PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT SERVICES
The Centre became the focal point for professional development of the field which services including: Acadia Recreation Certificate Program, Spring Symposium, an annual mini workshop series, and packaged workshops on specific topics that groups could purchase and the Centre would customize and deliver to members of the specific group.
The most widely used packaged workshop focused upon legal liability in sport and recreation settings. The Centre produced video and print resources on the topic and contracted a legal expert, Brian Robertson, to develop and deliver workshops to dozens of groups around the province. The liability crisis of the late 80s left sport and recreation groups scrambling to find reliable information about their responsibility when it came to issues of negligence and the Centre workshops were able to provide the needed assistance. A binder containing the details of 200 Canadian sport and recreation negligence cases was a very popular item which the Centre developed and sold. For each case, the details were presented, along with the outcome, and an explanation of what sport and recreation would need to consider if they found themselves in such a situation, in order to avoid being found guilty of negligence.
Centre staff were also contracted on occasion to design and deliver training programs to specific clients. The largest such contract was with Correctional Services of Canada in the late 1980s, to design a comprehensive leisure education and life skills program to be used as a component of the rehabilitative process in Canadian federal correctional centres. Once the program was developed, extensive training with Correctional Services personal took place in order to prepare them to deliver the program.
The most widely used packaged workshop focused upon legal liability in sport and recreation settings. The Centre produced video and print resources on the topic and contracted a legal expert, Brian Robertson, to develop and deliver workshops to dozens of groups around the province. The liability crisis of the late 80s left sport and recreation groups scrambling to find reliable information about their responsibility when it came to issues of negligence and the Centre workshops were able to provide the needed assistance. A binder containing the details of 200 Canadian sport and recreation negligence cases was a very popular item which the Centre developed and sold. For each case, the details were presented, along with the outcome, and an explanation of what sport and recreation would need to consider if they found themselves in such a situation, in order to avoid being found guilty of negligence.
Centre staff were also contracted on occasion to design and deliver training programs to specific clients. The largest such contract was with Correctional Services of Canada in the late 1980s, to design a comprehensive leisure education and life skills program to be used as a component of the rehabilitative process in Canadian federal correctional centres. Once the program was developed, extensive training with Correctional Services personal took place in order to prepare them to deliver the program.
A sample of the workshops developed by the Centre include the following:
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One notable initiative in which the Centre was engaged dealt with the role of women in sport and recreation settings. In 1989, the Centre undertook to host a three day provincial forum entitled New Beginnings, designed to explore issues related to women’s engagement at participants, coaches and leaders, officials, board members, and professionals. The intent was to move the discussions that have long occurred at kitchen tables and in lunch rooms onto meeting tables in order that issues could be identified, acknowledged, and addressed. The forum was a partnership between the Centre, the Canadian Association for the Advancement of Women in Sport, the Sport Nova Scotia Women and Sport Committee, and the Nova Scotia Sport & Recreation Commission. Fifty participants were invited to attend, representing a broad range of key stakeholders.
The first day focused on an identification of the issues, with group discussions facilitated by Anthea Bellemare, Peggy Gallant, Lois MacGregor, and Debby Smith. During day two, strategies were developed to address the issues raised the first day, including discussion as to who should be responsibility for addressing each of the issues. During the evening banquet, Wendy Bedingfield provided a summary of the work completed in the previous day and a half. Abby Hoffman, Director General of Sport Canada was the dinner speaker, focusing her remarks on how to be an effective change agent. On Day three, a meeting was held with all interested parties to form a provincial advocacy organization with a mandate to bring about change on the type of issues raised during the forum. A comprehensive proceedings of the work carried out at the forum was produced by the Centre, and served as a handbook for those who continued to work tirelessly to bring about social change. However, without financial support, or support from the male-dominated sport system in the province, progress was slow. In fact, it would be another 25 years before such an organization would finally become firmly established within the province. Still, the work done at the forum, paved the way for certain changes to take place that would remove specific barriers to gender equity for women in the province.
The first day focused on an identification of the issues, with group discussions facilitated by Anthea Bellemare, Peggy Gallant, Lois MacGregor, and Debby Smith. During day two, strategies were developed to address the issues raised the first day, including discussion as to who should be responsibility for addressing each of the issues. During the evening banquet, Wendy Bedingfield provided a summary of the work completed in the previous day and a half. Abby Hoffman, Director General of Sport Canada was the dinner speaker, focusing her remarks on how to be an effective change agent. On Day three, a meeting was held with all interested parties to form a provincial advocacy organization with a mandate to bring about change on the type of issues raised during the forum. A comprehensive proceedings of the work carried out at the forum was produced by the Centre, and served as a handbook for those who continued to work tirelessly to bring about social change. However, without financial support, or support from the male-dominated sport system in the province, progress was slow. In fact, it would be another 25 years before such an organization would finally become firmly established within the province. Still, the work done at the forum, paved the way for certain changes to take place that would remove specific barriers to gender equity for women in the province.