Reflection -A Continuum of Leisure Studies and Professional Specialties: What if no Connections Exist?

This reflection is about the World Leisure Journal article "A continuum of leisure studies and professional specialties: what if no connections exist?" by Karla A Henderson. 

In the article, Henderson describes a "crisis" between the academic community and the practitioners working within the various specialized areas of recreation and leisure services. As the leisure community has grown and developed specialties, Henderson pointed out that a dilemma has developed regarding how the academic community and the specialties are going to work together. Henderson proposes that “leisure studies and professional specialties are at two ends of a continuum and that they have had a range of interrelationships in the past which are under major examination going into the future” (page 77).

It seems to me that another way of saying this is that leisure studies and professional specialties are experiencing "growing pains" in how they will work together.  This is natural considering how young the field actually is. As noted in the article, the concept of leisure only became formalized after the Industrial Revolution and it wasn't until the 1960’s that people started studying leisure more intensely. We are a young field!

As the field of recreation and leisure has grown, it has diversified into various areas of specialties. Universities and colleges have responded in a way to prepare students for employment upon graduation. For instance, at University of Waterloo, undergraduates can opt for a variety of majors within Recreation and Leisure studies such as Recreation and Sport Business, Therapeutic Recreation and Tourism and Parks Management. At Conestoga College, in addition to the Recreation and Leisure Services Program, there are post-graduate opportunities to study Recreation Management for Older Adults Program, Volunteer Management, Event Planning etc.

As the field grows and diversifies, the people who work within this field (both directly and within the academic community) will have had to examine/readjust the linkages that were once established. Personally, I would not call that a crisis and am a bit puzzled as to why Henderson thinks that it is. To me that is “life”. Change is the only constant and it is up to all of us to grow and adapt to that change.

Perhaps I have not been exposed enough to the academic community and I am naive in my thinking around this.  I do agree with Henderson who believes that we need to keep leisure studies as a common ground amongst all of the specialties. As the field continues to grow, it seems to me that the challenge will be determining how to most effectively do that.