91��ɫ’s Department of Dance is spearheading an innovative health initiative that sends students into the community to lead weekly dance activity classes for older adults at partner institutions in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA).

The program, supported by the Government of Ontario’s Healthy Communities Fund, focuses on the positive and preventative effects that dance can have for seniors. Drawing on the specialized training the student instructors bring to the project, injury prevention and health promotion are at the core of the program. It features carefully designed movement exercises that build strength, encourage flexibility and full range of motion, proper alignment and coordination, and cardiovascular conditioning.

“The benefits of dance and music for physical and mental health cannot be overestimated,” says Department of Dance���ʰ��Ǵڱ�����ǰ� Mary Jane Warner (right), the project manager. “Blending fitness and recreation through dance with the opportunity for creative expression is powerful motivation. Fitness strategies like this can help seniors stay active, in their homes and out of hospital beds.”

According to the Ministry of Health & Long-Term Care, the number of seniors in Ontario is expected to double in the next 16 years. In 2009, 18 local hospitals reported that community services such as recreational and exercise classes, along with facilities for the elderly, are hugely insufficient to meet their referral and discharge needs.

91��ɫ’s Dance Department launched the project last fall with one-hour weekly dance classes held in the community. Over the course of eight to 10 weeks, more than 190 seniors at 10 facilities across the GTA took part. Three additional locations and five more classes were added last month to accommodate the growing demand from enthusiastic participants.

Current community partners include North 91��ɫ’s Bernard Betel Centre, Black Creek Community Health Centre, Downsview Services to Seniors, Elspeth Heyworth Centre for Women at two locations in North 91��ɫ and one in Woodbridge, North 91��ɫ Seniors Centre, Toronto Heliconian Club, St. Clair West Service for Seniors, three Unison Health and Community Services in North 91��ɫ, and Vaughan Community Health Centre. Feedback from the seniors and student-teachers – as well as the institutions hosting the sessions – is overwhelmingly positive.

“It’s incredibly satisfying when you hear how much these classes mean to the participants. You really feel like you’re making a difference in people’s lives,” says project coordinator and research associate April Nakaima. “One woman, a diabetic, was congratulated by her doctor for the drop in her blood sugar; she credited the class for this good outcome. Several other women credited the class with helping them lose inches from their waistlines. Another participant says she found the dance class more beneficial in combating her depression than other programs. Getting responses like this after just eight weeks has been both astounding and deeply gratifying.”

Nakaima, a former research coordinator at St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto, serves as adviser and guest lecturer to the program. She brings extensive expertise and experience to the project, having previously developed a highly successful dance program for older adults living in government-assisted housing.

The participants are incredibly diverse, and so the project delivery must be too, Nakaima says. “One of the most fascinating aspects is accommodating such a wide range of fitness, mobility, socio-economic and cultural backgrounds. Some classes are done with people mostly seated. A couple of groups need translators. We even take music requests from the participants.”

Rhea Bowman, one of 16 student teachers, leads seniors in a dance class

Sixteen student teachers from 91��ɫ’s Dance Department are taking part in the program, earning course credit for their third-year pedagogy class. With a range of teaching experience under their belts and a targeted orientation program, they bring a solid foundation to their training to lead the dance activity classes. The pedagogy classes prepare them to teach in dance studio settings, recreation and community centres, and the public school system. The course covers teaching participants of all ages and abilities, with a strong emphasis on creative movement as a form appropriate for everyone, including the elderly. There are also courses in kinesiology, conditioning, somatics and injury prevention that prepare the students to work safely with participants.

Some students are planning to teach dance in community settings or within the school system. Others bring a particular interest in dance therapy or rehabilitation, looking to serve clients with special needs, such as the elderly or people recovering from illness or injury.

‘The experience has been amazing,” says fourth-year dance major Rhea Bowman, who is teaching her second group of predominately Spanish-speaking participants at the Black Creek Community Health Centre. “We dance to Spanish, soca and calypso music, and some of the ladies have taught me more intricate Spanish dance steps. They are teaching me Spanish words too!

“I feel very passionate about fitness for older adults after seeing how beneficial this dance class is for them,” says Bowman. “I would love to continue to do this work after the year is done.”

Bowman’s classmate, Candace Calarco, who is teaching at the Elspeth Heyworth Centre for Women located near 91��ɫ’s Keele campus, is equally enthusiastic. “So far, this placement has been a totally positive and exciting experience,” she says. “Working with seniors has really expanded my knowledge about movement and the human body, and how to teach a group with a wide range of physical abilities.”

The student teachers come together each week to share their experiences and strategies on solving the challenges they encounter in the course of their teaching. Input is also invited from the participating seniors and community partners. This ongoing feedback loop strengthens the experience for everyone involved.

“The student teachers from 91��ɫ’s Dance Department are professional, knowledgeable instructors who address the physical exercise needs of our clients while taking their medical conditions into consideration,” says Rukhsana Naheed Cheema, the seniors coordinator at the Elspeth Heyworth satellite location in Vaughan’s Blue Willow Activity Centre. “The pleasant personalities of these skilled instructors add to the seniors’ love for the program. It has not only improved their health, but their mood and spirits as well. They hope it can go on forever.”

Plans are in the works to create a dedicated course to keep the program running in the future.

Republished courtesy of YFile– 91��ɫ’s daily e-bulletin.

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The Canadian Knowledge Mobilization 100, a survey run by , asked respondents to rank the biggest influences of their knowledge mobilization practice. Phipps, who leads 91��ɫ’s Knowledge Mobilization Unit and , Canada’s knowledge mobilization network, topped the list.

Left: David Phipps

Also mentioned among the top influencers in Canada were Peter Levesque (Knowledge Mobilization Works), Melanie Barwick (Hospital for Sick Children), Ben Levin (Ontario Institute for Studies in Education) and Gary Myers (KMbeing.com).  The survey collected responses from Jan. 5 to June 15, and results were released by Knowledge Mobilization Works on Monday.

“Knowledge mobilization is a key element of 91��ɫ’s research outreach strategy,” said Robert Haché, 91��ɫ’s vice-president research & innovation. “Through David’s efforts and leadership, 91��ɫ’s excellent reputation as a leading knowledge mobilization university in Canada continues to be strengthened. This recognition by his peers is well deserved.”

91��ɫ piloted institutional knowledge mobilization in 2005 under a grant from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. Since then, 91��ɫ has grown its knowledge mobilization collaboration with the University of Victoria to include the other four �����𲹰���������貹����-��é���𲹳ܱ����貹���ٸ�𳦳�������� universities: Memorial University of Newfoundland & Labrador, Université du Québec à Montréal, University of Guelph and University of Saskatchewan. 91��ɫ also works closely with the United Way of 91��ɫ Region to deliver knowledge mobilization services to the 91��ɫ Region community, municipal and regional agencies.

Knowledge mobilization is a suite of services that connect university research and expertise to government and community agencies so that research can help these organizations make better informed decisions about public policy and social services. Knowledge mobilization is a process that results in social innovation.

“Knowledge mobilization has become very important for Canada,” said Steven Gaetz, professor in the Faculty of Education who leads both the and the . “David’s work and that of the knowledge mobilization unit is very helpful to those of us seeking to make research accessible to policy makers.”

Levesque, president and CEO of Knowledge Mobilization Works, undertook the survey to obtain a snapshot of who people see as influential in their knowledge mobilization practice in Canada.

“We think that knowledge mobilization as a concept and as a practice is growing. We think that we have barely scratched the surface of understanding what influences knowledge mobilization practice,” said Levesque.

Founded in January 2007, Knowledge Mobilization Works supports individuals and organizations to create incentives and infrastructure for knowledge mobilization.

For more information on 91��ɫ’s Knowledge Mobilization Unit contact , manager, Knowledge Mobilization at ext. 88876.

To view the results of the survey, visit .

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They were attending the 10th annual Aug. 22 to 24. The theme this year was Connected Community Learning: The Next Decade.

For two-and-a-half days, they heard speakers and took training sessions on new technology tools and best practices in the classroom.

Right: Teachers receive training in the latest online educational tools at ABEL Summer Institute

“ABEL is at the forefront of 21st century learning and at the interface of K to 12 and postsecondary education systems,” said Robert Haché, the new vice-president research & innovation at 91��ɫ, in his opening remarks. “The ABEL program is exemplary at applying the latest research and giving teachers access to pioneering tools and support for teaching and learning.”

The conference featured . In his keynote speech, Curtis Bonk, an authority on emerging technologies for learning and author of books on how web technology is revolutionizing education, identified the top 10 trends in educational technology. Dean Shareski, a digital learning consultant from Saskatchewan, talked about learning methods that should be kept and those that need to be discarded. And Norm Vaughn, an education professor at Mount Royal University in Calgary, discussed blended learning in the classroom to foster student engagement and success.

At a celebratory luncheon, the institute also recognized ABEL members’ hard work and dedication to classroom innovation over the past 10 years.

Left: ABEL project manager Janet Murphy (left) and Anita Drossis, a teacher at Vaughan Secondary School, cut the 10th-anniversary cake

Founded in 2002, the award-winning ABEL program, based in 91��ɫ’s Institute for Research on Learning Technologies, is recognized as a leading international authority on new modes of teaching, training, learning and collaboration.

Sponsors of this year’s institute included Microsoft, Apple, Pearson Education, Ektron, Mindshare Learning, Mygazines, 91��ɫ and the 91��ɫ Region District School Board.

Thanks to Microsoft, five 91��ɫ students attended the institute as delegates and received a three-year membership subscription to the ABEL program through the Microsoft/ABEL Student Undergraduate Award.

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The rags-to-riches immigrant stories Canada has been bred on don’t work anymore, say the two professors who led the project that will be released today, wrote the Toronto Star June 18.

Luin Goldring, sociology professor in 91��ɫ’s Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies, and Patricia Landolt of the Centre for Urban and Community Studies at the University of Toronto, were the lead researchers on the "Immigration and Precarious Employment" project, which over three years interviewed 300 Latin American and English-speaking Caribbean immigrants in Greater Toronto with a variety of incomes and backgrounds.

Among the major findings:

• Despite an immigration policy designed to lure “the best and the brightest,” education had no impact on whether immigrants ended up in a precarious job. The only thing that made a difference was the ability to speak English.
• Their first job in Canada had a big influence on the rest of their work lives: Those who started with precarious jobs were more likely to stay in them. Bad advice was a prime factor in ending up in precarious work.
• On-the-job training helps improve immigrants’ working lives, but government education and training strategies don’t have much impact.

Republished courtesy of YFile – 91��ɫ’s daily e-bulletin.

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