Youth

Researchers at the University of Toronto and the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) have found evidence that psychosis spectrum symptoms are often present in youth accessing mental health services.

Half of the 417 youth aged 11-24 included in the study, published in Biological Psychiatry: Cognitive Science and Neuroimaging, were shown to meet the threshold for having psychosis spectrum symptoms.

That means they are at higher risk of developing a psychotic disorder, a broad spectrum of psychotic disorders that includes – but is not limited to – schizophrenia and bipolar disorder 1.

Kristin Cleverley (supplied image)

Kristin Cleverley, a senior scientist at CAMH and an associate professor at U of T’s Lawrence Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing, says the figure is higher than expected and suggests there is a large number of children with these symptoms who are accessing mental health services.

“Traditionally, early psychosis care starts when there is a serious presentation of psychotic symptoms, which usually occurs in the late teen years,” says Cleverley, adding that the study looks at early indicators that might predict whether a young person is more at risk of developing psychosis spectrum disorder and examines opportunities for earlier intervention.

“The current approach to identifying children at risk of developing a psychotic disorder is only about five per cent effective, but with this study we can start to assess certain patterns or changes in function that can signal if an earlier intervention may be beneficial.”

Psychosis spectrum disorder can be extremely disabling and is linked to cognitive impairment, long-term disability, and higher rates of death by suicide than other mental illnesses. Even without a diagnosis of psychosis, psychosis spectrum symptoms can severely affect youth.

The study is one of three projects being led as part of the Toronto Adolescent and Youth (TAY) Cohort Study that is set to follow 1,500 youth over the course of five years. The goal of the study is to better understand the populations of youth seeking mental health treatment, how their mental health symptoms and functioning change over time, and whether early predictors of psychosis spectrum disorder can be determined.

It was co-designed with patients and caregivers, as well as extensive engagement from clinicians. A novel aspect of the TAY Cohort Study is youth are given access to a patient-facing dashboard of their research results that is also integrated into their clinical record.

“We wanted to ensure that the study was embedded in the clinical program so that research assessments could be immediately utilized within clinical practice, including supporting decisions about interventions or services,” says Cleverley, who is the CAMH Chair in Mental Health Nursing Research.

Cleverley’s co-principal investigators include George Foussis, the scientific director of the Slaight Family Centre for Youth in Transition and chief of the schizophrenia division at CAMH and an associate professor of psychiatry in the Temerty Faculty of Medicine, and Aristotle Voineskos, vice-president of research and director of the Campbell Family Mental Health Research Institute at CAMH, and a professor of psychiatry at Temerty Medicine.

This longitudinal study will include a follow-up every six months and will provide researchers access to information about whether symptoms become chronic or episodic, and whether changes are related to developmental milestones, environmental stressors or changes to mental health services.

“Our goal with this research is really to characterize this population better so that we can identify new strategies that will complement existing strategies for early identification of youth at risk of psychosis,” says Cleverley. “It also creates an important opportunity for graduate students and researchers to develop sub-studies for this sample that will enable further research to improve youth mental health outcomes.”

Ontario sees 17 per cent decrease in access to youth sports: MLSE, U of T report

Christopher.Sorensen — Fri, 26 Jan 2024 18:41:36 +0000

Ontario sees 17 per cent decrease in access to youth sports: MLSE, U of T report

Christopher.Sorensen Fri, 01/26/2024 - 13:41

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Young people run on a basketball court at MLSE Launchpad, a 42,000 sqaure-foot facility for sport and development in downtown Toronto (photo courtesy of MLSE Launchpad)

Jelena Damjanovic

Topic

Breaking Research

COVID-19

Faculty of Kinesiology & Physical Education

Sports

Youth

Subheadline

Annual Change the Game research report cited social isolation and affordability as biggest barriers to youth participation

A new report on the state of youth sports in Ontario found a 17 per cent decrease in access compared to the previous year across various demographic groups, with social isolation and affordability reported as the greatest barriers to participation.

The annual Change the Game research report, created through a partnership between MLSE Foundation and University of Toronto researcher Simon Darnell, also cited gender, racial and household disparities as factors contributing to a lack of access to sports, with 38.5 per cent of six- to 10-year-olds reporting experiencing racism or discrimination in sports.

Overall, 36 per cent of Ontario youth reported not having access to safe places to play sports in 2023. When asked what would improve the quality of youth sports culture, the most frequent response was “an environment where I can make friends.”

“I was more disappointed than surprised by the results,” said Darnell, an associate professor in U of T’s Faculty of Kinesiology and Physical Education (KPE) and director of the Centre for Sport Policy Studies (CSPS). “We know that the COVID-19 pandemic forced some youth out of sport altogether and made sport increasingly inaccessible for others who tried to remain. And we knew that getting kids back to sport after they dropped out was going to be challenging.

“We also know that many elements or aspects of social life are increasingly inaccessible in our world today. So, what this points to is the importance of securing accessibility and inclusion as key values and policy priorities in youth sport provision.”

The Change the Game research project was conceived in 2021 as an anonymous online survey of Ontario youth about their experiences with access, engagement and equity issues in sport. The most recent study was the largest to date, with more than 10,000 survey responses – bringing the total number of youth voices collected over three years of research to 25,000.

This year, the project also collaborated with youth sport organizations, including U of T’s BIPOC Varsity Association, Toronto FC Academy, Argos Rowing Club and Ausome Ottawa, which suggested solutions to the barriers expressed by research participants in the first two years of the study.

Victor Adarquah, a PhD student in U of T’s Temerty Faculty of Medicine, was the lead research assistant on the project, receiving valuable hands-on experience in applying research to address real-world issues.

“This project was an incredible opportunity to bridge my interest in community and social impact work with research,” said Adarquah. “I found it especially rewarding to experience the fast-paced nature and real-time application of the research findings. The work here doesn't just sit on a shelf, it's actively informing and shaping ongoing initiatives.”

Tanya Mruck, vice-president of community engagement and social impact at MLSE, said the data collected in the Change the Game research study will serve as an important resource that will help guide the investments and community engagement priorities of the MLSE Foundation. Study insights will also be available publicly through an online report, interactive data dashboard and open access dataset.

“What this project demonstrates is that sharing of resources and expertise through collaborations between universities and community or industry partners is both possible and beneficial,” said Darnell. “When we embarked on this collaborative project back in 2021, we wanted to better understand how youth in Ontario engage in sport in order to build a more equitable sport system for them. Along the way, it became the largest youth sports study of its kind in Canada – one which will provide sport and recreation providers, policymakers, funders and future researchers with valuable data and recommendations to change the game for the better.”

Researchers help youth get involved with Toronto’s net-zero carbon plan

siddiq22 — Thu, 06 Jul 2023 01:16:15 +0000

Researchers help youth get involved with Toronto’s net-zero carbon plan

siddiq22 Wed, 07/05/2023 - 21:16

Cutline

U of T researchers are working on ways to engage youth in the City of Toronto's ambitious plan to drastically reduce carbon emissions (photo by Unsplash)

Alexa Battler

Topic

Our Community

Institutional Strategic Initiatives

Subheadline

A new report co-authored by Laura Tozer, an assistant professor at U of T Scarborough, will guide researchers on a youth engagement approach for the City of Toronto's TransformTO Net Zero Strategy

The City of Toronto plans to reduce city-wide carbon emissions to net zero by 2040, and researchers from the University of Toronto are helping to ensure young people play a key role in reaching its goal.

A new report outlining best practices will guide researchers as they co-design a youth engagement strategy with the city for its TransformTO Net Zero Strategy – one of the most ambitious plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in North America.

Researchers will spend the next year working with youth climate activists and youth-led organizations to begin pilot projects and boost existing programming, all while studying which approaches work best and why.

“We’re helping support the change while we're studying the change,” says Laura Tozer, co-author of the report and assistant professor in the department of physical and environmental sciences at U of T Scarborough.

“We have lots of research questions around what young people think a good life would look like in Toronto’s net-zero carbon transition – and how we would get there.”

The Youth Climate Action in Toronto project will also study ways to support young people from historically marginalized communities in overcoming the additional barriers they face, such as stereotypes and a lack of representation in environmental work. Several research questions and initiatives will focus on ways to reach underrepresented demographics and communities, and amplify their voices.

Assistant Professor Laura Tozer's research focuses on energy governance and how urban settings can become sustainable (supplied image)

Researchers plan to support about eight pilot projects so far. For example, Eve Tuck and Fikile Nxumalo, associate and assistant professors respectively at U of T’s Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE), are working with the Tkaronto CIRCLE Lab to run an after-school workshop where Black and Indigenous youth are designing a land education program focused on climate justice.

One initiative led by Michael Classens, associate professor in the School of the Environment in the Faculty of Arts & Science, is examining how youth-led efforts to improve food justice can overlap with climate action, while another project will study methods to spread the word on climate change in ways that address – not exacerbate – the significant impact the climate crisis has on youth mental health.

“We want to fundamentally resource the action that is already being taken,” says Tozer, director of the IMPACT Lab, a research group focused on climate-change policy and action. “This project is really about supporting the way that young people want to do this work.”

Several initiatives are bridging different fields of study – a core aspect of the U of T centre co-funding the project, the Climate Positive Energy Initiative. Many of the centre’s experts – which span scientists, engineers and economists to social scientists and policy researchers – are bringing different research questions and insights to the project.

“It's a very diverse interdisciplinary team coming at this question from a lot of different angles,” Tozer says.

Report highlights opportunities and obstacles to engaging youth

The researchers’ report lays out best practices gleaned from existing research and their own interviews with young climate activists, city employees and youth engagement specialists, which probed what makes young people want to take action – or avoid it.

They found youth are deeply worried about climate change – to the extent that it is harming their mental health – but many are convinced their actions won’t make a difference. Some see climate change as just one of many threats facing the world, some don’t know where to start and others are moored by feelings of frustration and betrayal at older generations.

The report does strike an optimistic tone, highlighting successful programs, workshops and events across North America – many hosted by schools and noted as accessible entry points. Youth climate councils working with municipal governments were found to be powerful outlets, though more difficult to join.

While many youth believe governments should be held accountable in finding solutions to climate change, they often had low levels of trust in the political process. Young climate activists also shared a concern at being seen as a token young person in political spaces – Tozer says unless they see their voices making an impact, they risk further losing trust in governments.

“Young people need to get something out of this engagement – they don't want to just be extracted from,” Tozer says. “They’ll stop engaging if nothing happens, and stop lending their brilliance to what should be done on climate action.”

The report also highlights the importance of community. Young people are effective recruiters, and spaces that are welcoming, fun and community-oriented tend to not just get young people involved, but keep them coming back. The report also highlights how important it is to acknowledge youth as individuals with varying goals, free time and capacities – as one interviewee put it, “We’re not all Greta [Thurnburg].”

“There are differences in which young people are able to take climate action now, or think of it as part of their lives, so taking an equity-based approach is also important,” Tozer says. “Young people hold strategic power when it comes to climate action, and they are capable of great influence.”

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Climate Positive Energy Initiative

Can improv boost the confidence of marginalized youth? U of T prof partners with Second City to find out

Christopher.Sorensen — Tue, 07 Dec 2021 21:55:33 +0000

Can improv boost the confidence of marginalized youth? U of T prof partners with Second City to find out

Christopher.Sorensen Tue, 12/07/2021 - 16:55

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Daphney Joseph, left, an artist, producer and Second City performer, led an improv workshop series focused on vulnerable youth that was part of a pilot project designed by U of T researcher Stephanie Begun, right (photos by Pierre Gautreau and Harry Choi)

Megan Easton

Topic

City & Culture

Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work

Research and Innovation

Youth

Shortly before the pandemic, the University of Toronto’s Stephanie Begun put up some flyers for a free improv workshop at a Toronto homeless shelter for youth. It was an idea she’d been toying with for years – that participating in improv might benefit vulnerable populations.

The exercise turned out to be a big success, leading to more workshops and paving the way for research about the potential role of improv in social work interventions.

“I expected maybe half a dozen people to show up for that first class,” says Begun, an assistant professor at U of T’s Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work. “I couldn’t believe it when about 30 came out. Not only that, but their response was so positive. At that point, I knew we might be on to something.”

Begun’s research focuses on improving the health and wellness of marginalized youth, including those experiencing homelessness. While she had limited personal knowledge of improv theatre, she was involved in the performing arts growing up and her children went to improv summer camp.

“I loved drama and performance when I was young, and my kids got so much out of their camp,” says Begun, who is also co-founder and co-director of U of T’s Youth Wellness Lab. “I kept thinking, why aren’t we offering this outlet to other groups of young people who don’t have access to these opportunities? I’ve seen so much brilliance and creativity in these youth through my research. Yet they have so few chances to engage in creative expression that makes them feel good about themselves.”

After the test workshop at the shelter, Begun designed a pilot project funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada to explore how improv might foster self-esteem, social connectedness and confidence in marginalized youth. She partnered with: The Second City Toronto, an improv and comedy theatre company that provided a facilitator; an after-school program that engages adolescent and teen young women; and a local shelter for youth and women experiencing homelessness.

In the first phase of the project, Begun delivered an online improv workshop series to young, racialized women in the after-school program. “At the time, they were in online school and feeling socially isolated,” she says. “Several of them were very reluctant to try improv because they felt it didn’t suit their introverted personalities, or it simply scared them. Yet, when we interviewed the participants in the end, the ones who had been most nervous were the ones who thrived.”

The participants’ feedback affirmed Begun’s belief that improv could cultivate confidence in this group.

“I didn’t think that I would be very good at this, but I really surprised myself,” said one participant. According to another, “I think improv is really extra-good for young women, as we struggle so much with our self-esteem and with being afraid to take risks. So it is really, really great to focus these activities and ideas on us, because girls and young women around my age really need boosts like this.”

For Daphney Joseph, the artist, producer and Second City improviser who led the workshops, the responses weren’t surprising.

“Improv makes you a more positive person because it relies on the ‘yes, and’ philosophy, which means agreeing and adding onto someone’s idea,” she says. “When everyone supports each other’s ideas, it creates an environment where everyone feels safe enough to take bigger risks.”

The second phase of the project took place on a warm afternoon this fall at a park in Toronto. Women from a nearby homeless shelter took part in a two-hour workshop. Again, the participants’ responses were overwhelmingly positive.

“These amazing women have to improvise every day just to get through life without a home,” says Begun. “But improv workshop activities gave them a break from their stressors and traumas, and they could just laugh and experiment.”

Improv is also an equalizer, Begun says. “No one has an advantage – no matter your education or place in the world. The women said that seeing me jump in and join the activities meant a lot because the activities were clearly just as new and unknown to me as they were for them.”

In follow-up phone interviews, the participants said the workshops created new social connections at the shelter and provided a much-needed injection of fun and humour in their lives. “It got me right out of my head and out of all my anxiety and all my worries,” said one participant. “I felt like I was me again, for the first time in years.” Another commented, “I needed to be able to raise my voice and be heard. It made me feel important and creative.”

Based on the preliminary results of the pilot project, Begun hopes to pursue future research that will quantify improv’s benefits for marginalized youth.

“I see so many possibilities for embedding improv in prevention and intervention programs,” she says. “Not that it would ever replace therapy and other tried-and-tested ways of helping, but it allows young people in tough situations to be social, creative and lighthearted – and it seems that these experiences lead to meaningful realizations in nearly anyone who gives improv a try.”

U of T grad Krysta Cooke pursues a social work career in memory of her brother, a victim of violent crime

Christopher.Sorensen — Tue, 22 Jun 2021 16:38:08 +0000

U of T grad Krysta Cooke pursues a social work career in memory of her brother, a victim of violent crime

Christopher.Sorensen Tue, 06/22/2021 - 12:38

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Krysta Cooke says her brother's death during a robbery in 2018 motivated her to study social work in an effort to help prevent young people from falling through the cracks (photo courtesy of Krysta Cooke)

Megan Easton

Topic

Our Community

Convocation 2021

Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work

Youth

If Krysta Cooke could add her late brother’s name to her master of social work degree from the University of Toronto, she would do it in a heartbeat.

“I went back to school because of what happened to him,” she says, referring to when he was shot and killed at work during a robbery in 2018. “His death was the final push for me to try to understand how we can prevent violence like this in our communities.”

When the tragedy struck her family, Cooke was an undergraduate student at York University who was already interested in issues surrounding youth and public systems. Through her studies and volunteer work, she’d come to believe in the power of early intervention in schools and grassroots organizations to improve outcomes for young people from marginalized populations.

It was during a volunteer stint with a community organization that Cooke finally decided to pursue a career working with youth.

“I was paired with a little girl, and during our time together I noticed her growing more confident and interested in what she could do with her life,” Cooke says. “I saw what could happen when you showed kids the power of their own potential.”

Yet, her brother’s shooting made her question how public systems and social service agencies were failing to reach many young people. “How do we miss them?” she asks. “How are we still letting some kids fall through the cracks?”

Determined to play a role in finding the answers, she enrolled at U of T’s Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work in 2020.

Cooke says the remote learning environment necessitated by COVID-19 didn’t prevent her from building strong connections with her classmates and professors. She was particularly drawn to a course taught by Associate Professor Izumi Sakamoto on promoting empowerment among marginalized groups. “The class came together so well to unpack very heavy subjects,” Cooke says. “It was a transformative experience and clarified the direction I wanted to take in social work.”

For her practicum, she worked at the newly formed Youth Wellness Lab, a collaborative hub based at the faculty where young people are partners and leaders in research focused on the well-being of youth.

“I was excited to work at the lab because it’s like a startup,” says Cooke. “Everyone is committed to diving in and making things happen.”

When her practicum ended, co-directors Stephanie Begun and Bryn King, both assistant professors of social work, hired Cooke as the lab’s project co-ordinator. She collaborates with the lab’s youth advisory committee to get their ideas and opinions on social media, while also helping to promote broader access to the lab’s research. “By creating easily digestible digital content for social media, we can reach more practitioners working with youth at the frontlines,” Cooke says.

It’s all part of her commitment to creating something positive out of her brother’s death.

“We rarely follow up on the good things that people do after having their lives changed in the most violent way,” says Cooke, adding that she hopes to do a PhD at U of T that explores how education can foster resilience – and decrease violence – in youth.

“I want to contribute to the body of knowledge that informs better policy and programs for young people at the margins, so that there are fewer kids who find themselves in impossible situations. Kids who might have had amazing potential, but got lost. That’s why I do this work.”

As member of global university alliance, U of T supports call for G7 leaders to prioritize future generations

Christopher.Sorensen — Fri, 11 Jun 2021 21:07:49 +0000

As member of global university alliance, U of T supports call for G7 leaders to prioritize future generations

Christopher.Sorensen Fri, 06/11/2021 - 17:07

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(Photo by Johnny Guatto)

Topic

The U7+ Alliance of World Universities is calling on world leaders to prioritize the interest of future generations and recognize universities’ capacity to help tackle pressing global issues such as climate change, the economic recovery from COVID-19 and championing social justice.

The alliance – a global coalition of universities, including the University of Toronto, that represents all of the G7 nations in addition to 10 others – released the statement this week as G7 leaders prepared to convene in the United Kingdom, where they are expected to discuss climate issues, vaccines and strategies to halt future pandemics.

It is the first G7 summit to be held since the COVID-19 pandemic began.

“Universities are vital global actors that, through research and scholarship, are deeply engaged in developing solutions to our most pressing global problems, from climate change to the post-pandemic recovery,” said U of T President Meric Gertler.

“At the same time, we are educating the future leaders who will be asked to implement those solutions in ways that are equitable, inclusive and just.”

Launched in 2019, the U7+ Alliance aims to be an action-oriented network for universities to collectively address major global problems. Its statement stressed that universities are committed to working with the G7 and leaders across the public and private sectors to create new opportunities for mutual understanding and equitable resource sharing across generations.

“As an alliance of universities, we sit at the crossroads of generations – in a space where knowledge is generated and new, bolder visions for the future are imagined – and have committed to serving as platforms for open intergenerational dialogue,” the statement says.

The alliance identified three major issues on which universities can work with G7 leaders in taking responsibility and fostering international dialogue: leading the global recovery from the coronavirus while strengthening resilience against future pandemics; tackling climate change and preserving the planet’s biodiversity; and championing global shared values.

“As G7 leaders reflect on how to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic and strengthen resilience against future pandemics, the preparation of the next generation of leaders must be a paramount concern, and we recognize our universities have a distinctive responsibility to train and nurture responsible, active citizens who will contribute to society, at the local and global levels,” the statement says.

The alliance also expressed a commitment to promoting access to courses related to climate, biodiversity and sustainability, and encouraging intergenerational dialogue on environmental degradation. It noted that leaders from 21 universities in the alliance have developed a framework for taking inventory of what higher education institutions are doing to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. U of T, for example, plans to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 37 per cent from 1990 levels by the year 2030, putting it on a path to becoming a “net-zero” institution.

Further, the group encouraged G7 leaders to foster intergenerational dialogue on issues of inclusiveness and equality, and to promote routes to higher education for youth from marginalized backgrounds. To that end, the U7+ Alliance will host an intergenerational roundtable discussion later this month on how social sciences can be deployed to tackle the global gender gap.

The inaugural summit of the U7+ Alliance was held in France in 2019, ahead of the last G7 summit, which also took place in France. During that initial U7+ summit President Gertler led a discussion on climate change and sustainability and briefed French President Emmanuel Macron at a reception at the Élysée Palace.

Northwestern University hosted a virtual summit for the U7+ Alliance last December, bringing together more than 100 university leaders from institutions in 20 countries. At the virtual meeting, leaders unanimously voted to prioritize intergenerational equity.

Flipping the script: U of T Youth Wellness Lab engages young people in research

Christopher.Sorensen — Mon, 31 May 2021 14:19:47 +0000

Flipping the script: U of T Youth Wellness Lab engages young people in research

Christopher.Sorensen Mon, 05/31/2021 - 10:19

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Left to right: (top row) Paula Arhinson, Hamza Olaosebikan, Christina M, Rae Whyte; (middle row) Cam Bautista, Rasnat Chowdhury and Nakema Rae McManamna; (bottom row) Bryn King, Krysta Cooke, Travonne Edwards and Stephanie Begun.

Megan Easton

Topic

Our Community

Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work

Graduate Students

Youth

When it comes to research about young people, Cam Bautista says young people themselves are often reduced to token status – “a box that needs to be checked.”

The Youth Wellness Lab, by contrast, aims to do things differently.

The collaborative hub at the University of Toronto’s Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work seeks to brings together academic researchers, community-based partners and youth advisers with a shared goal of improving services and outcomes across multiple intersecting domains by, with and for young people.

“It’s great to be working in a space with academics where I feel genuinely included,” says Bautista, who is the lab’s youth outreach co-ordinator.

The project grew out of discussions between co-directors Stephanie Begun and Bryn King, both assistant professors in the Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work whose research explores issues related to youth from marginalized communities.

“We were meeting for coffee back in 2018 and agreed, in a half-joking way, that one day we would create a centre for youth research,” says King. “About a year later, we just decided to make it happen. Our plan was to bring all the relevant faculty together with key community agencies, put young people at the heart of it and see what happens.”

Begun says the wealth of expertise among young people in social work and across U of T made it easy to build the research membership. “There are a lot of fascinating studies going on and a real appetite to share knowledge, so people welcomed the opportunity to be part of it,” she says.

The lab was established in early 2020, and a formal launch is scheduled for this fall. To date, there are more than 20 community partners, 11 staff and youth advisers, five institutional partners, and seven U of T research affiliates, including faculty and graduate students.

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A post shared by Youth Wellness Lab | Toronto (@youthwellnesslab)

Initial funding for the lab came from a Dean’s Network Award, which aims to foster collaborations among social work faculty members, other U of T departments or faculties and community partners.

The lab has since received multiple grants to support its development and youth-led research projects.

Bautista began as a member of the lab’s youth advisory committee, a team of young researchers aged 29 and under with diverse backgrounds and lived experience. The committee wrote the lab’s mission statement: To create a safe space for sustainable empowerment and expression through research and collaborative conversations for youth, by youth.

Now, Bautista also helps to co-ordinate their feedback as advisers and collaborators with the lab’s community partners.

“There’s so much apprehension among young people about doing research or being included in research because it has historically been tokenistic,” Bautista says. Like other members of the advisory committee, Bautista is from a racialized community and sees the lab as a way to shift the power imbalance between researchers and young people.

Begun and King designed the lab to reverse the traditional roles in research about youth.

“Instead of being the subjects of study, young people steer the research,” says King. “This ensures that the results – whether they’re interventions, services or policies – are relevant and meaningful to them.”

The fundamental goal of “flipping the script,” says Begun, is to improve the quality of research, which will improve youth outcomes. “Engaging youth in an authentic way in research helps us to stop getting it wrong. We as a collective society continue to make bad systems, bad policies and bad decisions about youth without their voices driving what things should look like.

“We need to ask them what they want and need.”

The lab’s “Real TO” project demonstrates what a role reversal in youth research looks like in practice. Its objective is to promote public dialogue led by Black youth on how anti-Black racism and systemic inequalities affect their lives. Digital storytelling, where young people create short videos, and a youth-led Instagram Live speaker series, where youth interview researchers, will produce knowledge to inform policy briefs, position papers and other research material co-authored by youth, researchers and community organizations.

“We founded the lab in a pandemic, and the Real TO project reflects the fact that many young people, including members of our youth advisory committee and the wider lab team, have experienced a dual pandemic of COVID-19 and anti-Black racism,” says King. “It’s part of the lab’s larger effort to amplify youth voices and create lasting youth-adult partnerships that will increase the transparency and credibility of youth-related research into the future.”

While several current projects concentrate on Black youth, the lab is committed to partnering with young people across diverse populations, including members of the LGBTQ+ community and Indigenous Peoples. Current and future research areas range from mental and reproductive health to homelessness and the child welfare system.

Travonne Edwards, a PhD student in social work and the lab’s research co-ordinator, is investigating the over-reporting of Black families in child welfare in collaboration with members of the lab and the Black Community Action Network (BCAN) of Peel Region.

“There should be no question that we as researchers consult directly with youth about issues that affect their everyday lives,” he says. Edwards’s personal experiences as a Black male in the education system, along with first-hand observation of the over-representation of Black youth in foster care and group homes in his professional practice, propelled him towards research aimed at creating policies to better serve Black young people.

While a long history of exclusion and tokenism gives young people good reason to be wary of research involvement, King is optimistic about the lab’s potential to create change.

“People tend to think that young people are jaded or angry,” she says. “But there’s a level of hope, even in their rage and protest, that we often lose in research and policy-making. Connecting to that allows us to envision something different and better with them.”

Krysta Cooke, the project co-ordinator at the lab, works with the youth advisory committee to get their ideas and opinions on social media. A master of social work student who completed her practicum at the lab and who will graduate in June, Cooke says she finds the enthusiasm of the committee’s members energizing.

“We work together to create Instagram stories, Facebook posts, and other digital content, and when they see the final product in that public forum, they’re so excited. It’s a true collaboration.”

Bautista, who’s currently in the child and youth care program at Humber College, hopes to pursue graduate studies and build a career in research and policy.

“Working at the lab has allowed me to believe that I can breach the barriers in academia that have kept people like me and the other youth advisors out of research. It’s giving me support and encouragement to continue on.”

The future of work will hit vulnerable people the hardest: U of T expert

Christopher.Sorensen — Mon, 09 Mar 2020 15:11:10 +0000

The future of work will hit vulnerable people the hardest: U of T expert

Christopher.Sorensen Mon, 03/09/2020 - 11:11

Cutline

People with disabilities, youth, LGBTQ2 people, Indigenous Peoples, certain racialized minorities, immigrants and those with low socioeconomic status are among those who will face barriers to entering the workforce in the future (photo via Shutterstock)

Arif Jetha

Topic

Our Community

Alumni

Artificial Intelligence

Automation

Dalla Lana School of Public Health

A great deal of attention is being paid to the future of work and its impact on Canadians. Often missing from the discussion is the extent to which different workers will be included or excluded from the changing labour market.

The future of work is characterized by a number of rapid and large-scale changes that will affect all industries. Labour market experts point to the growing integration of digital technologies in the workplace, including the application of artificial intelligence and machine learning, automation of job tasks and the robotization of employment.

These technological drivers of change may be coupled with ecological and demographic stresses – like the climate crisis and the aging workforce – that are expected to substantially change the type and availability of jobs, working conditions and the ways work is performed.

But as we look into the Canadian labour market landscape, certain groups of workers face more challenges than the rest of the population. People living with disabilities, youth, LGBTQ2 people, Indigenous Peoples, certain racialized minorities, immigrants and those with low socioeconomic status often face complex barriers to entering the workforce.

Fewer opportunities

When employed, these groups are more likely than population averages to earn lower incomes, experience hazardous working conditions, work precariously, have limited access to employment legislation or statutory benefits and have fewer opportunities for career advancement.

Not all workers experience the benefits of technological growth.

For example, the integration of personal computers in the 1980s contributed to economic expansion and increased demand for workers with technological job skills. But it also spurred a displacement of workers in low-skilled manual and clerical jobs.

As the pace of change in the labour market quickens in the years ahead, the sustainable employment of vulnerable groups could be in greater jeopardy and inequity could widen.

Research seeking to understand the future of work is in its early stages and mainly focuses on technological trends like automation. A 2016 analysis of occupational data estimates that 42 per cent of Canadians work in jobs with a high risk of being affected by automation. The same analysis found that entry-level and low-skilled jobs – those ⁠more commonly held by vulnerable workers – are three times more likely to be affected by automation than professional and management jobs.

Racial disparity

A more recent study conducted by the U.S.-based consulting firm McKinsey & Company highlighted a potential racialized disparity that could worsen with increasing automation. The study found that African-Americans and Hispanic and Latino workers are over-represented in occupations that are expected to be displaced by automation.

One study showed young African-American men with less education are at the highest risk of displacement by automation (photo via Shutterstock)

The study also showed the intersection between race, age and education: Young African-American men with less education are at the highest risk of displacement by automation.

This is just one of a potentially growing number of examples of the impact the future of work may have on vulnerable workers.

To prepare for this expected impact, work has begun on understanding the jobs skills required in the future labour market.

Critical thinking skills

A report by the World Economic Forum indicates that by 2022 the job skills most required by employers will include not only proficiency with new technologies, but also creativity, emotional intelligence and critical thinking skills. The report also found that over half of all existing workers will require significant re-skilling and upskilling to meet the demands of the changing labour market.

However, obtaining these needed job skills may also pose a challenge for certain workers. Data indicates that some groups of workers who are considered vulnerable are more likely to enter the workforce with lower levels of education – another position of disadvantage.

They may also be working in jobs where training and job skills development are scarce. It’s unclear how differences in access to educational opportunities could perpetuate the challenges faced by vulnerable workers in the future of work.

To further our understanding of the future of work, scientists at the Institute for Work & Health, a Toronto-based not-for-profit, are leading research to examine how the changing nature of work may be experienced differently across the labour market. In particular, research is being conducted to anticipate how the different trends will affect vulnerable workers, including young adults and people living with disabilities.

Minimizing shocks and stresses

The ultimate goal of the research is to build on our current understanding of the future of work and uncover potential challenges that could emerge for different groups. Importantly, the research will inform tailored policies and programs to minimize the shocks and stresses.

Increasing numbers of policy- and industry-level initiatives are being undertaken to understand the implications of the future of work and design innovative responses to navigate the changing nature of work. An example is the pan-Canadian Future Skills Centre.

As these initiatives evolve and programs are designed, it will be important to determine how Canadians who have been considered vulnerable members of the workforce are meaningfully included.

Arif Jetha is an assistant professor (status only) at the University of Toronto’s Dalla Lana School of Public Health.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Beats, rhymes and education: U of T's Marcus Singleton channels the spirit of hip hop into the classroom

Christopher.Sorensen — Thu, 06 Feb 2020 16:35:56 +0000

Beats, rhymes and education: U of T's Marcus Singleton channels the spirit of hip hop into the classroom

Christopher.Sorensen Thu, 02/06/2020 - 11:35

Cutline

Marcus Singleton, a hip hop artist who is wrapping up a master's degree in education from U of T, wants to continue a tradition of artists who devote themselves to education in the classroom and beyond (photo by Marianne Lau)

Topic

Ontario Institute for Studies in Education

U of T Scarborough

Youth

Hip hop saved Marcus Singleton’s life.

The music, the lyrics and the culture of hip hop were a way for the Chicago-born Singleton to think and talk about the violent, unpredictable life of his hometown.

Now, graduating with a Master of Education from the University of Toronto’s Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE) this spring, Singleton is using his love of hip hop to give back by building a language arts, history and leadership development curriculum around the art form.

Growing up in Chicago’s South Side in the Englewood neighbourhood, Singleton was deeply influenced by so-called “conscious” MCs of the 1990s, including Rakim and KRS-One. He was also influenced by a number of Chicago artists like Common, Akbar (who was born and raised in the Bronx) and GQ the Teacher (who moved to Chicago by way of Belize and New York). And when he began making mixtapes under the pseudonym Iomos Marad, Singleton wanted to employ a rap style like KRS-One, Posdnuos of De La Soul and Mos Def.

“I love what they’re saying, what they were talking about,” says Singleton. “I think content is the key. I know some people say they want to listen to music just for leisure, but I like listening to music just to learn.

“I always say that artistry and activism go hand in hand. I think you can't have art without activism.”

Singleton later pivoted from that passion, and years of experience, into building a hip-hop leadership development curriculum, which he further developed during his time at OISE. His hip hop-based curriculum seeks to empower students to be activists and leaders in their communities.

It’s a unique academic profile that has resonated with the OISE community. Rosalind Hampton, an assistant professor in OISE’s department of social justice education, has worked with Singleton in several courses and within the Black Studies cohort of students whose work she supervises. Singleton is a strong student and talented artist, Hampton says.

“He was already an experienced hip-hop educator and strong writer when he entered the MEd program, and has continued to build on these skills and experiences throughout his coursework,” she says.

“He is driven by strong personal and professional commitments to supporting emancipatory educational opportunities for Black youth, and intends to continue this work through research at the doctoral level.”

To Singleton, a hip hop-based curriculum begins with a created space where a student’s voice is heard more than a teacher’s. Such spaces help students look at their academics, community and the world with a critical lens while learning about social justice through historic events, according to Singleton.

Within Singleton’s curriculum, students can creatively and artistically express what they might be going through academically or personally without judgement.

“We don’t, as educators or as teachers, tap into the knowledge students bring into the classroom,” Singleton says. “We forget all of that and dump a bunch of information in their head and then say ‘Here, take this test and regurgitate the information back.’”

By contrast, Singleton prefers a classroom where there’s no hierarchy structure, “where the classroom can be transformed into a community of learners where we – the teacher and students – can learn together.”

Now that his degree is complete, Singleton wants to continue a tradition that you don’t always hear about: artists who devote themselves to education – whether it’s in a classroom or elsewhere.

“I love the classroom because you can do so much within the classroom. But whether I will be teaching in a formal or informal space, I believe both spaces are important and valid for the work I want to do,” he says, adding that he wants “to push the envelope of academia to a place where community is not excluded.”

On Feb. 6, Singleton – under his Iomos Marad alias – will share his insights and his story on a panel of musicians, community builders and entrepreneurs at U of T Scarborough during Humanz of Hip Hop, part of Hart House’s ongoing focus on hip-hop education.

Singleton’s connection to hip hop runs deep. As a teen, Singleton found the music he loves through word of mouth and people in his community. He began to compose poems as a way to cope with violence and poverty in his neighbourhood.

His mother helped spark a spirit of activism and it inspired his 2003 debut album Deep Rooted, a commentary on life on the South Side. Singleton followed up that record with his EP Go Head. In hip-hop circles, these two albums are still regarded as masterpieces – Singleton’s methodical flow matched with soulful music samples and booming drum rhythms.

Singleton recorded and performed live for years, all while earning a bachelor’s degree at Metropolitan State University in St. Paul, Minn. As he and his wife, a U of T alumna, were figuring out a place to live – the U.S. or Canada – Singleton was looking ways to take his education further. His wife suggested OISE.

Now, as a permanent resident of Canada who is ready to receive his master’s degree, Singleton is ready for his next step – and all the work that entails.

“In the words of Dead Prez, it’s bigger than hip hop,” he says.

U of T's David Asper Centre prepares constitutional challenge to lower Canada's voting age

Christopher.Sorensen — Wed, 29 Jan 2020 13:52:32 +0000

U of T's David Asper Centre prepares constitutional challenge to lower Canada's voting age

Christopher.Sorensen Wed, 01/29/2020 - 08:52

Cutline

Voters line up at a polling station in Toronto during the 2019 federal election (photo by Brett Gundlock/Getty Images)

Topic

The David Asper Centre for Constitutional Rights, in partnership with several child rights organizations, is laying the groundwork for a legal challenge of Canada’s minimum voting age.

The Asper Centre – at the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Law – launched consultations on the topic last summer and began to develop a legal theory with participation from youth organizations across Canada, including Justice for Children and Youth (JFCY).

“[There is] scientific and sociological evidence that youth under the age of 18 have the capacity to vote,” says Sonia Patel, a third-year U of T law student.

Established in 2008 with the support of U of T Law alumnus David Asper, the centre seeks to play a vital role in articulating Canada’s constitutional vision and is devoted to realizing constitutional rights through advocacy, research and education. The centre’s legal clinic brings together students, faculty and practising lawyers to work on significant constitutional cases and advocacy initiatives.

“It will be the first constitutional case that we are in at the ground level,” says Cheryl Milne, who is the Asper Centre’s director and an expert in constitutional rights and children’s rights. “It’s a great opportunity for students to see all the work that goes into developing a case.”

The centre says the Supreme Court has made it clear that any limit on Canadians’ right to vote must be clearly justified.

In Frank v. Canada, in 2019, the high court agreed Canada cannot prevent expats who've been out of the country for more than five years from voting.

“That case is really significant because of the language the court used. The right to vote is only tethered to citizenship,” says Keely Kinley, a second-year law student who pursued research with the centre over the summer.

Front row, left to right: U of T Law students Mashoka Maimona, Keely Kinley, Karen Chen, Sonia Patel and Ashley Qian; Second row: Jason Lamb, Arjun Gandhi, Spencer Nestico-Semianiw, Liam Turnbull and Hannah Goddard-Rebstein. (photo by Nina Haikara)

Last term, Kinley reviewed democratic theory, including social contract theory and principles like “all affected” and “all subjected” to see how they could be used to structure potential arguments.

Further work continued as part of an Asper Centre upper-year law course on constitutional rights. Students engaged in the many facets and complexities of tabling a constitutional challenge, which the team acknowledges could take years with added costs for litigation. Some are continuing their work as part of an independent project.

Second-year law student Liam Turnbull examined international legal instruments and international law.

“In particular, I looked at the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child to see how international legal principles could support our case and could provide an argument for why the voting age should be lowered according to international law.”

If the voting age was lowered, Canada would not be alone. Law student Ashley Qian looked at jurisdictions that have lowered the voting age below 18, focusing on publicly available sources documenting or discussing the changes and how they happened. The centre lists many international examples of the voting age being lowered and increased lifelong voter engagement.

Hannah Goddard-Rebstein, similarily, examined countries where the voting age was lowered and noted increases in political knowledge, interest and voter turnout. In Scotland, where the legal voting age is 18, the turnout among among 16- and 17-year-olds in the 2014 independence referendum, which allowed people as young as 16 to vote, was 75 per cent. In Austria, meanwhile, lowering the voting age to 16 for most purposes increased civic interest among 16- and 17-year-olds.

To further support their case, the centre points to Canada’s four federal political parties, which permit members under 18 to vote for party leadership.

"We don't know if we should propose an age instead of 18," says Karen Chen, a third-year law student, adding the youth consultations are expected to inform the decision.

"We're also looking for a diverse group of young people from across the country who are really passionate about this and maybe are already campaigning about it.”

Second-year law student, Arjun Gandhi says they’re also developing a curriculum that could be implemented across the country to get youth engaged with the idea, and to hear their voices about this Charter challenge.

Mashoka Maimona, a second-year law student, says part of the reason she joined the Asper Centre was to apply the theory she had learned in first year in a very practical way.

“This has been a great opportunity to really sink our teeth into an area [of law] we hear about and be part of a team that's working on [a Charter challenge] from the ground up.”

With files from the David Asper Centre for Constitutional Rights

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Fewer opportunities

Racial disparity

Critical thinking skills

Minimizing shocks and stresses

Beats, rhymes and education: U of T's Marcus Singleton channels the spirit of hip hop into the classroom

U of T's David Asper Centre prepares constitutional challenge to lower Canada's voting age