Youth Confidence in Learning and the Future

Do young people believe schools and communities prepare them to fully know and engage with the world in which they live? Are young people confident in how they learn and what they learn, in and out of school? Is there coherence between what they are learning in and out of school? Is there a gap between their aspirations and expectations for the future? With funding from the Ontario Trillium Foundation, CEA is working collaboratively with social planning councils and school boards in five Ontario cities on a community youth engagement and research project.

What is the Youth Confidence in Learning and the Future (YCLF ) initiative?

YCLF is a collaborative project of the Canadian Education Association (CEA) and five Ontario social planning councils (SPCs) working with schools and school boards in Toronto, Hamilton, Milton, Peterborough, and Sudbury. The initiative consists of three components: research; student and school engagement; and community development

The SPC partners are: Community Development Halton, Hamilton Social Planning and Research Council, Peterborough Social Planning Council, Social Planning Toronto, and Sudbury Social Planning Council. The initiative is funded by the Ontario Trillium Foundation and CEA. 

What do we want to find out and why?

We want to find out young people’s views on both what they are learning and whether they find it relevant and engaging, and also how they are learning. We are looking at learning that takes place both within and outside of school and, equally important, the fit or connection between their in-school and out of school learning.

What do we mean by ‘confidence in learning’?

The project does not focus on confidence as a psychological construct or personality trait. As important as they are, we are not looking at the self-confidence or internal resiliencies of individual youth. Instead, we are interested in young people’s confidence in their learning environments both in and out of schools, broadly understood to include the people, the supports, and the organizations that nurture learning. For our purposes, confidence in learning has five dimensions: trust, engagement, efficacy or empowerment, fit between in and out of school learning, and future orientation.

What is the status of the work?

Students in the five Ontario communities have completed on-line surveys which are currently being analyzed. The social planning councils will develop action plans in consultation with their school boards based on the findings, feedback from youth, and community consultations, CEA will release a report late in the fall with the research findings and what has been learned from this initiative.

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