Reflective Paper: Learning and development of children - Essay Example

?Reflective Paper: Learning and development of children Part Introduction Early childhood development is very crucial and highly important. Thus, parents must be responsible enough in guiding and nurturing their little kids for them to learn better about everything as they continuously grow. In relation to this, there are parents who would love to expose their children on various learning environments outside their homes such as nurseries, primary schools, etc. in order to further enhance their learning development (“Building Partnerships,” 2013). In this case, both parents and practitioners need to collaborate with each other to give children full development and learning attention. In other words, parents would need the help of the practitioners and vice versa to give children the best of what they deserve. This papers aims to present and discuss the benefits of practitioners as they work with the parents. Reflections of the practitioner upon working with children, their families, agencies, and other professionals will also be presented along with the reflection on personal and professional development. It must also be noted that confidentiality and ethical issues in writing this paper had been seriously taken into account particularly the names of the parents and children whom the practitioner had worked with. The benefits of practitioners in working with parents Parents know best when it comes to their children. Among all people, the mother and father of a child have the best knowledge and understanding towards his/her attitudes and behaviors especially at home. As children grow older and as they start to explore the world, they highly need the help of practitioners for them to learn better and faster. However, parental involvement on the learning development of children is very important in order to have effective learning approaches because they are the one who can support and understand better about their children (Hood, 2012). Thus, it is very important for childcare and education practitioners to work together with the children’s parents. Working with parents would greatly benefit practitioners to understand attitudes and behaviors of the children which further allow them to have enough knowledge on how to appropriately approach and deal with the children. These skills are very essential when it comes to children’s learning and development. Written below are the various benefits that education practitioners acquire upon working with the children’s parents. Promote better understanding towards the needs of the children Upon working hand in hand with parents, practitioners will have greater chances to know more and understand better about the different attitudes and behaviors of children including their families’ values, beliefs, traditions, and practices. With these family background and knowledge, practitioners can freely make use of this information to create a comfortable and friendly learning environment. Practitioners can further know and apply an appropriate learning style and technique in accordance to the information given by the parents, thereby, resulting positive domino effects to the parents, practitioners, and of course to the children. Thus, working with parents can help practitioner in promoting better understanding on children’s attitudes and behaviors (“Building Partnerships,” 2013). Develop children’s sense of belongingness and self-identity Working with parents can greatly help the practitioners in aiding and guiding children towards finding and knowing their own selves, as well as helping them to acquire sense of belongingness. Self-identification and belongingness are two essential factors to be given importance as children continue to grow and develop physically, intellectually, and even emotionally. For children to know themselves better and to have a sense of belongingness among other children, they must know their own family values, traditions, cultures, beliefs, and practices which they can be first learned at home and from their parents. However, for parents to fully help their children in identifying their own selves and creating a sense of belongingness among other children, they need professional expertise and advice from practitioners. In this case, with the combined knowledge of parents towards their children and of childcare practitioners, they can together help children to establish authenticity of their own selves, thereby, helping children to develop their self-confidence and self-esteem (“Building Partnerships,” 2013). Develop Parental Skills Childcare and education practitioners had been studying for years on the various learning theories, approaches, processes, and steps on how to successfully establish an excellent relationship with children regardless of their uniqueness and differences in order to help and guide to be better individuals in the future. Thus, practitioners had been doing their best in studying and learning that would benefit in nurturing and developing the young minds of these cute little kids in an exciting and enjoyable way. However, not all things can be learned in various theories taught and learned in school. There are things which are learned and acquired from the people who work hand in hand with these kids--the parents. This is because parents have the best knowledge and skills in enhancing their own child’s learning and development (“Effective Practice,” 2007). Upon working closely with parents, practitioners can learn various parental skills and expertise from them such as tips on how to become cool and patient parents for these kids. As childcare practitioners, it is a must for them to act not only as teachers and playmates on these kids but also as second parents. By so doing, children will feel that they are being loved and protected in both their homes and learning environment. Thus, parental skill is a must not only for parents but also for childcare practitioners who aim the best for the successful learning and development of children (“Building Partnerships,” 2013). Create friendly and comfortable relationship with parents Child education practitioners who closely and openly work with parents had greater chances to establish a friendly and comfortable relationship with the parents. In this case, practitioners will get to know even better about the parents, the children, and their relationship as family. Practitioners can further know the educational and even emotional support and needs of children from their parents and undoubtedly express all of these with them. Hence, allowing parents to develop their ways in guiding and nurturing their kids in order to prepare them to face the real world with bravery and confidence. A close relationship and partnership between parents and practitioners further give them chances to ask the parents on their personal opinion and decision with regard to the education and development of their children because of the given fact that they know best about their kids as compared to childcare professionals (“Effective Practice,” 2007). Moreover, with a well-established relationship between professionals and parents, both can have shared knowledge and expertise in giving children the best of what they deserve. Furthermore, a friendly and comfortable relationship between parents and practitioners will consequently result to a well established -communication between two parties. An open communication is highly important especially when there is a problem with regard to the attitude and behaviors of the children, as well as to their educational performance and development that need to be taken immediate actions. Through open communication, parents can also express their struggles and family issues which may affect the learning and development of the children so that practitioners can give professional advices and solutions to the problem before it worsens (Hood, 2012). Therefore, parent and practitioner relationship is highly helpful in the learning development and growth of a child. This further benefits both the (parenting skills of) parents and (professional approaches and strategies of) practitioners (“Parents as Partners,” 2013). Childcare Practitioners will become more flexible in dealing with parents and their children With an established relationship with parents, practitioners will be able to know even better the different perceptions, values, and beliefs in life of the children’s parents which allow them to become more flexible in communicating and dealing with these parents regardless of their attitude and character differences. Partnership between parents and practitioners will greatly help towards the learning development of children. Flexibility over the attitude of the practitioners will help them towards maintaining a healthy working relationship with parents who may create domino effects to the growth and development of the children. Thus, working with parents benefited practitioners towards developing flexible attitude and characteristic which may further add to their growth, development, and maturity as professionals in the field of childcare and education (P. Mittler, H. Mittler, & Mc Conachie, 1986). Enhance their professional skills as child educators Parents are considered to be the main and primary educators of their kids and have the full capacity in guiding them in a life-long basis until such time that they will become fully grown adults. Hence, encouraging parents to actively participate on various educational activities for their children’s early childhood education will greatly help practitioners to have an easier and more effective child learning and development programs. The contribution and support of parents towards the education of their kids adds to the success of the professional approaches and strategies of practitioners in enhancing the learning processes and development of the kids, thereby, resulting a positive impact to the parents as they acquire a wider knowledge and understanding on their children’s needs, as well as to the practitioners who successfully bridged the gap between parents and their children through their professional approaches. Thus, practitioners who closely work with parents had greater opportunities towards enhancing their professional skills facilitating and guiding the learning and development of a child (“Parental Involvement,” 2006). Learn to create trust and respect towards parents and develop their morale as practitioners Upon working with parents, practitioners learn and develop not only their professional skills and expertise as child educators but also their morale as an individual person and as professionals. Working together with parents benefits a lot to the practitioners based on their shared parental knowledge and expertise towards their children. These knowledge and information helped practitioners to develop professional approaches and programs which are highly suitable to the learning and development of children. Based on these, practitioners were able to accept the fact that when it comes to childcare and parenting, there are things which are known by parents and are unknown by them. In this case, practitioners successfully established the virtue of respect to the parental expertise of parents and trust on their skills in guiding and educating their children as they grow and develop (Hood, 2012). Critical reflections Working with children and their families Working and enhancing the learning and development of children is considered to be very crucial. For a practitioner to successfully guide a child in his/her early childhood years, one must be knowledgeable enough on child development especially in safeguarding the child against any form of harm during the learning process which may hinder to the successful learning and development of the child. Moreover, a practitioner must also bear in mind that every child has his/her own unique attitude and characteristic. Hence, the practitioner must be very sensitive and vigilant in observing and understanding the uniqueness of the child among others in order to give him/her appropriate learning approaches. Furthermore, it is a prerequisite for every practitioner to be always professional in dealing with children and their families. However, he/she must also be sympathetic towards the situation of the child in such a way that a practitioner can express his/her sympathy, love, and care for the child. In other words, it is important for practitioners to consider their work in guiding and enhancing the learning and development of the child not just as a profession but also a passion in order for the child to feel that they are being cared and loved by someone aside from their parents and families. Working with children is fun, exciting, and at the same time, challenging because aside from the need of extra patience, a part of their future as individuals lies in your hand. On the other hand, working with the families of these kids entails understanding, respect, humility, flexibility, and expertise. Understanding the different personalities, views in life, culture and even norms within the family (including the parents, siblings, grandparents, carers, and other extended family members who are closely related to the child) is a need for the practitioner to effectively perform his/her duty in enhancing the learning and development of the child. Respect is also needed to show to the family members that the importance of their role towards the development of the child is being valued and respected. Along with respect is the humility of the practitioner in accepting the fact that the family members, especially the parents, had the best knowledge on everything about their child and that practitioner is only their guide on the appropriate and research based ways in enhancing the learning and development of the child. Moreover, upon working with families of the children, one must also be flexible in dealing and communicating with family members. Being flexible can greatly help the practitioner in building and maintaining a good and healthy relationship with them which may further create positive domino effects to the learning and development of the child. Lastly, working with children and their families requires the expertise of the practitioner in order to gain trust and respect from them, as well as to establish authority and professionalism. Therefore, working with children and their families requires both professionalism and passion in order to achieve the main goal and objective of an education and childcare practitioner which is to enhance the learning and development of the child. Working collaboratively with other professionals and agencies For education and childcare practitioners, guiding and enhancing the learning and development of children in their early childhood years is very crucial and challenging mainly because the future of the children and how they would view the real world as they grow older are at stake. Working collaboratively with other professionals and agencies would be a great help for practitioners to successfully help the children in preparing themselves in facing the real world. These professionals and agencies have much to offer, share, and teach to education and childcare practitioners on other effective and efficient ways towards enhancing the learning and development of children. Moreover, a collaborative work with other professionals and related agencies is a perfect avenue to maximize the development and learning benefits of children. This is through the help of their shared experiences and knowledge, as well as individual expertise which are both beneficial to the children, their families, and practitioners. Furthermore, having a collaborative work with other professionals and agencies benefited childcare practitioners specifically in terms of professional and personal growth. Professionalism entails knowledge, skills, and attitudes towards work. All of these can be further learned and acquired through working with other professionals and agencies related to childcare, learning, and development. Upon working with them, childcare practitioners can further have additional knowledge on various ethical principles, values, techniques, and approaches in dealing with children and even their parents. Through constant observation and teachings from these professionals, the various skills of practitioners can also be developed such as communication skills, problem solving, organizing, critical thinking and teaching skills. Practitioners can also be influenced by the behaviors of these professionals and agencies, thereby, enhancing the practitioners’ attitude towards work. Aside from professional growth, working collaboratively with others further constitutes personal development and growth. These include the acquired principles and values of these practitioners from other professionals and related agencies such as respecting other’s opinion and ideas, showing open-mindedness towards faults and corrections, accepting new ideas and knowledge, establishing good working relationship with others, taking full responsibility towards the given tasks and expressing love, care, and concern to the children and sympathy to their families. Leading and supporting others It is definitely a great privilege to have the opportunity to lead and support other people especially the parents of the young children whose only aim is to give the best for their kids particularly on their learning and development process. Leading, supporting, and guiding them towards the learning and development of their children is a self-fulfilling task as an education and childcare practitioner. This task opened another opportunities, lessons, and experiences which played an important contribution to the professional and personal growth of the childcare practitioner. Leading and supporting the parents on the early childhood education of their kids opened opportunities to get to know more about children and their families including their values, cultures, beliefs, traditions, and even their status as families. This information can further be used by the practitioner on how to appropriately deal with children and their families. The practitioner can also have the chance to build a good relationship with the children’s parents and families in order to establish an open communication for the benefit of both parties and children, as well. Personal and professional lessons and skills can also be learned through leading and supporting the parents such as teaching, communication, and parenting skills (as childcare practitioner, one must learn how to be a good parent). Moreover, the various experiences of the practitioner upon leading and guiding parents in nurturing their children as they grow and develop can be further constitute to the personal and professional growth of the childcare practitioner. Thus, leading and supporting others is one of the highly significant factors in order to be truly called as practitioner. Part 2 Reflection: Personal and professional development There are a number of significant factors for a professional to be called as practitioner. Some of which include experience, growth, and development. As a practitioner in the field of childcare and early childhood education, I humbly present my reflections towards my personal and professional development over the years of my practice. Personal Reflections Patience in dealing with children Children are known for their extreme vigor and energy in their day to day activities. Most of them are very hyperactive and have a very little attention span. They all just wanted to play the whole day. Hence, it is important to incorporate learning and development to play in order to catch the attention of the kids. Supporting and guiding children as they started to learn and develop their entire well-being entails extra patience, effort, and dedication in order to provide these kids the best of they deserve. However, this task should not be taken easily because these kids would surely test the patience of the practitioner. Thus, as childcare practitioner, I have been exerting extra care and patience for years in dealing with kids in order to successfully guide them in their learning and development as young individuals. Establishing an open communication and good relationship with parents Parents are considered to be one of the most important support factors for the successful learning and development of their children mainly because they personally know everything about their kids more than others. Working closely with parents would be a great help for practitioners to further know the attitude and behavior of the kids so that appropriate learning approaches will be given for them. Thus, it is important to establish an open communication and maintain a good relationship with parents. An open communication further benefits the practitioner to freely open the support needs of children from their parents, specifically emotional support. Parents can also express their problems about their kids to the practitioner before it gets worse so that it can be given immediate professional actions and solutions and also to protect the children against any form of harm that may hinder their learning and development. Respect and Open-mindedness As an education and childcare practitioner, it is highly important to acquire and develop respect and open-mindedness in communicating and dealing with others such as parents and other professionals in order to avoid any conflicts and misunderstandings. Enhancing the learning and development of children needs the involvement of their parents and even other professionals in order to cater best the needs of the kids. In this case, a childcare practitioner must learn to acknowledge and respect the opinions and ideas of parents for the benefit of their children. Also, practitioners must also be open-minded for the new ideas and learning approaches of other professionals. Respecting others and being open-minded for new learning innovations are two determining factors for the personal and professional growth of a practitioner. Professional Reflections Knowledge Knowledge can be acquired through observations, learning, and personal experiences. With the help of knowledge, a person has greater chances of performing his/her task even better. Thus, for education and childcare practitioners, it is important to keep on learning and acquiring new ideas and knowledge. The professional growth and development of a practitioner can be observed based on his/her acquired knowledge for several years in practice. Working hand in hand with parents would be a great help to improve the knowledge of a practitioner based on the shared ideas and experiences of parents towards their children. Practitioner can further enhance their knowledge through the help of other professionals. Personal experiences, learning, and observations would further add to the professional development of a practitioner. Skills and expertise Other than knowledge, skills and expertise further reflect to the professionals’ development of an education and childcare practitioner. Skills and expertise can be fully developed over the years of practice. This can further be enhanced through learning, observations, as well as personal experiences and practice such as leading and supporting parents towards enhancing the learning and development of their children. Practitioners can further learn various parents’ skills from these parents through building a friendly and comfortable relationship with them. Following the different learning approaches and techniques would also be a great help for practitioners in handling and teaching children. References Building relationship between parents and practitioners. 2013. [Online] (Updated 17 Dec 2013). Available at: http://www.ncca.biz/aistear/pdfs/Guidelines_ENG/Practitioners_ENG.pdf [Accessed 17 December 2013]. Effective practice: Parents as partners. 2007. [Online] (Updated 10 Dec 2007). Available at: http://www.keap.org.uk/documents/eyfs_eff_prac_parent_partner.pdf [Accessed 16 December 2013]. Hood, M., 2012. Partnership- working together in early childhood settings. [Online] (Updated 1 Nov 2012). Available at: http://www.earlychildhoodaustralia.org.au/pdf/rips/RIP1201_sample.pdf [Accessed 17 December 2013]. Mittler P., Mittler, H., & Mc Conachie, H., 1986. Working together: Guidelines for partnership between professionals and parents of children and young people with disabilities. [Online] (Updated 1986). Available at: http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0006/000694/069420eo.pdf [Accessed 16 December 2013]. Parents as partners. 2013. [Online] (Updated 17 Dec 2013.) Available at: http://labspace.open.ac.uk/mod/resource/view.php?id=369928 [Accessed 17 December 2013]. Parental Involvement- A handbook for childcare providers. 2006. [Online] (Updated 2006). Available at: http://www.barnardos.ie/assets/files/publications/free/parental_involvement.pdf [Accessed 14 December 2013]. Read More