Hello everyone,
Over the last week or so I have been thinking about outreach
– why should we do it, and why is it important?
There are the usual fiscal arguments about outreach. About
bums-on-seats and income. But for me, the financial flow-on is just a happy
coincidence of the real reason we do this.
For example, I have been talking to people like Mary Watson
from Wiyillian ta, Dominic Dates from Wollotuka, and my old colleagues from the
Tjabal centre, and I am constantly struck by how important it is for us to
engage in our indigenous community. We currently have 21 students who identify
as indigenous in the BPsyc(Hons), and 13 in the BPsycSc, that’s a tiny portion
of our student cohort. It is estimated that we need 800 indigenous therapists
across Australia to cope with current demand, yet we have less than 100.
Connecting with indigenous colleagues, institutions, students and communities
is vital in order to get that little snowball of information and awareness
rolling so that indigenous students all over Australia will consider Psychology
as a profession, go on to study psychology and then go on to work in community.
Our staff and students; Stefi, Jesse, Olivia and April – for example - are doing
a fantastic job in establishing and nurturing these connections, and we support
them all the way.
Outreach is also about our obligation as scientists and
educated people, and I was reminded of this a few days ago by Bryan. We have
all studied for many years. We are all experts in our fields, we are all superb
scholars. Our education and expertise affords us a social responsibility that
goes beyond our teaching and research commitments. Pseudopsychology is alive
and well in the community and being adopted by schools, hospitals, community
groups, the media and individuals. As learned people, we roll our eyes and
scoff. But without us out there connecting with people and sharing our
knowledge, we leave a knowledge gap that gets filled with pseudopsychology, and
in the end – we have only ourselves to blame. Examples of what we can and
should be doing – Frini was out talking to victims of stroke and their families
this week about some of the science behind stroke. Also this week, Emina went
out to a local primary school to talk about social influence because the kids are
submitting a Premier’s prize application for a project to reduce plastic waste.
Bill has been out to talk to indigenous kids at the Ourimbah Insight day,
Michelle goes out in her own time and talks to community groups about dementia.
And I am sure that there is a lot more that we all do that we just consider to
be ‘part of our job’.
So why is engagement so important? Yes, it is about forming
relationships that will provide research opportunities, placements, attract
students, and contribute to communities that need psychologists. However, it is
also a mechanism that allows us to share our knowledge, to give back to our
communities. Collectively, we have a great deal of specialised knowledge, and
with that knowledge comes responsibility. I would argue that it is our
responsibility and obligation to give back to our community, and personally, I
feel very privileged to be in a position to do so.
Have a great week everyone
Kristen
