EDFX 207/277 Community Engagement

Assessment Task 2: Reflecting on the Experience

Name of Pre-Service Teacher: Ashley Marshall

Student ID:

S00154321

Community Engagement Placement(s): Sunbury and Macedon Ranges Specialist School

Final Due date: 23rd.October 2015
Submission: To be posted onto the LEO unit
This task requires you to reflect on your Community Engagement Placement (CEP) and its impact on:
1. Your understanding of engaging with community
2. Your development as a teacher.
In completing your Reflecting on the Experience you should draw on your approved proposal for
Community Engagement Placement both Attachments 1 & 2 together with your wiki postings

1. Your understanding of engaging with community

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Complete the chart below by rating each statement taken from the unit outlines description and learning
outcomes. The rating is from 1 5 with 1 representing strong agreement and 5 representing strong
disagreement. You must add an explanatory comment (this is not optional). You may wish to give an
example here too.

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

Yes

Explanatory comment
My independent community engagement was at a
specialist school where I assisted in a non-verbal class
containing six students. From this experience I was
able to work alongside the classroom teacher and be
involved in the planning of her lessons to cater to
each students diverse needs. From this placement I
gained a deep appreciation about student diversity, I
was saw how important it was to ensure each student
was given the opportunity to learn, just like students
who attend state/private/catholic schools, and
realised that even though these six students were
unable to verbally communicate during each lesson it
was still important that they were provided with a
range of hands on materials, and visual stimuli to aide
their learning development, this has enabled me to
value the learning needs of each student and ensure
that my future teaching practices uphold a learning
environment where diversity is valued, and lessons
reflect students contextual/ physical needs.

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

Yes

Both the HSP and Specialist School has enabled to me

to develop my understanding of contextual factors
that impact on the learning of individual students.
During week five I was given the opportunity to meet
the mother of the student that I tutor. She had limited
English although appreciated sitting in on the tutoring
session. This experience enabled her to see a range
of reading and mathematic strategies she could use
when working through homework tasks with her
daughter, and enabled her to see the types of spelling
strategies that I used with her daughter to guide her
as she becomes more independent with her spelling.
From this experience I discovered how important it
was to recognise the contextual background of each
student when preparing lessons, and setting
homework tasks as some children may not have the
same amount of parental support at home as others
do, this can be because of a language barrier or a
students current living situation etc. After this
experience I can now say that I am more aware of the
different types of contextual factors that can impact
on the lives of my future students.

enhanced your critical

examination, promoted
reflective practices and
challenged established
beliefs

Yes

Whilst doing my placement at the Macedon Ranges

Specialist School I assisted the classroom teacher
each Friday to run the sensory cooking class for her
students who were non-verbal. This cooking class was
also beneficial for students to develop their fine motor
skills as I aided students to stir the mix and hold the
bowl. After the first cooking class I reflected on the
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lack of experience students had with their sensory

touch and taste before ingredients where put in the
mixing bowl. I wrote down in my independent
reflective journal that I would like to try having
students feeling the ingredients before they were
placed in the mixing bowl. E.g. How a cheese block
feels before and after it is grated. For the following
task I made sure students were given the opportunity
to feel and taste/smell/feel a range of ingredients
independently (Such as: grated cucumber, the smell
of a lemon, the taste of lemon juice, or the crinkling
feeling of a garlic shell) From this reflective practice I
was able to provide students with more intricate
sensory experiences before they tasted the product
as a whole. Students were more enthused and excited
whilst engaging in the cooking class. From this
experience I have come to appreciate the benefits of
reflective practices and why I need to do it as a
teacher.
encouraged open and
flexible thinking, and
responsiveness to change

Yes

Whilst working at the HSP I assisted my student to do

at least one to two of her homework tasks each week,
at times where she didnt understand the task I
needed to come up with ways to support her learning
in order for her to leave feeling satisfied that she
understood the task that was set for her. Initially I
thought that rewording my explanation might help her
understand what was being asked of her until I
noticed that she was unable to apply her thinking to
similar problems. I learnt that in these situations it is
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important to be prepared and flexible in the way I

approach tasks and learning experiences with
students as each student learns in different ways and
requires different approaches to attempt the same
task. After this I learnt that my HSP student learnt
best when I provided a visual stimuli and concrete
materials to attempt the task (especially in
mathematics).
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

Yes

Whilst engaging in the HSP each Wednesday I tutored

a young girl in grade three. Over the twelve week
period I worked towards building a positive rapport
with her, and built her trust which enabled her to feel
safe and supported in her learning each week. We
often talked about her home life, her schooling, and
her parents who were no longer together. After
speaking with her each week I realised how important
it is for me as a pre-service teacher and future
teacher to know what prior experiences, background
and home life students have in order to support each
student and what they bring into the classroom.
Through listening I can now see that it is important to
give students a voice in the classroom and enable
them to share any life experiences they may have.

provided opportunities for

you to contribute to the
life of the community
through the sharing of
personal expertise and
time

Yes

At the HSP program we were asked to write a

reflective comment each week in our students writing
booklets. This enabled me to see how my student had
developed over the twelve-week period and how they
had grown as independent workers with my support.
It was an excellent opportunity for me to appreciate
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how I had contributed to my students learning as I

was able to practice the learning strategies I had
been taught at University and enable the students to
independently use them when attempting similar
tasks.

2. Your development as a teacher

In the following chart identify two changes in your views about learning or your intentions for teaching
because of your participation in your Community Engagement Placement(s). Summarise using the data
from your wiki postings. Feel free to add copies of any creative entries which you may have previously
posted.
My views
about
(identify
the issue or
aspect of
teaching
and
learning)

Before my
involvement in this
Community
Engagement
Placement I
thought

After my involvement I think

Give evidence and

indicate from which
source (e.g. wiki
posting, reflective
journal entry)

1. My views
about
developing
positive
rapports

Before my
involvement in this
Community
Engagement
Placement I

After completing my 30 hours at the

Macedon Ranges Specialist School I
realised that it is important to
develop the skills needed to
communicate with all students

Wiki posting 3: Talks

about how valuable the
cooking classes were for
me to develop my hand
signals and methods of

Significance of
outcome/achieveme
nt for you

Significance of
outcome/achieveme
nt for you I learnt
about alternative
ways of
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with nonverbal
students.

believed that
building a positive
rapport with the
students at the
Specialist School
would be
challenging as the
students in my
class were nonverbal and
therefore I was
unable to properly
communicate with
them.

regardless of their ability or inability

to communicate. Simple gestures
such as hand signals and sign
language were developed over a
period of time with the students in
this non-verbal class to enable the
classroom teacher, the classroom
aides, and my self to communicate
with the students at a basic level.
Simple hand signals enabled me to
ask students if they were finished
eating, or if they needed to go to
the toilet. This experience has
enabled me to see that there are
alternative ways of communicating
with students, even though they
may be non-verbal and it is my
responsibility to explore these
resources to enable me to be
prepared for non-verbal/ or students
who are hearing impaired that may
enter my classroom in the future.
Simple hand signals like these
enabled the students to see that I
was making an effort to
communicate with them which
made them feel more comfortable
around me and develop on a
positive relationship each week I

communicating with
students who were
non-verbal such as
hand signals and
Wiki posting 6: talks
looking at facial
about the range of hand
expressions to
signals I learnt such as
comprehend how
hello, goodbye, how are
you that enabled me to
they were feeling at
communicate with the
a particular point in
students in this nontime which aided in
verbal class. It also talks
the development of
about how developing
building positive
these skills enabled me to
rapports with each
better communicate and
student.
build positive
communicating with
students other than
verbally.

relationships with each

student.

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came and assisted.

2. My views
about
developing
lessons and
learning
experiences
for students
at specialist
schools.

Before my
involvement in this
Community
Engagement
Placement I
thought that
providing
stimulating
learning
experiences that
cater to all
students learning
needs and physical
abilities would be
to hard to do in one
lesson/ or whole
school activity.

After my involvement at the

Macedon Ranges Specialist School
my initial beliefs started to change
as was exposed to a range of
experiences that fostered on whole
school inclusion and equality for all
students regardless of their
physical/ social/ emotional/ and
intellectual capability. Equality was
at the forefront of each learning
experience as I assisted the teacher
to implement lessons where
students could approach the task
using a wide range of sensory
materials. After working at the
school I noticed that even though
catering to a wide range of students
needs can at times be hard to
accomplish the rewards of watching
each student experience the
learning task, and smile whilst doing
so was enough for me to see how
much each student was benefitting
from a personalised learning
experience, and enough for me to
see that each student deserves the
opportunity to participate in an
activity regardless of their physical/

Wiki posting no. 5: Talks

about the experience I
had on my first day of
placement at the school.
We held a whole school
football game where the
emphasis was on equality
for all and enabling all
students the opportunity
regardless of their
physical/intellectual
ability to play with their
friends and develop a
range of football skills
(fine/gross motor
movements)

The significance of
the
outcome/achieveme
nt for me was to see
the impact on
student learning
when teachers
uphold equality in
the classroom, and
being able to cater
to diversity in my
future classroom.

Wiki posting no. 7: This

posting talks about my
development as a
teacher, as I was able to
observe and interact with
the classroom teacher
who implemented lessons
that catered to a diverse
range of learning styles, I
saw her lessons as
opportunities for her
students to develop to
their full potential
regardless of the
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intellectual ability.

disability they have.

Summing up the experience:

Looking back to your first wiki posting about anticipating the Community Engagement
Placement(s) experience, how would you describe your experience overall?
After reflecting on my first wiki posting I have come to appreciate how rewarding and beneficial the whole
community engagement experience was not only for the people I have had the privilege of working with,
but also for my development and growth as a pre-service teacher. My first posting explained how
apprehensive I was to engage in the placement as I had never tutored a student before, and never worked
with non-verbal students at a primary setting. I had an idea of what I might experience at each placement,
although didnt realise how much of a positive impact my involvement was going to be for each student. It
was such an enthusing experience that aided in my development and growth as a teacher, I now feel more
equipped to cater to a diverse range of students in my classroom, and have had the privilege of seeing
first hand how to accommodate these students. My experience of community engagement was so
beneficial to my development as a pre-service teacher, I enjoyed getting to know the people I met at each
placement round and also discovering ways of catering to their learning and development, it was
incredible to see how much the students I worked with improved and grew as learners whilst working with
them, I constantly reflect on my experience overall and my development as a pre-service teacher. I look
back on the person I was before community engagement and begin to realise how much my confidence
has improved and how much I have learnt about the different types of contextual factors that can impact
on a students ability to learn. Before community engagement I thought that catering to a diverse range of
students would be a difficult task, although this experience has enabled me to see that I am capable of
catering to a diverse range of learning needs, and I do have the ability to exercise the recourses and skills I
have been taught to better help my future students that I teach.

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What were the highlights and challenges?

There were many highlights in my Community Engagement Experience, in particular tutoring at the
Atherton Gardens HSP. I thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to be a positive role model to my grade three
student, it was lovely to see how excited she got each week knowing that I had turned up to HSP to help
her with homework. During the fifth week of HSP a photographer and reporter from the Smith Family
Foundation came to interview the student I was tutoring and myself asking us what we enjoyed most about
the HSP program, and how the program has been beneficial not only for my students development, but
also how it has enabled me to develop in my own thinking as a pre-service teacher. Another highlight of
my Community Engagement Experience was assisting the six students at the Macedon Ranges Specialist
School; they held a whole school football game. I was so thrilled to see how accepting the school was of
each students diverse needs, inclusion was the key purpose of the day and it was each teachers
responsibility to get their students engaging in the football game. On this day I enabled a young girl in my
class with epilepsy the chance to play football with all of her friends. She was in a wheelchair so I was
wheeling her around so she saw that her wheelchair was not a barrier to her involvement in school games
and activities, she smiled and laughed the whole time.
Throughout this experience I had a few challenging experiences which have enabled me to grow as a
person. During the HSP program at times I found it challenging to think of ways to explain tasks when she
was unsure of what questions were asking, as time went on in the lesson I began to reflect on my learning
at University and tried a range of visual stimuli or methods to approach the task in a different way that
enabled her to learn. Another challenging experience that I encountered was whilst I was at the Specialist
School, as each student was non-verbal I found it difficult to communicate with students, especially when
they were crying, screaming or looking upset and not knowing what was wrong. I learnt a few sign
language hand signals such as (toilet, finished eating, saying good morning) enabling students to see that I
was making an attempt to communicate to them in a way that makes sense to them.
What advice would you offer others undertaking Community Engagement Placement(s) in the
future?
For future students involved in the Community Engagement Placement the advice that I would offer them
is to choose an independent placement that will enable them to step out of their comfort zone, and
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immerse themselves in a placement that they had never experienced before. Through this it is more likely
that the Community Engagement Experience will enable them to grow as an individual who is exposed to a
range of helpful skills, recourses, and expertise to cater for the potential diverse range of students they
may encounter in their future classroom and/or everyday lives. Another piece of advice I would offer to
students undertaking Community Engagement Placement in the future is to speak to others who have
completed their placement, where did they complete it, what were the challenges they faced and how did
they over come them, and what were the positive outcomes they felt were achieved, use this information
as a guide to help you complete your own placements. One final piece of advice is to approach community
engagement with an open mind, keep a small journal and write down any materials, online resources,
activities students explored throughout the placement, and any advice from the teachers/ associates you
worked alongside with. This journal can then be used as a resource you can use to cater to a diverse range
of learner needs in your potential classroom, and most importantly have fun and enjoy this rewarding
experience.

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