Celebrating Courage

First voices speak to us with the authority of lived experience. Uncle Angaangaq Angakkorsuaq, a Kalaallit Elder and storyteller, has shared several times his grandmother's teaching that he must learn to "Listen, listen, and listen again. Only then can you tell a living story."

Here in Nova Scotia, Dr. Fyre Jean Graveline, RSW, has written and taught extensively about learning from first voices, exploring both theory and practice. Fyre asks: "What do We mean to Speak with.in our First Voices, and how can We practice Presence, to Open more fully to receive Messages from the Hearts of First Voice peoples?"

As we prepared for our 2024 conference, Celebrating Courage, we invited our members to join us and Fyre online on May 10, 2024, to rethink our understanding of how to listen and practice social work with more recognition of the interweave of intersectionalities, and in ways that are safer and more culturally specific.

On April 30, 2024, the NSCSW social justice committee invited members to consider how supporting ethical praxis requires practitioners to address unconscious bias & vicarious trauma. Unconscious bias and vicarious trauma experienced by social workers can erode ethical practice if these factors are not addressed with careful intent. The new national code of ethics developed by the Canadian Association of Social Workers is also in the process of being adapted for the Nova Scotian context, to help ensure safe(R) social work practice in our province. This session was designed to help participants begin to reflect upon the concept of “safe” social work practice, and how our own intersectional positionality and experiences can affect how we practice.