Students will demonstrate their ability to apply culturally responsive practice approaches and knowledge to a case study with a focus on social and emotional well-being for Aboriginal and Torres Strai

Assignment Task

Purpose: Students will demonstrate their ability to apply culturally responsive practice approaches and knowledge to a case study with a focus on social and emotional well-being for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and reflect on their own developing practice.

Assessment criteria : Please refer to the marking rubric in the Appendix of this unit outline.

Uncle Jack Charles, Bunurong and Wiradjuri man, author of Born Again Blakfella will be the focus of this assessment and exploration of social and emotional wellbeing.

In this assessment task, students will -

1. Consider the lived experiences outlined in the case using a social and emotional well-being framework taught in this unit.

2. Discuss culturally responsive, strengths-based, non-deficit approaches and knowledges that promote social and emotional well-being for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People

3. Reflect on how this informs their own developing practice using ONE of the following Ngurras (culturally responsive capabilities): Maintaining, accountability, or Leadership.

Your essay should include :

• An introduction to the case study

• An outline of the purpose and elements of the SEWB( Social and emotional Well-being) framework

• Application of the SEWB framework to understand the case and inform social work practice

• A culturally responsive and strength-based social work response for working with the case

• A clear outline of either the Maintaining Accountability or Leadership Ngurra and steps you will take in your own social work practice informed by this Ngurra

Case study

Uncle Jack Charles, a Bunurong and Wiradjuri man, was the 2022 Male Elder of the Year and author of Born Again Blakfella. You can learn more about Uncle Jack Charles using some of the resources and links below and through a range of online resources. Please be mindful of the source and author of the information you are accessing. 

Uncle Jack Charles is a Bunurong and Wiradjuri man, and a member of the Stolen Generations. He grew up in the Salvation Army Boys' Home at Box Hill, Melbourne as the only Aboriginal child, not knowing his heritage until the age of 17.

Uncle Jack is widely acknowledged as the grandfather of Indigenous theatre, co-founding Australia’s first Indigenous theatre group, Nindethana, meaning ‘place of corroboree’, or ‘ours’, at Melbourne’s Pram Factory in 1971. His plays and performances have won many awards over the years, and have toured across Australia and internationally. He is a respected Elder on the Council of the Archie Roach foundation, and a tireless advocate for young men caught up in the prison system.

He made history this year as the first Indigenous Elder to speak at the Victorian Truth-telling Commission. The Yoorrook Commission will establish official record of Indigenous experiences since colonisation, and Uncle Jack spoke honestly and with raw emotion about his experiences. Uncle Jack is a beloved Elder, and, as he describes himself – a survivor.”