Although our goal was to produce a curriculum to be used in a small group setting, individual attention was built into the structure of the curriculum by combining oneon- one with small group activities. This ensures a balance between meeting individual needs and providing an important corrective interpersonal experience for youth-atrisk. Ideally, the learning materials in this package will help learners become empowered through critical thinking about their own personal histories and experiences, as well as helping them to reconnect positively with learning.
None of the studies consulted discussed the hobbies and activities of the target group, beyond passing mention of youth hanging out in the streets, at malls and arcades, presented vis a vis the general difficulty many studies encountered in reaching out to the youth at risk target group. As well, because hobbies, activities, likes and dislikes are so individual and fluid, varying year by year, by region, by gender, culture, and age, even if findings were reported 5 to 10 years ago they might well not be currently relevant. In terms of curriculum, most of the studies stress the importance of activities relevant to youth needs, such as employment and/or computer training. Employment and computer skills, however, are not the same as hobbies, interests and current activities. In the Toronto ALFA Youth of Diaspora project, participants generated a working list of "cool" and "hot" topics for discussion, places for field trips and exploration, and interesting activities. Because the activities were youth generated, the curriculum can remain flexible and adaptable to the interests of each group of participants, and thus will not be outdated or judged to be irrelevant.
Hence, in the planning of youth focus group questions, our goal was two-fold; first, to discover what the general themes/similarities in the hobbies and activities of the target group are, and second, to gather suggestions and feedback on the types of learning activities that were generated from these themes.