Students and Community: Students As Researchers Report Jennifer Barnes, Tabitha Doskas, Dylan Hachmer and Graeme McNeice April 2017 Gravenhurst High School
ABSTRACT After investigating the connection between the school and community to explore student perception regarding the value of studying in one’s own community, this report shows that at Gravenhurst High School, a majority of students believe that (1) Learning in the community one lives in provides opportunities for students to connect with the community strengthens the bond they have with the community, (2) Learning in one’s own community can have a positive impact on a student’s mental health and feeling of safety due to the connection to the place one lives, and (3) Although increased bus use may not negatively impact one’s own mental health or feeling of safety, students would not feel they could use time spent in transport productively. INTRODUCTION Gravenhurst High School is a small school in Gravenhurst, Ontario that, until recently was facing a Pupil Accommodation Review in Fall 2017. Though that recommendation has been postponed until Fall 2019 at the earliest, this group of student researchers decided this research needs to happen because they wanted to explore the connection between the school and community to determine the relationship between them. The group decided to explore student perception regarding the value of studying in their own community, as well as determine perception of student opinion on studying outside of their community. METHODOLOGY Planning for this research project started when the team attended the StAR Conference at OELC, where they formulated their research topic on school and community and developed the research question: How do students bene�t from studying in their own community. They then devised an action plan where they planned to meet weekly to develop the survey questions, administer the survey and analyse the
data to eventually be able to produce a report that combines the quantitative and arts-based approaches. Soon after the StAR conference, one of the students on the team found out that she would be moving to a new school shortly. She continued to attend meetings until she left, but the distance made her participation in the team too di抸�cult to coordinate after her departure. Students used October meetings to discuss initial questions, formulate additional questions, sort and re�ne questions, and set goals for setting up and administering the survey. Students reviewed a rough draft of a survey to tweak wording and 技�ow of questions. In November, the team began designing a consent form and set �rm dates for consent form delivery, survey administration, survey analysis and photo-voice e凰�orts.Some readjustment of questions helped strengthen the survey, as well as categorizing questions according to theme. The team decided that a common question type would be “To what degree do you agree with the statement...”, and that a likert scale rating of 1-7, where 1 is strongly disagree and 7 is strongly agree, would be utilized. In December, the survey was essentially ready and the team completed the consent form and sent it to the principal for approval. The team also submitted a grant proposal for Student Voice funding, but was unsuccessful in obtaining funding to enhance the existing GHS Unwinds event. On December 13, the team attended a Student Well-Being Engagement Session in Sudbury, administered by the Ontario Ministry of Education, to provide student voice on policies that support student mental health and well-being. The team also made sure to take a sel�e at the Big Nickel. In January, the team tested the survey on teacher-volunteers to make sure that the questions were clear, that the process to complete was easy, and to �gure out the technology and timing around its administration. The team clari�ed with Ministry sta凰� that, since the survey content has a low level of risk, there is no need for parents and guardians to complete a permission form for consent as long as the school administration agreed, which they did. In February, the team administered the survey (see Appendix A) to the school simultaneously with students accessing it on personal devices and in school computer labs. Two days later, the team used a half-day of release from classes to gather any remaining participants and then analyse the results to begin the results section of the report. This analysis and report formation continued in 30 minute meetings every-other Thursday into
March and April, where the team was able to �nalize it’s �ndings and complete the photo-voice component of the report. The photo-voice approach made creating the presentation for the StAR Symposium presentation much easier. The group had already decided which photos they’d like to gather to add life to the data, which the group was con�dent would enhance the slideshow they’d be presenting in the Interactive Presentation they’d been invited to participate in at the StAR Symposium on April 26 at the Toronto Chelsea Hotel. RESULTS Most students participated on February 13, though a few who missed that opportunity added responses on Feb 15 for a total of 247 responses. GHS’ enrolment that week was 341 students, which means there was a 72% participation rate. The responses were distributed amongst grades so that 30% of participants were in grade 9, 23% in grade 10, 26% in grade 11 and 22% were in grade 12/12+. The responses were distributed amongst stream as well, with 3% of students identifying Practical Academic & Life Skills (PALS) as their dominant pathway, 7% in Essential/Workplace, 38% in Applied/College and 52% in Academic/University. GHS was identi�ed as the catchment school for 91% of participants, whereas 2% said it is not their catchment school and the remaining 7% were unsure about their catchment placement. Community: Employment, Volunteer and Cooperative Education Opportunities The data collected indicates the majority of students believe that the opportunities GHS provides for them to connect with the
community strengthens the bond they have with the community. Participants indicated that their community school allows them to connect with the community in the following ways: Food drives (73%), fundraisers (66%), volunteer opportunities (84%) and awareness of upcoming events (72%). A few additional responses included local �eld trips, cooperative education (co-op) placements, local sports, school celebrations and school partnerships with community. When asked about employment, 65% said that they would like to work in their community during the school year. Students were asked to assess the importance of having a job that is close to their home and school, and the majority indicated that they desire employment close to both their home and school. Students expressed that they value co-op placements that are in their community, including a high number of participants who believe that their co-op placement can help them get a job in their community. This is likely why the majority of participants said they would be less likely to take a co-op placement that was outside of their community.
Well-Being: Mental Health, Safety, and Peer Connections The team was very interested in developing an understanding of the safety Gravenhurst High School students feel about learning in the Gravenhurst community, as well as the perception students have of the level of safety they’d feel if they attended a school outside of their community. As anticipated, there was a clear indication that students feel very safe at GHS and are not con�dent that they would feel the same level of safety at a school outside of the Gravenhurst community.
When asked to indicate the ways that learning in your community can have a positive impact on a student's mental health, 99% of respondents provided a response (the 1% was made of two participants who indicated “it doesn’t” and one who responded “I don’t know”). The most popular way that participants feel learning in one’s own community can have a positive impact on a student’s mental health is in the connection to the place one lives, followed closely by the ease of getting from school to work and then one’s sense of belonging. The team investigated the following data relationships and found no correlations: 1) There is no correlation between the value one places on the connection to place one lives and the amount of time a participant had lived in the catchment, 2) There is no correlation between the value one places on the proximity to familiar peers and the amount of time the participant started school in this catchment, and 3) There is no di凰�erence between how a student in grade 9-10 (who has likely not taken a coop credit) and a student in grade 11-12/12+ (who is more likely to have taken a coop credit) values the proximity to coop placements in relation to the positive impact learning in one’s community can have on a student's mental health.
As an extension of this topic, the team chose to also inquire about student’s opinions about their involvement in extra- curricular activities. The data shows that many students do
feel connected to other students because of their involvement in extra- curriculars. Students also indicated that they are more likely to participate in extra- curriculars when they have a high chance of being a member.
Transportation The team determined that transportation is an important area of inquiry because many students currently use active transportation to get to school, but all students will be bused if they were to attend a school outside of their community. Data revealed that 78 walk (or use alternative active transportation), 44 other are supposed to walk but they get a ride, 97 students bus, 26 others are supposed to bus but they get a ride, and 2 did not indicate. Although the team is not sure if all times provided were formatted as requested (a combination of the length of time both to and from school) and 15 participants did not provide times, the data shows that the shortest trip is a walker who spends 2 minutes a day getting to and from school, and the longest is a bus rider who spends 140 minutes a day getting to and from school. The mean of the data set was 41 minutes, the median time was 30 minutes, and the mode was 10 minutes.
Students were somewhat concerned about their safety and much less concerned about their mental health while riding the bus, though they strongly felt that they would not be able to work productively while riding a bus.
DISCUSSION The team started looking for deeper conclusions that can be drawn from the data starting with the topic of community, which includes employment, volunteer and co-operative education opportunities. Though the question was not asked, the team infers that students would also indicate that since they prefer to �nd employment in their community, that they’d also prefer co-op placements in their community. This leads the team to suggest that students would be much less likely to sign up to take co-op credits if the placements were outside of their community and far from their home, since proximity of employment and school locations was not shown to be as important to participants as proximity of employment to home.
The team then looked for deeper conclusions connected to well-being, which includes mental health, safety, and peer connections. It is known that 66.7% of students would be less likely to try out and join extracurriculars with a smaller chance of getting on the teams. In a larger school more people are trying out and these are people that the student may not necessarily know. Without extracurriculars the team infers that students who could not participate in extracurriculars would not respond as positively to questions about enjoyment of school experience and positive mental health. Students who live in a di凰�erent community may also have a tough time not only getting on the teams, but being able to make it to morning and after school practices makes it very di抸�cult. 78% of students said that the feel safe studying in their community and 37.9% of students said that the would feel the same way if the had to study in a community that the did not live in. There is a given safety an individual feels when they can spend their days in the community they live in and have grown up in, being able to hang out with friends after school can have a signi�cant impact on student mental health. Being able to stay in town with one's friends then walk home or get a ride can tremendously impact someone. By not studying in their community the would have to take the bus home or be stranded in a di凰�erent town and wait for a ride. This could cause unnecessary stress on families who need to �gure out logistical solutions to accommodate extra-curriculars, jobs and even sick days: Solutions that would be found much more easily if the student attended a community school, especially for students whose families struggle with poverty that limits their access to cost-e凰�ective transportation options that work with the family’s schedule. Finally, the team drew deeper conclusions when analysing transportation-related data. The team found that, even though students didn’t express much concern with impact a bus ride might have on their mental health, the team certainly noticed that people weren’t necessarily comfortable riding to and from school. This can be due to many aspects, including simply the length of time spent on the bus. A few students spend almost 2 hours on the bus every day, and if their closest school shut down the average amount of time students spend in transit to and from school would certainly increase signi�cantly. Many students expressed that they are unable to be productive while travelling on the bus, and that they don’t necessarily feel safe on their bus, perceptions which would also likely increase with increased reliance bus to get to and from school. Enabling students to learn in their own community is clearly the best option to support the well-being, feeling of safety, and productivity of students in Gravenhurst.
APPENDIX A: SURVEY
Student Life This survey is the basis for a report that will be produced by the GHS Students As Researchers team that the team hopes to present to the Ministry of Education in April. The survey is anonymous and optional, so completion is not mandatory but it is appreciated. Thanks! * Required What grade are you in? * Mark only one oval. ○ 9 ○ 11 ○ 10 ○ 12/12+ Which stream do you mostly study in? * Mark only one oval. ○ PALS ○ Applied/College ○ Essential/Workplace ○ Academic/University Which gender do you most closely identify with? * Mark only one oval. ○ Female ○ Transgender ○ Male ○ Other: Is GHS your catchment school? Mark only one oval. ○ Yes ○ No, I am supposed to attend a di凰�erent school ○ I'm not sure In what grade did you start school in Gravenhurst? * Mark only one oval. ○ Kindergarten ○ Grade 9 ○ Grade 1 to 4 ○ Grade 10 ○ Grade 5 to 8 ○ Grade 11 ○ Grade 12 To what degree do you agree with this statement: I value the bonds formed with my classmates in Gravenhurst. Mark only one oval. Strongly Disagree
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Which of your relatives have attended GHS? (check all that apply) Check all that apply. ○ Siblings ○ Parents/Guardians ○ Cousins ○ Aunts/Uncles
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Grandparents None
To what degree do you agree with this statement: I value that I attend the same school that my family graduated from. Mark only one oval. Strongly Disagree
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Well-Being Please check the ways that you think learning in your community can have a positive impact on a student's mental health. Check all that apply. ○ Connections to the place you live ○ Increased opportunity for sleep ○ Less disruptions to daily routine ○ More opportunity for students to have a voice in their school ○ Sense of belonging ○ Proximity to familiar peers ○ Proximity to familiar adults (ie. Business owners) ○ Proximity to local businesses to take on coop opportunities ○ Easy to get from school to work ○ Access to extra-curriculars is easy ○ Other: To what degree do you agree with this statement: I feel safe learning in the Gravenhurst community . Mark only one oval. Strongly Disagree
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To what degree do you agree with this statement: I would feel the same safety learning in a di凰�erent community as I do learning in Gravenhurst. Mark only one oval. Strongly Disagree
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Getting to School How do you get to school? Mark only one oval. ○ Bus ○ I'm supposed to bus, but I get a ride ○ Walk (or alternative active transport like biking, skateboarding, etc) ○ I'm supposed to walk, but I get a ride When you use the method you're supposed to (bus or walk), approximately how many combined minutes is your journey to and from school?
For example, if your bus ride to school is about 30 minutes, and your bus ride home is about 40 minutes, you'd write "70 minutes". If your walk is 8 minutes to and from school, you'd write "16 minutes". How many days in a month on average do you anticipate that you would miss school if your school was in a di凰�erent community? Consider how often you might miss the bus because you are late to the stop, would not want to ride the bus, or would not want to drive to get there. To what degree do you agree with this statement: I feel safe when riding a bus. Consider the bus driver, weather conditions, peers riding with you, length of ride. Mark only one oval. Strongly Disagree
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To what degree do you agree with this statement: I can work productively on school work while riding a bus. Mark only one oval. Strongly Disagree
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To what degree do you agree with this statement: Riding on a bus would/does negatively impact my mental health. Mark only one oval. Strongly Disagree
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Extracurriculars at GHS To what degree do you agree with the following statement: I feel connected to other student because of my involvement in extracurricular activities? Mark only one oval. Strongly Disagree
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To what degree do you agree with the following statement: I am more willing to participate in an extra-curricular club/team when I have a high chance of being a member. Mark only one oval. Strongly Disagree
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Community Involvement In what ways does your school o凰�er ways for students to connect you to the community? (check all that apply) Check all that apply. ○ Food drives ○ Awareness of upcoming community ○ Fundraisers for local need events ○ Volunteer opportunities ○ Other:
To what degree do agree with the following statement: The opportunities GHS provides for me to connect with the community strengthens the bond I have with the community. Mark only one oval. Strongly Disagree
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Which statement best matches your ideal employment situation during the school year? Mark only one oval. ○ I have/want a job in my community ○ I have/want a job, but I'd rather work outside of my community ○ I don't want a job during the school year To what degree do you agree with the following statement: It is important that my job is close to my school. Mark only one oval. Strongly Disagree
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To what degree do you agree with the following statement: It is important that my job is close to my home. Mark only one oval. Strongly Disagree
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To what degree do you agree with the following statement: It is important that I have coop placements in my own community. Mark only one oval. Strongly Disagree
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To what degree do you agree with the following statement: My coop placement can help me get a job in my community. Mark only one oval. Strongly Disagree
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To what degree do you agree with the following statement: I would be less likely to take a coop credit if the placement was outside of my community. Mark only one oval. Strongly Disagree
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