Assessment 2: REFLECTIVE QUESTIONS
Task Brief:
Q1a: List the community/human services-related tasks you performed during your fieldwork placement.
Q1b: Reflect on your answer above and describe the tasks that advanced your learning goals.
Q2a: How did the tasks you undertook benefit the agency’s service users?
Q2b: Reflect on how your placement experience influenced your understanding and knowledge of working in a culturally responsive and inclusive way .
Q3: Give examples of how you used supervision and support throughout your fieldwork placement .
Q4: Reflect on your placement experience and explain how you integrated your classroom learning into your fieldwork placement.
Q5: What did this placement teach you about being a community/human services worker? .
Q6: What was your most significant challenge during this fieldwork placement, and what did it teach you?
Q7: Reflect on your fieldwork placement experiences and discuss what areas of further skills development you would like to work on.
Q8: Reflect on your fieldwork experience during this placement. What differences did you observe (in terms of work practices, policy and/or values) compared to your previous fieldwork placement? Give examples.
Q9: Explain how you were able to use your knowledge and skill gained from your previous fieldwork placement in a new workplace setting. Give examples.
Q10: Reflect upon your approaches and attitudes to the workplace. Identify areas where you have seen your working behaviours or values align with the workplace practices and policies. Give examples.
ANSWERS:
1a. I have performed a number of community and human service-related tasks during my fieldwork placement at Merrylands Youth Centre. I have helped young people in their resume-making. I have also engaged in different activities with these people so that I can help them prevent suicide and support them to succeed in their future goals. I have also engaged in charity events so that funds can be raised for needy young people. Activities like helping the young people with their homework and assessment have also been performed and I think I was able enough to help them engage in activities and assessment. I have also taken part in young mums’ programs and discussed with young mums about different issues they have faced during the postpartum period.
1b. The tasks that I have performed as helped me to advance my learning goals. My learning about young people’s resources has increased and I have also engaged in charity events which has improved my communication skills and my learning goals to work for the needy young users. My learning goals have been enhanced as I have helped them to make their resume and it helped me to increase my ability to showcase the skills and expertise of an individual in a way so that he can be successful in his future endeavours. The process of client referral was unknown to me. I have gained knowledge about how to refer clients and get referrals from clients about my job and I think all of these aspects will help me to increase my future learning goals.
2a. The agency is working on the development of the service users. The task that I have undertaken has been part of the actions the agency takes for the development of the service users. For example, I have helped them to make their resume and make them understand how a good resume can impact the employer in terms of providing employment opportunities. To survive in the mainstream of life, these service users require proper employment opportunities and having a properly made resume will help them to grab the opportunity for effective employment in future (Rusconi & Boetto, 2024). The knowledge about how to refer clients and get referred from clients with also help the users generate new opportunities for employment.
2b. My placement experience has influenced my understanding and knowledge of working in a culturally responsive and inclusive way. I have worked in a culturally responsive and inclusive way as there were young people who have attempted suicide as well as there were girls who have also been going through some traumatic events. There are new mothers who are going through postpartum and other associated events which have affected their mental health as well as their Physical health. Thus, my job has offered me the chance to work with people who have different requirements and different goals in life. Through my job, I have been able to help them achieve their goal and support them without judging their backgrounds and their problems.
3. Proper supervision and support are beneficial for a field work placement as they can help an individual to understand the strain and then weaknesses in the performance. Supervision and support are also necessary for an individual working in fieldwork placement. There are specific reasons for which supervision and support are necessary. For example, supervision in the field work will help to find out the scope of skill development for an individual employee. Regular feedback can be obtained from the supervisor which can help an individual like me to understand the areas of improvement and continuous learning can be generated (Silvia et al., 2020). On the other hand, for maintaining the standard operation in the fieldwork and meeting the organisation and requirements, support and supervision are required. A regular evaluation conducted by the supervisors can increase the quality of performance. I think it is necessary for an individual who is working in a fieldwork placement like me to achieve professional growth. With the help of supervisors, professional development can be generated in an effective way and these supervisors can support in terms of career guidance. Apart from that, to work in this field, emotional support is also required. Stress management is necessary in any kind of field work and to work for the service users problems like burnout and additional dress and complete can happen. It is supervisors can help to resolve these issues and conflicts and a smoother working experience can be developed (Silvia et al., 2020).
4. In integrating classroom learning in order to work with service users, a specific approach must be taken into consideration so that theoretical knowledge can be incorporated into fieldwork and practical application can be properly done. Defining the learning objective for field work experience is suitable and therapeutic communication to work with service users in terms of field work is also required which can be learnt in the classroom setting. Collaborating learning is one such learning procedure developed in the classroom setting and it can also be incorporated into fieldwork experience but the employees can share their insight and provide support to each other. Interdisciplinary collaboration is one such classroom learning that I have integrated into the field work placement (Lotta & Miranda, 2023). Collaborating with people from different disciplines such as psychology and social work is beneficial for developing information about the service users and their requirements. Thus, I have been beneficial in gaining its effectiveness about the service users and a holistic approach has been developed from my experience which has helped me to work with these people. Having proper fieldwork experience and attending regular seminars and workshops about service users is other common practices for integrating classroom learning into the field work experience (Van Campenhout, 2020). I have also attended some seminars and obtained information about service users which I have used to support them during my placement. Reflective practice is another classroom learning which can be used in field work among service users. I have started to keep reflective journals which has helped me to evaluate the steps that I have taken during the placement and identify my areas of development.
5. During the placement, I have been able to understand the trauma and the pathetic experience that the service users have to go through before taking the service. Therefore I have understood that being a human service or community service worker is a great responsibility. It is necessary that one should take these responsibilities seriously so that the users will be benefited. It is not at all recommended that the community service workers or human service workers should exploit the service users at any point. Being empathetic and compassionate about the problems of the users or the patients is necessary so that treatment can be done on the human ground (Silvia et al., 2020). I have also understood that maintaining integrity in sharing information is necessary to work on this ground. The service users have to share their personal information and belongingness with the service workers. It is the responsibility of the service workers to maintain the integrity of sharing such private or personal information with anybody else other than the medical officer. The needs and rights of the clients and the community guidelines should also be maintained (Lotta & Miranda, 2023). For example, I have obtained information about postpartum depression as well as the reasons for suicidal thoughts in younger people. However, it was my responsibility that I should not disclose this personal information to anybody else. Rather I have worked hard in order to support these people who required support to fight postpartum depression or any other types of mental health issue.
6. Every community service worker has to deal with a number of challenges which may affect their physical health as well as mental health. Like other service workers, I have also faced a number of challenges. One of the major challenges that I have faced is emotional stress and burnout. As I had to deal with people who came from different distressing situations, working with them led me to a high level of emotional stress. Compassion fatigue is another important challenge that I had to deal with in order to work with such patients. However, the most significant challenge that I have to deal with while working in the placement is the lack of resources. In order to work with the service users, effective and efficient resources are necessary and I have seen that insufficient funding is affecting the provision of necessary services. Lack of professional training and development is also there which is hindering the opportunity of skill development the community service workers like me. As I was new to this particular field, I feel that having access to training and professional development will help me to understand my rules and responsibilities in this field. Extra workload is also there due to the lack of funding and other sources which has been considered as a major setback for a community service worker (Van Campenhout, 2020). Insufficient time is also there to address every case professionally which has affected the quality of service as well as the effectiveness of the healing procedure.
7. In order to work in this particular field, I have understood that some specific skills should be developed for every individual service worker. One of the major skills that the workers should have is the counselling technique. The knowledge of basic counselling and motivational interviewing should be learnt by every individual service worker. I have understood that the training in such basic counselling will help me as well as the other community workers to understand the case of different service users and provide them individual services. Basic skills of treating people with mental health crises must also be developed. Understanding the family dynamics and the stages of child development for people working on youth and family services is needed (Lotta & Miranda, 2023). Educational support for younger people to help them have a g good career in future is also needed. Continuous education and professional development should be a strategy to improve the skills and expertise of community service workers. I have understood that it is necessary that specific workshops and certification programs should be arranged by organizations like Merryland Youth Centre. It will not only increase the quality of service for their service users, but at the same time, it will also be helpful to understand the issues of service users. further skill enhancement can also be done by using online training and webinars. Collaborating with local organisations can also help in resource sharing and research opportunities (Van Campenhout, 2020). Professional network development and regular assessment to generate feedback is also recommended in order to increase the effectiveness of skills among community service workers
8. During this placement of fieldwork, I have observed that there are some different insist in terms of work practice and values compared to my previous field work placement. In my previous field work placement, ethical considerations were not a matter and the privacy of data and information of the users were not properly maintained. In my previous workplace, I have also seen that treating all individuals with dignity and respect was not maintained. However, it is the core value of a community service organisation to treat all service users with dignity and respect. Providing high-quality service is also considered as one of the values as well as impressing diversity and promoting inclusivity. However, in my previous such things were not maintained properly apart from disclosing the case history and identity of the users, treating individuals with dignity and respect was not properly maintained. Rather people with emotional disability or functional disability had to bear with discrimination and bullying which was against the policy of the community service organisations (Silvia et al., 2020).
However, in my previous organization, there was a specific strategy to attract and select volunteers and provide them with training and orientation. It not only helped to increase the scope of employment for such workers in future, but at the same time, the workforce gets better with people from different diverse backgrounds and cultures (Liljegren et al., 2020). In my current organisation, I have not seen such a thing as attracting individual volunteers and providing them with training and onboarding opportunities.
9. In my new workplace, I have been effectively using the knowledge and skills that I have gained from my previous fieldwork placement. I have understood the importance of following a code of conduct in order to serve the service users. It is necessary that every individual worker in this field should maintain the service standard and the benchmark while following the service code of conduct in the organisation. Violating the code of conduct is considered as a major crime for these people. I have also understood that understanding the safety policy and the roles and responsibilities of the workers is mandatory before taking up the charge of service. Every service user is unique and they have their own problems to be dealt with. It is the responsibility of the community service providers to understand the uniqueness of these problems and treat them properly (Liljegren et al., 2020). Health and safety policies should be taken into consideration to understand the requirements of the problems and follow the emergency protocols. Proper incident reporting is also necessary to be incorporated into the field work so that the right actions can be taken without any delay. For example, in case of any individual attempting suicide, the right actions must be taken after reporting it however no delay in reporting should be done and treatment should be started on an emergency basis by following the organisation of protocols of emergency service.
10. By reflecting on my approach and attitude to the workplace during the fieldwork, I have understood that the working behaviours and values must be aligned with workplace practice and policies. By reflecting on my approach I have understood that it was my duty to the get along with the patients and treat them equally without focusing on their cultural inclusivity or diversity. It is the value of the organisation is to provide individual support who need advocacy, support, case management and referral. Being a community and social support worker, I have understood that appropriate service is necessary for people in need irrespective of their age. For instance, young mothers also require support in order to pass through the postpartum phase and depression is a common problem among these young moms (Merrylands Youth Centre, 2023). On the other hand, work development order program has been developed by this particular organisation which has made me understand the important of having a source of employment for people who have intellectual disability, impairment or acute economic hardship. the association with this particular work development order program has helped me to understand that people also required work opportunity to satisfy their debt by unpaid work and it also help them to increase their effectiveness as workers to increase the opportunity of employment in future.
References
Liljegren, A., Dunér, A. and Olin, E. (2020) ‘Support Workers in social care: Between social work professionals and service users’, Support Workers and the Health Professions, pp. 125–142. doi:10.1332/policypress/9781447352105.003.0007.
Lotta, G. and Miranda, J.R. (2023) ‘Navigating between the state and the community’, Portraits of Public Service, pp. 19–36. doi:10.1515/9781438493695-003.
Merrylands Youth Centre (2023) Services, Merrylands Youth Centre. Available at: https://www.merrylandsyouthcentre.org.au/services (Accessed: 16 June 2024).
Rusconi, M. and Boetto, H. (2024) ‘Community Service Workers’ experiences following Australia’s Black Summer: Contextualising Rural Service Provision’, Australian Social Work, 77(2), pp. 256–268. doi:10.1080/0312407x.2024.2305757.
Silvia, T., Priyadi, B.P. and Dwimawanti, I.H. (2020) ‘Analysis of service quality of Indonesian Workers Placement and Protection Service Center semarang in placement of Indonesian migrant workers’, Jurnal Administrasi Publik : Public Administration Journal, 10(1), pp. 12–21. doi:10.31289/jap.v10i1.2987.
Van Campenhout, B. (2020) ‘Community advocacy forums and public service delivery – impact, and the role of information, deliberation, and administrative placement’, AEA Randomized Controlled Trials [Preprint]. doi:10.1257/rct.5247.