Accompanying youth to lead lives centered on service to humanity
Our Vision
Wordswell is dedicated to helping young people achieve coherence between the material, moral, and intellectual dimensions of their lives.
Our research and educational initiatives assist young people to build intellectual capacity, to strengthen their academic foundations and performance, to enhance their powers of expression, and to develop capabilities necessary to live a fruitful and rewarding life dedicated to and animated by service to their communities. The community prospers when young people are supported to lead lives dedicated to the wellbeing and advancement of humanity. We pursue this aim through participatory action research in urban neighborhoods in Ontario and Quebec.
Tutorial Learning
Wordswell works to enhance the intellectual abilities of young people as they enter middle school and continue through their high school studies. Our efforts complement the school curriculum with a particular focus on language and mathematics.
Internships
The internship program provides youth in high school and university with an opportunity to contribute to the wellbeing and progress of their communities by participating in small action-research initiatives.
Pebbles to Pearls
Pebbles to Pearls gathers groups of junior youth, those between 12 and 15 years of age, in their neighbourhoods, engaging them in a wide range of activities that include study, healthy recreation, arts, and service to the community.
Illumine Media
Illumine Media supports young people to produce films that tell compelling stories of youth and their families, stories that are set in their social reality and reflect their questions and aspirations to contribute to the wellbeing of their communities.
Serving communities
across Eastern Canada
Wordswell works alongside young people, families, and community partners in places where creativity, resilience, and the desire for change are strong.
Our work began and first took root in the neighborhoods of north Toronto, where we continue to be headquartered today. This area serves as a center for learning and dissemination, anchoring the growth of our programs and partnerships across the communities we now serve. We currently carry out activities in neighborhoods in Ontario and Quebec.
Research
Wordswell’s research efforts grow from a commitment to understanding how young people can build coherent lives in which their material, moral, and intellectual capacities advance together. Guided by the principles of participatory action research, this work is carried out in close collaboration with youth, families, and educators. Our aim is to explore the conditions that shape learning and development and to identify the capacities needed for young people to participate constructively in the life of their neighbourhoods.
Research activities are woven into the fabric of our educational initiatives. Interns, tutors, animators, families, and educators all contribute insights that help illuminate the challenges young people face and the opportunities that enable them to thrive. Through cycles of action, reflection, and consultation, these insights inform the development of educational materials, strengthen program design, and deepen the organization’s understanding of how youth can advance in all aspects of life while supporting the progress of their communities. Our research initiatives generate a growing body of insights that guide our evolving lines of action and help us to participate in wider research and policy discourses concerned with the material and spiritual wellbeing of young people and their communities.
