Community Analysis:

A View of the Two Wolves Program

Overview

The Two Wolves Program (TWP) is an Education Provincial Resource Program (PRP) housed within the Prince George Youth Custody Centre (PGRCC). It is an inter-ministerial program, with responsibility for funding, supervising, and running the program shared between the BC Ministry of Education and the BC Ministry of Children and Family Development (MCFD). There are two Youth Custody PRPs in the province, with the other being located in Burnaby. The Two Wolves Centre is placed to serve the geographic area of British Columbia outside of the lower mainland, however, youth from the lower mainland are sometimes registered in the Two Wolves Program if there is an operational need (such as a disparity in the number of youth at each location) or if there are issues with peer relations (such as youth being bullied at one location). The facility where the program is housed includes two operational living units, two classrooms, a small library, gymnasium (with a separate weight room), hobbies room, and office. There are two classroom teachers onsite, with an off-site administrator and administration support. It is a small program, and while the number of students can vary by a large amount depending on the number of youth in custody provincially, the maximum capacity of the program is 16 students at any one time (each classroom has a capacity of 8 students).

The Two Wolves Program focuses on Math and English literacy. Many of our students graduate with the British Columbia Adult Graduation Diploma Program (BCAGD), and the BCGAD’s only two specific requirements are a Language Arts 12 and Math 11 or 12 (Ministry of Education and Child Care, 2019). Furthermore, the entrance requirements for many trades programs in the province only have English and Math prerequisites. Many of the students are below grade level, and so academic upgrading is a major component of enrolled courses.

 

Courses Completed in School Year 2021/22 by total of completed courses (PRP report, 2022):

1. Active Living 12 (23.5%);
2. Math Upgrading (17.6%);
3. English Upgrading (5.9%);
4. Literature Studies 11 (5.9%);
5. English Studies 12 (5.9%);
6. Workplace Math 11 (5.9%);
7. Earth Science 11 (5.9%);
8. Physical and Health Education 7 (5.9%);
9. Physical and Health Education 9 (5.9%);
10. Fitness and Conditioning 12 (5.9%);
11. Art Studio 11 (5.9%); and
12. Food Studies 11 (5.9%).

 

Selected Curriculum

For this assignment, I’ve chosen to focus on English Studies 12. This course was selected because it is one of the core courses taught in the TWC.

 

The English Studies 12 course units, curricular competencies, and content (Ministry of Education and Child Care, n.d.):

Unit	Curricular Competencies	Content
Grammar Review	Create and Communicate ●        Use the conventions of Canadian spelling, grammar, and punctuation proficiently and as appropriate to the context	●        Text forms and genres ●        Text features and structures ●        Elements of style ●        Usage and conventions
Analyzing Text	Comprehend and Connect ●        Use information for diverse purposes and from a variety of sources ●        Evaluate the relevance, accuracy, and reliability of texts ●        Understand and appreciate how different forms, formats, structures, and features of texts reflect a variety of purposes, audiences, and messages	●        Reading strategies ●        Multimodal reading strategies ●        Literary elements and devices
Create Written Expression	Create and Communicate ●        Use writing and design processes to plan, develop, and create engaging and meaningful texts for a variety of purposes and audiences	●        Metacognitive strategies ●        Writing processes ●        Elements of style ●        Usage and conventions

 

 

Writing a Persuasive Essay	Create and Communicate ●        Use writing and design processes to plan, develop, and create engaging and meaningful texts for a variety of purposes and audiences ●        Express and support an opinion with evidence	●        Text features and structures ●        Form, function, and genre of texts ●        Writing processes ●        Citation techniques
Reconciliation	Comprehend and Connect ●        tradition in expressing First Peoples perspectives, values, beliefs, and points of view ●        Recognize the diversity within and across First Peoples societies as represented in texts s	●        Reconciliation in Canada ●        Narrative structures found in First Peoples texts
Novel Study	Comprehend and Connect ●        Read for Enjoyment and to achieve personal goals	●        Multimodal reading strategies
Multimodal Expression	Create and Communicate ●        Respond to text in personal, creative, and critical ways ●        Transform ideas and information to create original texts, using various genres, forms, structures, and styles	●        Oral language strategies ●        Presentation techniques

 

 

Clientele

Students in the Two Wolves Program are those youth who have been sentenced to a custody order in the province. The Youth Criminal Justice Act (YCJA) covers youth from the 12 to 18 (Government of Canada, 2021), however the youngest student in the TWP is 13 and the oldest have been in their 20s (if a youth commits a crime before they’re 18, the length of time it takes for the completion of their trial and then the duration of their sentence itself, means that they may still be involved with the YCJA after the age of 18). The size of the program’s catchment area, and the method of admission, defines a highly variable composition of students. The students at the TWC are exclusively male (provincially, female offenders, are solely housed at the Burnaby Youth Custody Centre).

General Characteristics of the Two Wolves Program Student Population (Student Files, n.d.):

1. Substantial contact with the criminal justice system;
2. Almost universal abuse of drugs and alcohol;
3. Worldly, with mature interests;
4. Come from lower socioeconomic backgrounds;
5. Below grade level in English and Math literacy;
6. High incidence of trauma;
7. Commonly have physical, mental, and behavioural conditions (such Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder, Attention Deficit HyperActivity Disorder, Oppositional Defiant Disorder, Narcissistic Personality Disorder, etc); and
8. Limited contact with school.

 

The students enrolled in the Two Wolves Program come from across British Columbia. In the school year 2021/22, the students in the program came from (Two Wolves Program Internal Statistics Report, 2022):

1. The Lower Mainland (43.8%);
2. The North (18.8%);
3. The Thompson/Okanagan (18.8%);
4. The Islands (12.5%); and
5. The Cariboo/Chilcotin (6.3%).

Figure 1: The students within the program come from a variety of ethnicities. The Two Wolves Program Internal Statistics Report (2021) only tracks Aboriginal (68.8%) and Non-Aboriginal (31.3%) ancestry. The percentage of Aboriginal students in the program is well above the Canadian and provincial averages. The majority of Non-Aboriginal students are white (although around 5% of students are black and 5% are South Asian).

 

Figure 2: The majority of TWP students guardians are provided by the Ministry of Children and Family Development (MCFD). The MCFD guardians for the 2021/22 school year were all social workers, with the youth living in group homes or other ministerial programs. Many of these children had previously been placed in foster homes. This has numerous effects on children, including with their emotional development, socioeconomic status, material resources,  and experience (Two Wolves Program Internal Statistics Report, 2022).

 

Figure 3: The majority of students (56.3%) are enrolled in the program for under 24 days. Some students are enrolled for quite long periods however, with one student in the program being in custody for over two years.

 

Community Partners

            The use of community partners is heavily restricted due to the security and privacy limitations inherent to the program. There are several agencies that work within the centre however:

1. Healthcare. The youth have sessions with various health professionals. These sessions cover many subjects, and mainly relate to the physical and mental health of the youth. One of the first lessons most students receive is Narcan training (and a Naloxone kit is added to their personal effects). Other lessons include topics on harm reduction, hygiene, and public health, as well as counseling to promote mental health and reduce recidivism. Some of their work can be applied to the “Social and community health” and “Mental well-being” curricular competencies in the Physical and Health Education Curriculums (Ministry of Education and Child Care, n.d.).

 

1. Aboriginal Liaison. Aboriginal workers come in multiple times a week. They do work in multiple areas: including cultural activities, such as co-ordinating drumming, smudging and sweat lodges; artistic activities, such as beading and drum making; and counseling. They have been involved with various aspects of the curriculum, including Social Studies, Visual Arts, and English Language Arts.

 

1. Youth Supervisors. The youth supervisors are our most prominent community partners. They interact with the program students and teachers daily. They supervise the shops, kitchens, and hobbies room. They also run some of the work experience programs, such as the Barista Program. They are involved in the Applied Design, Skills, and Technologies, Career Education, and Physical and Health Education courses.

 

Analysis

“By collecting and reflecting on information about the school library’s users community, librarians are able to more precisely align library resources and services with teaching and learning needs” ((M. A. Mardis, 2021). The characteristics of the institution and clientele influence the curriculum, as well as the resources to support it, in several ways.

Characteristic	Considerations for Curriculum
Institutional Constraints on Technology	Emphasis on print, rather than digital resources. ●        The lack of access to technology due to the institutional nature of the program, as well as our students’ lack of familiarity with technology, means that print, rather than digital resources, is better suited to the curriculum. ●        Students very limited access to the internet during classroom time, and no access beyond that.
Students being below grade level in English and Math literacy and having limited contact with school.	Create a curriculum at an appropriate ability level. ●        English Studies 12 replaced both English 12 and Communications 12. It is “designed for all students,” (Ministry of Education and Child Care, n.d.), and its curriculum can be adapted to suit a wide variety of student abilities.  Because of the nature of the students in TWC academic background, the English Studies 12 course is closer to the Communications 12 side of the spectrum. Using resources with an appropriate readability level ●        The literacy of our students tends to be slightly less than average, and so resources used in the program must be more readable.
Worldly, with mature interests	Select resources with appropriate content ●        TWP students tend to have more mature interests. They are not interested in many of the things that other students their age are interested in. The resources used to support the curriculum must have more adult content and themes than most students their age (much of the literacy support materials are intended for adults).
Short Length of Enrollment	Use common resources ●        TWP students are often transferred between different educational programs. Where possible, it makes sense to use the same resources as other programs so that disrupting when transferring is minimised. Use discrete units of instruction ●        Most students will not stay long enough to complete an entire course. It is easier for other educational programs to continue their education if units are complete.
Large Number of Aboriginal Students	Select resources with relatable content ●        The large number of Aboriginal students means that increased  inclusion of materials dealing with Aboriginal culture is imperative.
Substantial contact with the criminal justice system and High incidence of trauma	Select resources with appropriate content ●        Many of our students idealise gang culture and activities. Some are, or have been, involved in unhealthy relationships (both as victims and perpetrators). This means that selecting a text has to balance relevance to the students’ life experience against something which could prove disruptive in the classroom, is emotionally damaging, or will increase criminality.

 

 

Summary

The Two Wolves Program is a unique educational program. There are only a few Provincial Resource Programs in the province, and there are only two Youth Custody education programs in the province. The student demographics of the program are also unique. The institutional nature of the program and the characteristics of our students have several considerations to the program as a whole, and to the English Studies 12 curriculum specifically. Resources for the program must be appropriate, in that they must relate to the TWP student’s life experiences, but without being disruptive. Resources by or about Aboriginal experiences are also appropriate. Resources should be at an appropriate reading level, and print resources usually suit the program more than digital resources.

References

Government of Canada, D. of J. (2021, July 7). The Youth Criminal Justice Act Summary and background. Government of Canada, Department of Justice, Electronic Communications. Retrieved February 2, 2023, from https://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/cj-jp/yj-jj/tools-outils/back-hist.html

Mardis, M. A. (2021). Collection Program in Schools:  Concepts and Practices, 7th Edition. Libraries Unlimited.

Ministry of Education and Child Care. (2019, October 9). British Columbia Adult Graduation Diploma Program – Province of British Columbia. https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/education-training/adult-education/graduate-high-school/bc-adult-graduation-diploma-program

Ministry of Education and Child Care (n.d.). B.C. Curriculum. https://curriculum.gov.bc.ca/curriculum/english-language-arts/12/english-studies

PRP Report (2022). Provincial Resource Program 2021-2022 School Year Outcome Reporting Report.

Student Files (n.d.).  Two Wolves Program Teacher Student Files.

Internal Statistics Report (2022). Two Wolves Program Annual Internal Statistics Report.