As a student teacher, we are constantly asked to reflect on what has happened so far so we can learn from the past and develop into qualified teachers. I have been asked to reflect on my professional development during semester 1 and one moment stood out for me. During semester 1, we were required to do a module called “Working Together” in which we had to work with people from teaching, CLD and social work. As a part of this module, we had to visit an agency to see how they work together with others and our agency happened to be CLD workers within a primary school . Before this visit, I didn’t think that teaching would have much to do with other professions like CLD and social work, however, during and after the visit I realised how important it was to be able to work with other professions.

When on the visit, we talked to two CLD workers and they told us about how much involvement they had with teachers and social workers. This made me realise how important it is for me to be able to work with other professions during my career, even if it can be difficult at times. It is important to put the needs of the child in front of your own opinions of people to make sure the child’s needs are met. When the CLD workers were talking about times when they had to work about other professions and it wasn’t always going as they had planned, it made me feel better about working with other professionals in the future. They talked about scenarios when things didn’t go as they had planned and they had to compromise to get the best results for the child. This made me relax a bit, knowing that if I have to work with other professionals and things don’t happen as planned, I will know that it happens in a lot of scenarios and it takes time to and effort to compromise with others but always works out for the best for the needs of the child in the end.

Reflecting back on the agency visit now, I realise that this visit to the agency has taught me how important it is to be able to work together with other professions and being able to compromise on decisions if it is for the best. I think when I am teaching in schools, I need to keep this in mind to remember that it is always important to put the child first to make sure their needs are met.