Researchers Experience Multiple Embodiments in a Cross-Cultural, Intergenerational Event to Support Girls Challenging Gender-Based Violence

Many challenges exist to conducting participatory research and consultation with young people, especially with those considered vulnerable or at risk. Beyond respecting the safety and wellbeing of young research participants, researchers must be aware of barriers to youth engagement and be attuned to the many forms of youth resistance. As young people are seeking more control over their lives, traditional knowledge hierarchies between adults and youth are shifting. In July 2018, an event entitled Circles Within Circles brought together Indigenous and non-Indigenous girls and young women from South Africa, Canada, Russia, Sweden, and Kenya to learn from each other’s participatory art-making and create a network for challenging gender-based violence (GBV). This article provides insight into the often-invisible experience of the “supporting cast” in events like Circles Within Circles. The co-authors are doctoral and postdoctoral researchers who contributed to organization and acted as facilitators, notetakers, and participants. The co-authors conduct participatory analyses of journal entries they wrote throughout the event, and jointly reflect on the activities and their feelings about their roles. Reflecting, for example, on gut feelings about young participants’ use of voice and silence during adult-led activities, the co-authors discuss their reading of girls’ demonstrations of resistance. This embodied knowledge, further cultivated by attuning to shared experience, is explored in this collaborative auto-ethnography. Examining the complexities of this cross-cultural and intergenerational event, the co-authors contend that when supporting girls and young people subverting dominant narratives of GBV, researchers’ embodied reflexivity is crucial for positively contributing to girl-led change

Effects of an asynchronous online course on promoting positive attitudes towards safer sex practices for university-age young adults

The world is struggling everyday to find a way to deal with Sexually Transmitted Infections. The goal of this qualitative, build-and-evaluate research is to address one small aspect of this challenge--using online learning to promote positive attitudes towards safer sex behaviors among young adults, in this case Concordia university students between the ages of 18 and 24. This is a major challenge because (1) attitudes usually form in a social environment, and changing them through a stand-alone online learning module requires appropriate instructional strategies; (2) the target population of this research is at a critical juncture in its cognitive development. Conflicts might arise when adjusting to the new environment in university and societal and peer pressure. To examine the effectiveness of suggested instructional strategies, a needs assessment was performed on 16 sexually active participants with strong sexual knowledge and skills, who seemed to lack positive attitudes towards practicing safer sex. A 30-minute asynchronous online learning program was designed and developed to promote positive attitudes towards safer sex practices, and a formative evaluation of the module was conducted with 12 participants. The module was designed on the basis of discovery learning, self-assessment, peer education, social marketing, and practice. One unique feature of the course was the use of an electronic scrap paper, which allowed learners to reflect on their ideas while learning from peers' opinions. The formative evaluation indicated that online education is favored and could be effective for promoting positive attitudes in sensitive healthcare subjects if appropriate learning strategies are used

Exploring the Impact of Youth-Produced Images on Family, Community, and Policy

There is increasing scholarly attention to the creative ways in which young people are engaging in policy dialogue. Yet what other ways may we study the impact of youth-produced images on audiences? Here, we explore the role that visual researchers occupy as audiences to youth-led participatory visual work addressing critical issues. Drawing on qualitative research approaches in autoethnography, we use a methodology of researcher reflexivity to invite visual researchers through semistructured interviews to position themselves with respect to youth-produced images of sexual violence, refugee experience, and colonial trauma. In shifting our attention from studying the privileged position of researchers with respect to facilitating participatory visual research, we learn about the researcher’s privileged perspective on how other audiences may view the work, such as policy makers and community and family members. This study highlights some ethical and methodological considerations of facilitating dialogue between youth and various stakeholders on the critical issues impacting the lives of young people