has adopted parts of the Teaching Personal and Social Responsibility model for delivering the Saskatchewan physical education curriculum . The program focuses on “ movement ” rather than sports , not only to reach kids who are not in competitive sports , but also because movement is a concept that extends into all aspects of life . In thinking about movement and wellness , “ think healing ,” says Lessard . “ Wellness is a huge piece for us .” Schaefer adds , “ Physical Education ( PE ) programming at the U of R promotes teaching PE conceptually because it allows for a transfer into a variety of activities , not just a specific sport .” Moving well together is what the team hopes youth will learn from the program . For example , whenever the youth have an excursion , they ask themselves , “ How are we doing ?” Moving well on an excursion means , for example , moving well as they line up for and board the bus . GYM meets every Wednesday after school from September to June , usually in the gymnasium of Kitchener Community School . The youth participate in wellness and physical activities , which promote the idea of moving well together . “ One of the games we do not play is dodge ball ,” says Lewis . “ Our activities are thought through ,” says Lessard ; “ they promote personal and social responsibility .” Lewis adds , “ I know when new youth come to the program and ask to play dodge ball and the other kids respond , ‘ We don ’ t play dodge ball ,’ that we are doing things differently .” Lessard highlights one of Lewis ’ s points regarding gymnasiums as “ spaces where some of the best things happen and some of the worst .” Lessard continues , “ In this program , through the space of a gymnasium , we learn to move in healthy ways — it ’ s a metaphor — learning to move in a different way in the community — moving well with one another .”
Mentors are an important part of GYM programming , especially as the researchers consider the future of the program . Schaefer says , “ The intergenerational piece is part of the program ; we involve Grade 8 and high school students who participate in the program , but are also responsible for mentoring the younger students and facilitating activities . We also include university student mentors , many of whom are a part of the Faculty of Education .” Developing junior high , high school , and university student mentors , “ is the capacity building piece ,” says Lessard . Because of their involvement , mentors have become fully capable of running the program . “ We now have five high school mentors that once attended Kitchener School and our program ; we also have Grades 3 and 4 students coming back to us as junior high mentors ... they are dynamic in working with each other ,” says Lewis . In the spirit of moving well , mentors are paid well through funding , and for some of them , it is their first job experience .
Community-based research is not for the faint of heart . “ It ’ s messy ,” says Lessard . “ It is much more than research ; it means a longterm , indefinite commitment .” Lewis agrees , “ This was not going to be a fly in , drop in , leave research model ... We wanted to take the time to get to know the needs of the community ... You can ’ t build relationships with a one-day-a-week-for-six-weeks type model .” Lessard adds , “ We are letting the needs define the research .” Schaefer explains , “ It is not about us identifying needs of the community as researchers , but about building relationships with community so that they have autonomy over identifying what they think is needed . So it ’ s not that the researchers have the answers ; it ’ s much more about gaining an understanding together .” This can make the formal research process complicated . Lessard points out that ethics approval for research and grant proposals for funding are incongruent with community-based research , “ They have a prescriptive approach that narrows down the research ,” he says . But when working with the GYM program , they make research a secondary concern , and because the youth are shaping the research , it is emerging and growing organically .
Now in Year 3 of the project , the researchers are seeing the results of their efforts blossoming , with some mentors ready to take on facilitation of the program , research conversations ongoing , charts of future articles and topics for research developing , and attendance in the GYM program growing . “ We know there is this magic happening ,” says Lessard . One of the aspects the researchers are interested in is the liminal space within which GYM operates . “ This space is not a school institution or home ... We are asking how does this inbetween space shape both worlds : home and school ,” says Lessard .
There are connections and partnerships developing out of this program . Lessard says , “ We try to surround ourselves with good people ... such as the File Hills Qu ’ Appelle Tribal Council and Treaty 4 Urban Aboriginal Youth who have taken care of us . The program just keeps evolving .”
“ We are being asked by places across Western Canada to talk about [ the program ]. We are invited to different places to demonstrate healing through movement with their students . New relationships have started to grow , such as with Changemakers and Indspire Institute ,” says Lessard .
With new connections developing , the researchers are aware that new opportunities are also taking shape . Still , with all of these interesting developments , what matters most is the work with the Growing Young Movers , and the transformations that they are seeing as the youth learn to move well together .
Faculty of Education Education News Spring / Summer 2015 Page 15