City manager learns how to create safer spaces for youth

Hoping to better understand what it takes to create a safe space for learning, Nick Moore enrolled in the Advancing Healthy and Socially Just Schools and Communities master’s program.

“Most of my professional career has been centered around educational community-based programs striving to cultivate safe and inclusive schools and communities,” says Moore, education manager with the YouthLink Calgary Police Interpretive Centre. “This program appeals to me because I want to grow as an education professional and because supporting youth is at its core.”

Offered by the Werklund School of Education and developed in collaboration with the Faculty of Social Work, Shift: The Project to End Domestic Violence and the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health’s Centre for Prevention Science, the program’s goal is to help those in the caring professions develop the knowledge and skills needed to support healthy and socially just learning and working environments. 

Werklund assistant professor Tonya Callaghan says Moore and his classmates, upon completion of the four required courses, will be able to assist others in developing positive social-emotional skills and healthy relationships, which are key factors in reducing rates of bullying, dating violence and family violence.  As well, they will have taken the first of three steps in a laddering program leading to a Master of Education degree. 

While the program is a good fit for Moore, Callaghan, for her part, views him as an excellent example of the type of student the program hopes to continue to attract. “Nick embodies everything that our program stands for. The courses explore key topics in human rights education and social work from a critical social justice perspective and Nick has been working in places that are designed around a critical social justice worldview. He is really already walking the talk.”

LGBTQ think tank

One example of Moore walking the talk was his facilitation of the recent Canadian Safe Schools Network LGBTQ Student Think Tank, a discussion among LGBTQ youth that took place simultaneously in various Canadian cities and tackled topics including positive mental health, bullying, and overcoming stigma. The organization tapped Callaghan to be the educational partner for the Calgary event.

According to Callaghan, the think tank’s emphasis was on transforming theory into action, something Moore is quite comfortable with. “Nick models the notion that very minute operations of power can occur from the bottom up or among and between different constituents within an institution. It is in future situations like this that Nick will be able to apply what he has learned in the workplace,” says Callaghan.

Ongoing connection

The first course, taught by Lana Wells, the Brenda Strafford Chair in the Prevention of Domestic Violence, wrapped up last week. Moore hopes for a continued connection after he completes his studies. 

“I would love to explore opportunities for research and collaboration between my professional spheres and academic communities at the University of Calgary. I would like to structure and shape our prevention-based educational work in the community, consistent with the academically verified best practices.”

Advancing Healthy and Socially Just Schools and Communities is one of the strategies developed by Shift: The Project to End Domestic Violence, the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health’s Centre for Prevention Science, the Government of Alberta’s Ministry of Human Services, United Way and the City of Calgary’s Family and Community Support Services to fulfill the Government of Alberta’s framework to end family violence.