To what extent has your

placement (s)
assisted you to understand and value
diversity in its many forms therefore
enabling you to cater for diversity
more effectively

enhanced the development of your

understanding of the contextual
factors that impact on the way in
which people live their lives

Explanatory comment
I was able to interact with children and
families from a wide range of cultural
and religious backgrounds. This
allowed for me to learn more about the
different ways in which they live
compared to how I live. I was also able
to listen to their personal experiences
of life in Australia and how they had
experienced it in a social context. This
gave me some points to consider in
catering for diversity in a school
setting.
As my placement was within the public
housing complex in Fitzroy, all of the
families and children who attended
lived there or in another public housing
estate within Melbourne. These families
were financially and socially
disadvantaged, with many of them
being refugees from Asia or Africa.
Despite these negative factors, I found
them to be wonderfully positive and
they possessed a great deal of
resilience to challenges and trials.
Many of the children were living with a
single parent, usually a mother, and I
often was able to talk to one particular
mother who detailed to me some of the
struggles she faces on a day to day

basis. I often think I take for granted

that I am able to get a nice hot meal
every night, whereas she struggles to
do that on a near daily basis.
enhanced your critical examination,
promoted reflective practices and
challenged established beliefs

It was an experience that required me

to think about the way I view the world
and the things that I perhaps overlook
on a day-to-day basis. It also
challenged me to adapt new
techniques and strategies in my
teaching, which sometimes questioned
what I had previously thought. For
example, on one Saturday afternoon
when I was at the program, I was
confronted with two children wrestling
each other in the playground.
Ordinarily at work in OSHC, I would
have to tell them to stop and explain
that that was not appropriate
behaviour, but instead of doing this I
had to let them be and only intervene if
it got too physical. This was hard for
me to do as it challenged one of my
beliefs in terms of behaviour
management. Many of the children
behaved in such a way that if I had
done that when I was young, I wouldve
been in enormous trouble. It was
certainly hard to separate myself from
that and to not let it bother me. I knew
that these children were growing up in
a completely different way to what I

had.

encouraged open and flexible

thinking, and responsiveness to
change

enabled you to listen to the voices of

marginalised people and, through
reflection, allow such experiences to
impact on your personal and
professional lives as engaged citizens

This experience most definitely opened

my eyes and changed the way I
approached certain situations. The
ways in which I needed to interact with
the children at Cubbies was much
different to the way I interact with the
children at my Outside School Hours
job or during my teaching rounds.
Many of the situations I found myself in
were quite challenging and I often
found myself at a bit of a loss as to how
to react. It certainly involved me
having to change my tactics and
approach in a split second when things
began to change in the child/children.
This experience certainly gave me a
valuable and exciting opportunity to
see what we have been learning at
university in a real life context. Working
with the children in the program was a
wonderful eye-opening experience,
which gave me a new and refreshed
perspective on life. I learnt so much
about diversity and how we need to
respect and assist those who need
extra help. Before this experience, I
suppose I had never really considered
how many people are socially and

financially disadvantaged in our society

and how many children are affected by
it. This experience certainly allowed me
to do that and to learn more about how
I and the rest of my fellow students
could help them.
provided opportunities for you to
contribute to the life of the
community through the sharing of
personal expertise and time

Throughout my experience, although I

didnt grow up with the same
challenges as the children in the
program did, I was still able to use my
own personal experiences and share
some aspects of my time in primary
school. It was a great way to get to
know the children and to share
something that we had in common. I
thoroughly enjoyed giving them my
time and energy to spend time with
them and to experience a different side
of life. I was able to listen to many of
the stories of the children, such as how
they moved here from another country,
or what traditions they have in their
culture. I learnt a great deal about the
multicultural side of our society and
how it should be celebrated and
valued.