Semester one was not what I was initially expecting. I thought it would of been about getting to grips with Curriculum for Excellence and Pedagogical studies, not a direct focus on working collaboratively and values, as I thought these things were “common sense”. However, the fact that we did these modules and worked with social work and CLD students, I feel was very beneficial and a real eye opener as these areas are much more than what I assumed to be “common sense”. Being honest before starting University I had no idea what CLD even consisted of.

I feel as though the most important part of semester one for me and my professional development was the Working Together module because it has given me a real in depth understanding of what social work and CLD actually consists of, therefore erasing any stereotype definitions I had assumed previous. This module really helped me to understand just how important and crucial it is for a child’s welfare that all three of these disciplines (teachers, social worker and CLD) work collaboratively to ensure the best outcome for a child, giving me indication that for some children the GIRFEC approach can only be fully fulfilled if all three disciplines have this close working partnership. Therefore, indicating this module impacted on my professional development significantly as before I never thought that these three disciplines would be so closely connected in my teacher career.

I much preferred the assessment structure for this module as it allowed me to really think and reflect on my own thoughts and opinions however, it also allowed me to work and listen to others whose opinions may have differed from my own but also allowed others to question my opinions which encouraged for me to further reflect my own thinking. I also benefited greatly from working with others in the different disciplines due to them having slightly different angled views, therefore allowing me to explore different angles of a situation presented with an open mind. When it came to the presentation I did feel very nervous as I did not want to let my group down, however I feel this was an appropriate and more meaningful way to present all our work from our agency visit and long discussions.

Moving forward, I feel as though that working with the different disciplines in expressing my views and the presentation has given me a boost of confidence to begin to speak out in lectures and tutorials, which I feel will really benefit my professional development as I can fully engage and benefit from all materials presented in future.