Adjunct Professor Barrie Gordon from Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington is leading a project that proposes a new method of helping some of New Zealand’s most disengaged youth to re-engage with their schools and their communities.
“Although this isn’t a new issue, the COVID-19 pandemic really increased the number of students who are no longer engaged in school,” Adjunct Professor Gordon says. “And the solution isn’t banning phones, for example—they’re such a part of life now, and forcing students to give up their phones will only cause more anger and conflict between students and schools which will only increase the levels of disengagement.”
Students who are disengaged from school face a lifetime of consequences. The impact on their learning leads to lower lifetime earnings, mental health struggles, and higher criminal conviction rates. Adjunct Professor Gordon’s research aims to help young boys re-engage with school to help avoid these consequences.
“I do believe our boys sometimes feel like they haven’t got a place, and there is a group that are at real risk of becoming disengaged and disheartened and losing touch with school, family, community,” he says. “Previous research I’ve done with youth in New Zealand has shown real feelings of loneliness amongst these boys that they desperately want help to address.”
His research will help these boys connect with their schools, families, and communities through the creation of physical activity-based leadership clubs. These clubs will involve around ten boys per school who have been identified as being at risk of disengaging with school.
The clubs will start as an opportunity for physical activity, which Adjunct Professor Gordon says is a good hook for many of these boys.
“Many parents say these at-risk boys will only go to school on days they can play sport or engage in physical education,” he says. “We hope to start drawing these boys back to school with extra opportunities for physical activity and then giving them other opportunities to connect with their communities.”
The leadership clubs, while physical activity based, will have a strong emphasis on the learning of positive values and life skills. “The learning from the clubs will be carefully integrated with classroom teaching and other aspects of the boys’ lives,” he says. This method is novel compared to other sport-based programmes which often have a focus on physical activity and what occurs during club meetings.
“As well as helping them find a place through physical activity, the clubs will also offer the boys the chance to lead different projects at school and in the community.”
The purpose of these clubs is to restore the mana of the boys and help them feel part of their communities again. They seek to instil good relationship skills and values, empower students and give them the opportunity to shape their experiences in meaningful ways, Adjunct Professor Gordon says.
“The voice of these boys is so important, and they get to decide what they’re doing, whether that is sports or community projects or school projects,” Adjunct Professor Gordon says. “The point of these activities is to promote increased self-confidence and a sense of belonging, reengagement with education, including attendance, and greater interest in learning.”
Adjunct Professor Gordon, along with his co-researchers, will work with schools and families to select boys who might benefit from the leadership clubs. The researchers will also provide training and support to schools to run the clubs.
“Support is important for the schools and communities,” Adjunct Professor Gordon says. “They will also have to trust these boys and allow them to do things, which can be hard when schools have perceived these boys a certain way for a long time.”
This project also involves international researchers Professor Paul Wright and Professor Michael Hemphill, researchers from the USA who have extensive experience in sport-based youth development as well as New Zealand researchers Lara Andrews and Pale Sauni. A number of teachers will also be involved in the project.
Adjunct Professor Gordon and his research team hope to run a trial of these leadership groups over three years for up to 150 boys from 8 schools, including a Kura Kaupapa. Provided the project is successful, the research team plans to develop a package of resources that will allow organisations and schools around New Zealand to have the chance to implement the model with the intention of helping as many students as possible.
“The main thing is they feel part of the community at the school and outside,” Adjunct Professor Gordon says. “We will look at their academic engagement as well. We hope they will continue to live the values of the programme and if they have a positive experience their trajectory will be altered into a better one for the rest of their lives.”