THE EDUCATION FOR PRACTICE INSTITUTE
Division of Student Learning
Charles Sturt University
www.csu.edu.au/efpi/
An Unwanted Task
Workplace Learning (WPL) in Motion Teacher Guide
Prepared by EFPI
This teacher guide has been developed to help make the best use of the short films included in the WPL in Motion
series. This guide provides a summary of the film and a discussion starter to trigger viewers’ thinking about the
range of issues covered in the films and rethink own WPL practices.
Film title: An Unwanted Task
Duration: 10 min 51 sec
Credits: Natascha Flowers (Actor), Christ Tomkinson (Actor), Norah George (Actor), Danielle Stamoulos (Actor), Ali
Saad (Director), Natascha Flowers (Writer), Franziska Trede (Executive Producer). Visit EFPI’s WPL in Motion page for
full credits.
Copyright: The Education For Practice Institute, Charles Sturt University. The film can be used in
under Creative Commons licence Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs CC BY-NC-ND
Summary
The film starts with Ada and Peter who work at a community mental health clinic. Peter has worked there for the
last three years whereas for Ada this is her first employment after graduation. Both have been called to an urgent
meeting by their manager. This film raises the question: What does it take to prepare for a student placement?
An Unwanted Task makes the point that good engagement before placements promises for a better WPL experience
for all involved. It provides a classic scenario of an unprepared workplace with seemingly little interest in WPL. The
film reminds us of the consequences of a lack of a visible WPL policy and clear communication channels between
workplaces and universities.
Topics
Topics covered in this film include:
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The function and place of WPL in an organisation
WPL educator’s responsibilities towards WPLs students
Support for employees to supervise students
Before viewing
Before watching the film, warn people about the content of the film as it raises issues that might be distressing to
some viewers. If this is the case, you might need to work with the distressed individual, debriefing in the group and
one-on-one. The following initial questions might be useful to debrief: Does any of this make you very
uncomfortable, is distressing to you? What might help you right now and in the longer term? You may need to refer
the distressed person to a professional service for support and expertise. Ensure you have easy access to the
relevant counselling services contact information.
Activities
1. Watch the short film in a group (with students or colleagues and managers). The film should be viewed
through once and can then be viewed in a stop and start fashion to focus on specific scenes or moments of
interest. The film can be watched with subtitles.
2. As a whole group, brainstorm on some of the issues covered. Ask viewers to outline the situation and to list
the issues raised in the film. This activity can also be done in small groups or individually before being shared
with the whole class.
3. Consider what happened and how things could have been done differently. Some viewers might feel shy
discussing situations that have happened to them or unable to reveal specific details because of
confidentiality reasons. In these instances, you can suggest colleagues discuss the film’s scenario only. The
following sample questions might be useful as a starting point:
Sample questions for academic staff or workplace educators
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Do you know someone like Ada or Peter in your workplace?
What do you think about the manager’s attitude towards WPL?
What do you think about the relationship between Ada and Peter?
How might an employee’s attitude towards WPL impact on students’ learning?
Is Ada the best person to supervise a student?
If you were in Ada’s place, what kind of support would you expect or like to have as a WPL
educator?
If you were in the manager’s place what kind of workplace culture would you encourage around
WPL?
Who decides how students are supervised in a workplace?
Who provides training and mentoring opportunities for WPL educators?
What are your university-workplace communication processes?
What is most important to improve WPL in this scenario?
What can you learn from this film to better engage with students, university and colleagues in your
workplace?
Sample questions for students
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What do you know about preparing to take on students from an organisation’s perspective?
How do you prepare for placement?
Based on this scenario, what might be resulting WPL experience for the student?
What might be done differently from the organisation’s perspective?
How might the student address this situation?
How do you imagine the university being able to support the host organisation?
4. Watch the short film Preparing for a Student for a planned approach and positive experience of supervising
students on placement. Work through the activities outlined in the associated teacher guide.
Other resources
The following links provide access to additional resources relevant to the main topics covered.
General information about WPL
An online course for WPL educators: Six stand-alone modules that provide WPL educators with information and
insights into the many aspects of WPL, including: 'Foundations of WPL at CSU', 'Roles and Responsibilities in WPL',
'Education in WPL' and 'Phases in WPL'.
Engaging with University before placement: The self-paced component of an online module for industry partners
entitled Get Engaged.