An Exploration of the Formal and Informal Learning Experiences of Newcomer High School Youth in Canada During COVID-19 Pandemic
Bibliographic record
Abstract
This study explored the educational experiences of newcomer high school youth in Canada, with a specific focus on the interplay between their formal and informal learning environments. Drawing from Lefebvre’s (1991a, 2002) notion of the everyday and a critical constructivist theoretical framework (Kincheloe, 2005a), this research also examined how the learning experiences of newcomer youth are shaped by complex power dynamics, cultural identities, and societal expectations. The study was situated within the context of Kingston, a mid-sized city in Ontario, Canada, where the demographics and social environment offer a unique backdrop for understanding the integration and adaptation challenges faced by newcomer youth. Utilizing a qualitative case study approach, the research includes document analysis of Ontario Ministry of Education policies and guidelines, focus group interviews and follow-up one-on-one interviews with newcomer youth to capture their pandemic and post-pandemic lived experiences and perceptions. Research questions that guided this study included: What policies and guidelines exist to support newcomer high school youth’s educational experiences in Ontario? How has the COVID-19 pandemic affected the formal and informal learning experiences of newcomer high school youth? The findings revealed discrepancies between policy intentions and the lived realities of newcomer youth. While educational policies in Ontario emphasize certain support for newcomer youth, implementation gaps persist, leaving many newcomer youth struggling within a system that overlooks their unique learning needs and knowledge backgrounds. Additionally, the research underscores the critical role of informal learning spaces in providing newcomer youth with opportunities to build social connections, engage in cultural practices and learning, and develop a sense of belonging. These informal learning experiences, which include community programs, online interactions, and family engagements, not only complement formal education but should also be considered as essential and vital components for the holistic development of newcomer youth. By examining the educational experiences of newcomer youth through the lenses of the notion of the everyday (Lefebvre, 1991a, 2002), this dissertation contributes to the broader discourse on how to better align policy and pedagogy. It also encourages educators and policymakers to critically consider the role of informal education in supporting newcomer youth.
Fetched live from OpenAlex and de-inverted. Abstracts are not stored in this database: the inverted indexes are 8.6 GB of the frame’s 9.3 GB of text, and the host has 13 GB free.
How this classification was reachedexpand
Full frame machine prediction
Teacher imitationNot calibrated prevalence, not ground truth. Human validation pending. The Gemma side is a direct model label for every work in the frame, read from the title-only record. The Codex side is a classifier learned from the 10,348 direct Codex labels and calibrated to design-weighted sample rates; fields without enough sample support carry no Codex call. Candidate is the union of the two sides; consensus is their intersection. These outputs are machine_predicted_unvalidated and are not human labels.
Distilled classifier scores by category (both heads)
| Category | Codex | Gemma |
|---|---|---|
| Metaresearch | 0.003 | 0.004 |
| Meta-epidemiology (narrow) | 0.001 | 0.001 |
| Meta-epidemiology (broad) | 0.001 | 0.001 |
| Bibliometrics | 0.002 | 0.003 |
| Science and technology studies | 0.028 | 0.011 |
| Scholarly communication | 0.007 | 0.002 |
| Open science | 0.002 | 0.007 |
| Research integrity | 0.001 | 0.003 |
| Insufficient payload (model declined to judge) | 0.003 | 0.000 |
Machine scores (provisional)
The two teacher heads of the student model, read on this work. A score orders the frame for review; it never asserts a category, and the validation status ships verbatim with every row.
Baseline scores from an immature model (maturity gate not passed, 7 training rounds). Scores rank; they never assert a category.
score_only:v0-immature-baseline · verbatim from the scoring run: score_only means the number may rank works, and no category label ships from itClassification
machine, unvalidatedMachine predicted; a candidate call from one source (direct Gemma or distilled Codex), not a consensus.
How this classification was reached, model by model and score by score, is at the end of the page under "How this classification was reached".