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Becoming and Being a Camp Counsellor

Discourse, Power Relations and Emotions

  • Book
  • © 2020

Overview

  • Analyses and critiques the individual developmental opportunities and challenges of working in a camp
  • Takes a post-structural analytical approach to the social development of young camp counsellors
  • Provides a social history of summer camps

Part of the book series: Leisure Studies in a Global Era (LSGE)

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Table of contents (8 chapters)

Keywords

About this book

This book explores the complexities of the recreational summer camp experience and its reliance on the expertise and emotion work of young people. Drawing on post-structural theory, Baker illustrates the discourses, power relations and emotional demands that shape camp counsellor employment experiences and well-being.

 

Through analysis of everyday experiences and interactions, Baker unpicks the power nexus between counsellors, campers, peers and camp management, offering a deeper understanding of camp counsellor employment and the challenges for camp employees and employers. As such, this book raises a call for camp researchers and industry leaders to engage in rethinking how camp counsellor roles are understood, shaped and embodied, and how they might be ethically supported through reflexive management practices.

 

Becoming and Being a Camp Counsellor will be of interest to scholars and students across the fields of leisure, outdoor recreation, youth studies, and sociology.


Reviews

“This book should be of interest for any scholar interested in studying camp employment experiences. Additionally, given Baker’s democratic style of writing, this book would be useful for undergraduate courses in the areas of outdoor leisure, and for camp industry practitioners looking for novel writing on counsellor experiences. … Becoming and Being a Camp Counsellor is a delightfully digestible book.” (John Hannant-Minchel, Annals of Leisure Research, April 8, 2021)

“Becoming and Being a Camp Counsellor will be of interest to seasoned camp scholars, university students, and curious others eager to look beyond arts and crafts and evening campfire songs to expand their understanding of the camp counsellor experience. … Becoming and Being a Camp Counsellor is an insightful, thought-provoking, and novel investigation of the recreational summer camp experience. … This text would be most appropriate for upper-level courses in baccalaureate or post-baccalaureate programs.” (Robert P. Warner, Journal of Outdoor and Environmental Education, Vol. 23, 2020)

Authors and Affiliations

  • Torrens University, Sydney, Australia

    Mandi Baker

About the author

Mandi Baker is Lecturer and Research Fellow at Torrens University Australia. 

Bibliographic Information

  • Book Title: Becoming and Being a Camp Counsellor

  • Book Subtitle: Discourse, Power Relations and Emotions

  • Authors: Mandi Baker

  • Series Title: Leisure Studies in a Global Era

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-32501-5

  • Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan Cham

  • eBook Packages: Education, Education (R0)

  • Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020

  • Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-030-32500-8Published: 09 December 2019

  • Softcover ISBN: 978-3-030-32503-9Published: 09 December 2020

  • eBook ISBN: 978-3-030-32501-5Published: 22 November 2019

  • Series ISSN: 2946-3173

  • Series E-ISSN: 2946-3181

  • Edition Number: 1

  • Number of Pages: XV, 271

  • Number of Illustrations: 1 b/w illustrations

  • Topics: Sociology of Education, Sociology of Sport and Leisure, Sociology of Work, Social Care

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