This workshop was originally scheduled for March 13-14, 2023, and has been postponed.

As soon as new October dates are confirmed, we will email everyone who registered for the original dates and reopen tickets for new participants.

Critical social work requires us to locate ourselves within our social working.

Our professional Code of Ethics requires us to intentionally promote socially just and equitable processes and practices for all people and groups in society. Canada has made clear commitments to human rights and multiculturalism; the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms entrenched citizens’ rights and civil rights in the Constitution, and Parliament continues to enact legislation to protect people from discrimination. We are considered a progressive and inclusive country by many.

Yet we continue to witness — and many experience — vast injustices in society. How is it that our society is structured to devalue certain people and groups in ways that dehumanize, constructing people as less worthy of the care, love, and protection that many Canadian citizens and residents take for granted?

This presentation will focus on the rise of Islamophobia in Canada post-9/11, and the shaping of western perceptions of Muslim people as terrorists and radicals. We’ll explore recent Canadian events and news stories, and social work’s role in challenging xenophobic representations of Muslim people, while also creating awareness and understanding of how social work and social working can effectively respond in more culturally appropriate and responsive ways in addressing the trauma and harm experienced by Muslim people and communities.

We will approach our exploration using an anti-oppressive lens and highlight Thobani’s (2007) concept of exaltation and Feminista Jones’ assertion that to be an ally we need to “be good people.” What does being a good person mean? How might we understand this statement in ways that move us beyond performative acts of allyship to being authentic co-conspirators with Muslim people in the dismantling of discrimination and xenophobic beliefs, and create culturally appropriate and safer spaces for all Muslim people in Canada and in the profession of social work itself?

People

• Ayeshah Ali, BSW, SWC (Alice House)
• Janet Pothier, MSW, RSW (Dalhousie University)

Category

Participating in this two-day workshop can fulfil NSCSW's newly mandated professional development requirements for all Nova Scotia social workers to complete training in social work ethics and anti-racist & anti-discriminatory practice. Members who have already completed both of those requirements can track these hours as formal professional development instead.

Visit nscsw.org/pd for more information about the updated professional development requirements for Nova Scotia social workers.

Questions?

If you have questions about our professional development program content, please contact the College's professional practice and advocacy consultant, Naj Siritsky, at nsiritsky@nscsw.org. If you have registered for a session and are having difficulty accessing it online, please contact nscsw@nscsw.org.