1 Why do poor countries have a predominance of infectious diseases as opposed to the lifestyle-related diseases of wealthy countries? What is your response to the global health inequalities that exist?
Reflective Learning & Writing Proforma WORD VERSION
For Assessment 2: Reflective Learning &
Writing (2,500 words)
HLSC 120: Society, Culture and Health
1. This Proforma is available on LEO as a Word document for your use in completing this assessment task.
2. Use this proforma to organise your response to the reflective assessment task.
3. Use the steps as headings and write in paragraphs below the headings.
4. All your sources should be referenced using APA style.
Step 1:
Choose one question from the Reflective Learning and Writing section of eModule 1 or 2.
Write the question here:
Step 2:
Use at least two of the four factors from Willis’ (2014, as cited in Germov, 2014, p. 7-8) sociological imagination template to analyse the question:
1. Historical factors: how the past influences the present;
2. Cultural factors: how culture impacts on our lives;
3. Structural factors: how particular forms of social organisation affect our lives;
4. Critical factors: how we can improve our social environment.
Please Note:
? Write approximately 700 words for Step 2.
? Use only your textbook; Second Opinion by John Germov as your academic reference.
? Be sure to specifically identify and describe issues for each factor in your analysis.
Step 3:
Next, identify and cite one of the readings, articles or videos from eModule 1 or 2 and describe how it has helped you to gain a deeper understanding of this topic.
Please Note:
? Write approximately 600 words for Step 3.
? Use two academic sources: Second Opinion (Germov,2014) and one from the eModule
? Remember to relate the information from the eModule resource back to the factors from the sociological imagination template.
Step 4:
Now, building upon your understanding from sources you identified in the previous steps, answer the original question you identified in Step 1, using at least four other academic sources (e.g. journal articles, research reports but only one website) to support your answer.
? Locate these academic sources through your own literature search.
? 1000 words.
Step 5:
Finally, choose one of the Graduate Attributes (from the Unit Outline) that is most relevant to this assessment and explain how this reflective writing has helped you to develop this Graduate Attribute. 200 words; no literature required.
HLSC 120: Society, Culture and Health
eLearning Lecture Enhancement eModule ? Semester 1, 2014
eModule 1 ? Week 1
Introduction
Welcome to your first eLearning Lecture Enhancement eModule for this unit. The purpose of these eModules is to extend the content of your weekly two hour lecture, to create knowledge links for you to the Seminar Questions and topics that you and other students will be planning to present in your Student Seminars, and to help you enrich your learning as you develop your reflective learning and writing skills.
In this eModule, you will be able to explore why you need to become a more reflective person and a reflective practitioner and the central values required to be a health care practitioner. You will then explore the major principles that will guide your reflective learning and writing before you take these principles a little deeper, as you plunge into the pool of sociological imagination, through exploring and using a template for sociological analysis.
You will have the opportunity to begin establishing your ?tool box? of sociological theoretical perspectives to help you with ongoing use of your sociological imagination and development of your reflective learning and writing. You will also explore the concept of globalization and how it affects society, health and health care.
As you are aware from your unit outline, for your second assessment task, you need to select, complete and submit ONE question from the Reflective Learning and Writing Proforma questions at the back of EITHER eModule 1 or 2. In this eModule, there are five questions from which you can select. You will find them in the section under the Reflective Learning and Writing Proforma 1 (which is a green box) at the back of this eModule.
Learning Outcomes and Graduate Attributes
The Learning Outcomes (with numbering from your unit outline) that will be addressed in this eModule are as follows ?
1. explain changes in contemporary Australian society, culture and health related to world globalising processes;
4. relate factors that shape distribution and ownership of resources to the maintenance of health by individuals and groups within Australian society;
8. reflect critically on your learning about cultural diversity in relation to health care.
The Graduate Attributes that will be addressed in this eModule are as follows ?
GA1 demonstrate respect for the dignity of each individual and for human diversity;
GA2 recognise your responsibility to the common good, the environment and society;
GA4 think critically and reflectively.
Becoming a Reflective Person and Practitioner
This unit is the first of several values-based units in your curriculum. In these units, you will have an opportunity of developing your ability to become a reflective person who will help you, not only in your private life, but also in your professional life. With regards to reflecting in your professional life, the University considers reflection to be so important that in the ACU Graduate Attributes you are expected to ?think critically and reflectively? by the time you graduate. Also, as shown on the previous page, one of the Learning Outcomes of this unit is that you will ?reflect critically on your learning about cultural diversity in relation to health care.? Additionally, critical and reflective thinking is considered central to professional health care practice by at least two regulatory authorities as follows: (Please note: if your professions? Code of Conduct is not present you may wish to find it or note if one has been developed).
http://www.ahpra.gov.au/#
http://www.nursingmidwiferyboard.gov.au/Codes-Guidelines-Statements/Codes-Guidelines.aspx
http://www.physiotherapyboard.gov.au/Codes-Guidelines.aspx
http://www.atsihealthpracticeboard.gov.au/Codes-Guidelines.aspx
Health Practitioners – Central Values
If we further explore the first link above as an example, the Code of Professional Conduct (2008) referred to above also emphasises other central values of this unit ? the need to respect the
?dignity, culture, ethnicity, values and beliefs of people receiving care and treatment and of their colleagues?
In addition to the above regulatory authority admonition, the Graduate Attributes of the University relevant to this unit state that you, as a student who will one day move into a professional health care role, need to
?recognise (your) responsibility to the common good, the environment and society? &
?demonstrate respect for the dignity of each individual and for human diversity.?
In addition, you are required to ??work both autonomously and collaboratively.?
Therefore, in addition to developing your skills of thinking critically and reflectively this semester, you are also expected to develop values that involve respecting your own dignity and that of everyone you meet, including your friends and family members, and your University community, including lecturers and peers who are from a range of different, cultural, religious, and ethnic backgrounds. These values will underpin your ability to work well and collaboratively with your student peers as you prepare and implement your student seminars during semester and throughout your degree. In turn these skills will become attributes that you possess when you complete your degree and move into a professional role in the health care system. Now here is your first Reflective Activity ?
Reflective Activity 1.1
Go to a quiet place and take a special exercise book with you in which you can keep a record of your reflections during this unit. From here on, we will call this book your Reflective Record. In your Reflective Record, please reflect upon the following questions and write your related feelings and thoughts, consequences and plans (Bradbury-Jones, Hughes, Murphy, Parry, & Sutton, 2009) into the table below. Please do not feel you are restricted to the space provided below. Use as much space in your Reflective Record as you need to fully explore the questions ?
Please keep the above table handy throughout the unit, as you will need to check in from time-to-time to reflect upon how well you are working through your plans.
Developing Reflective Learning and Writing Skills
Now that you?ve put your foot in the waters of reflective learning and writing, it?s time to plunge into the process more deeply. Please go to the following reading ?
Reading 1.1
Kessler, P.D., & Lund, C.H. (2014). Reflective journaling: Developing an online journal for distance education. Nurse Educator, 29(1), 20-24.
Now please answer the following questions related to the reading ?
1. Atkins and Murphy (1983, as cited in Kessler & Lund, 2014) state that there are specific ?cognitive and affective skills necessary to engage in reflection? (p. 20). Please use the online dictionary to ascertain the meaning of the words, ?cognitive? and ?affective?. What are the main differences in the meanings?
2. Atkins and Murphy (p. 20) outline the cognitive and affective skills required for reflection and describe them as follows ?
Cognitive and/ or Affective Skills
Description
Self-awareness Allows a person to honestly examine how the situation affects the individual and how the individual affects the situation.
Description Includes the ability to observe, recollect, and describe aspects of an experience and then to communicate these aspects verbally or in writing.
Critical analysis Involves being able to examine a situation, identify existing knowledge, challenge assumptions, and envision and explore options.
Synthesis Involves the integration of previous with new knowledge.
Evaluation Allows judgments to be made about a situation according to established criteria and standards
Next, please go to page 22 of Kessler and Lund (2014), and note Table 1: Skills of Reflection in which there are examples of each of the above skills.
3. Can you identify the differences in each of the examples provided? Now reflect upon a situation in which you?ve recently been involved. It might be a personal or a work-related situation. See if you can reflect upon this situation using each of the above skills. Write down your reflections for each skill. Please don?t be limited by the space below; use as much space as you need in your Reflective Record.
Cognitive and Affective Skills Reflections
Self-awareness
Description
Critical analysis
Synthesis
Evaluation
4. Please use the guidelines for reflective journaling provided by Kessler and Lund (2004, pp. 22-24) to evaluate your reflections. These guidelines are that you need to focus on ?
? Reflections, not description
? Process, not product
? Quality, not length
? Safety, not sanctions
How did you go with writing your reflections? Were you able to apply the guidelines above? If you had difficulty with this, you could go back and try again. If you still have problems, you might need to contact your Tutorial Facilitator to make a time to receive some help before you move onto the next step in the reflective learning and writing process below.
Remember! ? If you are having any problems with reflective learning and writing, please make an appointment to see your Tutorial Facilitator as soon as possible, and take your reflective writing efforts with you to show your Facilitator. It?s important that you start early on developing this skill as it is the foundation for this and other units in your course.
Now that you have some of the basic principles of reflective learning and writing ?under your belt,? it is time to move onto the sociological content of this unit.
What is Sociology?
To help you get started, you need to have an understanding of sociology and the sociological perspective. Sociology has been defined as ?the study of human society and social relations, initially associated with the social problems of industrializing nations? (Bradby, 2009, p. 2).
Please note – it is not the study of the individual, which is psychology; rather it is the study of how people live together in society and relate to each other. For a better understanding of this definition, please go to the following excerpt ?
The Three Minute Sociologist. (2016, May 28). Sociology ? What value? Retrieved from
&playnext=1&list=PLEA668F2E77362CD9
Sociological Imagination: a Template for Sociological Analysis
We will now move on to gain a better understanding of the term that you hear frequently in this unit – the sociological perspective. So what does this term ?sociological perspective? mean and how do we develop and apply it when we are reading, thinking and reflecting?
In order to have a sociological perspective, we need to develop a sociological imagination (Germov, 2014). Mills (1959, as cited in Germov, 2014, p. 7) wrote that sociological imagination is ?a quality of mind that seems most dramatically to promise an understanding of the intimate realities of ourselves in connection with larger social realities.? And according to Mills, the major focus of this ?quality of mind? is being able to make a link ?between ?private troubles? and ?public issues?? (p. 5).
Therefore, the way of thinking with a sociological imagination means that instead of thinking that our personal issues/problems are ours alone, we can look around and see that other people may have similar issues/problems. Thus, private troubles often can be caused by public issues (Germov, 2014). Moreover, Germov asserts that it is possible that the private problems may have a common cause in the structures and functions of society around us and often this cause can be ameliorated by collective action.
So let us find out more about this different way of thinking about our society ? the sociological perspective – and how we can develop our sociological imagination by going to this excerpt ?
Professor Hahn. (2017a, January 16). Introduction to sociology: The sociological imagination. Retrieved from
The sociological imagination is comprised of four interrelated factors ?
1. Historical factors: how the past influences the present
2. Cultural factors: how culture impacts on our lives
3. Structural factors: how particular forms of social organisation affect our lives
4. Critical factors: how we can improve the current environment (Willis, as cited in Germov, 2014, p. 8).
These factors can be represented as a template as shown below in Figure 1 ?
Historical
Structural Sociological Analysis Cultural
Critical
Figure 1: The Sociological Imagination Template (Germov, 2014, p. 6)
So, whenever you need to analyse some issue sociologically, Germov (2009) suggests you keep this template in your mind to help you. However, Germov cautions that you need to be aware that some of the factors overlap ? you cannot always keep the factors separate when you are analysing sociologically, as they merge together sometimes. He also warns that at times, some factors will have more emphasis than others, which is quite normal. The benefit of the template is that it will guide your thinking and the questions you need to be asking when you are facing personal and professional issues.
Now it is time to move on to some readings from your text book so you can start developing your sociological imagination.
Reading 1.2
Please read the following chapter ?
Germov, J. (2014). Imagining health problems as social issues. In Second opinion: An introduction to health sociology (5th ed.). (Chapter 1). South Melbourne: Oxford University Press.
When you have read the chapter, please answer the Discussion Questions on page 20 and Further Investigation on page 21 of your text book.
Please note! ? You will be referred to readings in Germov (2014) frequently as you work through the eModules in this unit. If you are not able to afford to purchase Germov you might be able to afford to share the cost with other students in the class. Alternatively, you can borrow the text from the Library, where there are multiple copies available for short-term borrowing.
Reflective Activity 1.2
Sociological reflection (see Germov, 2014, p. 19): Please use the sociological imagination template above to reflect upon and explain the person you are, and then write a short sociological autobiography by briefly identifying the factors that have affected you directly or indirectly in terms of what you believe in, what you?re interested in, and how you usually behave.
Historical factors: how has your family background or key past events and experiences shaped the person you are?
Cultural factors: what role has cultural background, traditions, and belief systems played in forming your opinions and influencing your behaviour?
Structural factors: how have various social institutions (e.g., family, school, church) influenced you?
Critical factors: have your values and opinions about what you consider important changed over time? Why or why not? (Germov, 2014, p. 19)
Now, please repeat the above sociological reflection, but this time apply the template to a health problem in which you are interested (e.g., obesity, smoking, eating disorders, food addictions, etc.). Take note of any key points that come up for you under the four components of the template. What insights about yourself, health, society, can you develop by using your sociological imagination? (Germov, 2014).
Now it is time to move on to the next reading, so you will have a ?tool box? of sociological theoretical perspectives to help you with ongoing use of your sociological imagination and development of your reflective learning journaling.
Reading 1.3
Please read the following chapter ?
Germov, J. (2014). Theorising health: Major theoretical perspectives in health sociology. In Second opinion: An introduction to health sociology (5th ed.). (Chapter 2). South Melbourne: Oxford University Press.
When you have read the chapter, please answer the Discussion Questions on page 40 and Further Investigation on page 41.
Reflective Activity 1.3
Sociological reflection (see Germov, 2014, p. 19): Sociological theories can help us to understand how and why particular health problems exist. Germov groups the theories into seven major perspectives, which he explains in Chapter 2. Please read these explanations in conjunction with the relevant YouTube excerpt below to give you further ideas about the perspectives –