Radio

  G I N E T T E   B E R T E A U

I come from a large French-Canadian family with many cousins, aunts and uncles, and social support was extremely important in my family when I was growing up. I am convinced this focus on support is what led me to become a group worker. For the last forty years, social work with groups has been my passion and an integral part of my life. I first worked with groups of women, youth and parents. I later had a chance to train and oversee numerous social workers and group work students, which inspired me to pursue a PhD in the field. I have been teaching social work with groups at the Université de Québec à Montréal (UQAM) since 1999 in order to transmit my lifelong passion to future generations.

I chose Radio because …

… for me, social work is like a radio. Like the radio, social work must be in tune with its public, listen to what it has to say, continually explore new avenues to meet its needs and adjust itself, look for the most recent information to be able to offer a variety of choices, and multiple critics in terms of perspectives, cultures, opinions and interests while giving everyone the chance to adhere to what suits him or her best. Like radio, in addition to having an educational and awareness mission, social work must be connected to the world to remain up to date.