This factsheet was taken from the following website: www.coeureaction.qc.ca.

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Un milieu ouvert sur ses coles (MO)
(English Version)

1) Category:
Project

2) Issues:
In the 1990s, when immigration became increasingly brisk and diversified in Qubec, the
Table de concertation jeunesse Bordeaux-Cartierville (TCJBC) concluded that the
community was becoming ghettoized and its social fabric weakened. Cultural diversity
and compartmentalization meant that numbers of newcomers were isolated, making it
difficult for them to become part of society and for their children to fit in at school.
Despite service quality and quantity, it became imperative that outreach to these young
people and their families be improved so that there could be a better response to their
needs.
It has been found that in multiethnic and underprivileged districts, ethnic groups tend
to under-use local institutional and community resources despite glaring needs. Schools
are therefore ideal locations for reaching these families and their children and, by
extension, for intervention. It is now admitted that in these communities, schools
cannot single-handedly do an adequate job of integrating and educating these children,
all of which brings the need for different models for action into sharp relief (Beiser,
1988; Jelen, 1993; Marx and coll., 1998; Deslandes, 2001; Deslandes and Bertrand,
2001; Deschesne, 2002).

3) Objectives:
Foster the integration of cultural communities into the host society.
Develop and strengthen school life and extracurricular life.
Promote health, well-being and acquisition of healthy living habits.
Mobilize and include parents within school life and community life.
Facilitate transitions in school.
Ensure service continuity over the summer and during school breaks.

4) Environment:
Bordeaux-Cartierville primary and secondary schools

5) Target Group:
Young people 0 to 25 years old
Families







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6) Key Words:
Un milieu ouvert sur ses coles, MO, curaction, school-family-community
partnership, overall development, community mobilization, collaboration, cultural
integration, prevention, systemic approach, motivation, school-community worker,
extracurricular, health, academic transition, consistency, continuity, joint action

7) Description:
Un milieu ouvert sur ses coles (MO) is a project of the Table de concertation jeunesse
Bordeaux-Cartierville (TCJBC). Its goal is to influence young peoples environment
through consistent, intensive and seamless action so that they can reap the benefits of
the strengths that the community helps to galvanize. The initiative was launched in
2001, when all local stakeholders got together for a common reading of the needs of the
young people in their community.
In specific terms, a school-community worker (SCW) is present in each of the seven
partner-schools and is the liaison for the school, the community, the young people and
their parents. The SCW works with every Bordeaux-Cartierville organization and
institution to pool neighborhood resources so that any action with young people is
consistent, nothing is undertaken single-handedly, the school has a vision of the
community, and the community has a vision of the school.

8) Steps:
I. Awareness of the issues.
II. Local assessment of the living habits of the communitys secondary-school students with
a view to better identifying their and their familys needs.
III. Creation of a think tank to develop a joint action plan based on the issues identified by
the community.
IV. Funding of the project and organizing of the activities.
V. Coordination and full-time presence of a school-community worker in every school
concerned.
VI. Coordination of fundraising for the projects financial sustainability.

9) Activities/Actions:
The favoured course of action in Un milieu ouvert sur ses coles is to establish a
diversified program aimed at improving the living environment of the young people and
their families so that they can develop and thrive. The activities organized tie in tightly
with the mission of schools, namely to teach, qualify and socialize, but also with the
mission of the Table and of its members. Here is an overview of the activities carried
out under the project for each specific objective:
o Foster the integration of cultural communities into the host society:
Integration of host class students within extracurricular projects and activities
(basketball, soccer, choir, dance, student council, student radio, school
newspaper, etc.);







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Outdoor activities and outings (snowshoeing, rock climbing, canoeing, dog
sledding, outdoor education, cycling, skiing, skating, etc.);
Family activities (sugar shack, ice fishing, outings to plays and museums, soccer,
etc.).
o Develop and strengthen school life and extracurricular life:
Diversified sports and cultural activities program in the schools;
Family activities program for spring/fall breaks, evenings and weekends;
Weekly homework assistance period in secondary schools.
o Promote health, well-being and acquisition of healthy living habits:
Activities and projects to develop social skills and empowerment;
Girls Group/Boys Group discussions and activities;
Introduction to cooking workshops.
o Mobilize and include parents in school life and community life:
Ongoing presence within the community, i.e. outreach;
Effective communication mechanisms (monthly newsletter, etc.);
Support for volunteering at school and within the community;
Workshops/talks for parents;
Trade fairs for neighbourhood organizations;
Staff appreciation lunches.
o Facilitate transitions in school:
Workshops on transitioning from primary to secondary school (for parents and
students);
Bienvenue la maternelle for screening of children and referrals for parents,
with support from professionals;
Discovery activities in secondary school for Grades 5 and 6 students
o Ensure service continuity over the summer and during school breaks:
Francization workshops;
Presence at day camps and parks;
Family or student summer activities, organized by school-community workers,
(long-canoe excursions, improvisation camps, initiation to kayaking, camping,
etc.)
The activities carried out enable the achievement of a number of goals simultaneously
in order to meet the diverse needs of the community. For example, participation of a
young immigrant in improvisation gives him/her the opportunity to speak French and get
to know Qubec culture better, while for other students, showing victim behaviours
through role-playing affords the opportunity to practice assertiveness, enhance their
relationship skills and boost their self-esteem. For others, it is an enjoyable way to take
time out from family pressure. In other words, intervention in general strives for
multidirectional change in terms of youth health, well-being and success in school.










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10) Resources Required:
Human resources:
o Project implementation team (director, coordinators, school-community workers,
and Girls Group/Boys Group educators)
o Partnership committee (community stakeholders: community milieu, principals of
primary and secondary schools, Commission scolaire de Montral, CSSS de Bordeaux-
Cartierville-Saint-Laurent, Centre affili universitaire du CSSS Bordeaux-Cartierville,
Arrondissement Ahuntsic-Cartierville, Qubec en Forme, MO director)
Financial resources:
o This project is funded under a partnership between Commission scolaire de
Montral, Direction de la sant Publique, MELS, Centre national de prvention du
crime, Ville de Montral, Qubec en Forme and Centraide.

11) Roles of the Stakeholders:
Partnership committee:
o ensures pooling of the knowledge and resources of the partners on the committee,
taking into account life on the front line, in order to maximize joint action and the
meshing of MO services;
o helps to identify funding programs and prospect contributors so as to ensure
adequate support for project development and sustainability;
o identifies the constraints and opportunities in the community that could have an
impact on the program;
o helps resolve any problems that may arise during project deployment or
development and recommends solutions for any partnership or co-management
issues;
o helps identify and incorporate elements of social and academic learning into project
programming in order to ensure continuity with the schools mission and to
facilitate integration of project goals into the success plans of neighbourhood
schools;
o recommends policies and supports MO leaders and coordinators in designing,
implementing and evaluating project programming;
o sees to the relevance and dovetailing of activities around the six thrusts of the
project and ensures ongoing consistency between the programming and the annual
priorities of the TCJBC as identified by its members.
School-community worker:
Acts as a liaison officer:
o Is the bridge that facilitates school-community meshing through joint action
between the school team and community players;
o Optimizes the full array of youth services within the community;
o Refers project participants to the appropriate resources;
o Always acts in tandem with the young people, school principal and staff, youth
organizations and the parents;
o Acts as a multiplying agent;







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o Stimulates young peoples participation in order to increase the number of projects,
by and for the young people, using local resources and with the help of community
partners, through strategic organization and continuous interaction with the young
people, their families, school participants and community partners;
o Acts as a catalyst;
o Rallies all stakeholders and resources around projects that stir people to action and
collaborates in the various school and community projects;
o Acts as an information officer;
o Is the eyes and ears of the schools and community organizations;
o Fosters exchange between the school, parents and the community;
o Evaluates the needs of the school and conveys this information in order to enable
community players to craft a joint action plan based on the schools educational
projects.
Girls Group/Boys Group educator:
o Organizes and supervises activities, workshops, and projects customized to the
young peoples interests and that enable them to develop their social skills and
develop their individual talents;
o Moderates and supervises respectful student group discussions on themes that
concern them.

12) Scientific Basis or Validity:
An action-research partnership between the Centre affili universitaire (CAU) of CSSS
and the TCJBC was instituted in 2006 to evaluate the practice of SCWs within the
framework of Un milieu ouvert sur ses coles. CAUs focus was mainly the multilevel
nature of joint action under the project, its innovativeness and its potential for
transferability to other communities. In 2009, CAU completed a study entitled
Modlisation de la pratique de lintervenant communautaire-scolaire dans linitiative
Un milieu ouvert sur ses coles de Bordeaux-Cartierville Montral. [in French only]
o In summary, the positive contribution of SCWs to creating ties between the school,
the family and the community was confirmed. One of the features that school
principals liked was the non-threatening role that SCWs played in resolving a
number of conflicts. The community partners also acknowledged the usefulness and
positive presence of the SCWs with the young people, and SCWs in-depth
understanding of the community.
o The school staff corroborated that SCWs enriched school life through their ongoing
leadership and the innovative extracurricular activities they introduced to get young
people moving within their school and their community, experience a feeling of
belonging and enjoy going to school.
o School principals also said that the informal presence of the SCWs made it possible
to reach some of the young people that the school is hard-pressed to interest,
despite the special services for the most severe cases.
o Project workers within the school (school staff or community workers) felt that the
SCWs were invaluable liaisons, a contact highly familiar with the clientele
concerned, the school and local resources and who were quick to respond to issues
of all kinds.
Perception de jeunes et dintervenants de lcole et de la communaut sur linitiative
Un milieu ouvert sur ses coles dans le Quartier Bordeaux-Cartierville Montral:







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exploratory research on the potential spinoffs of Milieu ouvert sur ses coles. The
findings were as follows:
o the young people appreciate the presence and availability of the SCW and that
persons role in organizing life within the school.
o the SCW is seen as helping parents in the exercise of their role and making the
school environment less conflictual by organizing structured activities and as acting
on certain conditions that foster academic performance.
o according to the participants interviewed, MO will help improve the schools
reputation by reducing the incidence of violence, drug use and prostitution through
preventive intervention.

13) Material:
Blog: http://www.moebc.blogspot.com/ [in French only]

14) Additional Information:
MO reaches more than 3000 young people and 2000 families in the Bordeaux-
Cartierville district each year through a vast array of stimulating activities and projects.
The information contained in this factsheet was taken, in whole or in part, from:
o Modlisation de la pratique de lintervenant communautaire scolaire dans
linitiative Un milieu ouvert sur ses coles de Bordeaux-Cartierville
Montral (research report)
o Rapport dactivits 2010-2011 de linitiative Un milieu ouvert sur ses coles (activity
report)
o Rapport annuel 2012-2013 de la Table de concertation jeunesse Bordeaux-
Cartierville (annual report)

15) Contacts:
Laurence Defressine, Director
2005, Victor-Dor, bureau 204
Tel.: 514 336-5554
Email: