Identifying at-risk youth: strategies to help them succeed

Approximately 30-40% of Canadian children are deemed to be at risk of not completing high school and 1.2 million or 27.6% of Canadian children under the age of 11 can be considered vulnerable to emotional, behavioural, social, or academic problems. Through the use of unobtrusive research under a qualitative research paradigm, a democratic approach to education focusing on empowering members of the teaching community and students has been done. This research narrows the gap between traditional education practices and explores new ways of instruction in order to create a healthy learning environment where students are able to feel excited and empowered through their learning. This manual encourages educators to try, adapt, and adopt new methodologies in their teaching repertoire. Intervention strategies include physical literacy, adventure-based learning, strengths-based approach, and social justice.