REFLECTIVE REPORT

Reflective Report

Reflective Report

Introduction

I am working for this reflective report which has the main aim of making discussion about the ways through which the community development can be enhanced. I am a student of third year (BA) Practice Development. I have been working in at a community centre where my job is to teach English, and also act as a community worker. The community in which I work is HornAfric Community. The main aim of this community is to create empowerment about the African origin community about the rights and responsibilities which they should have. The community also aims to bring encouragement in the dialogue between the service providers and community with the other communities. This helps in establishing the ways through which the community cohesion and good citizenship could be increased. The main aim of the community in which I work is to bring development in the African communities specially the Somali communities so that their standard of lives can be improved. I also teach English language to children who speak different languages. In order to develop this reflective portfolio, I have made discussions with different community workers, through which I have realized that the best way to enhance the community involvement is the role of schools.

How my practice has developed?

Recently in higher education, the topic of community arts has attracted the interest of students, arts educators, and art researchers. A growing perspective has emerged that community arts programs provide a vital forum to further humankind's search for a meaningful and inclusive society.' As I reviewed literature in the fields of community arts, art education, and art history, I found several studies which stated that youth and community development can be significantly supported by learning in and through the arts in both after-school and community-based programs. This growing body of literature also identifies methods of practice for the professional development of artists who wish to teach or collaborate in community settings. This is encouraging news. This spring, as I taught my own graduate-level community arts course, collaborative Practices in community Arts Education, I was continuously surveying new literature in the field. I found some new good work appearing with more solid research to offer support to the field every day.

Parents and members of the wider community are actively involved in our school community through a range of activities including; enrichment opportunities (e.g. cooking, gardening), the Parent Forum (for parents to come into school and discuss all aspects of school life with the Head teachers) and community events (e.g. the summer fair, 'Rowanfield Rocks') . Our school building is used by a range of community groups during evenings and weekends. We have close working relationships with our partner schools e.g. through joint staff training sessions and shared action planning. We take part in regular sporting tournaments and events with local schools. Children gain a sense of belonging and pride in their school and local community through themed assemblies and planned PHSE, RE and citizenship ...