Teens who travel: A phenomenological study of an urban high school travel program through a Social Role Valorization lens
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Date
2019
Authors
Bara, Myriam
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Abstract
Students are learning more than provincially-mandated curriculum in school. They are learning about the world around them, and about their role in that world. Some roles students acquire at school can be seen as valued (such as “hard worker” or “athlete”), while others may be considered devalued (such as “slacker” or “trouble maker”). Social Role Theory (Wolfensberger, 1983) notes that being associated with valued social roles lead to what Wolfensberger referred to as “the good things in life” (1983). The purpose of this research study was to examine what valued social roles former high school students acquired from having participated in a travel program I developed. 10 former students participated in this qualitative research study and a phenomenological approach was used to gain insight into the participants’ lived experience of traveling with this program. The data were analysed using Social Role Valorization (Wolfensberger, 1983) as a theoretical framework in an effort to examine the potential for valued social role acquisition through travel. The findings of this study demonstrate that travel for these former students was seen as a valuable experience and allowed them to, not only acquire valued social roles, but also gave them the opportunity to develop valued social skills, such as problem solving and independence, which may one day lead to valued social roles.
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Keywords
Social Role Valorization, High school, Travel, Phenomenology
Citation
APA