Health Learning Portfolio

Nurturing Wellness and Safety in the Classroom: Review on Major Health Issues Your Name Subject and Section Professor’s name Date Introduction In this continually progressive world, the roles of an educationist are not only to teach their students but also to empower, train, build character, personality, and responsibility, as well as be a counselor. An example of assurance concerning professional growth and commitment to the welfare of students is through an online portfolio among educators. This tool helps educators appraise their practices, get insights from previous practices, and practice congruently with AITSL standards. A professional portfolio presents an excellent learning cycle perspective that allows educators to keep track of their experience in addressing essential course areas, including students' safety, managing infectious and chronic illnesses, and adopting a healthy diet and physical activities. These critical areas ensure students' health, emotional, and social needs are met, affecting learning and achievement. In this portfolio, I will consider my thoughts about safety, communicable and chronic diseases, nutrition, and exercise, and the way knowledge of these areas has changed based on coursework, discourse, and practical exposure. I will also critically analyze the literature and relate it to AITSL standards. I will establish SMART objectives for the short-term and long-term personal and professional learning targets for an educator determined to create a safe, healthy, and supportive learning environment. Safety in Education Reflection From discussing safety in education, I developed an improved understanding of how children should be protected based on Australia’s child protection system, particularly maltreatment, the significance of reporting requirements, and the duty of care legislation in Australia (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2024). Moreover, the National Framework for Protecting Australia’s Children 2021-2031 also states that the protection of children is the business and concern of everyone in the society, not just the legally required reporters. This includes the views and ideas that every community member, including all educators, is equally responsible for guarding the young ones against any harm (Australian Government Department of Social Services, 2021). One of the more profound paradigm transformations for me was understanding that it is not only legally possible but also legal to act in children's best interests. It was particularly significant to recognize that teachers as front-line identifiers of cases that resulted in abuse or neglect, early intervention helped reduce harm. Furthermore, safety does not encompass physical safety but emotional and mental safety. For instance, the report by Gramenz (2015) states that many students are assaulted at school and are not being heard because they are marked as “vile,” which excludes them from the student environment. This makes them unsafe for the teachers and the general public's opinion. The perception of safety in education has changed for the better, and good attention is paid to the duties of teachers. Improvement has occurred in this area because of advancing teacher preparation on the identification of child abuse or neglect and the promotion of the child's physical and emotional well-being. Professional Perspectives According to Longmuir et al. (2024), teachers are responsible for students' physical and emotional safety because they are allowed to express their concerns with their teachers. This responsibility involves the readiness of educators to inform themselves of the protection services available for children, the ability to recognize instances where a child is likely to be abused or neglected, and the skills to act appropriately in these cases. Furthermore, the State Government of Victoria (2023) explained that teachers are under pressure to identify risky behavior or physical signs concerning a student. If seen, the teacher must act fast and report the suspected case to the relevant authorities. In addition, knowledge of legal codes, including the Children, Young Persons, and their Families Act 1997 and the Family Violence Act 2004, is essential so teachers' activities conform with legal standards. Using this knowledge, teachers safeguard children, meet the requirements of their professional Standards of Efficiency and Ethics, and enhance their roles as vital components of the country's child safeguarding system to make schools safer. Evolved Learnings Also, there has been an extended focus on the environments in which students are comfortable raising their concerns and following the National Framework for Protecting Australia's Children, which rests the responsibility of schools and teachers to protect students. AITSL Standards AITSL Standard 4 This focuses on fostering and sustaining professional standards for the safety and support of learning contexts (AITSL, 2018, p. 16). Class teachers must make their classrooms safe for students physically and emotionally and encourage good student behavior and interactions. Subprocesses within this strategy implementation entail having safe patient practices or policies in and around campus student engagement activities. AITSL Standard 7 The teachers must professionally communicate and relate with the other teachers, parents, and society (AITSL, 2018, p. 21). Using good communication and aiming at developing effective interpersonal relations among them, educators can develop mutual support systems that will help the students. This standard promotes Professional Learning Networks (PLNs), like research learning networks and teacher design teams, engagement, and collaboration with families to enhance student learning and development (Poortman et al., 2021). SMART Goals Short-term This aims to organize and plan assignments in class that will help the student understand what Conservative personal safety entails, specifically how to set boundaries, learn who to trust, and the correct procedure to follow in the event of building a concern; this should be done before the beginning of the next term. Long-Term Goal This aims to obtain professional development points in child safety training certification within two years and effectively facilitate groups of peers through offering suggestions and ideas about the means to convey and implement an understanding of stud...