Becoming and Being a Camp Counsellor

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.

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

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

Résumé

"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)

Contenu

1. Introduction.- 2. A Genealogy of Summer Camp.- 3. Rethinking Camp Counsellor Experiences.- 4. Discursive Productions of Camp Selves.- 5. Becoming a Camp Counsellor: Everyday Power and Processes of Subjectification.- 6. Being a Camp Counsellor: Emotions at Work.- 7. Conclusions.- 8. Reflections. <p