Development as a Reflective Practitioner: Race Reflections - First Case, Lasting Impact

In this reflective piece, a trainee educational psychologist recounts a personal experience of being on placement as a Black woman in a predominantly White local authority (LA). To construct these reflections, established, reflective models have been used to provide a structure for which the reflections are modelled. This is followed by a political and historical overview of a predominantly White LA which seeks to establish a contextual background to the placement provider. As a means of illustrating the challenges faced and developing a personal model of reflection, an anonymised case study has been used. The reflective piece ends by outlining the opportunities that arose from the encountered challenges.