Community Mapping Exercise as a Tool

for Developing Culturally Relevant PE Framework

Community-asset mapping as a process can surface "implicit assumptions" when seeking to be
intentional and precise about what data reveals (and hides). It is a process that aims to move
from casual observations about a school/community to intentional data-driven inquiry about
teaching practice.

If you feel you can safely do so, please visit a local school site and its surrounding community
(safely). If this is not available to you, please use Google Maps/Earth to simulate this experience.

Do not enter school grounds during school hours or immediately before/after school. Do not
attempt to enter the building. If you take any photos please ensure no students or staff are
captured at all.

Consider a “Walk n’ Talk” with a colleague to spark dialogue, share insights, observations about a
school community *prioritizing our health and wellness e.g., moving meetings

Please take note of the following…

The school - Physical Presence

How old does the building look? The building looks fairly new, built within the last 20 years or so.
What is the state of the property? The property is well maintained, clean and professional looking.

What exterior facilities does it have
for HPE and co-curricular activities?
What else do you note?
Use all your senses
The school has two fields, one turf and one grass. The turf field
has a track surrounding it. (The turf and track are owned by the
city of Mississauga and was recently redone in 2020). There is a
park just outside of the school’s property that includes 4 tennis
courts, 2 basketball courts, cricket field, a playground, and
washrooms. The school also has a Courtney Park library attached
to it.
The parking lot was completely full, mostly high-end vehicles and
trucks. The grounds were maintained very well, with lots of
thought going into landscaping.

If you attended at entry, exit,
lunch...· Observe how the
students arrive - noting any patterns
(behaviours, demographics, etc) that
you might draw upon as information
to understand the school
community
I had arrived around 2:30pm on a Tuesday and to my surprise
there were not students on the school’s premises. From my
understanding, the school runs half day, but the teachers remain
in the school for the entire day. When I arrived the parking lot
was completely full (teachers vehicles). From experience at St.
Marcellinus, the demographics of the students is extremely
diverse. Additionally, the school has a very strong sports culture
as you can see from the “Friday Night Lights” banner, and the
 sports related school bus that we would you for transportation to
and from sporting events.
Include a picture (see note above).
The school - Online Presence
What programs or co-curricular
activities are offered at this school
according to the school website?
Unfortunately, the website is not as up to date as their state-of-the-art
facilities. Through attending St. Marcellinus, I know that their co-
curricular activities are not limited and are very inclusive. They have
almost any sport/club that you can think of – ranging to chess club,
chaplaincy, LGBTQ, DECA, traditional sports etc… That was St.
Marcellinus’ selling point when I went to the school, they really focused
on getting everyone involved by having a club for you!
What demographic data can you
find about this school?
What can we learn from the
following about the school?
EQAO data: see
https://www.eqao.com/en/assessm
ents/results
City data: Eg. Toronto
neighbourhood profiles, United Way
of Greater Toronto reports
Social Media - use of to promote,
increase awareness about HPE
program, co-curricular activities,
whole school community
The community
Do you have any contacts in the
school or community that you
engage in discussions with?
If so, what did you learn about the
strengths and assets in this
community?
Either using Google Maps/Earth or if you can safely get around the school (taking into account
COVID protocol)
Make an inventory of the types of
buildings, businesses, greenspaces,
community resources, organizations,
language of signs, types of vehicles, Businesses:
people on the street etc.
As I browsed throughout their website, I was unable to find any
information on their demographic. However, I can see they represent a
diverse student body through pictures. Additionally, the school uses
many different social media platforms for sports teams and school clubs.
Within these social media platforms, images of the teams represents a
diverse demographic.
From EQAO website:
- Enrolment (2017): 1806
- Grade 9: 67 applied, 355 academic
- 69% applied at or above provincial standard
- 95% academic at or above provincial standard
Neighborhood Index: 93, population 6.2km, Dwellings 1.7k
https://twitter.com/StMarcellinusSS
https://twitter.com/stmarcellinuscs
https://twitter.com/marcellinusiyna
https://twitter.com/MarcellinusCOOP
https://twitter.com/marcel_leaders
https://twitter.com/SpiritSHSM
https://twitter.com/M_socialjustice
https://twitter.com/SMSpiritMedia
https://twitter.com/marcyathletics
https://twitter.com/StMarcellinusXC
https://twitter.com/StMarcellinusTF
https://twitter.com/StMarcellinusDL
I still remain in regular contact with multiple teachers within the school,
mostly from the physed department – but I also have strong contacts
with teachers from Biology and Chemistry.
I have learned that this school is really focused on building a strong
community. For every department, there is some sort of club that is
available for students to join and build community. Additionally, these
clubs act as additional supports for the students where they can work
with peers to complete school work.
Buildings:
- Main school building
- Library
- Portables
- Mississauga Secondary School down the road
- Shell gas station
- Courtney Park Plaza = 5-minute drive
Greenspaces:
 - 8 lane track
- Tennis courts
- Basketball courts
- Cricket field
- Mississauga Sports Complex
- 4 Soccer fields
Language of Signs
- English
Community Resources:
- Library
- Courtney park Athletic fields
- City owns the track and turf field
Types of Vehicles:
- Mostly trucks
- Some high-end SUVs
- Low-mid end cars
Visiting my former high school is quite nostalgic. It really brings back
Notice your reactions to this some awesome memories and the hard work that went into my high
community. school education. Additionally, the tremendous facilities and
greenspaces within the area really brings back memories of the
communities I was apart of in high school.
What feelings does this community
evoke in you? My high school really shaped who I am today. At St. Marcellinus, I had
many life experiences that helped me learn and grow. I also had many
How might this be connected to educators at this location who were very inspirational and motivational.
your identity or life experiences thus These teachers inspired me to strive to be an amazing teacher just as
far? they are.

Some possible insights include:

What insights might you gain from
mapping your community?
- Benefits of attending this school with plenty of amenities and
opportunities
- The tremendous amounts of supports throughout the school
(within sports teams and clubs)
- The demographic of the area and how to create and equitable
and inclusive learning experience
- Potentially looking at a less fortunate neighborhood and
comparing results of literacy test and EQAO as well as
opportunities they are given

Debrief Questions for Friday to think about:

1. What does this data tell us? How would you describe this community/school to
someone else?
2. What messages might you extrapolate from the design and state of the built structures
about the resources, commitments, priorities of the community and school?
3. What are the strengths and assets present within this school community? What might
be priority needs? How might teachers leverage assets in instructional practice?
4. What is the connection (if any) between the SES (socio-econ status) of the community
and the students in the school? Are there patterns between SES and “achievement”
data (eg. EQAO) and programs offered?
5. What internal responses arose as you toured the neighbourhood/community? What
student profiles did you begin to imagine based on the available data? Did you feel at
ease/unease as you imagined the students and/or being in this school? What might be
the source of these responses? Do these internal responses belie any sort of latent
preferences (ie. Implicit biases) that might influence how you'd plan to work in this
school?
6. What is missing from the data? Whose voices are missing? What else would you want to
know? In what ways, if at all, does your community mirror the school community? (note
similarities and differences)?
7. What might this all mean for teaching practice? How and when does this data matter?