ABOUT THIS EPISODE
What can lived experience teach us about justice, empathy, and preparing future professionals?
In this episode of Learning Innovation: The Teaching and Learning Podcast, host Kris Hodgson-Bright speaks with Chelsey De Groot, author of I Shouldn’t Have to Play the Victim and a part-time instructor in Lethbridge Polytechnic’s Bachelor of Criminal Justice program. Drawing on her experience of domestic violence and navigating the justice system while working within it, Chelsey challenges assumptions about what a victim looks like and explores the gap between policy and practice.
Their conversation connects these experiences to teaching and learning, highlighting how reflective practice, curiosity, and self-awareness can help students question assumptions, consider different perspectives, and develop sound professional judgment. Chelsey shares a message of hope and the potential for education and lived experience to inspire meaningful change.
Content note: This episode discusses domestic violence and experiences within the justice system.
Learn more about Chelsey and her book: https://www.roots-and-rise.org/book
Lethbridge Polytechnic – Bachelor of Criminal Justice
SHOW NOTES 🔗
TRANSCRIPT 🔗
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So I chose to focus on the good of my life, even though I was navigating and
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going through some of the most difficult experiences of my life.
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And this has been a long, drawn-out battle. This is 10 years.
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This is Learning Innovation, the teaching and learning podcast,
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also known as LittlePod.
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We are created by Lethbridge Polytechnic's Centre for Teaching,
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Learning and Innovation and located in Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada,
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on the traditional lands of the Blackfoot Confederacy.
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In the spirit of equity, diversity, inclusion and Nitsitapi Skimstan,
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or real thinking, we play host to a spectrum of guests from the teaching and learning community.
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As we highlight and explore innovation in education, we hope to kindle warm
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conversations, expand perspectives, and foster lasting partnerships today, tomorrow, and beyond.
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The future of learning starts now.
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All right. Today, I'm joined by Chelsea DeGroote, who just released her first
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book in August called I Shouldn't Have to Play the Victim.
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We have it right here. And she's also a part-time instructor in Lethbridge Polytechnic's
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Bachelor of Criminal Justice program on campus, as well as at the Lakeshore campus.
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Her memoir, published by Landon Hale Press, became an international bestseller.
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It draws on her personal experience of domestic violence and her work within the justice system.
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Together, we'll explore how lived experience can enrich teaching,
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challenge assumptions, and help prepare future justice professionals to respond
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with greater understanding and empathy.
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So welcome, Chelsea. Thank you for having me.
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For sure. So tell me a little bit
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more about what inspired you to write I Shouldn't Have to Play the Victim.
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I always wanted to write a book about my life and my experiences and how I've
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been able to navigate those difficulties.
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But after going through such a difficult experience within the justice system
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and as a victim of domestic violence, I knew that this was something and an
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experience that I had to write about first.
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So there will be more to come, future books, but this took priority.
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Yeah, and writing a book, that's no small feat. So something you were kind of
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weighing for a while, but you just like at one point you decided, okay, let's do this?
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Yeah, it's something I've been talking about for a number of years,
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but having worked inside of the justice system and having this lived experience in a different way.
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Kind of made me a little bit resistant and hesitant to do that because I was
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scared of what the system would do to me while I was still working inside of it. Fair enough. Yeah.
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We'll get into that more probably in a little bit here, but what do you hope
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readers will take away from reading this book?
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I hope it sheds light on the gaps that are in the systems and that there's a
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difference between what policy says and implementation of those policies.
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And I hope that those working in the system can recognize that and work towards
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meaningful systems change.
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And for those that have experienced domestic violence, I hope that they find
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hope and inspiration because our darkest moments can often lead to some of the
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most beautiful destinations, but perspective is everything.
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Yeah, totally. That's good. So very resilient with your life experience and
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how you actually want to put this into writing. The title is very powerful.
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What does the phrase having to play the victim mean to you? And why did you
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decide to choose those words?
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This came from various interactions with different justice professionals.
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And so the very first time I encountered something similar to this was when
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a judge had said to me, I didn't know that you were a victim of domestic violence
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because you hold yourself together so well and you present so well.
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I was like, well, yeah, of course I do. Like, I know how to work in the system.
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I know how to talk in court, all of those things.
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And then I had a lawyer say to me, like, to really kind of up the ante and play
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the victim, play that battered wife.
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And I said to myself, well, I shouldn't have to play anything.
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I can be a victim of domestic violence and still be a put together professional
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who presents well in community. Yeah.
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Interesting. That kind of advice that you're getting. Yes.
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About perception. Yeah. Okay. So you bring both professional knowledge of the
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justice system and personal experience navigating it.
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So you talked a little bit about your hesitation to publish this.
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So maybe in the answer here, how have those perspectives shaped or challenged each other?
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That's a fully loaded question. I think, you know, something happened to me
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last year where it kind of just pushed me into the open, where I was no longer,
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bound by certain systems because I was no longer working directly inside of them.
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And so I knew that this was my opportunity to come forward and share that in a different way.
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But I think it's still been very, a little bit conflicting because even the
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justice professionals that I run into when I share my story,
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especially with police that I'm still connected with, you know,
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they'll say, oh, our policies are so much better than they used to be.
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And I said, well, I can tell you from my own personal experience as of 2024,
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they're, maybe they're better, but they're still not great as someone who's
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had every resource in my back pocket and was still failed. Wow. Yeah.
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So those conversations, how do they evolve? Because I know the policy piece
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is the biggest kind of moving target that you want to see some positive direction in.
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How do you take that next step of, because you kind of know where things are
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all the way up to 2024, how can you get that message to take that extra step, one, for the policy?
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There's been some really cool things that have happened through sharing my story.
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And maybe it'll be helpful if I share an example of this. But when I used to
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manage the drug treatment court here in Lethbridge, and when I was leaving to
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pursue another opportunity, there was a going-away dinner for me.
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And our RCMP officer, who was our liaison at the time, she had helped me and
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been so impactful in my own experience.
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You know, when I talk about having people in my back pocket,
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I literally had her on speed dial.
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But at that going away dinner, she had said to me, you know,
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Chelsea, I want you to know that we changed our weapon seizure policy based on your experience.
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And so we can basically call it the Chelsea policy without calling it that.
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And, you know, that made me really emotional because even though it's so scary
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to share your story, meaningful change can happen. And yes, it's policy change.
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How that is implemented, I'm not sure. Only time will tell.
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But it's still a step in the right direction of like, okay, when we tell our
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story in a good way, we can create that change.
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So, yeah. And the policy piece, the pieces that you actually want to see change,
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can you speak to those specific things?
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Or if you can't, can you tell me are there other provinces or jurisdictions
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around the world that have stronger policies that you'd like to see us modeled after?
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I'm not entirely sure that it's about having better policies.
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I think it's about being held accountable to the policies that are already written.
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And maybe it's about strengthening them as well.
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But I think, you know, what happens when you're a victim of domestic violence
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and you call for help, you expect those responding are going to help you.
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But I think from my own experience and working and hearing from many other women
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who have gone through the same thing...
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Police have a lot of discretion when they respond to calls. And so even though
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there's the Police Act and there's all of these things in place,
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what happens with that responding officer is kind of different for everybody.
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And so it's like, where is the accountability for when officers are responding
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to make sure that they are held to the same standard that every,
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you know, that's written?
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And I think that is one of the biggest pieces. And, you know,
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it's not to put all the blame on police officers because the entire system plays
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a role in this, but police are often the very first point of contact.
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And so what happens in that interaction actually has a ripple effect onward
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into the justice system, into the courts and all of those things that happen next. Yeah.
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So even finding a way to at least maybe get in front of police officers to share
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more of your story to understand where that discretion can be shifted perhaps to prevent.
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The ripple or trickle down effects that have that negative implication once
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you get into the court system or once you're starting to see how that first
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reaction to that call came about.
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Yeah, and I think it's even about recognizing the different types of violence.
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And, you know, for police, they're often getting a snapshot.
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When they respond to a call, it's what's in front of them. But domestic violence
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does not happen in isolation.
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There's buildup, right? And so when you're an officer and you're responding
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to the same couple, same person multiple times, that should almost be an indication
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like, okay, what else is going on here?
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And I think we're missing the mark. And actually, I had a police officer approach
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me at the gym not long ago, and he had thanked me for the content that I was
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making because it was a reminder to him and other officers that they need to
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be looking at the bigger picture.
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It's not just about, you know, one piece of that puzzle. And I think,
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again, another example of when you share your story and create this content,
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meaningful change can happen and it starts the conversation.
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And I think, you know, leading up to getting before police and other justice
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professionals, I am presenting at a conference next year that is designed for
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police, fire, and EMS and how to better respond to domestic violence.
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And it's building in this immersive training for first responders. Amazing.
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Where is that conference? It's in Edmonton. Okay, excellent.
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Good. Well, I look forward to hearing how that goes. That'll be fascinating.
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Is there anything else that I missed through that conversation about what do
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you wish people like working in the justice system should know about those experiences,
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those seeking help? Or did you kind of touch on all that already?
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I just think like when we hear domestic violence, we look for the physical evidence of it, right?
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So bruises, you know, that how can we tell that something has occurred?
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And in the moment, you know, if you're an officer responding to that,
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you'll see bruises. That's in that snapshot.
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But for so many of us, it's beyond the bruises.
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And so I think bringing that awareness and having that training being provided
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to justice professionals, because I've heard from many judges in my personal
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life that because of the judicial independence, they don't have to go to training.
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And so they don't have to have training in certain things. And so that's concerning, right?
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Because again, they're only looking at what's before them. But when domestic
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violence is a slow buildup till we get to this big picture, I think victims
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are being failed every step of the way. And then we only, we become a reactionary
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system instead of proactive. Okay.
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So even looking at, and I don't know if you have a specific name for that training,
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but from making it discretionary to probably making it mandatory would probably
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help things considerably.
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Yeah, I think so, right? Because there's lots of mandatory training when you go in for jobs.
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And I can respect the judicial independence to a degree, but I think when we're
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looking at certain things like domestic violence, when far too many women and
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children are dying from domestic violence every year in Canada,
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it tells us that we need to do more.
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And I'm not saying it's going to solve all of the problems, but I think it would
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help us to be a preventative system instead of, because the system prioritizes
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reunification over safety every time.
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Really? Yeah. Interesting. Okay.
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The perspective of you also being an instructor in Lethbridge Polytechnic's
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Bachelor of Justice program is quite unique.
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So how's your experience in the classroom or even your personal experience or
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professional experience like influence what you want students to learn before
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entering the profession?
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I think the justice system is so vast and no matter what career that you want
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to end up in, you know, that could be anything.
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It's really important to be aware of different perspectives and experiences.
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And something that I've learned in my own educational journey and professional
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experience and lived experience is that, you know, I've danced in both worlds
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as someone who's navigated the system, worked inside of it, taught in this system.
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Our experiences are real to us, but we can't paint everybody in every system
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with the same paintbrush.
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And how do we do that? Well, we have to be aware of our assumptions and biases
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and those that we carry with us.
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And so something that I've really tried to incorporate into my classes is how
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do we take that experiential learning and become reflective practitioners and
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reflecting on our experiences and what did we learn from that?
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What can we do better or different? And I do that in my own life as well.
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And I think that's why I've been able to be as successful as I have been and
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be able to, you know, teach people in a different way because of that vast experience,
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if that makes sense. Totally.
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And I really like what you're saying because, again, you had some hesitation
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in publishing this book, but you've been approached with a lot of positive feedback
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since it has been published because,
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you even check your own assumptions and biases to make sure that you're not
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painting everybody with the same brush.
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It's not saying all this, all that, but it's these individual experiences and
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individual responses of emergency response teams about how it all happens from there.
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Can you speak to that just about how you check those biases and assumptions?
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Yeah, like a prime example is I've had various dealings with police officers
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from numerous services.
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But I, you know, some of them have not been good, but I've also had good experiences.
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And in my book, I do give some acknowledgments to those officers and even some
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judges who were instrumental in recognizing things for what they were.
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And so I think, you know, just being aware of, I could say, oh,
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I don't trust police. I don't, you know, and paint them all with that same brush.
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But I know because of my experience, I can see the duality in both.
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And so leveraging those good relationships and, you know, like utilizing that
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to create that change, because they are also now taking my book into police
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lineups and saying like, hey, you need to read this book.
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And so, you know, it's just like if I had such a negative experience and view
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of the police, I don't think I'd be able to engage in those wholesome conversations
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to start that, you know, planting the seed for this conversation at the very least. Yeah.
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And how powerful is that? It's almost like you've now become like train the trainer.
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Yeah. And the fact that it's like this intrinsic feeling from the police officers
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who have read your material or who understand your story.
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Who know even within the system or within their own practices or decisions that
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they make on a daily basis that,
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they can see where that change needs to happen yeah and i think what's missing
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in lots of creation of policy and all of these things is that lived experience
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perspective because you can get and i'm not saying police officers haven't experienced
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domestic violence maybe they have,
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but those of us who have navigated in a different way should have a seat at
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that table to help inform some of those policies and share.
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Because I think it's a good, again, in reflective practice, we might have all
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of these things, but how are they actually working? And how are they being received by community?
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Yeah. Yeah. Powerful. So maybe we've answered this already, but again,
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I just want to make sure I haven't missed anything.
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So how do you bring lived experience into the classroom in ways to help students
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connect theory, policy, and the realities? Like, is there active learning that
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you play out or scenarios or what does that look like?
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It's not something I currently teach because I teach fieldwork classes here on campus.
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But it is something that I do use when I'm teaching at the Lakeshore campus.
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Because for those of you who don't know, the Lakeshore campus is the campus
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inside of Lethbridge Correctional Center.
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And so I do teach family violence prevention there. And so I'm able to use some
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of these experiences, which again speaks to my duality and all of those things
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to bring lived experience and a professional experience in teaching sentenced inmates.
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Yeah, just kind of really recognizing and talking about what it means to be a victim.
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Because lots of them are perpetrators of domestic violence, but they've also been victims.
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And so there's another duality of very interesting perspectives and dynamics.
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And even as a teacher, navigating both of those things without really calling
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it out and causing issues on the unit.
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But I think just my, even if I'm not talking about domestic violence specifically,
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challenging our assumptions and belief systems and biases and is one of the
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most impactful practices that we could do as professionals and just as individuals
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living, you know, because that's how we become lifelong learners.
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That's how we embrace curiosity over judgment and we've become better people
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and professionals for it. So, yeah.
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The other side, either students or professionals, have you had some negative
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or pushback, I guess, when students feel that maybe their assumptions are challenged
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or those in the professional justice system,
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they feel challenged based on this?
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How do you help them perhaps work through that discomfort or maybe learn from it?
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I think, I mean, you don't grow in your comfort zone. So when people become
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uncomfortable, that's an opportunity to change.
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I think it's my approach, though, and the way that I still have respect for
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the people that I'm engaging with. So even though I'm respectfully challenging,
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assumptions and those things, I think it's I don't come from a place of hate.
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I come from a place of curiosity. Like, help me understand.
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And I think through my approach, I can model the way for other people.
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And so, you know, it's not about getting defensive. It's about,
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yeah, what is the opportunity here? What can we learn from these experiences?
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How do we do better? Yeah. Yeah.
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Yeah, that vulnerability or just the curiosity of taking me more through your
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thought process. Yeah. Okay. Yeah.
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Are there specific teaching approaches that you've found useful for helping
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students practice empathy, listen carefully, and consider perspectives different from their own?
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It's tough when you're teaching online because there's only really like online
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communication in that aspect. But still through, you know, feedback,
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through assignments, there is still that curiosity and how I ask the questions, I think.
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But it's really kind of cool because we're seeing a lot of empathy.
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And I just recently changed my fieldwork courses to use experiential learning
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and reflective models in their responses because they're in the field working, gaining experience.
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And so through this practice, in real time, they're using lived experience of
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their own to reflect on practices, standards, expectations, and all of those things.
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So it's kind of relatively new, but it's been cool to see the answers and like
00:18:51.575 --> 00:18:56.544
how students are engaging with each other, the material and their own experience. Yeah.
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Sounds like a good research project. Yeah, you know.
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Something down the line, maybe. That's great. So students may understand a concept
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in class, but might find it difficult to apply under pressure or maybe even
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that fieldwork experience.
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How can educators help them turn that understanding into sound professional judgment?
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I think, you know, even from my own professional experience,
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like you gotta be okay with taking risk and making mistakes.
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There is a ton of learning opportunities that come from mistakes.
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Now I'm not saying continue to make the same mistake over and over again. That's a problem.
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But how else are you going to learn and build confidence if you don't fail forward, you know?
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And so every failure, let's say, is an opportunity to learn and to do something
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different and to learn, you know, it's, yeah, you can learn from it.
00:19:42.165 --> 00:19:47.455
So I think it's really exciting. And, you know, as a student doing your practicums
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or in like paid and unpaid placements, it can be nerve wracking,
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right? Because some of us have really high expectations of ourselves. We don't.
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Those that can embrace that approach, I find, make it further than those who
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are so scared to take risks and are perfectionists and, you know,
00:20:08.096 --> 00:20:09.725
too scared to step outside of that box.
00:20:10.409 --> 00:20:14.805
So, yeah, I just really try to encourage that as much as I can through all my interactions. Yeah.
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All right. Now, are there opportunities, you think, for polytechnics or post-secondaries
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in general to strengthen justice education through collaboration with survivors,
00:20:24.051 --> 00:20:26.553
community organizations, and justice professionals?
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I 100% think that there's a ton of opportunity to embrace more of that.
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However, when you're taking people with lived experience, they have to be people,
00:20:39.213 --> 00:20:43.705
that have done enough of their own healing to be able to come and share their stories in a good way.
00:20:43.705 --> 00:20:46.565
Because there's still lots of people who are maybe early on,
00:20:46.565 --> 00:20:50.205
maybe aren't really quite ready to share their story, and you might not get
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the best version or answers because they're not in a place where they can really,
00:20:55.439 --> 00:20:57.825
articulate or help in the most impactful way.
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And I say that respectfully, but if I look at myself many years ago,
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I probably wouldn't be able to have this book and make the impacts that I've been able to make.
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But through my own healing journey and the way that I present to those that
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are willing to listen, I think that's the key.
00:21:14.195 --> 00:21:19.125
And so when we look at the school, I think it is about, let's use people that
00:21:19.125 --> 00:21:23.885
have a good amount of years in recovery, let's say, and that have done the work
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that can share our experience to help shape and inform our.
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You know, in-class training, our recruit training, our like any type of,
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however we can utilize lived experience with students, I think is impactful
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and not just justice related, but across the board.
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I hope that answers that question. Oh yeah, for sure. No, that's really good.
00:21:44.639 --> 00:21:49.605
Are you able to take us through just for giving strength to others who have
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made, have gone through something like what you've gone through,
00:21:53.953 --> 00:21:59.162
The journey from when the incident happened until the strength you came about
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to either process and work through that, all those strong feelings,
00:22:04.223 --> 00:22:07.302
to actually then come up with a published version of your work,
00:22:07.982 --> 00:22:10.173
to put it under the public microscope.
00:22:11.944 --> 00:22:16.650
And what were some things that helped you through that path to resiliency?
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Journaling has been very impactful in my own healing journey as well as practicing gratitude.
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And that's not to say that bad things aren't existing at the same time,
00:22:28.134 --> 00:22:29.924
but both things can be true at the same time.
00:22:29.924 --> 00:22:34.904
You can be grateful for a lot of things, but also navigating some really tough challenges.
00:22:34.904 --> 00:22:38.974
But our perspective is everything. And so I chose to focus on the good of my
00:22:38.974 --> 00:22:42.314
life, even though I was navigating and going through some of the most difficult
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experiences of my life. And this has been a long, drawn-out battle.
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This is 10 years of a court battle.
00:22:48.404 --> 00:22:52.624
But I started documenting in 2012 because I knew if I ever needed something
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to go to court with, and because I worked in this field, I was really good at documenting.
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And so this book is basically all of my documentation turned into a story.
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But I think, yeah, just doing my master's in leadership, I learned how deeply
00:23:07.414 --> 00:23:08.857
personal leadership was.
00:23:09.264 --> 00:23:12.044
And so it was like, how can I lead myself through these difficult times so that
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I can lead others through theirs? And that doesn't, you know,
00:23:15.204 --> 00:23:18.917
but even in organizations, you know, how do you show up for people?
00:23:19.300 --> 00:23:22.134
Well, you have to show up for yourself first. Because I believe you can only
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lead others to the depths in which you've led yourself.
00:23:24.306 --> 00:23:28.634
And so, yeah, just through journaling and self-help books and counseling and
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therapy and all of these things. I mean, this is only one part of my story.
00:23:31.324 --> 00:23:35.137
There's a whole bunch more in my second book that I'll talk about.
00:23:35.801 --> 00:23:42.058
But, yeah, just in perspective, you know, like we choose or we see what we choose to see.
00:23:42.673 --> 00:23:46.514
And so just carrying that mindset and moving forward and always asking myself,
00:23:46.514 --> 00:23:47.962
like, what is the opportunity here?
00:23:48.635 --> 00:23:52.014
So even in our darkest moments, like I said, you know, beautiful things can
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come from those things. So, yeah. Impressive. Thanks for sharing.
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When you imagine your students becoming the next generation of justice professionals,
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what do you most hope they'll do differently?
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What role can education play in making that possible? Yeah.
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You know, I really hope that they become, and they take this reflective practice
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and use it onward, right?
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Not just because it was a requirement in the classroom, but because they see
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the benefit in how it makes them better as professionals, as human beings.
00:24:22.098 --> 00:24:26.226
I mean, that they can also share that practice with other people because,
00:24:26.777 --> 00:24:29.788
you know, we can always hide behind policies and all of those things.
00:24:29.788 --> 00:24:34.548
But how we show up every day is what really matters. Policies are only a small
00:24:34.548 --> 00:24:37.122
part of anything. Yeah, of course.
00:24:37.948 --> 00:24:41.488
We've covered a lot of material today. Is there anything that you think we missed
00:24:41.488 --> 00:24:43.143
out on, or is there anything else you'd like to share?
00:24:43.786 --> 00:24:48.325
No, I don't think so. Okay, great. Well, thank you so much for joining us today.
00:24:48.906 --> 00:24:51.831
It's been a great conversation, Chelsea. Really appreciate your time.
00:24:52.040 --> 00:24:53.068
Yeah, thank you for having me.
00:24:53.743 --> 00:24:57.446
This episode featured Chris Hodgson-Bright as host and Chelsea DeGroote as guest.
00:24:57.644 --> 00:25:00.860
Dawn McLaughlin was our producer, sound technician, and editor.
00:25:01.434 --> 00:25:04.878
Our podcast is funded by Lethbridge Polytechnic's Centre for Business,
00:25:04.878 --> 00:25:08.830
Arts, and Science and recorded on the traditional lands of the Blackfoot Confederacy.
00:25:09.213 --> 00:25:12.667
For more episodes, head to learninginnovation.ca slash podcast.
00:25:13.050 --> 00:25:14.530
Thanks for listening and take care.