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This paper examines the potential of culturally-responsive environmental education to engage immigrant early adolescents. Our study suggests that environmental involvement can become a means and an end for children to bridge their school and home in agential ways. Drawing from a multi-phase study involving focus groups with children, parents, and teachers from three culturally-diverse schools in Montreal, as well as a green action research project, we examine children's role as environmental educators and ambassadors. The role of environmental ambassador allowed children to take on positions that departed from conventional parent-child social scripts, and enhanced the communication between school-student-home, between generations, and spoke to their sense of place. We contend that culturally-responsive environmental education offers a unique space for enacting democracy, knowledge creation and integration, but this opportunity is often squandered. Bi-directional, responsive, and consistent home-school-community-place relations need to be actively supported.

This study examines youth-led decision making (YLDM) among groups of youth who are providers or recipients of community development grants. Focus groups, interviews, and participant observation with 14- to 20-year-olds and supporting adults showed youth have a preference for consensus-based decisions. Youth used due process to reach decisions while valuing differing viewpoints. Adults created appropriate spaces and guided without controlling. Youth directly involved in the YLDM process experienced the greatest and most immediate benefit though other youth, and the community as a whole also felt positive impacts over time. The study considers the type of supports required for young people to make meaningful decisions and points to the capacity of youth, and the potential of YLDM, for community development.

Copyright of Enfances, Familles, Generations is the property of Enfances, Familles, Generations and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of O Social em Questão is the property of Faculdades Catolicas - Pontificia Universidade Catolica do Rio de Janeiro and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Research Findings: This article reports on a study undertaken with 4 early childhood programs in a medium-size city in Canada investigating young children's and educators' perspectives on engagement and learning possibilities outdoors. A rights-based methodology including participant observations and interactive activities with children as well as focus groups and discussion groups with educators reveals the diversity and richness of young children's learning opportunities in the natural outdoor space. Educators also talk about forming more egalitarian and fulfilling relationships with children in outdoor activities. The value educators placed on play in natural spaces led to the creation of opportunities for play outside and motivated educators to support children's interactions outdoors by mediating policy and societal fear of the risk of outdoor play. Practice or Policy: The results of the study highlight the value of a learning community for early childhood educators so that they might support children's full use of outdoor space and the critical role of adult allies in advocating for rights-based programming.

This article examines the nature of early adolescents' environmental involvement based on a study with 10-13-year-olds. Drawing from literal and metaphorical interviews, a visual survey and visual maps, the study points to the dimensions of environmental involvement: connectedness, engagement with the environment, questioning, belief in capacity, taking a stance and strategic action. Children's agency runs across the dimensions, as children intentionally and strategically figure their way through significant life influences, beliefs towards nature and age-defined barriers. Of interest is what the sources of environmental involvement are, as well as how a child interacts and engages in situations and with resources at hand. Along with awakening to the natural environment, children are discovering themselves and carving a place in the world. (Contains 4 figures, 1 table, and 1 note.)

This article discusses the potential and dilemmas of children's participation in large-scale international events. It focuses on the experience of the International Children's Conference on the Environment (ICCE), which brought together 400 children aged 10-12 from 60 countries around the world. "Partnerships" between children, children and adults, and children and institutions during the planning of the event serve as a focal point for the analysis. The article considers how the partnerships behind the scenes were often strained, and though challenging, this may be a necessary characteristic of meaningful child participation. The article also highlights the critical place of learning as an outcome of partnership. This leads to a discussion on how partnerships need to be fostered in the everyday lives of children, in order for child participation in one-off events to be effective.

This paper presents Indigenous youths' perspectives on well-being. Using Indigenous youth participatory action research with the Indigenous youth advisory committee of the Québec Youth Research Network Chair (Canada), community care emerged as the central feature of well-being and was then visually presented in the form of a postcard. We discuss the meaning given to community care, the factors that support it, and the role that a visual illustration can play in promoting change. The article is informed by the co-creation of the postcard, an online luncheon conversation, and several debriefing/reflexive sessions with the Indigenous youth co-authors. Emphasis is placed on cultural continuity, relational agency, and solidarity, offering an alternative point of view to the prevalent and damaging decontextualized, deficit-based, and individualized approaches to well-being. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Canadian Journal of Nonprofit & Social Economy Research / Revue canadienne de recherche sur les OSBL et l'économie sociale is the property of CISP Press and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Four case studies illustrate three approaches to Aboriginal postsecondary education in Canada: the add-on approach, the partnership approach, and the First Nations control approach. Overcoming challenges related to access, completion rates, Indian control, and cultural relevance relies in large part on the political will of Canadian governing bodies to remedy the historical imbalances caused by colonization. (TD)