Assignment 1 – Reflective Essay  https://rmit.instructure.com/courses/149508/assignments/1113520 2/8  It is imperative that we continually ask ourselves this question as we move through our social work careers and journeys. Asking this question involves recognising the ways in which some ideas, values or assumptions have stayed the same or changed, while also recognising what is new in our thinking and practice. We encourage you to return to this assessment once you have finished the course and identify any differences in your ideas and aspirations. When we have self-awareness and recognise the influence of our social location, positionality, histories, identities, values and hopes we are much more likely to engage with service users, colleagues and the community in an informed way and with emotional literacy**. **Emotional literacy is the same as the concept ‘emotional intelligence’ but given the racist, classist, gendered and other discriminatory ways in which intelligence has been applied, we choose to use the term ‘literacy’. These ideas are based on us being able to observe, notice, make sense of, demonstrate, regulate and assess our own emotions. It is important to note that emotional literacy starts with us – it is not a diagnostic tool we apply to others, yet the ability to perceive others’ emotions, identify our responses and in turn regulate our reaction is a sign of emotional literacy. Understandably, the concept is central to human services practice. You will be assessed on the following criteria: Criterion 1 – Who am I in relation to trauma informed practice? Criterion 2 – Essay structure, grammar and written expression (See the rubric below for further information)  Instructions The overarching question for this assessment is: Who am I in relation to trauma informed practice, which is based on answering the following prompts: 1. What do I know and believe about violence, abuse and trauma? 2. How do I know what I know? 3. What are the ways in which personal and professional experiences have shaped my understanding of violence, abuse and trauma? 4. What readings, videos, lectures and tutorials from the first week have influenced me and why? 5. Based on the learnings I have developed from this reflective essay, what do I need to do to enact trauma informed social work practice? Presenting your work: You can use the questions as headings (feel free to abbreviate them for word count) and you are not required to include an introduction or conclusion. (If it helps you to provide 7/14/25, 5:29 PM Assignment 1 – Reflective Essay  https://rmit.instructure.com/courses/149508/assignments/1113520 3/8  one or two sentences to introduce and conclude, feel free to do so.) All written assessments are +/- 10% word count. Tutors will not read beyond 1100 words. You can reference one tutorial or lecture – the other two references must be readings relevant to or prescribed in the course.