Running head: PRETEST REFLECTION ESSAY

Pretest Reflection Essay and My

Perception on the Outcome of My Scores
Taesha Wilcox
Georgia State University

Running head: PRETEST REFLECTION ESSAY

As a BSW student at Georgia State University, I have accepted the task of gaining
all the knowledge necessary to become an efficient Social Worker. The first step is to use
this course as a resource to help the journey towards cultural competency. As of 2005,
there was still a vigorous debate about how broad and inclusive we should apply the term
culture"; with groups such as the LGBTQ or persons with disability, but "as long as there
are advocates for these minority groups, there will be a need for culture competencies
(Lum, 2011 pg 33). Sometimes we live in a bubble and as Social Workers we must
understand and become educated about all cultures so that when the time comes we will
be equipped to help the client. With this pre-test, the goal is to become self-aware and
knowledgeable about other cultures. What will be explained are the thoughts that arose
from the answers, what influenced these answers, the results outcome, and a willingness
to become more culturally competent with diverse groups?

Surprises
While taking the pretest, I realized from the beginning that there were a lot of
things still unlearned; such as basic knowledge about my culture. It was very shocking
when the realization donned on me that the knowledge for this groups was not in my
memory. When it came to knowing about other cultures such as the European, Latino,
and Asian, my mind drew a blank. The surprise more so came when thinking aloud of
possibly being an outsider to all of these diverse groups.Social workers in contemporary
America serve a population that is the most culturally and ethnically diverse in the
nations history (Van Den Bergh and Crisp, 2004; Green et al., 2005), and for me there
is no in-depth understanding of the issues that surrounds majority of these subjects. I felt
especially bad when asked about contributing to certain community outreach services. It
is my duty as a human being and a Social Work student to give back. It surprised me that
these questions would bring forth so many thoughts and willingness to want to learn and
know more.

Feelings about My Scores

The Social Work Cultural Competencies Self- Assessment Pretest reared awful
scores, a 76 to be exact which mean I scored on level one (Not Very Likely). The results
reared in the favor of wanting to know more, especially about the questions surrounding
my cultural awareness and the skill development necessary for a Social Worker.
Proceeding on to the Social Work Competencies with Culturally Diverse Groups and
Social Economic Justice Pretest, I felt even more defeated by my lack of knowledge.
Again the score was a 179 which yield me to level one on the (Not Very Likely) end.
What bother me the most is not so much that I did not know the answer, but for some of
these topics I felt as though I was not even sure of the concept surrounding the question?
These results made me feel, as though it is my duty to understand every concept being
asked of me at the end of the semester so that the next time the answers will not defeat
me.

Running head: PRETEST REFLECTION ESSAY

Life Events
There were two subjects I identified with based on my responses; the first one
being the subject based upon the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and transgender community.
Identifying with these questions was easy because my younger sister with whom I am
very close to is currently in a relationship with another woman. On a personal level, it
hits home because of the social and ethical dilemmas endured by my sister because of her
sexual orientation. This very situation is the reason I want to become educated on all of
the diverse groups of minorities. Another group identified with was surrounding persons
with disabilities, and there is a connection because my grandfather is disabled. With him,
I have also witnessed with hardship that comes along with his disability, such as losing
his job, friends, and his self-esteem. Although my scoring was up and down in this
section, because of my connection to my grandfather, there is a want for me to know
more.

Willingness to Improve
There are some changes that have to happen to improve my overall knowledge of
all the topics. The first is getting out of my element and start opening my eyes to this big,
diverse world. I should take the time not to only know a group of diverse people, but
also to engage into in-depth conversations so that my mind can relate to a culture other
than my own. There is a willing for volunteer work to know how it feels to give to a
community of people without reaping any benefits. Volunteering will link me directly to
becoming a more diverse individual, and working more with different people, will enable
me to understand their situations better. Results from a study based upon Enhancing the
Cultural Competency of Social Work Students showed that in learning environments, a
student learns to question her/his own assumptions, beliefs, feelings, and perspectives
(meaning schemes) in order to grow personally and intellectually (Mezirow, 1991).
Through critical thinking, it makes possible for a student to conceptualize the way we
perceive, understand, and feel about the world (Mezirow, 2000). Therefore, the most
important thing this semester is taking all the knowledge learned from this course and
hopefully applying it to many other courses; so that the result will be mastering my craft
as a future Social Worker.

Conclusion
If there is time to start learning the time is now in my first semester of the BSW
program. Happiness surrounds the opportunity to learn from this pre-test. The mentality
going forward is to become proficient in understanding all the concepts unknown before.
There is a lot more to become culturally aware of, so that the understanding is there when
the topics arise. I enjoyed being able to evaluate my knowledge, and hope that in the end
although this test was not successful it can only get better from this point.

Running head: PRETEST REFLECTION ESSAY

References
Lum, D. (2011). Culturally Competent Practice: A framework for understanding diverse
Groups and justice issues. (4th Ed) Belmont, CA: Brooks/Cole. ISBN: 97808400-3443-4
Warde, B. (2012). The Cultural Genogram: Enhancing the Cultural Competency of Social
Work Students. Social Work Education, 31(5), 570-586.
doi:10.1080/02615479.2011.593623