School ofPractice

Professional Education
3

102605 Secondary PP Community Engagement Self Reflection Form

Pre-service Teacher Details

Pre-service Teacher Name: Aisha Elachrafi Pre-service Teacher ID: 18028586

Pre-service Teacher Phone Number: 0416430831 Pre-service Teacher Email Address:

18028586@student.westernsydney.edu.au

Placement Details: If you haven’t complete 60 hours face to face you must provide a detailed statement of
how your experience meets the outcomes for Professional Practice CE. Attach evidence.

Placement Name: Unity4OurCommunity Placement Phone Number: 0431502234

Placement Address: 6/1-3 Ferngrove Place, Placement Email Address:

Chester Hill. 2162 Unity4ourcommunity@outlook.com
Contact Person:
Laylah Taleb // Manal Daher

Describe in about 500 WORDS any features and benefits of the setting you attended. Consider number of
students, location details, age of students, types of educational programs offered and any other salient aspects
of the experience. Consider how this experience will contribute to your development as a beginning teacher.

AITSL Standards

The criteria for pre-service teacher reflection focus, the first, second, third and sixth standards.
 1.3 Students with diverse linguistic, cultural, religious and socioeconomic backgrounds
 1.5 Differentiate teaching to meet the specific learning needs of students across the full range of
abilities
 2.2 Content selection and organisation
 3.1 Establish challenging learning goals
 6.3 Engage with colleagues and improve practice

Subsidiary questions:
What surprised you about your learning in your community setting?
What research about communities did you engage with before you commenced?
What goals did you set for yourself in your service learning activities?
What do you believe the participants in your service learning project learned?
What did you learn? How will the experience shape you as a teacher in a classroom?
Unity4OurCommunity is situated in Sydney’s West. The community centre accommodates for both
girls and boys from all age groups. This being, pre-kindergarten, primary students, secondary students
and students who are home schooled. I was not surprised by the environment of the community
setting; however, it was different from the practicums I completed at high schools.

As both my practicums focused on teaching English to high school students, this experience was
different and some what challenging. I found this challenging as I had to adapt to the way younger
students think and what they expected from me. However, prior to conducting my practicum, the
research and training given to me by the contact person was essential as it allowed me to understand
the standards of the centre as well as understanding the assistance that each age group required. After
the first couple of days, I was able to fit comfortably in the setting of the community centre and engage
in all activities.

Prior to conducting the 60 hours of placement, I set goals for myself that I potentially achieved
throughout the placement. This was to increase my skills and confidence when dealing with students
from different age groups, rather than just high school students. Also, participate in sport activities
rather than to just teach students. Both these were met due to the setting and environment of the
community centre.

Due to my active and confident personality, I believe that most of the students really enjoyed the time I
spent assisting and helping them with their work and during sport activities. Arriving to the placement,
l informed students of my number one rule, which is to show respect to the people around them. I
believe that during this placement, the students met the requirement of my rule and I also believe that
they learnt the importance of respect.

As a future teacher, this experience helped me gain knowledge and insights on different physical
pedagogies, such as sport activities, to include during lessons when students become restless. This
experience has also allowed me to increase my skills on managing students and understanding their
needs on other levels, rather than just an English teacher perspective. My pedagogies will also be used
in multiple environments for all students with diverse learning abilities.

In conclusion, my overall experience at Unity4OurCommunity has allowed me to understand students

on a wider age group. Rather than attending as an English teacher, having the opportunity to mix with
students as a supervising teacher, or tutor has allowed me to learn different forms of pedagogies. As
this placement has increased my knowledge of pedagogies, I will be engaging these strengths when
required in suitable environments in order to cater to all students, regardless of their diverse learning
abilities.