Development Review - Personal Statement Example

BECOMING A PROFESSIONAL K0808526 Personal Development Review Introduction I have reflected upon my experience, knowledge and skills from the beginning of the program through today. I decided to look at them on a scale of one to five where 1 is poor and 5 is excellent. I would say that I started at about a 2 or 3 and am now at about a 3 or 4. In the beginning I was aware of the gaps in knowledge I had and what I needed to do in order to make progress. I am very pleased now with my progress because I have overcome many difficulties last semester to succeed which gave me the courage to continue working hard towards the completion of my degree. I recognize that my success is not only due to my own efforts but also to the help I received from my family, tutors, staff and classmates because they were always there supporting me along the way. I am grateful to them all and I hope they will continue their support during this past semester. I am grateful to them all and I hope they will continue their support during the course of the next three years. I place myself at a 3 or 4 now because I believe that the goals I set for myself in the beginning of my coursework were realistic and obviously achievable because they were achieved. Because I was aware of the gap in my knowledge and skill in the beginning I was able to work really hard to improve those gaps and I continue to improve every day. I am very pleased with my improvement and I look forward to my continued progress. 2. Reflection Regarding the Knowledge gained on the following modules: Social Work Approaches, Law and Citizenship and Becoming a Professional. Though I had broad experience with service users at the start of my coursework I could easily see that there were areas I needed more information and skill in to become more proficient at my work. Social work approaches was an area that helped me become aware of the range of theories and approaches that can explain behavior. I am now exploring their application with clients. As an example, I have used the Task Centered Approach to help a job seeker by assigning them several tasks for their job search. He was to go to a job center, get assistance with job interviews and find a course to improve his skills. These tasks were a way to guide him step by step through the process of getting the job he wanted. My duty as a social work student is to be knowledgeable and accountable enough so that I avoid uncertainty when dealing with my clients especially when I am applying a specific theory (Hilary Walker 2008). One area where I was the weakest was in Law and Citizenship. I could locate and identify the resources in this area when necessary but I had no confidence when I would use this skill. I have since gained more confidence at this skill because the module showed me exactly how to work with these cases. I have learned how to find the law, conceptualize it, how to apply it to my cases and how to interpret it. This has given me the confidence that I needed in this area. I have also learned through other case studies that the law sets a framework for us as social workers, but it does not tell us what to do in every situation; the law cannot give solutions to the daily dilemmas we face in practice (Johns 2006). Through case studies, it was also clear to see that the law can offer a framework to work within but it cannot address specific peoples needs. As an example, The Childrens Act of 1989 places the welfare of children first, but it cannot enforce this assistance as a law. Instead, the social worker has to be understanding of this law so that they can help children get what they need. As a practitioner my duty is to identify those children in need and safeguard and promote their welfare (Great Britain Act 1989). The most significant development gained in my knowledge during this first year was through the Becoming a Professional module. It helped me to improve my practice through direct contact with clients. The experience of interviewing a client was a positive one and it has shaped my interpersonal communication skills when working with people. Egans model structure has guided me through the interview very systematically and successfully. This module has also acknowledged and helped me to shape my values and codes of practice. In both of these subjects I had a bias when I first started against people with certain religions; now this bias has been changed into awareness. As an example, I have always been judgmental of people who are in certain religions and I was always judgmental when people wore scarves. Now, I understand that everyone has the right to do as they need to do for themselves. I now can say that I promote human dignity and equality, fight against service user oppression and respect very much human and cultural diversity (Key Role 6 Unit 20). Thompson (1995 29) states that If we do not recognize that frameworks of ideas and values are influencing how we act and interact, we are not in a position to question those ideas and ensure that they are appropriate and constructive. Values and Anti-Discriminatory Practice: This current course is raising my awareness of my duties as a social worker to eradicate the discrimination and oppression from my own practice, and to encourage other practitioners to do the same. As professionals we deal with vulnerable and disadvantaged people frequently and they have a right to be treated fairly and equitably. My duty is to encourage equal treatment and opportunities to everyone in our practice. Values are equally important and we should treat clients with dignity and respect. My duty is to be committed to equality and diversity and not to be judgmental under any circumstances. 3 Skills gained through the year on the following modules: Social Work Approaches, Law and Citizenship and Becoming a Professional The Social Work Approaches module is helping me to use and apply theories in working with clients, as well as to identify when clients develop or fail to develop. When they fail to develop it will be impossible to enhance their well being. I am aiming to get a better understanding of theories to improve my practice. I need to increase my reading and understanding of the law. The Law Social Workers 2008 book is giving me an insight. Becoming a Professional module has shaped my interpersonal and communication skills. I now need to develop my problem solving and handling conflict skills and increase my understanding of the social workers Code of Practice and the National Occupational Standards. 4Learning Needs: I need to increase my reading to develop my knowledge further. I am currently reading the social work theories in context by Karen Healy which I find very interesting and helpful in completing assignments. I need to improve my written skills to avoid struggling with my progress in this course. I also need to manage my time better to avoid having to rush my work at the end of each semester. My academic style of writing needs to improve and I need to find alternatives ways to work with my dyslexia. Learning how to use the Harvard Style of Referencing will help to increase my academic writing. Academic study: My computer skills have improved considerably through the weekly writing tasks performed as part of the Becoming a Professional module. I have not started the E.C.D. L. course because I have not been able to sign into the system. I am planning to complete at least three modules over the holiday. Tutors Feedback: The outcome of the last semester feedback was positive. My tutors believed that my essays were well structured and planned. In addition they said that the essays read extremely well and that they showed that I read widely and showed understanding of the subjects. My tutors also found a few anomalies and some poorly composed passages; my interview reflection account seemed to be more descriptive than reflective so now I am working hard to improve it. About my placement: I am really looking forward to starting my placement and getting familiarized with every social work feature. I am hoping to get an insight on all social work settings. I do not have a preference in terms of where I go in my placement but I have already experienced working with children and special needs people; I do not have experience with the elderly and geriatric issues. I think working with the elderly would be a good opportunity to do work with them. The placement will also give me more information about my experience, knowledge and skills and help me to improve them. I think that a placement will also be important to help me develop the ability to work in a multidisciplinary team that deals specifically with the values and principles unique to social work (19.3 Element NOS. 2002). Learning aim for holidays: I planned to increase my reading and complete at least three I.T. modules. REFERENCES Great Britain. Children Act 1989: Elizabeth II.6yt 1989London. Stationary Office Great Britain. GSCC 2002 The National Occupational Standards for Topps Uk Partnership Healy, K. 2005 Social work theories in context. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan Egan, M., & Kadushin, G. 2007. Social work practice in community-based health care. Binghamton, New York: Haworth Press Johns, R. 2006. Using the Law in Social Work. 2nd ed. Exeter: Learning matters Ltd. Kolb, D. 1984. Experimental Learning. New York: Prentice Hall Thompson, N. 2002. People skills. 2nd ed. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. Thompson, N. 2005. Understanding social work preparing for practice. 2nd ed. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. Trevithick, P. 2005. Social work skills. 2nd ed. New York: Open University Press. Walker, H. 2008. Studying for you social work degree. Exeter: Learning Matters Ltd. . Read More