Building Relationships through Reciprocal Student Exchanges

Abstract

This participatory action research study describes a reciprocal exchange between twoFirst Nations schools, one in Northern Ontario and one in urban British Columbia.The study participants were 12- to 14-year-old students who were involved in the ex­change. Photo-story and sharing circle methods were used to elicit their perceptions ofthe exchange experience. The four themes that emerged were community and relation­ships, connections to place, confidence building, and culture and ceremony. This studyasserts that experiential educational practices that focus on building relationships andenhancing existing strengths could benefit many First Nations youth.