Journal summary
Issues and challenges that emerged
It can be clearly seen that major problems began to be experienced during the 3 rd week of the placement program. One of the 1 st issues was finding a way through which I would properly interact with my supervisor. It is true to state that despite spending 3 weeks at the placement, the relationship between my supervisors and I had not yet improved. If at all my set goals are to be achieved, it is important that I find a way to overcome this particular challenge. The learning contract that was given to me by my supervisors did little to help me in my situation, thus, I had to find a way through which I would balance the situation that I was in. One skill I used to overcome the above-stated challenge is becoming creative and not all the time expecting my supervisor to tell me what to do, therefore, I decided to take English lessons and through the lessons I would observe and learn how the teacher taught and how the other students grasped what was being taught to them by the teacher. Luckily my supervisor agreed to it and despite asking me to ask the English teacher for permission she encouraged me by stating that it was good to learn English by practicing English, lucky enough the English teacher agreed. One of my duties as I attended the English lessons was to make sure that I prepared snacks for the students, I must admit that this was difficult as most of the time the English teacher had to count how many students were there so that more snacks could be bought.
The 2 nd issue during my placement arose as I started attending the English lessons and this issue was the lack of proper communication between the English teacher and I. The English teacher told me that my role there was not to attend the English lessons but to prepare snacks for the students. This shocked me a lot because the teacher had agreed to me attending the English lessons and yet again it was part of the learning contract. This lowered my moral but I had to boost my spirit and push on.
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The 3 rd issue was time management, this affected me a lot during my placement, I have to admit that most of the times I was sent abruptly to do things, for example, the very same day I had a misunderstanding with the English teacher, my supervisor sent me to buy snacks for the English students only 20 minutes to the students break. This was very frustrating because to meet the time I would have to rush to the stores that I was not familiar with being a newly placed to the organization.
The 4 th issue was finding my way in the location where the organization was located. I had to do a lot of research and find out where stores and shops were located so that I could easily get the goods and services I required. For example, the day that I was sent to by some snacks 20 minutes to the students break time, it took me 15 minutes to locate the bakery store.
The 5 th challenge was language as I had a very difficult time trying to communicate with people, as well as, understanding what the tags on commodities meant. I must admit to a degree I wished that there would be Chinese supermarkets in the location.
How was I involved and who was involved
The following week I decided to make sure that I do things differently, that is, send myself and do what is required of me by my superiors at the placement. Having done things the way they were required of me for the first few days, the connection between my supervisors begun to improve. Having also prepared the snacks early enough, I was allowed to attend the English lessons. Despite only being allowed to observe as the lessons went on, some of the residents asked me to practice English with them, thus, I slowly got involved as a helper for the English teacher. The following day I wanted to get involved in the intake of new clients, however, despite my supervisor agreeing to it, it did not take place for quite a long time. However, the following morning my supervisor had a new client and because the computer was broken the supervisor asked me to handle the client. This was a great opportunity to me because not only was I being involved in the English lessons but was not being involved with the clients. Dealing with this particular client was not that easy due to the above-discussed issue of language as the client couldn’t speak Chinese and my English was not that good, however, I still managed to effectively serve the client. I had the previous day asked some of my mums friends come to my placement to get served hoping that because they spoke Chinese my supervisor would also ask me to handle them, however, this opportunity was denied to me because my placement only required me to handle refugees or newcomers and they had already acquired their citizenship, thus, I did not get involved with them.
My interventions
It is true to state that my interventions were limited and the limits were based on the policies of the agency I was attached to. According to my program, I was only allowed to provide intervention services to newcomers/refugees and in the free English lessons. Personally, I managed to help a client renew her passport, help the residents in the English lessons learn English better, and provide them with a healthy snack during their break time.
The prior skills and knowledge utilized
I must admit that the first few weeks at my placement were not easy especially the 3 rd week where I encountered most of the above-stated issues and challenges. To effectively make a good impression of myself to the superiors, I had to utilize prior skills and knowledge and some of them include;
Patience
Patience can be defined as a state of endurance during difficult situations, for example, provocation or delay without displaying negative annoyance or anger (Cunard & Lee, 2009: Donoho, Crenian, & Scanlan, 2010). During the 3 rd week, I had to utilize this skill a lot as both the supervisor and the English teacher treated me very inappropriately in a few instances.
Humility
Humility is the skill of self-restraint and it possesses both the moral and ethical dimensions (Richards, 1988: Tangney, 2000). I had to humble myself to my superiors at the agency so that I could learn how the agency work and be given the opportunity to exercise the duties within my learning contract.
Determination
This is an emotional feeling that is positive that helps an individual persevere towards a hard to achieve a goal despite the available obstacles (Deci & Ryan, 2010). Despite the issues and challenges stated in the above sections of this particular analysis, I had to practice this particular skill so as to be able to meet my set goals.
Communication skills
Communication is the process of conveying particular meanings from one individual to another through the use of language, semiotics, and language (Luhmann, 1992). To be able to communicate effectively, I had to practice a few number of skills effectively, for example, the written communication skills, the verbal skills, and the non-verbal skills.
Placement summary
The least beneficial aspect of my placement
A lot of the aspects of the placement were beneficial to me, however, it is important to note that the few roles given to me by the agency did not allow me to effectively learn and practice a majority of the activities that take place within the agency.
Pieces of knowledge on social service work
Problem-solving
This is where clients are helped to solve their own problems rather than the social worker solving the problems for them (Haley, 1987). Within the agency, I observed my supervisor work hand in hand with other clients to apply problem-solving methods to solve some of their problems.
Task centred practice
It is true to state that this is kind of a short form of treatment where the clients identify particular measurable goals (Fortune, Ramos, & Reid, 2015). Once these goals are established, the social worker and the clients work together towards achieving these measurable goals. This was widely used within the agency through the English lessons which served as an integration course for the refugees and stepping stone towards achieving their measurable goals.
Narrative therapy
Through this therapy, the social worker is able to externalize a client’s problems by examining the narratives about his or her life (Madigan, 2011). This was the main therapy used within the agency, however, other therapies, for example, cognitive behavioural therapy was used for new clients with emotional problems.
The social service work roles that I performed at the agency
It can be acknowledged that there are a lot of roles of a social worker but because my intervention was limited at the agency I only manage to perform a few roles and they include the following;
Researcher
I had to do a lot of research so that I could understand what the agency was all about and effectively learn how to navigate around the local.
Group facilitator
I managed to work with groups of residents that were attending the English lessons
Mediator
Here, I helped clients achieve beneficial agreements, for example, by helping a client renew her passport.
The goal achieved in my learning contract
Job knowledge
I managed to understand the placement mandate, for example, the vision, mission, values, history, of the agency. I also got to understand my duties and roles at the agency.
Future goals
The first few weeks of my placement were really challenging due to various issues and challenges, however, I managed to learn a lot and loved working as a social service worker. Getting to meet new people and help solve the immigration problems, for example, the renewal of passports and teaching English so that they may be able to integrate effectively with others really impressed me. My choice and goals for next year’s placement will be exactly the same and my career choice as a social service worker is a good one, I hope that one day I will be able to open up my very own agency and help people with similar problems.
References
Cunard, C., & Lee, T. D. (2009). Is patience a virtue? Succession, light, and the death of invasive glossy buckthorn (Frangula alnus). Biological invasions , 11 (3), 577-586.
Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (2010). Self ‐ determination . John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Donoho, D. L., Crenian, R. A., & Scanlan, M. H. (2010). Is patience a virtue? The unsentimental case for the long view in evaluating returns. The Journal of Portfolio Management , 37 (1), 105-120.
Fortune, A. E., Ramos, B. M., & Reid, W. J. (2015). Task-centered Practice. Social Workers' Desk Reference , 237.
Haley, J. (1987). Problem-solving therapy . Jossey-Bass.
Luhmann, N. (1992). What is communication?. Communication theory , 2 (3), 251-259.
Madigan, S. (2011). Narrative therapy . American Psychological Association.
Richards, N. (1988). Is Humility a Virtue?. American Philosophical Quarterly , 25 (3), 253-259.
Tangney, J. P. (2000). Humility: Theoretical perspectives, empirical findings and directions for future research. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology , 19 (1), 70-82.
