Final Project: Self-Knowledge Inventory

Introduction

The Final Project is intended to be a demonstration of how the key concepts in this course are reflected in your growing self-knowledge. Further, it is an opportunity to identify knowledge and skills you want to develop as you move onto other human service courses. The Final Project includes a compilation of several final project tasks you are directed to complete at the end of several course modules. It requires you to eventually return to each of the assigned tasks and summarize the self-development that has occurred for you as you proceeded through the course.

You will also be required to produce the following two main parts of your Final Project:

Part A: A summary of your self-knowledge, development and areas for growth and change. Part A has 9 sections as seen in modules 1 through 10. (18 marks)

Part B: A creative presentation of your strengths for human service work. Part B has sections 1 through 4. (44 marks)

Top of Form

Bottom of Form

Part A: A summary of your self-knowledge, development and areas for growth and change (18 marks)

Review all of your Final Project work that you completed throughout the course. Consolidate all of the various parts into a single named file so that you can refer to them as you complete your Final Project requirements. That single named file must be submitted together with your Final Project requirements at the end of the course.

Note: Instructions for the individual sections of Part A are located within the Modules.

Final project: Part A1: This is Human Service Work – Charlie’s Story (Module 1)

Final project: Part A2: “Dear Teacher. A Letter from a Student” (Module 2)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wiKJ3lf2l3E

Instructions

1. Watch the short video Dear Teacher: Letter from a Studentby Kirsten Marie (3 minutes, 16 seconds).
2. As you watch it, write down any feelings and thoughts that you have. Then at the end, write down any further thoughts.
3. Reflect on what self-aspects these thoughts and feelings reflect e.g. beliefs about teachers, your history at school, etc. Write the self-knowledge down.
4. Then take some time to relax and say to yourself, “I am suspending my self-views.” Take deep breaths and open yourself up to hearing the dear teacher story from Kirsten’s perspective.
5. Then watch the video again and write about Kirsten’s experiences and perspectives.
6. Finally, write what you would say if you were the teacher receiving this communication. Write an other-oriented communication.
7. Summarize in writing, your reactions, thoughts, feelings about the tasks you were asked to complete in this part of your Final Project.

 

Final project: Part A3: Perception Checking (Module 3)

Final project: Part A4: A Picture of Me Listening (Module 4)

Final project: Part A5: Self-Assessment of Natural Responding Skills (Module 5)

Final project: Part A6: Self-assessment of Natural Non-Verbal Listening and Speaking Behaviours (Module 6)

Final project: Part A7: Relationship Histories of Clients (Module 8)

Final project: Part A8: Conflict Style Adjustments and Management Strategies (Module 9)

Final project: Part A9: Self Strengths and Areas for Development for Group Work (Module 10)

Marking Guide

Grading on the single file with completed work from the various Final Project Parts will be based on the following:

• All final project activities have been submitted
• Work in the final project activities is on topic and completed according to instructions
• Part B: A creative presentation of your strengths for human service work. (44 marks)

Organize the Final Project format in a manner that works best for you. For example, you may wish to use a chart to present the Johari’s Window information in Step 1 below. Or you may wish to write your answers in paragraph format.

Be as open and honest in this Final Project Self-Knowledge Inventory as you can be. There will be no judgments made of you (your thoughts, feelings, and actions), by the Open Learning Faculty Member who reviews your Project. Rather, you will be graded on accurate completion of the project work as directed. See the grading information at the end of each of the four sections below.

Part B1: Aspects of Self (12 marks)

Using the description of Johari’s Window presented in Module 11 and Chapter 2 of your textbook, identify what your participation in these final project activities has revealed about the “Open” (known to self and others) and “Hidden” (known to self and not known to others). Then identify aspects of yourself revealed during these Final Project course tasks that fall into the “Blind” (not known to self but known to others). Finally, hypothesize two or three aspects of self that might be in the “Unknown” (not known to self or others) quadrant of Johari’s Window. For example, you might not know and others might not know how you would react if a client threatened to harm themselves. During this course, you likely had such moments “what would I do, what would I think, how would I feel if.…” These might be times when you were facing the unknown quadrant.

Marking Guide: Your grade for this section of your Final Project will be based on:

• A minimum of 2–3 aspects of self are identified in each quadrant that are consistent with the description of the quadrant. It is not possible to have an empty quadrant, but you might have a good amount of information in one quadrant and in other quadrants, just a bit of information.

Part B2: Conscious Use of Self (8 marks)

In the last module in this course, you were introduced to the concept of conscious use of self. Review all of your Final Project Part summaries and:

• Identify areas of self that you are confident you use consciously.
• Identify examples of times in relationships when you have been conscious of your self-involvement.
• Identify aspects of self-involvement that you must develop greater consciousness of.
• Identify aspects of yourself you need to use more consciously.

Marking Guide: Your grade for this section of your Final Project will reflect that you have been able to identify examples in all four areas described above.

Part B3: Reflection of Skill Development (12 marks)

You have been introduced to many foundational skills of human service practice e.g. perception checking, conflict management, etc. Use the ”Learning communication skills” model presented in Module 5 and identify examples of skills that are at each area of development. You may need to review this topic in Module 5 but you can reflect on all the skills presented in the various Final Project tasks you completed during the course.

This part of the Final Project requires considerable self-reflection. So review the model then reflect on skills that have been presented in the course and determine what skill level you believe your use of them reflects.

For example, you might say, that you never even knew about perception checking so your current skill level is at the beginning awareness stage. Empathy you think is at the awkward skill stage when you use it. Listening for understanding is something you are consciously skilled at, while you do paraphrasing all the time so you feel it is at the integration stage.

Marking Guide: Your grade for this section of your Final Project will be determined by your ability to identify skills for each level of the communication skills model and explain why you think this.

Part B4: Professional Self (12 marks)

Throughout the course, you have been asked to look at your personal self, and think about yourself as a human service professional. This last part of the Final Project provides you an opportunity to present the strengths and capabilities you already possess that reflect a professional self.

So, in a creative way, identify what you have learned in this course about yourself that you believe are strengths and reflect your capability to be a human service practitioner. Present this information in any manner you want as long as it is a creative way. You may chose to draw, complete a collage, use pictures, or write short poems . . . it is your choice. There is no requirement for you to justify your strengths and capability, just present them.

Marking Guide: Your grade for this section of your Final Project is not tied to your artistic or creative ability. Rather, your grade is tied to your ability to present your strengths and capabilities that reflect aspects of your professional self.

Note: You may wish to store your work on an available online storage space and share it or a link to it with your Open Learning Faculty Member. If you need assistance with finding a method to share your completed Final Project for grading, ask your Open Learning Faculty Member for guidance.

Reminder: You are required to submit all of the various Final Project Parts you completed throughout course compiled into a single named file. You must also submit all four sections outlined above for grading.