Scenario 1

You work as an Education Support Worker at Acorn College. Gracie is a parent of one of the students at Acorn College. She is a South Asian woman and does not understand or speak English very well. She, along with her family member, Amber, has come to attend a meeting with you as her son needs special assistance during class, and they would like to discuss the needs and requirements of her child. The purpose of your interaction would be to explain how the staff at Acorn College would take care of the needs of her child and provide the best assistance required.

Scenario 2

Danielle is the office administrator of the primary side of a large school in the city. She is the only female staff member at the management level. The Principal (who is significantly older than her) often refers to her as the "office mum", although no males at the management level are ever referred to as "office dads".

He expects Danielle to handle staff birthdays and always asks her to organise coffee for him and the Deputy Principal each morning.

Danielle is becoming frustrated with these requests and the "office mum" label. She tells the Principal of her concerns, and he responds by telling her that she is "overly sensitive".

Scenario 3

In the staff room at the school, a colleague (Jan) is reading the paper. After reading an article about increases in funding for health and housing for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, Jan makes a comment about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people "expecting Government handouts" and says that they "should stop living in the past". Jan always prefaces these comments with "I'm not a racist, but ...."

You notice that another colleague, whom you know to be from an Aboriginal background, become upset and leave the room.

You know these are opinions that Jan has expressed before and that it seems to be deeply ingrained. Nobody else seems to mind this behaviour, and you are also aware that several other colleagues also agree with these views, even if they avoid saying it out loud in the presence of others. Sometimes, the staff room discussions get quite heated, with people using derogatory terms when making comments about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. You are working in a situation where you and your colleagues frequently work with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students and families. Some of the staff are also of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander descent.

This is for my unit of studies in the Work with diverse people unit and they have 3 scenarios that we need to give examples on what we would do in these situations being a education support worker working within schools. I am a-bit stuck and any help would be greatly appreciated.