Abstract
This project partners researchers with culturally diverse, under-resourced youth in Newham to co-create a Growth Mindset Intervention (GMI) combining virtual reality and live performance. Building on collaboration with Newham Council’s Youth Empowerment Service and pre-trial development (see https://cordap.uel.ac.uk/organization/ethnoacting-in-vr-diy-soft-skills-development), the programme supports confidence and resilience, including for children in care. Participants step into VR environments to voice the words of role models, from Nelson Mandela to TikTok influencers and local residents, selected by Newham Youth. Evidence shows GMIs help youth embrace failure as growth (see Jiang et al., 2024). Funding enables evaluation against traditional approaches, offering a culturally relevant wellbeing tool.
Drawing on the recommendations of the most recent systematic review of Growth Mindset Interventions (GIM), our project will answer the following questions to contribute to the existing gap (Jiang 2024: 268):
Impact on young people
1. Growth mindset: Does repeated participation in Ethnoacting in VR increase participants’ growth-mindset scores (e.g., ability to view intelligence and talent as developable)?
2. Resilience and confidence: How does the intervention affect self-reported resilience, confidence in public speaking, and willingness to embrace challenge or failure?
3. Mental-health indicators: Are there measurable changes in wellbeing (e.g., reduced anxiety about failure) after the programme?
Intervention design
4. How do VR immersion and ethnoacting work together to influence motivation and perspective-taking?
5. Which elements (role-model testimony, cultural relevance, interactive VR features) are most critical to engagement and impact?
6. How can the experiential, VR and creative elements complement the typical approach of classroom delivery (which usually involves reading, writing and discussion)?
Cultural relevance and equity
6. Does co-design with racially and culturally diverse youth increase a sense of belonging and identification with role models?
7. How does the intervention support equity in educational and career aspirations for young people from under-resourced communities?
Implementation and scalability
8. What practical factors (facilitation style, session length, technical requirements) affect fidelity, accessibility, and sustainability in youth-service settings?
9. Can the programme be adapted for other UK regions or different age groups while maintaining effectiveness?
These questions allow both quantitative (pre/post surveys, validated scales) and qualitative (focus groups, observational notes) evaluation, creating a robust evidence base for wider adoption.
Clinical psychology shows that a growth mindset improves youth outcomes beyond academics, reducing psychological distress and strengthening self-regulation (Burnette et al., 2020; 2023). Growth Mindset Interventions (GMIs) can also narrow poverty-related achievement gaps (Claro et al., 2016). It is therefore crucial to examine how GMIs support social and emotional wellbeing in under-resourced, culturally diverse settings.
Newham, one of the UK’s youngest and diverse and migrant-populated boroughs, illustrates this need. Over 40 % of residents identify as Asian and 18 % as Black, far above national averages, while many neighbourhoods face high deprivation. Culturally relevant, racially diverse interventions match the Nuffield Foundation’s educational aim to improve life chances and address structural disadvantage.
This project will co-develop a GMI with young people at Newham Council’s Youth Empowerment Service, combining virtual reality and performance for the first time. Co-creation empowers participants and fills research gaps by:
1. focusing on challenged populations,
2. integrating youth feedback through mixed methods, and
3. advancing experiential approaches (Jiang 2024).
The work enriches current growth mindset curriculum interventions at the Borough of Newham (2023: 27) with an embodied, digital and participatory component; supports Newham Council’s strategy to enhance youth health and wellbeing (2024); aligns with the National Youth Strategy’s call to strengthen local services (DCMS 2024); and follows the National Youth Agency’s Curriculum Framework (2024), offering scalable practices for racially diverse communities across the UK.