NWT RESEARCH DATABASE

Regions: North Slave Region

Tags: community engagement, youth, school, student success, anxiety

Objective(s): This research is qualitative, utilizing participant interviews to explore the research question: What keeps students, aged 12-22, with anxiety, engaged at Mezi Community School in Whatì, Northwest Territories? I will utilize convenience sampling and snowball sampling when securing participants.  There are three separate consent forms associated with this research. Assent forms for participants aged 12-17, parental consent forms, and youth consent forms for participants aged 18-22.

Project Description: This licence has been issued for the scientific research application No. 5511. Objectives: This research is qualitative, utilizing participant interviews to explore the research question: What keeps students, aged 12-22, with anxiety, engaged at Mezi Community School in Whatì, Northwest Territories? I will utilize convenience sampling and snowball sampling when securing participants.  There are three separate consent forms associated with this research. Assent forms for participants aged 12-17, parental consent forms, and youth consent forms for participants aged 18-22. Once participants have been identified, I will invite them to interview with me for approximately 45-100 minutes. These interviews will be held remotely, either over the phone or via web conferencing. Interview questions will be largely open-ended. Following this research, I plan to present recommendations to school and community personnel to support students with anxiety and encourage a more engaging school environment. Hypothesis: I hypothesize that participants will highlight multiple factors within their school environment that help calm their anxiety and support engagement. I also hypothesize that participants will identify elements of their school environment that heighten their anxiety and reduce their desire to engage. I also hypothesize students will provide mixed responses about what they find helpful or unhelpful in encouraging or discouraging engagement in school while living with anxiety. Methodology: This research is qualitative, utilizing episodic narrative interviews with participants to explore the research question: What keeps students, aged 12-22, with anxiety, engaged at Mezi Community School in Whatì, Northwest Territories? Youth who agree to be a part of this study will be between the ages of 12 and 22. These youths will also self-identify as having anxiety and attend Mezi Community School in Whati, NT. These will be the study participants. All participants must submit consent and/or assent forms before being accepted as part of the study. Assent forms for participants aged 12-17, must be accompanied by a parental consent form. These parental consent forms must be signed by a parent or guardian of participants aged 12-17. Thirdly, there is a youth consent form for participants aged 18-22. In person recruitment will take place utilizing four approaches; these four approaches are identified as (1) Recruitment Facebook page, (2) Qualtrics link, (3) Recruitment Posters and (4) in class presentations, either done remotely or in person. The Recruitment Facebook page will provide an online space for interested parties and the public to learn about the research. I will also recruit by sharing the Recruitment Facebook page to the following pages on Facebook: Wha-Ti (Got’i), NT and Mezi Community School. The Recruitment Facebook page will also provide access to a Qualtrics link with an online version of the applicable Parental Consent, Youth Consent and Student Assent forms. Qualtrics is an online data collection software used for research, data analysis and surveying. I will also utilize Recruitment Posters that contain a brief overview of the study. This poster will contain a QR code which links to the Qualtrics Consent and Assent forms. I will hang recruitment posters at various sites in the community, including public poster boards. For buildings without a public poster board, I will use the recruitment script to receive permission to hang posters. Further, any interested parties can request, via email, a copy of the recruitment poster. Lastly, I will give presentations at Mezi Community School in Whati, NT where I will follow a Recruitment Presentation Script to share about myself and my research project. These presentations may be done remotely, using video conferencing, or in person. During recruitment, I will inform any interested parties of the option to email me to receive a copy of the Parental Consent, Youth Consent and Student Assent forms. This option will also be reflected in the recruitment Facebook page and the Recruitment Poster. Parental Consent, Youth Consent, and Student Assent forms will also ne shared with an accompanying Information Letter. The Information Letters include summarized information about the research project including the role of the researcher, what is expected of participants, and other important information about the research project. This provides the reader with a simplified and shorter overview of the key information contained in the consent and assent forms to make up for any differences in reading ability among various participants and parents or guardians. Participants who choose to be in this study will interview with me, the researcher, remotely. Remote options include interviewing over the phone or via video conferencing, either with the video on or off. The interviews will last approximately 45-100 minutes. During this time, participants can answer questions about their personal experiences with anxiety and school engagement. These questions will be written in advance and asked to participants. Any questions which might prove to be repetitive or unhelpful can be skipped over. Further, participants do not have to answer any questions which they do not wish to answer. With participant permission, interviews may also be taped. The types of information to be gathered from participants: Interview questions will be largely open-ended, allowing participants to share their experiences regarding self-identified or diagnosed anxiety as well as interactions at school with teachers, staff, and friends, attendance, levels of engagement, decision-making, learning experiences, success, and the risk associated with these factors. The interview Discussion Guide will follow an episodic narrative interviewing format, focusing on describing the phenomenon of anxiety and school engagement, experiencing the phenomenon of anxiety and school engagement, and the participants’ experience of an episode regarding anxiety and school engagement. For this study, an episode will be limited to the participants’ most recent school day. Recording, Transcription of Data: With permission, interviews will be recorded to make sure no important information is missed and all the participants’ answers are accurately recorded. For participants who do not agree to be audio or visually recorded, I will create handwritten notes during the interview process. These handwritten notes will be scanned and typed using Microsoft Word shortly after the interviews conclude. After any handwritten notes are scanned and typed, the handwritten originals will be shredded and disposed. Shortly after interviews end, participants’ audio and audio-visual recordings will be transcribed by the researcher using Microsoft Word programming and the original audio-recordings will be destroyed. After the interview concludes, participants will have the choice to receive a copy of the interview transcript or any typed interview notes for their review. During this review period, participants can make any necessary adjustments or clarifications. After this process, the final transcript and typed interview notes will be the collected data used for analysis. Storage of Data: During the transcription process and the transfer of handwritten notes to typed notes, these materials will be stored securely by the researcher in a locked space. Only the researcher will have access to these materials during this time. All audio-recordings and subsequent transcripts will be stored as password protected digital files, under my supervision. Only I will have first-hand access to this data. Data from these password-protected files may be shared with co-supervisors Dr. Sylvia Moore and Dr. Rick Audas as well as committee member, Dr. Nick Harris. Before beginning research, I took time to speak with community stakeholders and other relevant personnel regarding my research aims. This includes Whatì` Community Chief, Alfonz Nitsiza, Mezi Community School Principal, Bryce Glendennings and the Tli?cho region's Education Director, Linsay Hope. These individuals have provided letters of support and acknowledgement for this research project. I have also been in contact with individuals at Dedats’eetsaa: Tli?cho Research and Training Institute including Manager, Tyanna Steinwand and Senior Research Advisor, Tee Lim. During these communications, any questions from relevant community members were addressed and any questions or concerns raised during later communication with stakeholders or community members will be included within the final thesis report. Further, whenever possible, necessary amendments will be made during the research process. As my research will occur within an Indigenous community and impact community members, such as participants and their families, I must receive approval and create a Tli?cho Research and Training Institute Research Agreement with Dedats’eetsaa. This is an agreement that outlines my research intentions and the relevance of these intentions to the local community. I have been in communication with both Manager, Tyanna Steinwand and Senior Research Advisor, Tee Lim of Dedats’eetsaa regarding this process and application. If I am provided a research license and ethics approval from NWT licensing, I will continue meeting with stakeholders, especially the Mezi Community School Principal, Bryce Glendennings and any parents/guardians or interested participants and community members. Further communication with Dedats’eetsaa is also highly likely. The fieldwork for this study will be conducted from: February 03 - June 30, 2025