Reflective Practice (community practice Australia) - Essay Example

Download file to see previous pages... For instance, the use of some of the fundamental principles (such as reconciliation and justice) of CD may help restore and subsequently nurture relationships that had been broken or strained, both at formal and informal levels. The need to continue sharpening the skills that have been acquired from the lecture halls also remains paramount. For instance, components of interpersonal skills such as active listening, the putting away of stereotyping and the attainment and use of cultural competence are some of the key components of CD, yet they are applicable and practical in day-to-day problem solving. The more these skills and components of CD are sharpened by engaging them, the more an individual stays equipped for any community development-related exercise. This is the point which severs a learner who has engaged CD concepts in the lecture halls as a mere pedantic exercise, from his fellow who has conceptualised the same concepts and has gone beyond the folly of merely keeping newly acquired concepts in the deep recesses of the mind, to incorporate them into forming frameworks for solving life’s challenges. Conversely, the need to apply the CD concepts gathered in CD as a particular field is of great importance. For now, engaging in volunteering programmes during school holidays may serve as a perfect platform for this. Question 2 The personal intent for incorporating what I have learnt about community development into my practice in the future is based on the need to make CD initiatives more powerful and more effective. This is because some of the concepts I have learnt about community development (CD) are: the nature of CD; the components of CD such as the assigning of culture care, reconciliation, justice, active listening (to the community), empowerment, the use of a holistic approach, redistribution and relocation, yet these concepts are the very components which must be adhered to, for any CD initiative to be successful and sustainable. Thus, it is in order to state that my decision to incorporate learnt concepts of CD into my practice is fundamentally based on my desire to make me a successful CD initiator or social worker (Gunstone, 2005, 90). Again, the need to incorporate newly acquired concepts into my CD practice is to help reinvigorate, reinvent and dynamise CD initiatives. This is for instance made a reality by giving CD a more holistic approach. Particularly, courtesy of my interaction with CD concepts, I have come to appreciate why some CD initiatives do not succeed. I have come to acknowledge the issuance of culture care without involving the community and seeking to transform the psyche of the community as burdensome. To this effect, I have come to acknowledge the need to incorporate newly acquired concepts into my CD practice as being important in setting up sustainable CD initiatives which are community-based, since community-based initiatives help take off financial burden from the government or the agency initiating the CD agenda. Question 3 Some of the instances I presently find discomforting when using the faith-based model as an approach to CD (and may still accost me in my future initiatives) are the non-inclusive nature of faith; and the spiritual aspect of faith, upon which the faith-based model is predicated. The non-inclusive nature of the faith-based model is underscored by the fact that not all in the target community can identify with the fundamentals of a given faith. Because of multiculturalism, it is common to find adherents of different faiths, agnostics ...Download file to see next pagesRead More