Base de données de recherche des TNO

Régions: Inuvialuit Settlement Region, Gwich'in Settlement Area

étiquettes: social sciences, aboriginal youth, Inuvialuit Settlement Region, country food

Objectif(s): To determine the types of country foods and country food activities students in the Inuvialuit Settlement Region want more opportunities to engage with and determine how and from whom children and youth in these communities want to learn about country foods.

Description du projet: This licence has been issued for the scientific research application No.5275. The aim of this study is to inform pathways for incorporating more country food activities into existing food programming in the Inuvialuit Settlement Region (ISR) (including school food programs and daycares) that are guided by the wants and needs of children and youth. The overall objectives of this study are to determine the types of country foods and country food activities students in the ISR want more opportunities to engage with and determine how and from whom children and youth in these communities want to learn about country foods. Each school in the ISR will be invited to participate in this survey through phone calls and emails with the school administration. Only schools that have expressed interest in participating will be involved in this study. A week ahead of the survey date(s), a “postcard” style letter will go home with each student informing them and their parents about the purpose of the survey and the date(s) that it will be conducted in class, as well as provide information about the public meeting where families can learn more about the survey project. This postcard letter will be accompanied by a detailed information letter about the project and consent form for parents of children age 10 & under to fill out. This information will also be posted on community Facebook pages, and posters will be put up around the school and community to allow for parents/guardians to have numerous opportunities to learn about the survey. Receiving consent for participation from the students will be age-based. Following the recommendations of the Superintendent of the Beaufort Delta Divisional Education Council, children aged 10 & under will be required to have parental/guardian consent to complete the survey, whereas students 11 and older will be able to provide their written consent immediately prior to the survey process. Since school administrators have explained that form-return rate is very low in schools in the ISR, the community researcher will follow up with parents to encourage consent form return, as needed. All parents/guardians of children 10 & under will have various opportunities to provide informed consent verbally for their child(ren): 1) The letter of consent for parents/guardians to sign will be sent home along with a “postcard” style letter giving a quick overview of the country foods survey and a more detailed information letter. Parents/guardians will be asked to return this consent letter by a set date ahead of the date(s) the survey will be administered; 2) Parents/guardians will receive a phone call to ensure they received the information and consent letter, and to seek verbal consent from parents/guardians for their child’s participation over the phone. This verbal consent will be documented in a designated log book; 3) Following each community’s directive, parents will be invited to attend a public meeting using social media, posters around the school, and the postcard sent home with their child(ren). Following the meeting, they will be invited to review the information letter and provide written or verbal consent. This meeting will likely look different across the ISR and we will adjust this plan to fit the needs and capacity of each community. Youth aged 11 and up will be asked to provide consent to fill out the survey on the day that the survey is being administered through a consent form handed out & verbal explanation from a University researcher or local community coordinator, who will thoroughly explain: what the purpose of the survey is; the types of questions that will be asked; what will happen with the information collected; how privacy will be kept and information will be anonymous; and that students do not have to answer any question they are not comfortable answering and can change their mind about filling out the survey at any time. Students will each be given a physical copy of the information letter and consent letter, for them to read and sign if they are comfortable participating in the research. Students who do not receive or provide consent, will be discreetly given another activity, as recommended by the local school administration, to complete while other students fill out the survey, so as not to feel excluded from the group. Before completing the survey, the participant will provide brief demographic data regarding year of birth, gender and school grade. The demographic data will be collected on a form alongside the survey, but will be stored separately from the survey once it is completed. This data will be coded using unique participant ID numbers, and will be non-identifiable. The survey will be administered to all students in grades K-12 that are present in class on the set date(s). On the set dates, a University research assistant or local community coordinator will come to the school to support teachers in delivering the physical survey and to ensure consistency with how questions are understood. Resultantly, the survey is anticipated to be completed by 500-750 students, pending attendance and consent. The survey will help identify what country foods children and youth in the ISR want more opportunities to eat, harvest, learn about, or engage with. The survey asks about what country foods the students like and want to eat, what country food activities they like and want to help with, what animals they want to learn how to harvest and prepare, and who they want to learn from. Final results from the surveys will be shared with the schools in each community, the communities at large, as well as the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation (IRC) and the Beaufort Delta Divisional Education Council, so that future food programs can be tailored to the reported interests of young people in the communities. After the survey is shared in the schools an addition to a final research report, results from this survey will be disseminated at each school in the form of a letter being sent home to parents and/or a post made on the school’s Facebook page, with a summary of the findings and results. Other dissemination methods will be determined based on ongoing communications with the schools, the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation (IRC) and the Beaufort Delta Divisional Education Council. This may include presentations, posters, or any other method of information sharing deemed appropriate, in collaboration with the community. The fieldwork for this study will be conducted from September 29, 2022 to December 31, 2022