations, youth voice and participation. The 3 youth researchers wrote a blog post detailing their experience: Toilet Talk: Empowering young people in schools to research and talk about toilet issues.

Primary school project

Within our primary school project, youth researchers (aged 7-11) have been creatively capturing ideas about school toilets, including through conversation, drawing, zine-making and creative writing. The 'Tale of Toilets' poem came from their collective discussion about how they could disseminate their findings.

Too many poos, not enough loos,
When it's raining outside, somewhere to hide
Too many faces, not enough spaces,
The tissues are like rocks, so don't clog.
Talking about toilets is important to do,
Please flush when you go to the loo.

This group decided that a video providing guidance about best practice within their toilets would be the best way to spread the message. They shared the video in their school assembly to promote more respectful use of the toilets.

Download: Toilet Talk research report (primary project) (PDF, 2.1 MB)

Secondary school project

Within the secondary school project, the youth researchers (aged 13-14) identified key areas that they wanted to focus on within their research. They decided that they wanted to create a survey to gather insights around 'sanitary provision', 'adequacy of facilities' and 'rules concerning toilet use'. They found that many pupils shared their concerns, with over 70% of the respondents requesting coat hooks on the doors to protect their belongings from unsanitary floor conditions. This request was then presented to the school senior leadership team and they had their request granted.

The youth researchers are currently writing a blog post about their experience of engaging with York St John and undertaking co-research.

Download: Toilet Talk research report (secondary project) (PDF, 1 MB)

Sharing the research

All 3 groups of youth researchers were invited to celebration events at York St John and presented their work to academics. The children and young people engaged in wider discussions about what it means to take part in research. They also reflected on their experience and wrote the 'Dear Headteacher' letter. The youth researchers were keen to widen the research experience to their peers and to have more opportunities to work with universities.

Download: Dear Headteacher letter (PDF, 0.6 MB)