How has the Inquiry Project experience advanced my

understandings of what good health education might be, and

why?

For my inquiry project my group studied and researched the public health
care system compared to the private. Within our presentation we showed a
short video which initially I thought was a great summary of both the public
and private systems. It wasnt until the completion of the assignment where
for me, I found the most sufficient learning occurred. The video portrayed the
private system as completely separate from the public system and lead
people to believe that the private system is individually run and receives no
funds from the government. It was until I conducted further research and
advanced my understanding on the issue that I realized how each system
actually works.
I believe that the reason why the video portrayed the private system the way
it did was to try and convince their intended audience that the private
system allows individuals to have more control in their health. The video
makes it seem as though the private system received zero funds from the
government. In actual fact, private health receives 30% of health
expenditure according to source of funds (2009-10) and the public system
receives just 14% more (44%) (Germov 2014, p361). If individuals are lead to
believe that private health is more independent then they may choose to
take out private health care. More information that I was unaware of prior to
the completion of my inquiry project was the fact that it is actually more
expensive for the government to run two systems instead of one. If the
government tries to push society to obtain private health care then that can
take some of the burden off of the funds needed to sustain both health care
systems. The idea of victim blaming is factor that Germov discusses which I
believe has a strong connection with the public and private health care issue.

Germov describes victim blaming as, the process whereby social

inequalities is explained in terms of individuals being solely responsible for
what happens to them in relations to the choices they make and their
assumed psychological, cultural and or biological inferiority (Germov 2014,
p13). What having two system does is allow people to assume that private
care offers a better level of care that the public system.
The inquiry project experience has enabled me to extend my learning to
outside the class room and become more aware of information I can gain
from everyday sources such as TV. As I was watching TV a Bupa
advertisement stated, Get quality health cover. Get Bupa (Bupa, 2016). I
can therefore assume that they are inferring that other health care systems
e.g. the public system isnt, as they say, quality health care. This puts a
massive divide on society because individualizes health care by saying that
quality health care is for those that can afford it and people that cannot,
have to result to the public system. In reality both health care systems offer
the equal quality of care, doctors that work in private hospitals are not more
qualified than those that work in public hospitals. I find that this judgment of
difference in quality of health depending on whether its through the public
or private system comes down to education. People who arent educated to
understand that both system off the same level of care can influence the rest
of society to think the same. Before commencing the inquiry project I was
someone who would victim blame, I was unaware of the facts in health care.
I genially believed that poor people received their care from the public
system because they couldnt afford private care. I also believed that the
treatment options were better at private hospital compared to the same
treatment at public hospitals. Looking back and reflecting on my views I
realize how naive I was, but also how nave so many more people could be
on this issue.
Another issue that the inquiry project allowed me to develop a more
advanced understanding of was public and private schooling. I found that it

connects really well with my inquiry project topic as there are still the same
underlying issues. To me it just seems so nave once again how I recognized
the public schooling system as a lesser form of education compared to going
to a private school. The society I was surrounded by growing up shaped me
into believe that private schools offer a better education and that better
education is to those that can afford it. Which therefore led me to believe
that public school was for the less fortunate and it was their own fault that
they werent able to receive a better education. Just like the health care
system, victim blaming is a major factor is how the system is perceived. In
private schools, parents pay for choice, not advantage (Grimm & Taylor,
2015). I found this quote from an article on ABC news so confronting as I
have never thought of private schooling like that. Observing the connection
between this quote and the health care system was straight forward. Finding
this quote allowed me to understand that quote supports the exact
difference between the health care systems. Like I reflected upon previously,
the difference isnt in quality of care or of education at all, but a major
difference is how this issue is perceived by others.
Another issue that Germov discusses that I believe links with both my inquiry
topic issue and the issue with public and private schooling is the idea of
ideology. Ideology is shaped judgement about fairness and justice
Between the right to do as I chose and the need to ensure that societal
benefits are fairly distributed (Germov 2015, p370). This idea of choice is
something that I found advanced my learning in understand what good
health education is, I understand that everyone should have a choice but
there are some external factors that can get in the way of decision making
such as SES. In theory, private schools are able to provide their students with
more resources and therefore better education because they have the
money to do so. Yet, public schools enroll the vast majority of students from
a disadvantaged background with a significantly less budget that private
schools (Jacobs 2011). What this experience has made me understand is it is

so easy to stigmatize an issue where in reality its not as it seems at all. Im

sure that if I grew up at a public school I initial views would have been
different, but bringing it back to the fact that I wasnt educated to believe
that the two systems are equal I think is the major issue.
To me as a future educator the inquiry project experience advanced my
understanding of what good health education might be by allowing me to
see how the heath care systems and schooling system operate. Good health
education is making the information I have provided accessible to everyone,
good health education is not to allow everyone to have the same
opportunity, but an equitable opportunity. Equality is giving everyone the
same thing, but there are factors such as financial situations, socioeconomic
statuses and where you live that the idea of equality becomes unrealistic.
Providing an equitable opportunity for everyone is a more realistic approach.
To conclude, the inquiring project has advanced my understanding of what
good health education may be by allowing me to see issues in ways that I
usually wouldnt. It allowed me to view the perspective of someone that
experiences issues differently than I do. Providing good health education is
important because it provides understanding and allows the ability for people
influence their own lives and the society they live in rather than just
sustaining the view of their society. Looking back on how nave I was to the
issues discussed it makes me want to push better education in what health
care is because I can assume that from the way society works, there will be
many more people who thought the way I did which was people who have
money can afford private health care which is better quality of care
compared to people who dont.

References

Bupa. (2016). Health Insurance . : https://www.bupa.com.au/healthinsurance/campaigns/june2016?

meag=omd_search&s_cid=10001s011&gclid=CjwKEAjwkPS6BRD2ioKR7K245
jASJAD1ZqHOWQnJwEDqWxP7WcoREjYZxkeB0OwDAB7mrGd_ehGcYhoCy9Hw
_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds
Jacobs, R. (2011). Private vs Public school. Available:
http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-opinion/public-v-privateschool-its-not-as-cutanddried-as-you-may-think-20111212-1or0s.html.
Germov, J (2014). Second Opinion . 5th ed. Victoria: Oxford University Press.
Grimm, N & Taylor, D. (2015). Private school students have no academic
edge over students in the public system, study finds.:
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-04-14/study-finds-no-academic-edge-forprivate-school-students/6390936

Macquarie University . (2015). SOCIOECONOMIC STATUS.

https://mq.edu.au/on_campus/diversity_and_inclusion/inclusive_language_tip
s/socioeconomic_status/