This study examined the efficacy of an afternoon and weekend academic program called the "Community School Initiative" (CSI) during the COVID-19 pandemic. CSI was offered to racialized students and families from the Jane and Finch community in Toronto which is one of the most under-resourced neighbourhoods in Canada. It involved a…

This holistic single-case study aimed to understand the impact of digital story telling (DST) on the identity expressions of Native American youth. The question that guided the study asks, 'How do Native American adolescents in a rural, tribal-run after-school programme for Indigenous youth explore and express who they are through digital story…

"It Takes an Ecosystem" explores the idea and potential of the Allied Youth Fields--an aspirational term that suggests increased connection across the multiple systems in which adults engage with young people. Recent research and initiatives make a strong case for what developmentalists have argued for decades: A young person's learning…

This dissertation presents the first Systemic Functional Linguistics-based analysis of the teaching/learning of computational thinking through computer programming and comprehensive analysis of discourse of a whole computer programming course at any educational level. The current educational research raises questions about the nature of authentic…

Starting from an understanding of contemporary society as occupied with a dominant trend in image-boosting, the study explores how school-age educare centers engage in edu-business when promoting themselves through self-presentations on their websites. Using a qualitative method with an analytical attention directed towards unexpected angles,…

Vibrant social connections and robust community involvement are part of what makes a strong America. Yet, among our nation's young people, there are relatively low levels of community engagement. Research shows that service learning is an established method to bring youth closer to their communities while also promoting positive youth development…

One of the greatest challenges supervisors face is developing and retaining their staff. Site supervisors are in a continuous struggle to develop and train new employees on the fundamental skills--managing groups, dealing with disruptive behavior, and so on--that youth workers need before they can successfully implement learning activities. One…

In the last 20 years, interest in the field of extended education has been growing worldwide. Countries in the East and the West have been investing in developing systems to support student learning after traditional school hours. In this contribution, we first clarify concepts and terms currently used in Switzerland and then, from an…

This paper focuses on a transdisciplinary research project in a historically underrepresented public school in Toronto, Canada. At the intersection of elementary science, technology, and arts-based curriculum, the project employs the feminist new materialist practice of "diffraction" (Barad, 2007) in an after-school robotics club.…

Self-determination theory (SDT) (Ryan & Deci, 2000) suggests that when a person is motivated they likely experience a sense of autonomy, competence, and relatedness. It is important to understand how these constructs relate to physical activity and sport if we are to persist in our notion that these pursuits can positively impact the holistic…

Many high-quality out-of-school-time (OST) programs enable youth from economically disadvantaged backgrounds to gain skills and knowledge in science, technology, engineering, art, and math (STEAM, Afterschool Alliance, 2015; National Research Council, 2011); engage in authentic practices that relate to their own interests; and connect with their…

Out-of-school learning programs can be a context for positive development and learning for children and youth. However, research points to potential racial and socioeconomic disparities, or opportunity gaps, in this context. In this study, we use survey and video data from 106 staff across 30 out-of-school programs to examine how three features,…

In many applied youth development settings, including out-of-school time (OST) programs, volunteers play essential roles (Brennan, 2005). In some, volunteers are integral to service delivery -- for example, serving as mentors. In others, volunteers help link youth-serving organizations or their participants with needed resources, assets, or…

Bourdieu carved out a distinctive analytical niche for his reflexive sociology. His epistemological tool of field analysis, sometimes coupled with statistical correspondence analysis, is particularly powerful when deciphering the matrix of objective structures and subjective structures within social spaces (field) where agents vie for positions…

In this article, teachers Niry Razafimamonjy and Josiana Andriantsalama, at the Lycee Jacques Rabemananjara beside the Indian Ocean in Taomasina, discuss how they support their students' learning and contribute to the field of English language teaching in Madagascar.