In your reflection you do not need to include the step headings or graduate attribute definitions, these are here to help guide you whilst writing your reflection.
Graduate Attributes:
P1 Effective communicators and collaborators who actively and respectfully lead, listen, reflect, discuss and negotiate in order to work productively with a range of individuals and groups, including professional teams.
P2 Employable, enterprising professionals who are confident, self-directed, know how they learn, and are resourceful, resilient, and adaptable to change.
Step 1: Setting the scene. Describing your context, problem or challenge. What did this experience involve? Was there a trigger?
I had never been on a committee before until my eldest child went to kindergarten. I was resistant to the idea that I could take on such a leadership position as I felt I had no experience or skills. As vice president and then president of the C&K affiliated centre, I learnt how committees worked through experience and having good supportive committee members. The 40-place centre reflected a great diversity of families with a range of needs to be catered for. Since then I have been on 15 committees in different roles (both voluntary and paid employment). The biggest challenge I have noticed in my committee experience is gaining trust, having everyone’s voices heard and respected. This can be very tricky depending on the make-up of the committee members.
Step 2: Identify your existing skills and what needs to occur to fix the problem. This could be informal learning, non-formal sessions or independent research. Pathway to a solution. What existing knowledge did you use to identify your problem?
In my kindy committee role, I sourced funding opportunities (wrote the grant) that would benefit our centre and it took a collaborative approach to decide on a focus for this funding. Getting a shared consensus was achieved through open dialogue, consultation with all stakeholders (including the children) and prioritising wants and needs that led to an ongoing future plan for areas that needed resourcing or development. Future successful grants followed. This experience over 3 years served me well to take on a community liaison officer role in local government. The population of migrants in this region came from 163 countries of origin with over 152 different languages spoken. My key role was to consult the cultural community groups in developing a community relations plan for a regional City Council. The Council did not have a good relationship with these groups and there had been a high turnover of staff in this position creating further distrust and alienation. It was a difficult transition into this role.
Step 3: What pathway did you take? What did you do to resolve your problem or challenge? What initiatives have you implemented?
My first step was to rebuild bridges with these disengaged groups. Building trust in relationships takes time. Knowing your stakeholder groups is imperative. I did this through attending their meetings, sharing their food, listening to their stories, their aspirations, their frustrations. I made links to services and supports where I could and also managed expectations – change takes time. Over the months and years the linkage between the community groups and Council grew stronger. Through listening to their voices, we collectively gathered ideas for what could improve our city and presented them to council committees on a bi-monthly basis.
Step 4: Drawing conclusions and developing future practice. What impact did your action make? Was this successful or unsuccessful? What do you plan to do from here? What were your feelings, ideas and questions about the experience?
At the end of the day – everyone needs to feel that their voice has been heard and that they are valued and respected. In reality, not every stakeholder will get all the outcomes they desire. In my practice I establish common goals, celebrate the achievements gained collectively and frequently revisit ‘shared understandings’. This manages expectations, unites people and empowers them to get involved and feel connected. This approach applies to all contexts as demonstrated in my portfolio. The Community Relations Plan is a complex document along with (other examples) that demonstrate my competencies and impact in leading and communicating effectively over time and in a range of positions in different contexts (ie . volunteer, team, xx)
Evidence to verify claims made in reflection:
example: position descriptions, letters or testimonials from employers, social media links, examples of work (reports, presentations etc)
