Empowering Youth through Photovoice An Ever Active Schools and Kainai Board of Education Partnership

• Published in: Physical & health education journal Vol. 77; no. 4; pp. 28 - 29
• Main Authors: Torrance, Brian, Seehagen, Audrey
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Gloucester Canadian Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance 01.01.2012
• Subjects: Adolescents; Decision making; Educational Environment; Grade 10; Grade 11; High School Students; Indexing in process; Middle school students; Native students; Photography; Lethbridge Alberta Canada; Canada
• ISSN: 1498-0940

Ever Active Schools (EAS) has collaborated with the Kainai Board of Education for three years creating opportunities to further health and wellness in the community. Located approximately 40 kilometres southwest of Lethbridge, Alberta, the board serves the Kainai (Blood) Tribe, which is a member of the Blackfoot Confederacy. As educational partners, we realized tliat we had not heard from the students in the community and therefore proposed the "Photovoice" project to empower and give a voice to youth in the community. Each year the project built upon die previous year's success and has now built new capacity within the community. The project, tided Kainai First Nations Qualitative Study of Perceived Determinants of Health in Adolescents, involved 18 grade 10 and grade 11 Kainai High School students. These students were given cameras and asked to take pictures of things in their community that represent both important aspects of a healthy school community and barriers to wellness. Students organized their pictures into themes and made posters for use in a focus group setting. Several important findings emerged from this qualitative study into the perceived aspects of a healthy environment for adolescents.