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Critical Reflection On Student Development

Decent Essays

Critical reflection is an essential part of student’s development, it entails students to contemplate on their practices, actions, and individualities (Sutherland, 2013). The objective of this paper is to explore my emerging practice framework based on a particular experience during my placement. Further, this paper will outline the piece of work and support I have provided to a client, which will give me the opportunity to examine the skills, knowledge, theories, and values I used as a guide to my practice.

My placement organisation caters and supports the needs of refugees and new immigrants from resettlement services to employment and other complex cases. The client was referred to me by a caseworker who works in the Employment assistance program. The client is a 31-year old man from Myanmar who came by boat and currently holds a Temporary Resident Visa. He arrived in Australia last 2013, and since then he has not obtained any employment. He came with his wife and 2 children, and rely on Centrelink payments for income support. The client has good communication skills; he can speak English in a manner that is understandable which made our communication effective and easier. However, he needed help in filling the employment registration form as he had some difficulty reading and understanding some of the questions in the form.

During our first contact, I noticed that the client was nervous and uneasy. I felt the need to immediately build rapport after I introduced myself, in order for me to create a level of trust, understanding, and establish a good relationship with the client. Seden (2005) mentioned that skills in relationship-building is one of the foundations in social work practice, particularly when working with individuals who are angry, anxious, distressed and upset due to their circumstances. Therefore, my goal was to engage and communicate effectively to lessen the tension and uneasiness of the client. After I started to converse and asked questions such as “how are you?”, “do you live near this area?”, “would you like some coffee or tea?”, I have observed that the client’s behavior slowly shifted and became more comfortable and relaxed.

While I was interviewing about the client’s work and

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