July 4th- Creative Professionalism

Graduate Summer Conference Day 2014- Creative Professionalism Seminar

A busy day with three very different keynote presentations.

Session 1: Navigating Tides of Challenge and Change with Creative Arts in research and Practice- Cheryl L. McLean.
 
Despite the humid conditions in Fountain Commons, this session offered an analysis creative arts programming and its impact on community and cultural change. While portions of the presentation bordered on the line of obscurity, other aspects of the presentation offered authentic examples of where art has enhanced quality of life within marginal settings and has served as an interdisciplinary practice in various social organizations including education and healthcare.

Session 2: Dealing Honestly with Race and Class-
Dr. Michael Corbett and Martin Morrison 

Ah, air conditioning and comfortable seats at the Irving Centre. This very engaging and honest session offered a realistic perspective of current race relations within the community and school settings. Specific reference was made to the 1994 Black Report and subsequent programming that has attempted to fulfill suggestions of this report at the school level. While is evident that progress has been made since 1994, it was widely accepted that race relations and furthermore identity remains a profound social problem that requires a complex response. The notion that privilege distorts social reality received considerable attention as did Gilroy's argument that race continues as a function of socially constructed stereotypes. This was a valuable presentation that would have benefited from additional time and further conversation.

Session 3: Close Encounters- Counseling; the Prompting, the Preparation, the Practice-
Dr. John Sumarah

This was an intriguing presentation. Sumarah spent considerable time examining the humanistic aspect of personal counseling and emphasized the importance of connection, trust and relationship rapport as essential components of his work. His humble approach and realistic perspective of what counseling really achieves was interesting to hear. As he suggested, to often the perception exists that counselors are those that simply "fix" people; Sumarah however diminished this misconception and offered a realistic response as to the real "tools" of counseling. Sumarah's session was very interesting and certainly changed my perspective of the role of school based counseling and re-affirmed the importance of personal connection, proximity and promoting while speaking with students regarding concerns they my have while attempting to perform their educative duties of the day. Below is a link of Sumarah from twenty years ago regarding faith. While the topic of this video is loosely connected to Sumarah's conversation yesterday, it provides an idea of Sumarah's realistic approach that is often convoluted by others in his field. As the conversation did yesterday, this video speaks of moral obligation, personal and emotional domain and ethical practice. Hope the video is helpful.