Self-Reflection on Indigenous People of Australia: Gibbs Six Step Model

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Introduction
Self-reflection helps in analyzing perceptions, attitudes and behaviors of an individual
towards a particular subject and how they have changed over time (Hele, 2013). This
write-up uses Gibbs six step model of reflection analyze and discuss my feeling,
thoughts, and beliefs about the indigenous people of Australia before and after doing
assignment 1 and its feedback. When I came to Australia, I had heard various stories
that portrayed Indigenous People as unfriendly and victims of their own
circumstances. I developed some beliefs and attitudes towards these people. This
paper therefore begins with a description of my experience and also discusses my
feelings and thoughts towards the indigenous people. The values and beliefs
influencing my feelings and thoughts are discussed and analyzed in this report. The
reflection also draws conclusions based on the analysis and recommends a future
course of action.
There are many stories that I had heard about the Indigenous and Torres Strait
Islander people before I arrived in Australia four years ago. I had no relevant
knowledge about the indigenous people and hence I developed some stereotypes
regarding this group of people. When I enrolled to study nursing in Australia, I was
fortunate enough to interact with the indigenous people as well as learn about their
culture and history. Most of the misconception I had about them was negative. I
believed that they have small traditional homes and they were violent people who
were dark in color and much uncivilized. I also had a perception that the indigenous
people are sexual offenders and child molesters. This misconception was informed by
colonial experience by the indigenous people of Australia. Before I arrived in the
country, I also believed that the Aboriginal and Torres Islanders people were
uneducated and they depended on traditional foods and medicine. The European

settler`s used to kidnap the Aboriginal people and abused them sexually far away
from their homes. Upon learning their history, I realized that the indigenous people
have faced constant discrimination both economically and politically. The Aboriginal
and Torres Islander`s managed to survive despite the abuse and discrimination they
faced during the colonial times (Action, 2012). Reflecting on my initial beliefs and
thoughts about the indigenous people is critical in understanding the culture of the
people and using it to help improve the health outcomes of the people.
Reflecting upon my experience and learning, my feeling towards the Aboriginal and
Torres Islander is that of sadness. This is because this group of indigenous people
undergone a lot of suffering during the colonial times. Even after the country got
independence, the Aboriginal and Torres Islanders have undergone discrimination and
have greatly suffered over the years. I also feel that the indigenous people are
hardworking and aggressive and hence they should be given opportunities and their
culture should be respected. The indigenous people should be offered high quality
healthcare services while incorporating their culture and other social aspects that are
important to them. My thoughts about this experience is that it is not good to judge
people and have misconceptions about them without interacting with them directly.
After learning about the history of the Aboriginal and Torres Islanders, I felt that the
people had been treated very unfairly in a country which they discovered first. I feel
extremely bad because I judged the AI feel that enough efforts have not been taken to
offer equal opportunity to the indigenous people. On learning about their history, I
learned that a lot of injustices had been done to them. Am a person who beliefs in