Youth Action is an initiative of the Sport and Physical Activity Research group. Monash University. Peninsula Campus. Vic. Australia. Proudly supported by the Pratt Foundation and the Department of Education Early Childhood Development (DEECD), in partnership with Sports Without Borders and the Australian Multicultural Foundation.
What is Youth Action?
Youth Action:
"It helped me, because I mentioned some ideas and they actually listened to me, because sometimes when I’m in groups, people don’t listen and it helped me way more to speak louder." (Student - Year 7)
Youth Action incorporates:
Youth Action is a unit of work that connects to the Health and Physical Education curriculum and aspects more broadly. It is designed to engage students in the everyday world of movement. Encouraging students to become agents of change in their own physically active lives is the aim of Youth Action, although part of this journey is to acknowledge that we don’t have full control over our decisions. Our movement is shaped by many layers of influence. It draws upon socio - ecological frames that highlight how individual behaviour is influenced by a host of personal, social and environmental factors.
Youth Action adopts an innovative Authentic Pedagogy (teaching and learning) that generates bottom-up community based solutions to engagement in sport and physical activity. Youth Action operates as a partnership model between students (the target audience), community sporting/physical activity stakeholders and educators. As a departure from traditional interventions, it employs an action research approach embedded within a school curriculum in a way that supports a transition of ownership of the problem (and solutions) to the target audience. This unique approach to HPE ensures strategies generated remain sensitive to the particular community contexts involved, whilst engaging those in the best position to act in sustainable ways.
As part of an integrated curriculum, Youth Action explicitly asks youth to develop as people who understand how they might ‘take action’ for:
• Their own physical wellbeing and the wellbeing of others
• Their own learning
• Their own relationships with others (including power and disadvantage)
• Their role in the local community
• Identifying and understanding meaningful issues.
At the same time acknowledge that physical activity is not simply an individual choice, rather it is impacted by a host of personal, interpersonal and environmental factors.
- Draws on individual, group and community strengths
- Meaningful student led inquiry
- Involves active learning
- Draws on authentic tasks (real world, relevant, complex, collaborative)
"It helped me, because I mentioned some ideas and they actually listened to me, because sometimes when I’m in groups, people don’t listen and it helped me way more to speak louder." (Student - Year 7)
Youth Action incorporates:
- Higher order thinking - students manipulate information, synthesise and draw conclusions
- Deep knowledge - explains connections and relations
- Substantive conversations - between teachers, peers and stakeholders
- Connection to the world beyond the classroom
Youth Action is a unit of work that connects to the Health and Physical Education curriculum and aspects more broadly. It is designed to engage students in the everyday world of movement. Encouraging students to become agents of change in their own physically active lives is the aim of Youth Action, although part of this journey is to acknowledge that we don’t have full control over our decisions. Our movement is shaped by many layers of influence. It draws upon socio - ecological frames that highlight how individual behaviour is influenced by a host of personal, social and environmental factors.
Youth Action adopts an innovative Authentic Pedagogy (teaching and learning) that generates bottom-up community based solutions to engagement in sport and physical activity. Youth Action operates as a partnership model between students (the target audience), community sporting/physical activity stakeholders and educators. As a departure from traditional interventions, it employs an action research approach embedded within a school curriculum in a way that supports a transition of ownership of the problem (and solutions) to the target audience. This unique approach to HPE ensures strategies generated remain sensitive to the particular community contexts involved, whilst engaging those in the best position to act in sustainable ways.
As part of an integrated curriculum, Youth Action explicitly asks youth to develop as people who understand how they might ‘take action’ for:
• Their own physical wellbeing and the wellbeing of others
• Their own learning
• Their own relationships with others (including power and disadvantage)
• Their role in the local community
• Identifying and understanding meaningful issues.
At the same time acknowledge that physical activity is not simply an individual choice, rather it is impacted by a host of personal, interpersonal and environmental factors.
Why Movement?
Physical activity is an important ingredient in anyones life. It is through moving that we first learn that we are indeed autonomous beings and through play we grew as social beings. Being active links us to others, it connects us to our place and it creates vibrant healthy communities. The kinds of physical activity that people choose to participate in across their lifespan (often lifestyle activities such as walking or swimming) receive scant attention as part of their education, partly because there is no clear framework in which to operate or explicit content to engage with. This paper by O'Connor and Penney outline how the movement landscape is changing: https://doi.org/10.1177/1356336X20915937
Youth Action Curriculum
Often students spend time learning about solar systems, exotic animals, far flung locations but rarely do they get to explore their own lives, their own communities and something that is inherently meaningful - moving. So how does an educator go about teaching walking to school, skating in the park, dancing to a beat or swimming for pleasure? Youth Action provides an alternative way of seeing and doing through a students physically active life. It isn’t about teaching the movement skills or understanding physiology. It is about learning how to ask questions of their own lives, learning how to uncover issues and then thinking through possible strategies to address them. Ideally we put these to the test in action.
Youth Action encourages students to get out of the classroom as much as possible. To have students do the physical activities they are exploring (walk to school, visit a community sporting club, visit a park, or climb a tree) to critically understand the issues is a very important part of the experience.
To understand how lives are impacted by a host of factors, many beyond the individual’s control, is important in being able to argue for more comprehensive positive change. Youth Action adopts a student as researcher model, where the student takes a lead role in exploring their own, and others, physically active lives. Students will learn that the apparently simple act of walking to school does not simply rest as an individual motive to do the activity. Rather this is shaped by environmental factors, perceptions, cultural norms and individual motives.
‘They present a point of view on a significant current issue or issues and include recommendations about the actions that individuals and governments can take to resolve issues. They demonstrate critical understanding that there are different viewpoints on an issue, and contribute to group and class decision making.’
Victorian Essential Learning Standards; Civics and Citizenship, Level 4, Community Engagement
Youth Action encourages students to get out of the classroom as much as possible. To have students do the physical activities they are exploring (walk to school, visit a community sporting club, visit a park, or climb a tree) to critically understand the issues is a very important part of the experience.
To understand how lives are impacted by a host of factors, many beyond the individual’s control, is important in being able to argue for more comprehensive positive change. Youth Action adopts a student as researcher model, where the student takes a lead role in exploring their own, and others, physically active lives. Students will learn that the apparently simple act of walking to school does not simply rest as an individual motive to do the activity. Rather this is shaped by environmental factors, perceptions, cultural norms and individual motives.
‘They present a point of view on a significant current issue or issues and include recommendations about the actions that individuals and governments can take to resolve issues. They demonstrate critical understanding that there are different viewpoints on an issue, and contribute to group and class decision making.’
Victorian Essential Learning Standards; Civics and Citizenship, Level 4, Community Engagement