Emergency management practitioners play a critical role in supporting communities before, during, and after major emergencies by helping ensure the continuity of essential government and community services. Yet in Canada, there are no broadly accepted educational requirements or clearly defined stages of professional development for this occupation. This creates important challenges for educators, employers, and practitioners, particularly if the preparation of new emergency managers is approached primarily through competency-based learning models.
This panel brings together current emergency management practitioners to reflect on the realities of entering and growing in the field. Drawing on Darren Blackburn’s five-year doctoral research into the development of professional identity in Canadian emergency managers, the discussion will explore questions such as: Who becomes an emergency manager in Canada? How do people find their way into this area of practice? What personal and professional characteristics matter most in the role? And to what extent can these be intentionally developed through education, rather than learned only through experience?
Through a discussion grounded in both research and practice, panelists will consider:
- How the interdisciplinary nature of emergency management shapes the experiences of new professionals;
- The elements that make up professional identity in emergency managers;
- The pathways newcomers follow as they grow into the role; and
- How experiential and situated learning approaches can support the purposeful development of future emergency managers within post-secondary education.
