Placement interviews at the interface of cultural diversity and standardised requirements
- Authors: Koeck, Clara-Maria , Ottmann, Goetz
- Date: 2018
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Advances in social work and welfare education Vol. 20, no. 1 (2018), p. 108-121
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- Description: Field education placements permit social work students to gain practical experience employing the knowledge and skills they acquired in the classroom. Access to field education placements is dependent upon placement interviews during which candidates have to display their professional and personal suitability. Placement interviews are challenging for all students. For international students, they are particularly challenging as they represent a litmus test as to whether they have achieved a sufficient degree of cultural adaptation. To date, little attention has been paid to the way placement interviews are experienced by international students. This article addresses this gap. The article is based on a qualitative study involving semi-structured, in-depth interviews with five international students focusing on the way placement interviews were experienced, how students felt prepared for them, and the degree to which language proficiency, cultural difference, social connectedness, discrimination, and Australian workplace culture represented a challenge. The findings suggest that international students need be to better informed about opportunities associated with field placement and the often implicit requirements and expectations associated with it. The authors argue that they would benefit from targeted educational resources ranging from English language tuition to interview role play.
‘I walk from trouble’ : exploring safeguards with adults with intellectual disabilities – an Australian qualitative study
- Authors: Ottmann, Goetz , McVilly, Keith , Maragoudaki, Margarita
- Date: 2016
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Disability and Society Vol. 31, no. 1 (2016), p. 47-63
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- Description: People living with intellectual disabilities have a right to be safe from abuse and neglect and have a right to be included in the decision-making process determining safeguards that will affect them. However, the research evidence that could underpin good professional practice in terms of co-producing safeguards against abuse and neglect directly involving people with intellectual disabilities is largely missing. This article, based on qualitative research involving semi-structured interviews conducted during the first half of 2014, seeks to strengthen this evidence base. It reports on the prevention strategies identified by 12 adults with intellectual disabilities about how to stay safe and compares these with the findings of similar research. The article suggests that a comprehensive safeguarding approach comprises both life course-focused safety training and access to assisted decision-making. The article argues that given the plethora of risk situations encountered by people living with intellectual disability, assisted decision-making should take the form of a co-creation process that is situation specific and grounded in everyday life. © 2016 Taylor & Francis.
Exploring community-based aged care with Aboriginal elders in three regional and remote Australian communities : a qualitative study
- Authors: Ottmann, Goetz
- Date: 2018
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Social Work & Policy Studies: Social Justice, Practice and Theory Vol. 1, no. 001 (2018), p.
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- Description: While a small body of literature focuses on various facets of aged care services delivered to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Elders, very little is known about the support needs and preferences of Indigenous Elders who ‘return to country’. This article addresses this gap. It explores the support needs of Indigenous Elders who return to their communities after having lived elsewhere for prolonged periods of time. It provides an overview of the key themes emerging from group sessions and semi-structured interviews with 11 Aboriginal Elders and 12 representatives of regional health and social care organisations conducted between 2012 and 2013. The article argues that the quest of Elders to strengthen kinship systems should not be seen as a barrier but as an opportunity to develop aged care services that resonate with the needs of Indigenous Elders and with their kinship network. The findings presented in the article are structured around the themes of empowerment and choice; community-based kinship care; and enhancing program flexibility. The article argues that it is crucial for Aboriginal community care services to be grounded in Indigenous culture. To address the wider socio-cultural project of Aboriginal Elders (i.e. to re-connect with their families, strengthen the kinship system and, re-create their cultural roles) when designing aged care services not only ensures that services are relevant to Indigenous Elders, it also ensures that services are culturally safe and address the psychosocial needs of Elders returning to country as well as their families. The article lends further weight to research that reports that a mainstream approach to the aged care of Indigenous Elder is likely to produce poor care outcomes.