Raspberry Pi Foundation
In-feild research across under-resourced South African schools for a global education charity, conducted in environments where most research agencies wouldn’t go
CLIENT
Raspberry Pi Foundation (UK)
METHODS
Contextual visits, in-depth interviews
REGION
Cape Town
Johannesburg
Durban
YEAR
2024
The brief
The Raspberry Pi Foundation is a UK-based education charity on a mission to help young people realise their potential through computing. They already conduct remote research globally, but wanted on-the-ground insight they couldn’t get from a screen: what does coding and robotics education actually look like in South African state schools, and what stands in the way of it working?
They needed a local research partner who could find the right schools, gain the trust of teachers and principals, observe real lessons in progress, and surface the kind of nuanced, contextual insight that only comes from being in the room.
What we did
We recruited and visited 10 locations across three cities in two weeks: 4 state schools and 6 coding and robotics clubs spanning Cape Town, Johannesburg, and Durban. All schools served previously disadvantaged communities, with quintile ratings ranging from NQ1 to NQ5.
At each location we observed a live lesson or club session, then conducted one-on-one in-depth interviews with teachers and club leaders. Where appropriate, and with proper consent in place, we also had brief conversations with learners.
The fieldwork took us into school libraries repurposed after break-ins, classrooms running on borrowed wifi, and clubs where a single piece of equipment was shared across multiple groups. Understanding the real environment was as important as what participants told us.
Schools and clubs visited
Cities across South Africa
Weeks of field work
We’re experts at navigating research in Africa
ACCESS
Getting into under-resourced state schools requires relationships, patience, and local knowledge that remote research can’t replicate.
GLOBAL CLIENTS, LOCAL INSIGHT
International organisations need researchers who understand South African realities. We bridge that gap.
SENSITIVE ENVIRONMENTS
Conducting research in schools requires consent management for minors, principal buy-in, and researchers who know when to observe and when to step back.
CONTEXTURAL DEPTH
Load shedding mid-session, shared devices, and improvised lesson plans are not edge cases here. They are the context. We document what we see, not just what participants say.
“How Might We were a pleasure to work with. Having worked with multiple agencies, we were impressed by the organisation, depth of insight and professionalism of the team. They ran a great kick-off to understand our project needs and requirements and they kept us informed every step of the way.”
Jessica Hill, UX researcher, Raspberry Pi Foundation
Need research in places that are hard to reach?
We work across Africa, in environments that require more than a Zoom link.