Nur Salihi

Reflection: Community Language School – Alfirdaus College

Being able to work with a range of diverse educational setting in a ‘Community

Language School’ at Alfirdaus College has allowed my experience to develop in relation to

the diverse range of students from different learning capabilities. I was able to work with

students and parents from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. Approximately

10 to 15 students within a classroom or even one on one lessons was a great experience that I

took part in, this included students aged from 4 years to 20 year and above adults and parents.

I was quite surprised with the range of abilities there were, this included the exposure

to different cultural backgrounds and the willingness to learn Arabic despite not being of an

Arabic background. I was able to work with students who had minor Attention-deficit

hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) by implementing educational activities to best suit their

learning needs through game-based or structured learning by altering teaching methods to

best suit the students learning needs. Being able to teach at the community language school

shaped my experiences and by having the ability to adjust to the students needs and the

ability to expand on my teaching skills in different areas of learning was a great experience.

Hence, dealing with students from refugee backgrounds that are adapting the Australian

culture and society and learning to integrate into the Australian education system inspired me

and allowed my expectations to becoming a teacher more meaningful.

I was also able to implement individual lesson plans that assisted students to become

more engaged in lessons for longer periods of time as they remained concentrated on the task

set within the classroom. This mainly focused on game based learning as these students found

it more entertaining as they grasped information faster as they also stayed on track for a

longer period of time. This required me to demonstrate my communication skills through my

own learning experiences, as well as observing and assessing the students beforehand to

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know their best interests to be able to work around effective learning strategies. Effective

communication is fundamental, as often there was a need to professionally communicate with

parents and caregivers of students to get a message across.

I was able to adhere to the processes and procedures through government and

legislation booklets as I implemented guidelines. This was ensured through the safety and

wellbeing of all students individually and within a whole classroom setting, relating to the

guidelines set such as the Health and Safety and the Child Protection policies. Behaviour

management policies and procedures also help deal with minor ADHD and Autism as I was

able to work with parents to create lesson plans and learning programs that cater to these

children whilst not isolating them from their peers and their classroom. I was able to work

effectively as I demonstrated my own experiences in a language school by setting these

guidelines. In confrontational situations or any other crisis I was able to effectively utilise a

calm and quiet attitude, as this not only allowed the environment to become calmer but also

allowed students to become confident learners by concentrating and creating a relaxing

setting. By being part of this community I was reinforced by on site and training, as I was

provided by a booklet explaining what the policies and procedures are while dealing with the

health and safety of the students in the classroom and outside of a classroom, through this I

was able to understand them and apply them.

The programs offered in the school is used to cater educational needs in a language

school which looks at expanding on different teaching skills, these programs are diversifying

programs set for students to adapt to such situations. These programs also offered adult

classes, which teach non-Arabic background individuals to learn Arabic through a variety of

different programs that were available. Most students were from second-third generations and

when language or culture is not reinforced they tend to loose those along the way these

students tend to be more heritage learners.

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Being part of this community language school also allowed me to participate in

conferences and weekly teacher meetings. These meetings involved discussions about any

new changes, or meeting that allowed all teachers to get together and share their teaching

ideas with other teachers. By being able to participate in these meetings, I was able to gain

experience of a wide range of skills and learning outcomes set for students within a

classroom or one on one teaching. My first goal was to get to know the student well before I

was to teach them so I could be able to know what activities or learning approaches work best

for each student. My second goal was to change my intention by having a vision towards

character transformation as the whole aim of the program is to instill the love of Islam. All

resources are provided by the Centre as their aim was to encourage students and their parents

to set goals throughout every week. Activities were set through different learning schedules

as all lessons had a scope and sequence through recognition, pronunciation, reading, and

writing.

Overall, the feedback I received from the community language school was very

important to me, as I was able to hear what others had to say. This is important because

feedback provides me with further information, where I could look up to and improve my

weaknesses from. It is a pleasant experience to have both teacher and parent feedback about

the students. I look forward to growing feedback within any community, as it will allow me

to further improve all areas. Hence, building a healthy student teacher relationship is one of

my significant goals set within my professional experience. Community engagement

empowers the disengagement of individuals to proactively get in touch and get together

within the community to get involved and participate in all practices within the community.