Work With Diverse People
This term the VET Certificate 2 in Community Services has been working on a unit of competency ‘Work With Diverse People.’ It encourages students to consider what diversity means in our society and how having an awareness of other cultures and diversity helps us to work more thoughtfully and considerately with others in the community. As part of our learning journey we have interviewed people of diverse ethnic backgrounds who work within the community to hear about their experiences and how diversity impacts their work. We were fortunate to have Edna Cruz, Mona Botros and Janessa Lim give up their time to share their experiences with us and we learnt a lot about their culture and how diversity influences and impacts them socially and at work in Australia. Students were also asked to share their own experiences of diversity and what culture means to them in Australia. T’ea Sale of 11Y wrote a wonderful reflection on being a young woman of Samoan background in Australia. We have shared it here so that others may see the great work our students are doing and the breadth and range of learning experiences happening within the VCAL VET program.
Antoinette Rehak
Future Directions Coordinator
My Culture Samoan
The culture that I have grown up in is Samoan. This means that the usual culture of Samoa is a shared way of life based on Fa'a Samoa, which is like nothing else in the world. In Samoan culture, most activities are done together. The usual living quarters, or fale (houses), contain no walls and up to twenty or more people may sleep on the ground in the same fale. Samoa is a really perfect place to go for a holiday. There are also the connected values of feagaiga (an agreement between brothers and sisters and others) and usita'i (listen or follow exactly). The fa'asamoa practised in Samoa may differ from that in New Zealand. Not every Samoan has the same understanding of the idea. My father doesn't let me leave the house under any situation/event, unless I'm with my brothers of one of my parents. I wasn't able to have social media while growing up, including high school. I'm sure I would’ve met some people I liked, good people. But I personally don't find a point for it in my life. I'm in contact with my family, even though they live in Samoa. We skype to see each other. They know what I 'm up to and how great my day was. I'm a very secure person and don't feel the need to share my life on newspapers, web sites and TV. Personally, I believe because I never had media, I was kept from bad people, bad influences and pressure and I'm thankful for that. The way I have been brought up in my culture means that in the core of Samoan culture is the aiga that means family. Within the family, giving and receiving tautua that means service, fa'aaloalo that means respect and alofa that means love are very important in Samoan social relations. In my culture I've been taught that as a Samoan girl I should know the way I stand, walk in the front of people and the way I talk is the most important thing in Samoa because I need to use manners when you are walking in front of someone or old people manner’s for example (Tulou). Another important thing is that I need to wear an i'e lavalava that means daily clothing, usually in the past but especially when you are doing Faasamoa things like, Chief, funeral and family stuff I need to wear them the whole day. I find it really hard that in my culture I have to understand how things are done and especially the way girls need to dress up and mainly I have to show respect. In our culture it doesn’t matter whether you are a different colour or have a different background, we welcome any people who want to join in and want to learn more about our culture.
T'ea Sale
Year 11Y