On April 4, 2013 I was at Seneca College to speak with one of the first year Opticianry program classes. I asked them tell me the words they would use to describe their chosen profession.
Below is a Wordle I created using the words I was given. A Wordle is a word cloud which applies an?algorithm which one of its functions is to make the most popular words more visible.
I returned to Seneca on April 8th and asked another class of first year Opticianry students the same question. Here is the Wordle created from the words they gave me.
While attending Canadian Opticianry national meetings in Winnipeg this past weekend I had the pleasure of engaging ?Manitoba Licensed Opticians during my presentation on professionalism. It was part of ?a day of professional learning and the launching of their new Manitoba Chapter of the Opticians Association of Canada. I asked the attendees the same question I asked the Seneca students. Here is what they said.
When I look at these three graphics it makes me think of many things. The first thing I think about is the experience of doing this exercise and what it meant to me to be in a room of fellow professionals?engaging?in collective self learning. I hope to have this experience with Opticians from all over because it was very validating. It helped me to recognize the expansive professional capacity of Opticians. If you are interested in this type of professional learning please contact me.
Now what do you think? What accounts for the similarities and the differences? What do you think of when you see these three groups of words??Do others see us the way we do? I invite you to?share your thoughts and comments. What do you think this exercise illustrates and have we missed any words?
Words I feel could be added to what’s been gathered are ” invested”, and ” transparent”.
I still feel there is a huge opportunity for the public to see us as we see ourselves. I also believe through communication and reaching out we can accomplish this:)