For your Final Reflection, discuss what has changed as a result of your experiences in this course in terms of yourself, your heart, your knowledge, and your beliefs about child and adolescent health (as well as adult health).
Remember– these are your reflective thoughts about you as a public health practitioner, as a health educator, or as a teacher for children and adolescents. There are no “right” or “wrong” answers to the questions below. You are simply capturing in writing what has changed since the beginning of the semester. You are describing who you are and what you believe at this moment in time by reflecting back on your learnings for children’s & adolescents’ health as a result of your experiences in this class.
Note: The instructions for this exercise are written to be intentionally broad. This exercise is intended to provide you the freedom to deeply reflect on what emerges as most significant and important to you. The hope is that you will write for your own benefit — not for a grade, and not for the intent of seeking a particular response from me. I intend to respectfully meet you where you are now as a student, a learner, and an emerging educator. Picture yourself in the role of educator, armed with all the new knowledge and understanding you have worked hard to achieve this semester, and answer the following prompts
- Why do you believe health education is important? What has influenced your beliefs about health education for children & adolescents?
- What do you feel is most important for adults to understand about child & adolescent health?
- What do you believe is most important for children & adolescents to understand about their own health?
- What has changed, if anything, about your objectives for being and becoming a public health practitioner, health educator, and/or teacher?
- What do you now believe about the essential skills and knowledge you will need to be an effective public health practitioner, health educator, and/or teacher?
- What are the most significant things you have learned about child and adolescent health? What is it about these topics/things that made them most significant to you?
- How do you want to make a difference in the lives of your clients/patients/participants/students?
- How do you think you can make health education for children & adolescents better?
(Inspired from work by Dr. Donna Scott- Tilley, College of Nursing, TWU and Syracuse University)
