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By Katrina Monton

Current literature suggests that athletic career transitions are life-changing events and are often perceived by athletes as extremely stressful (Knights, Sherry & Ruddock-Hudson, 2016). Transitioning out of elite sport forces an individual to adjust to a new way of life and can often be accompanied by negative effects and impact mental health (Knights et al., 2016; Ohashi, 2018). However, retiring from sport and pursuing other experiences is an important life event that can positively impact the individual and lead to personal growth, development and fulfillment (Ohashi, 2018). Existing literature suggests that having sport-life balance facilitates athlete well-being and improves sport performance (Friesen & Orlick, 2010; Knapp, 2012; Pink, Saunders & Stynes, 2015). Student-athletes participating at the Olympic Games are more likely than their non-student counterparts to win medals (Knapp, 2012). Athletes who have opportunities to explore their interests and identity outside of sport report more ease with athletic career transition and adapt more easily to life after sport (Gordon & Lavallee, 2012; Pink, Saunders & Stynes, 2015; Knights et al., 2016; Hansen, Perry, Rose & Montgomery, 2018). Student-athletes consider that balancing sport and academics not only benefits performance in both areas but promotes future career success as well (Aquilina, 2013). Finally, planning for life after sport and career counselling, have been shown to have a positive impact on sport performance, as well as increase life and career satisfaction, post-sport (Aquilina, 2013; Knights et al., 2016; Ohashi, 2018).

Research in this area is limited within the Canadian context. However, the 2010 Olympic Games Debrief, identified a gap in the services being offered to athletes transitioning out of sport. Following this debrief, the Canadian Olympic Committee (COC) created Game Plan, a total wellness program. Game Plan strives to support current and retired national team athletes to lead more balanced lifestyles. Game Plan works from a holistic framework promoting wellness through five pillars; health, skill development, education, network and career.

The purpose of this study is to explore athletes’ experiences planning and preparing for life after the 2019 Pan-American and Para Pan-American Games. More specifically, this study seeks to investigate the role that sport-life balance plays on post-Games career planning, as well as performance during the Games. This study will provide each athlete with the opportunity to share their experiences, whether they are retiring or continuing in their sport, in a confidential manner. This research project is set to begin in Spring 2019 and involves a collaboration between the COC and McGill University. It is the first of a series for the Pan-American Games, and will function in the same manner as the post-Olympic and Paralympic Debrief research projects. The research method will be a mixed method, including a survey data and qualitative one-on-one interviews with athletes. This project is important for high-level Canadian athletes, as it will help inform Game Plan on how they may better meet the needs of transitioning athletes and overall athlete well-being.

The Project will be conducted under the supervision of Dr Patricia Hewlin, McGill University and in collaboration with Sophie Brassard, Université de Sherbrooke (Game Plan Liaison).

Author Bio

Katrina Monton is completing her second year in the MA Counselling Psychology at McGill University. Her research interests are in organizational psychology, specifically promoting inclusion, diversity and safety within educational, sport and workplace settings. Prior to Katrina’s graduate studies she was a national team athlete for over a decade. She is passionate about helping athletes’ transition from high­level sports.

References:

Aquilina, D. (2013): A Study of the Relationship Between Elite Athletes’ Educational Development and Sporting Performance, The International Journal of the History of Sport, 30:4, 374-392

Friesen, A., & Orlick, T. (2010). A qualitative analysis of holistic sport psychology

consultants’ professional philosophies. Sport Psychologist, 24(2), 227-244. Retrieved from http://joumals.humankinetics.com/tsp.

Game Plan. (2018). Retrieved March 22, 2019, from https://www.mygameplan.ca/

Gordon, S., & Lavallee, D. (2012). Career transitions. In T. Morris & P. Terry (Eds.), The new sport and exercise psychology companion (pp. 567-582). Morgantown, WV: Fitness Information Technology.

Hansen, A., Perry, J., Ross, M., & Montgomery, T. (2018). Facilitating a successful transition out of sport: Introduction of a collegiate student-athlete workshop. Journal of Sport Psychology in Action, 1-9.

Knapp, D. (2012). Performance of student-athletes at Olympic Games: The performance impact of university student-athletes at the 2004, 2008, and 2012 Olympic Games. Adee// Group, 1-36. Retrieved from http://adcellgroup.com.au/development/uniroos/images/Performance _of_ student-athletes _ at_ Olympic_ Games. pdf

Knights, S., Sherry, E., & Ruddock-Hudson, M. (2016). Investigating elite end-of-athletic-career transiti on: A systematic review. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, 28(3), 291-308. doi:10.1080/10413200.2 015.1128992

Ohashi, Alison, “Transitioning Out of Sport: Perspectives of Student-Athlete Support or Development Services” (2018). Boise State University Theses and Dissertations. 1406. 10.18122/td/1406/boisestate

Pink, M., Saunders, J., & Stynes, J. (2015). Reconciling the maintenance of on-field success with off­field player development: A case study of club culture within the Australian Football League. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 21(1), 98-108. doi: 10.1016/j.psychsport.2014.11.009

Wylleman, P., & Lavallee, D. (2004). A developmental perspective on transitions faced by athletes. In M.Weiss (Ed.), Developmental sport and exercise psychology: A lifespan perspective (pp. 507-527). Morgantown, WV: Fitness Information Technology.

By Kellie Fay

Did you know? “Achieving secure employment is students’ #2 career goal overall.”¹ -Brainstorm Strategy Group Inc., 2018

When have you seen a billboard in a school, in a tv commercial or a poster in a bus shelter promoting career development?

How is your institution integrating career development and employability into the curriculum? “Alicia” enters into university directly from high school because her parents want her to have a degree.

Fast forward – Alicia is about to finish her first year of university, which encompassed mostly arts and sciences classes. As the year progressed, her grades declined because she lost interest and didn’t see the relevance or connection of what she was learning to her future. She would sit in the library for hours – aimlessly – not knowing where to turn. She became despondent, she felt alone, anxious and hopeless about her future. Alicia was at a loss about a career direction and started to contemplate dropping out of school.

“Alex” leaves college with a diploma – thinking that it will land him a job in his chosen field. He applied for many positions but wasn’t called for one interview. He doesn’t know how to improve his employability. Consequently, he feels frustrated and blames the college.

Career development reimagined

Senior leadership and faculty value career development and employability of graduates. Career education and employability are integrated as a strategic objective within the institution’s strategic plan. Financial resources are allocated to promote career development institutionally. Faculty integrate career education and employability within their course design and content. For credit career development courses are available for all students.

My vision is to increase the awareness of career development through the power of visual storytelling with – assets – such as infographics, graphic illustrations, animated gifs and mini-short films for the post-secondary sector. Career development visual storytelling would provide an engaging launch for promoting institution-wide career education and employability.

Visual storytelling is a powerful medium for the reason that a substantial amount of information can be communicated in a short period of time. People empathically connect with animated characters and they provide emotional distance. Visual storytelling can be impactful, memorable and can inspire change. It is refreshing and uplifting to learn about the recent skills development and employability initiatives across Canada.² Moreover, this trend is transpiring internationally as well, namely, the Future of Education and Skills 2030³ project.

Still, it is necessary for the profile, promotion and integration of career development to advance. It is prudent for an individual to have a sense of a career direction in order to learn about which skills to develop (including career management skills) and have the know-how to effectively market their learning, skills and experience to future work opportunities.

This infographic is an example of using visual storytelling to communicate as substantial amount of information in a short time and in an engaging way.

Author Bio

Kellie Fay is passionate about career development and is motivated to support individuals on their career journey. She is also a visual artist and innovator. Along with obtaining a Master of Career Development, Kellie will soon complete a Master of Stop-Motion Animation. This unique combination of education and skills are a testimony to Kellie’s ability to actualize her vision to create intriguing resources.

References:

1. Brainstorm Strategy Group Inc. “The Weekly Stat.” (Sep 6, 2018) https://twitter.com/brainstormsgi?lang=en
2. Brookfield Institute. “Employment in 2030”. https://brookfieldinstitute.ca/project/employment-in-2030/
3. Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). “OECD Education 2030”. http://www.oecd.org/education/2030/?utm_source=activetrail&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=jmc@iccdpp.org

By Kwesi Yaro

This call for proposals has come at an opportune time when I am still grappling with ideas on a final project I am designing for a course I have been assigned to teach this summer as a sessional instructor. In relevance to this call, I argue for the need for teacher professional development for science and mathematics teachers with emphasis on teacher candidates gaining hands-on experience in planning and conducting professional development with community partner schools on connecting social justice, equity, placed-based and Indigenous knowledges pedagogies into math and science teaching.

Teacher candidates’ engagements with community has been seen to provide a sense of social responsibility, awareness to community and global issues, collaborative work and personality development. Thus, aspects of EDUC 452B 308 Inquiry III, which I will be teaching this summer are aimed at preparing mathematics and science teacher candidates to challenge themselves in making effective contributions to professional growth in their respective future schools and communities through getting involved and taking leadership roles in professional development activities.

This will require gaining not only theoretical knowledge of conducting successful professional development (Pro-D) but also, first-hand experience through working with community partners such as schools. Specifically, in an era where education has taken a more humanistic approach; based on the principles of human rights and dignity, cultural sustainability, social justice, peace, inclusion and protection” (UNESCO, 2016  p. 24), it is important that mathematics and science educators employ more critical perspectives in their teaching and learning in response to the myriad of national and international social, political and ecological challenges we face today. As a result, secondary math and science teacher candidates obtaining first-hand experience in planning and executing/leading Pro-D activities with a focus on infusing placed-based, social justice and Indigenous knowledges in mathematics and science curriculum will be beneficial not only the teacher candidates, but also the in-service teachers who also grapple with incorporating social justice, placed-based and Indigenous knowledges pedagogies in math and science lessons (Nicol, Bragg, Radzimski, Yaro, Chen, Amoah,  2017).

Thus, this proposed Pro-D activity for schools will encourage teachers to integrate critical issues of social concerns in mathematics and science teaching. Broadly, the proposed activity will also foster community engagement through rich learning experiences with community partners such as schools. Moreover, collaborating and working with community partners (schools) will continue to portray academic institutions as places that value inquiry learning, community building and cherish the integration of experiential, sustainability-focused, social justice, place-based learning and explore such abstract concepts while they make explicit connections to practice.

In closing, I hope to share with the audience (from an instructors perspective) my experiences with teacher candidates’ designing and leading professional development activities for in-service teachers on ways of infusing social justice, placed-based and Indigenous knowledge into the K-12 math and science curriculum.

Author Bio

Kwesi Yaro is a PhD candidate studying curriculum studies in Mathematics Education at the Department of Curriculum and Pedagogy, University of British Columbia (UBC), Canada. He holds an MA in Mathematics Education from the University of British Columbia and BEd (Mathematics focus) from the University of Cape Coast, Ghana. Kwesi is also a Sessional Lecturer for Mathematics Methods courses at the Faculty of Education, UBC. Currently, he is working with researchers from multi-disciplinary STEM backgrounds to explore the possibilities and challenges confronting 21st-century teachers in teaching mathematics for social justice. For his doctoral research, he is employing Afrocentric worldviews to investigate cultural strategies African immigrant families deploy to support their children’s mathematics learning in the Canadian context. Kwesi hopes his research will contribute knowledge and insights that will guide teachers and other educators towards a more culturally responsive mathematics teaching.

By Mindy Chiang

“Meaning in work” literature has expanded rapidly in the past decade in vocational counselling and organizational psychology. This body of work highlights the relationship between meaning in work and a host of positive work and life outcomes for samples ranging from working adults to college students (see Duffy & Dik, 2013 for a summary). This literature is largely quantitative, measuring meaning in work, often conceptualized as work “calling,” using standardized measures where one common definition of calling is – a transcendent summons to a career path that is prosocial and tied to one’s personal sense of meaning (Dik & Duffy, 2009).

It is perhaps unsurprising that other conceptualizations of meaning in work exist. For instance, within calling research, there is the “neoclassical” perspective described above which retains the emphasis on an external caller and the prosocial aims of calling, and an alternative perspective (e.g., Dobrow & Tosti-Kharas, 2011) that has a more humanistic focus with emphasis on the individual’s sense of purpose and passion (Duffy, Dik, Douglass, England & Velez, 2018). Might it be conceivable that individuals’ sense of meaning in work is in fact more fluid than any of these conceptualizations?

Recently, Bendassolli and Tateo (2018) contested the notion in current literature that “meaning” in work is an entity that can be statically measured. They posited instead that “work is inherently a meaningful activity, mediating between personal and collective culture” (Bendassolli & Tateo, 2018, p. 137). This intriguing proposition calls for qualitative work that examines the process of individuals’ meaning-making in the work setting. Findings from such work may shed light on the nature of “meaning in work” and add further nuance to this burgeoning literature.

Author Bio

Mindy Chiang is a Master’s student in Counselling Psychology at the University of British Columbia. As someone whose career path has been shaped by her evolving sense of meaning, she is especially interested in studying meaning-construction in the career context. Her other research interests include cultural diversity in mental health and existential psychology.  

References

Bendassolli, P. F., & Tateo, L. (2018). The meaning of work and cultural psychology: Ideas for new directions. Culture & Psychology, 24(2), 135-159.

Dik, B. J., & Duffy, R. D. (2009). Calling and vocation at work: Definitions and prospects for research and practice. The Counseling Psychologist, 37, 424–450.

Dobrow, S. R., & Tosti-Kharas, J. (2011). Calling: The development of a scale measure. Personnel Psychology, 64, 1001–1049.

Duffy, R. D., & Dik, B. J. (2013). Research on calling: What have we learned and where are we going? Journal of Vocational Behavior, 83(3), 428-436.

Duffy, R. D., Dik, B. J., Douglass, R. P., England, J. W., & Velez, B. L. (2018). Work as a calling: A theoretical model. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 65(4), 423.