Schools In Quebec Research Articles

Socioeconomic Factors Influence Physical Activity and Sport in Quebec Schools.

School environments providing a wide selection of physical activities and sufficient facilities are both essential and formative to ensure young people adopt active lifestyles. We describe the association between school opportunities for physical activity and socioeconomic factors measured by low-income cutoff index, school size (number of students), and neighborhood population density. A cross-sectional survey using a 2-stage stratified sampling method built a representative sample of 143 French-speaking public schools in Quebec, Canada. Self-administered questionnaires collected data describing the physical activities offered and schools' sports facilities. Descriptive and bivariate analyses were performed separately for primary and secondary schools. In primary schools, school size was positively associated with more intramural and extracurricular activities, more diverse interior facilities, and activities promoting active transportation. Low-income primary schools were more likely to offer a single gym. Low-income secondary schools offered lower diversity of intramural activities and fewer exterior sporting facilities. High-income secondary schools with a large school size provided a greater number of opportunities, larger infrastructures, and a wider selection of physical activities than smaller low-income schools. Results reveal an overall positive association between school availability of physical and sport activity and socioeconomic factors.

Evaluation of the Processes and Outcomes of Implementing a Competency Model to Foster Research Knowledge Utilization in Education

To encourage the use of research-based information (RBI) in education in Quebec, the Centre de transfert pour la reussite educative du Quebec CTREQ and the RENARD team, a knowledge transfer research team, developed the Competency Model for Knowledge Translation to Support Educational Achievement among Quebec Youth. They then developed a pilot project involving 24 school practitioners working in seven schools in Quebec to validate the content of this framework and to encourage its implementation. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the processes and outcomes of this pilot project’s implementation. Qualitative methods were used, involving data from: 1) three series of interviews with project participants, and 2) tracking sheets used to monitor activities carried out by project participants as well as by the project leaders supporting them in its implementation. Results showed the RAC implementation was able to influence participants’ perceptions regarding their role in the process of fostering RBI use and provided them with resources to fulfil that role. It also appeared that participants were able, to varying degrees, to extend this learning into their professional practice. The present article also highlights elements of the pilot project that facilitated or impeded the achievement of these outcomes and suggests areas to be considered for future interventions and studies related to the implementation of a competency model to encourage RBI use.

Gender at the intersection with race and class in the schooling and wellbeing of immigrant-origin students.

BackgroundIn French-language secondary schools in Quebec, among all immigrant-origin students, those originating from South Asia have the highest dropout rate. However, girls belonging to this group consistently outperform their male peers of similar ethnic background. This stirs questions about the reasons for this relative outperformance and its linkage with overall wellbeing among these girls.MethodsA mixed methods approach guided data collection. It involved in-depth interviews with female and male students of South Asian origin (n = 19) and with individuals holding educational roles in the lives of youth (n = 25). An additional anonymous questionnaire aggregated parent perspectives (n = 36), though this article focuses primarily on qualitative lessons.ResultsThis article shows three main reasons for why South Asian female adolescents in Quebec French-language secondary schools outperform their male counterparts in schooling attainment: parental expectations after migration, socialization at home, and relationships at school. According to our findings, academic perseverance among these girls does not necessarily translate into their improved wellbeing or their involvement in an advantageous process of acculturation.ConclusionsThis study highlights that although gender, ethnicity, and class can create an interlocking system of oppression in certain social spheres for a specific group of women, it can emerge as advantageous in other contexts for the same group. This provides educational policy makers, as well as school and community workers, with guidance and avenues for action that can promote the wellbeing of immigrant-origin girls through involvement in beneficial processes of acculturation aligned with their improved academic performance.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12905-016-0328-0) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Resisting or Adapting? How Private Catholic High Schools in Quebec Respond to State Secularism and Religious Diversification

The education system in Quebec has found itself at the center of the debates about secularism since the 1960s. Embedded in broader academic debates about processes of secularization and deconfessionalization of state institutions, religious diversification of society, and reconfiguration of Catholicism, this article aims to analyze how private Catholic schools in post-Catholic Quebec respond to the challenges posed by the secularizing pressures of the state, and the religious diversification of their target populations. Based on a qualitative case study conducted in two private-partially-publicly-funded Catholic or Catholic-oriented high schools (one Anglophone, one Francophone) in Quebec, we argue that the different approaches observed result from the different processes of internal secularization that these two schools have gone through. We draw on Steve Bruce’s notion of “cultural defense” and David Martin’s conceptualization of different trajectories of secularization to interpret these results.

‘A Delicate Exercise’: Balancing Freedom for and Freedom from Religion in Canada: Loyola High School v Quebec (Attorney General)

In Loyola High School v Quebec (Attorney General) the Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) found that a Roman Catholic high school run by the Jesuits in Montreal, could be exempted from the provincial Ethics and Religious Culture Program (ERCP), legislatively mandated for all schools in Quebec, whether public or private, provided it offered an ‘equivalent program’, if from a Roman Catholic perspective. In the earlier companion case, SL v Commission scolaire des Chênes, the Court held that religious parents could not claim an exemption for their children enrolled in the public schools from the same course. This discrepancy between the legal treatment of children in fee-paying religious schools and children in the public school system is one of several interesting aspects of the Loyola decision which this comment will address. Notwithstanding this discrepancy, the Court also restated its earlier observations about the nature and meaning of section 2(a), ‘freedom of conscience and religion’, of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (the Charter), thereby reassuring some Canadian observers that it is committed to a more robust protection of freedom of religion than may have been surmised from its earlier freedom of religion jurisprudence. Equally interesting is that, in coming to its decision, the majority of the Court moved away from the Court's earlier approach to freedom of religion issues of applying first section 2(a) and then section 1 of the Charter, which operates as a brake on full freedom of religion, to a proportional analysis more in tune with proportionality tests for religious freedom found in English and European cases. Whether this is the start of a long-term trajectory in Canadian freedom of religion cases or a single instance remains to be seen.

Influence of Adiposity, Physical Activity, Fitness, and Screen Time on Insulin Dynamics Over 2 Years in Children.

Despite extensive evidence showing that lifestyle habits play a critical role in preventing or delaying the onset of type 2 diabetes in adults, little is known regarding the impact of lifestyle habits on type 2 diabetes risk in childhood. To assess whether adiposity, fitness, moderate-to-vigorous physical activity, and screen time predict insulin sensitivity or insulin secretion during a 2-year period in children with a family history of obesity. This is a prospective longitudinal cohort study of 630 children, having at least 1 obese parent, recruited from schools in Quebec, Canada, between July 2005 and December 2008 in the Quebec Adipose and Lifestyle Investigation in Youth (QUALITY) cohort. Children were assessed at baseline (ages 8-10 years) and 2 years later. Fitness was measured by peak oxygen consumption, percentage of body fat (adiposity) by dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry, moderate-to-vigorous physical activity using accelerometry, and screen time by average daily hours of self-reported television, video game, or computer use. Regression models were adjusted for age, sex, season, and pubertal stage. The current analysis was completed in October 2015. Insulin sensitivity was measured by the homeostatic model assessment of insulin resistance and an oral glucose tolerance test-based index (Matsuda insulin sensitivity index). Insulin secretion was measured using the area under the curve of insulin to glucose during the first 30 minutes of the oral glucose tolerance test and using the area under the curve of insulin to glucose over 2 hours. Of 630 children evaluated at baseline (mean [SD] age, 9.6 [0.9] years; 54.4% male; 56.2% normal weight, 19.2% overweight, and 22.7% obese), 564 were evaluated at 2-year follow-up. Adiposity and changes in adiposity were the central predictors of insulin dynamics over time. Every additional 1% of body fat at ages 8 to 10 years decreased insulin sensitivity by 2.9% (95% CI, -3.3% to -2.5%; P < .001) and led to a 0.5% (95% CI, 0.09% to 0.8%; P = .02) increased requirement in the area under the curve of insulin to glucose during the first 30 minutes of the oral glucose tolerance test 2 years later. Higher levels of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity and lower screen time appear to be beneficial to insulin sensitivity in part through their effect on adiposity levels. Adiposity plays a determining role in cardiometabolic health at a young age. Public health strategies that promote healthy body weight, notably physical activity, need to target school-aged and possibly younger children.

Sexual health education in Quebec schools: A critique and call for change

In 2005, an education reform swept across Quebec high schools, leading to the disappearance of a mandatory sexual health curriculum. Arguing that the responsibility for children's sexual health education fell on multiple shoulders, the Ministère de l'Éducation, du Loisir et du Sport (MELS) of Quebec proposed that teachers, nurses, community organizations, and parents, work together to regularly include discussions of sexuality in different facets of school life, from classroom discussions to extracurricular projects. Instead of this, news reports and recent studies show that sexual health education is inconsistently offered across the province, and often not offered at all. Time constraints, diverging ideologies between stakeholders, feelings of confusion over the ministerial guidelines and stakeholders' roles, and a lack of teacher education are major challenges to the effective delivery of sexual health education in Quebec. In this article, I explore these issues, and compare the provincial sexual health education framework with the Public Health Agency of Canada's Canadian Guidelines for Sexual Health Education to illustrate gaps in Quebec's current approach to providing sexual health education in the schools. Finally, I critically examine the key elements of the recent pilot project announced by the Quebec Ministry of Education, and suggest that education policy-makers take the past reform issues and the Public Health Agency's guidelines into consideration as they move forward with the new sexual health education initiative.

What are We Waiting for, Another Child to Die? A Qualitative Analysis of Regulatory School Environments for Food Allergic Children

Severe food allergy, or anaphylaxis, is an immediate and severe allergic reaction that may cause difficulty breathing, hypotension, unconsciousness, and even death. Given there is no cure, managing life-threatening reactions is limited to strict avoidance of implicated foods and provision of medication for symptomatic treatment of an adverse reaction. A key piece of this management is the regulatory frameworks used in public spaces such as schools. This paper explores the perceptions and experiences of 'school' as a safe place for students with anaphylaxis and their parents in two Canadian provinces with very different regulatory environments in order to assess the impact of alternative regulatory environments on the quality of life of affected individuals. A qualitative research design involving draw-and-tell exercises along with in-depth interviews with elementary school-aged children (n=45) and their parents in the provinces of Ontario and Quebec, Canada was used. Results indicate that these very different regulatory environments had differing impacts on kids and parents. Ontario parents found security in the Ontario legislation, while the heterogeneity of the Quebec school regulatory environments resulted in reported stress and anxiety among the parents interviewed. The kids themselves just wanted to feel normal and not be teased or bullied.

Dépistage du décrochage scolaire à l’aide d’informations administratives ou auto-rapportées.

In a secondary school, efficient screening of students at risk of dropping out of school makes it possible to direct prevention and intervention efforts toward those who are most at risk. The schools have access to two different information sources for identifying students at risk: information self-reported by the students themselves or administrative data recorded in student files. The objective of this study is to establish the discriminant and predictive validity of a risk index based on administrative data, and to compare that to a validated index based on self-reported data (Archambault & Janosz, 2009). To achieve this objective, validation analysis was conducted on a sample of 1,557 students between the ages of 14 and 18 from two Quebec schools. The area under the ROC curve (AUC) indicates that the index based on administrative data has adequate discriminant validity (AUC 0.73), but lower than the excellent validity of the index based on self-reported data (AUC 0.81). The advantages and disadvantages of the two methods of screening are discussed. Tableau 2 Indices d’efficacite predictive pour les deux outils en fonction du sexe Point de coupure Vrais positifs Faux positifs Vrais negatifs Faux negatifs Specificite(%) Sensibilite(%) ASC Indice de risque auto-rapporte Garcons 0,8 33 221 512 12 70 73 0,81 0,9 33 214 519 12 71 73 0,81 1,0 31 207 526 14 72 69 0,81 Filles 0,1 34 201 533 11 73 76 0,82 0,2 34 184 550 11 75 76 0,82 0,3 33 175 559 12 76 73 0,82 Echantillon complet 0,5 70 434 1054 24 70 78 0,81 0,6 66 40

Continuing Education for High School Resource Teachers and Their Sense of Self-efficacy

This action-research project was conducted in three Quebec schools and its aim was to support resource teachers that teach high school students at risk and with learning difficulties. All participating resource teachers (N = 29) attended collaborative teachers-researchers meetings focusing on the characteristics and needs of students' with learning difficulties as well as on effective reading and writing strategies and procedures. Additionally, a test on their sense of self-efficacy was administered before and after the training. The paper also describes the mentoring and collaboration processes, the effects they had on actual classroom practices and on resource teachers' sense of self-efficacy. The facilitators and the obstacles encountered will also be presented and a few solutions will be proposed to improve this type of collaboration.

Catholic Schools Can Be Catholic

Loyola High School is a private Jesuit high school for boys, which was founded in 1848 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Until the 1990s, schools in Quebec were confessional schools, either Protestant or Roman Catholic. When the schools were deconfessionalized through a constitutional amendment in 1997, the religious education component of the curriculum was replaced by a neutral Ethics and Religious Culture (ERC) curriculum.1 Loyola High School applied for an exemption from the ERC, which, under legislation, the Minister of Education, Recreation, and Sports could grant if there was an alternative, equivalent course. The Minister refused the exemption on the basis that the proposed alternative was to be taught from a Catholic, rather than a secular, perspective. Loyola applied for judicial review of that decision. The judge at first instance ruled that the Minister infringed section 2(a) of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms (Charter) that guarantees freedom of religion. He overturned the Minister’s decision. The Quebec Court of Appeal overturned this decision on two bases. First, the standard of review. The court’s interpretation of the administrative standard of review of a discretionary decision maker was ‘reasonableness’. Second, the court ruled that the ECR program did not interfere with religious freedom in a substantial manner. The court therefore ruled that the Minister’s decision was reasonable.

Instruir, socializar e qualificar: O ensino de ciências humanas e sociais na encruzilhada da tripla missão socioeducativa da escola Quebequense

This article examines partial data drawn from semi-structured interviews about initial teachereducation with preschool and primary teachers, prior to beginning their careers. The text highlights the conceptions of pre-service teachers regarding the ultimate goals inherent to the instruction of social studies at the primary level, as well as the course’s contribution to the development of the threefold socio-educational mission of the Quebec school system. The results show that teachers primarily believed the course’s contribution to be focused on the development ofsocially acceptable attitudes in students, as well as a knowledge and understanding of history andsocietal functioning geared toward the students’ optimal adaptation to their society. These resultsraise questions about the impact of initial teacher education on pre-service teacher reflections pertaining to the social studies program, its epistemological foundations, ultimate goals, subjects of teaching-learning and evaluation, and its related teaching and learning processes.

Physical Activity and the Development of the Built Environment in Schools for Youth with a Functional Disability in Quebec

Abstract Background: Assess how primary and secondary schools were designed to encourage the practice of physical and sporting activities for young people with limited physical abilities. Analyse the impacts of the built environment on the adoption of active behaviours for the disabled clientele in schools. Materials and methods: Fifteen schools in Quebec were examined using two structured and coded observation grids. Fifty-two interviews were held with each school’s administrative team, physical education teachers, the professional staff, parents and youth with limited physical abilities. Results: The school environment is a central component in the inclusion of youth with physical limitations. However, the lack of means, the dilapidated state of some spaces along with the lack of knowledge of the different populations of youth with limited physical abilities can account for the fact that the schools observed offer an environment that is more of less accessible or poorly adapted to these young people. Conclusions: Most of the time, certain non-existent or deficient faculties in the surveyed areas have a negative impact on the autonomy, perseverance, and the level of inclusion of young individuals with limited physical abilities. It therefore seems essential to adapt and develop areas of activity in accordance with the clientele’s (or potential clientele’s) physical limitations

Cyberbullying, psychological distress and self-esteem among youth in Quebec schools

BackgroundThe advent of new technologies and social media offers a host of possibilities for teenagers to consolidate social networks. Unfortunately, new technologies also represent a potential setting for experiences of victimization. MethodsThe present study explores the prevalence of cyberbullying victimization in a representative sample of 8 194 teenagers in Quebec and the adverse associated consequences. ResultsResults indicate that 18% of boys and close to 1 out of 4 girls report at least one incident of cyberbullying in the past 12 months. Cyberbullying victimization contributes to the prediction of low selfesteem and psychological distress over and above other experiences of bullying in schools or other settings. ConclusionsCyberbullying appear as one important target for the design of prevention and intervention services designed for youth.

Implantation du Soutien au comportement positif (SCP) dans les écoles québécoises

This paper presents a first assessment of the implementation of Positive Behavioural Interventions and Supports (PBIS), translated into French as Soutien au comportement positif (SCP), in elementary and secondary schools in Quebec. The SCP proposes the establishment of a support system in terms of behaviour management throughout the school to create an environment conducive to learning. The results indicate that it is possible to implement SCP with fidelity in elementary and secondary schools in Quebec; however, fidelity of implementation seems to depend on the leadership of school principals.

“Escola em sofrimento”: pesquisa-ação sobre situações de trabalho de risco para a saúde mental em meio escolar

This paper relies on an action research conducted in a perspective of health and security at work in two high schools (secondary level) in Quebec. The objective was to identify work situations with risks for the mental health of the staff, by the analysis of the suffering at work and the individual and collective defensive strategies tied to the work organization. More specifically, the study aimed at accompanying the participants (teachers, education professionals, support staff and assistant principals) in the development of an action plan to prevent problems of mental health at work.

An Investigation of School-Level Factors Associated With Science Performance for Minority and Majority Francophone Students in Canada

AbstractMinority Francophone students in predominantly English-speaking Canadian provinces tend to perform lower on large-scale assessments of achievement than their Anglophone peers and majority Francophone students in Quebec. This study is the first to apply multilevel modeling methods to examine the extent to which school-level factors may be differentially associated with achievement for minority Francophone students compared to majority Francophone students. Forty-four percent of the variance in science achievement among Francophone schools was explained by the model. After taking into consideration gender as well as student- and school-level socioeconomic status, French-language schools in Ontario and New Brunswick had, on average, lower PISA 2006 science achievement scores compared to schools in Quebec. Findings indicate that differences in performance between linguistic minority and majority Francophone students could not be reduced to differences in socioeconomic status or to the school resource ...

Obesity and student retention among teenagers. Correlational analyses in high schools in Quebec (Canada).

Can we establish a relationship between obesity and student retention? Several studies confirm that the adoption of certain lifestyles such as physical activity and healthy eating are closely linked to student success. Healthier children perform better in school and in life, and conversely, those who do better in school are also healthier. As part of a larger research project, a correlational survey was conducted in winter 2013 among 248 young people aged 14–19 in the Outaouais region (Quebec, Canada) on the impact of government policies and other measures to adopt healthy lifestyles. We especially analyzed the links between obesity prevention and parental involvement on the school performance and academic achievement of these young people. Our survey was used to measure attitude, perception and behavior variables, using a Likert scale. Our results suggest that, despite efforts by public programs, parents and teachers, one-third of the teenagers do not have access to awareness campaigns on the benefits of a healthy lifestyle. Almost one-fifth of the teenagers are not sufficiently supported by their parents in the adoption of healthy lifestyles. Furthermore, this research shows strong correlations between parental involvement and both student retention and acquisition of healthy habits in their children.

Edible Histories. Cultural Politics. Towards a Canadian Food History

Table of Contents Preface Introduction I Cultural Exchanges and Cuisines in the Contact Zone 1. 'Fit for the table of the most fastidious epicure': Culinary Colonialism in the Upper Canadian Contact Zone 2. 'The snipe were good and the wine not bad': Enabling Public Life for Privileged Men 3. The Role of Food in Canadian Expressions of Christianity II Regional Food Identities and Traditions 4. Pine-clad hills and spindrift swirl: The Character, Persistence, and Significance of Rural Newfoundland Foodways 5. Stocking the Root Cellar: Foodscapes in the Peace River Region 6. Rational Meals for the Traditional Family: Nutrition in Quebec School Manuals, 1900-1960 III Foodways and Memories in Ethnic and Racial Communities 7. 'We Didn't Have A Lot of Money, But We Had Food': Ukrainians and Their Depression-Era Food Memories 8. Feeding the Dead: The Ukrainian Food Colossi of the Canadian Prairies 9. Toronto's Multicultured Tongues: Stories of South Asian Cuisines IV Gendering Food in Cookbooks and Family Spaces 10. More than 'just' Recipes: Mennonite Cookbooks in Mid-twentieth Century North America 11. Gefilte Fish and Roast Duck with Orange Slices: A Treasure for my Daughter and the Creation of a Jewish Cultural Orthodoxy in Postwar Montreal 12. 'Tutti a Tavola!' Feeding the Family in Two Generations of Italian Immigrant Households in Montreal V Single Food Commodities, Markets, and Cultural Debates 13. John Bull and Sons: The Empire Marketing Board and the Creation of a British Imperial Food System 14. Spreading Controversy: The Story of Margarine in Quebec VI Protests, Mindful Eating, and the Politics of Food 15. The Politics of Milk: Canadian Housewives Organize in the 1930s 16. 'Less Inefficiency, More Milk': The Politics of Food and the Culture of the English-Canadian University, 1900-1950 17. The Granola High: Eating Differently in the 1960s and 1970s 18. 'Meat Stinks/Eat Beef Dyke!': Coming out as a Vegetarian in the Prairies VII National Identities and Cultural Spectacles 19. Nationalism on the Menu: Three Banquets on the 1939 Royal Tour 20. Food Acts and Cultural Politics: Women and the Gendered Dialectics of Culinary Pluralism at the International Institute of Toronto, 1950s-1960s VIII Marketing and Imposing Nutritional Standards 21. Vim, Vigour and Vitality: 'Power' Foods for Kids in Canadian Popular Magazines, 1914-1954 22. Making and Breaking Canada's Food Rules: Science, the State, and the Government of Nutrition, 1942-1949 23. 'A National Priority': Nutrition Canada's Survey and the Disciplining of Aboriginal Bodies, 1964-75

Latent Classes of Substance Use in Adolescent Cannabis Users: Predictors and Subsequent Substance-Related Harm

Cannabis use is highly prevalent in late adolescence, but not all users experience significant negative consequences. Little information is available to identify the substance use patterns and risk factors of users who are at greater risk of experiencing negative consequences. In this prospective study, we aimed to empirically identify latent classes of substance use in adolescent cannabis users and to examine how these classes relate to antecedent psychosocial predictors and subsequent substance-related outcomes. The sample was recruited from 68 high schools in Quebec and consisted of 1618 participants who reported using cannabis in grade 10. We used latent class analysis to empirically identify classes of users based on the age of onset, frequency, and typical quantity of cannabis and other substance use, as well as substance mixing behaviors. We then compared classes in terms of (a) sociodemographic and psychosocial predictors in grades 7–8 and (b) substance-related consequences in grade 11. Four distinct classes were identified: Late-Light Users (28%); Late-Heavy + Polydrug Users (14%); Early-Moderate Users (33%); Early-Heavy + Polydrug Users (26%). Late-Light Users reported the lowest levels of substance use, while Early-Heavy + Polydrug Users reported the highest levels. Intermediate levels of substance use were found in the other two classes. Sex, age, delinquency, peer delinquency, school bonding, parental monitoring, and parental conflict all helped to differentiate classes. Class membership predicted substance-related harm, with greater consequences in early- and late-onset heavy using classes. In light of results, in addition to age and sex, screening and intervention for risky cannabis use among adolescents should focus on school bonding in order to target the most risky late-onset adolescents and on peer delinquency in order to target the most risky early-onset ones.