What It Takes to Be a Childcare Worker - Assignment Example

Question a) Describe what your role is as an untrained childcare worker. As an untrained childcare worker, my employer recognizes that I am not yet equipped with the necessary skills and knowledge for the job however, am entrusted with a role requires me to be open to learning. My role is to have initiative to know basic child care, be aware of my ‘duty of care’ as bestowed upon me by law, and abide by the policies and procedures of the organization I work for. (b) Write down five key responsibilities of an untrained childcare worker. 1. Ensuring the safety and security of the children and adults I work with. 2. Keeping the environment organized 3. Maintaining the availability of resources while conserving them. 4. Keeping harmonious relations with co-workers 5. Contributing to the planning of the children’s activities and fulfilment of other objectives. (c) Identify ten skills that you will need for this position. 1. Organizational skills 2. Interpersonal skills 3. Rapport-building skills 4. Time Management 5. Creativity 6. Communication 7. Budgeting (for materials and resources) 8. Good fine motor skills (in preparing teacher-made materials) 9. Aesthetic/ decorating skills (for putting up children’s works/ arranging children’s environments) 10. First Aid (d) Take a look at the 10 skills you have listed above. Indicate which of those skills you feel you: already possess—and explain why 1. interpersonal skills – I am a people person. In my job, I have learned to relate to all kinds of people with all kinds of backgrounds, temperaments and dispositions. This exposure has helped me adjust to different personalities to achieve harmony in my relationships. 2. rapport-building skills – in relation to the first skill, I have learned to build rapport with people when I meet them for the first time. With children, I have also learned of strategies to help them feel at ease with me and new situations. 3. creativity – I express myself in various ways, not only verbally. I make use of my artistic talents to communicate messages to others. I can think out of the box. 4. communication – because I love people, I needed to develop good communication skills to reach out to them and to express myself well. 5. aesthetic/ decorating skills – in relation to my creativity, I have an eye for beauty and can compose a design that will make a good decorative showcase. could develop further. 1. organizational skills – because I have many ideas, I need to learn to be grounded with definite parameters, schedules, order, etc. so my ideas may be implemented successfully. 2. time management – I need to learn to manage my time well, be prompt and punctual for meetings, and keep to the time when scheduled activities are planned. 3. budgeting – I need more constraints in spending not only money but resources well. 4. good fine motor skills – my cutting, folding and tracing skills have yet to improve so I can achieve excellence in preparing materials for the children. 5. first aid – although I know basic first aid, I know I need to learn more so I would know what to do in any kind of emergency. (e) Complete the table below based on information from the job description. Jobs I am responsible for completing. How do these jobs assist other staff in their work? What would happen if I didn’t complete these jobs on time and correctly? Share in planning and preparing the environment, setting up interest centres, preparing and clearing away materials and supplies. Child workers never run out of things to do for and with the children. Giving them a hand in some things help them focus more on the children, which is their main duty. If staff will not be given a hand in their work, then their concentration on their main duties and responsibilities will be affected, compromising the quality of care and service for children. Be responsible for the care and well being of the children and the supervision of activities throughout the day. It ensures that the children are in good hands, and gives the staff peace of mind and security. Lack of vigilance in the care and well being of children may lead to accidents and illnesses of the children. Share positive information about the children with their parents and other information as instructed after discussion with a trained carer. It assures parents that their children are developing well in the centre that they have chosen to entrust them with. Miscommunication with parents regarding information about their children may get out of hand, causing untoward events and negative relationships between parents and the centre. Develop a co-operative relationship with all members of staff to ensure a smoothly operating Centre and a consistently caring, secure and active environment for all children at all times. Working in a positive, supportive and pleasant environment encourages staff to do their jobs well and to maintain a happy disposition at all times. Discord among staff members may prevail, resulting in a negative work environment that affects the quality of service provided to the children. Share cleaning responsibilities, both relating to the group you are working with and in other areas of the Centre. A clean and organized environment helps everyone work better, as clutter and dirt is out of the way so health and safety is also ensured. Everyone suffers from a dirty and unsanitary environment. Germs spread and illnesses result. (f) Complete the following table. You may need to refer to Summerville Children’s Centre policies and procedures to ensure that you are meeting the organisation’s practices. Information to pass on Who needs to know? How and when will you tell them? Running low on acrylic paint—red and green. -the trained child worker in charge of the group of children - the authorized supervisor -way before preparing materials for projects needing paint, I shall inform the trained child worker of the quantity of paint left so we can mix available colours or think of alternative materials. - before the last bottles are opened, I shall already inform the supervisor so she can make a requisition to purchase the necessary materials Jai is being picked up by Aunty Sue at 3 pm. - the trained child worker in charge of Jai’s group - upon learning of the information, I shall disclose it to the trained child worker right away. If the center’s policy is for Aunty Sue to show proper identification, then it has to be validated by the authorized supervisor You were unable to put up the display you were asked to. -the trained child worker -I shall apologize for my oversight and resolve to put it up as soon as I am free from my current duty. Task 2 (40 marks) Question 1 What would your response be to these three problems? Use the problem-solving steps from the unit to assist you in answering these problems. Refer to Summerville Children’s Centre policies and procedures. (a) We have had three parents collect their children after closing this month. All have been about 20 mins late. Late shift staff are getting tired of the unpaid overtime and the ramifications for their night when they are now late for their after-work roles. First, I need to consider the facts. There have been instances of parents picking up their children late form the centre, causing some staff to extend their time at work just to watch the children. The children are likewise upset for being the only ones left in the centre. Such a situation is undesirable and needs to be addressed and resolved. Much as I understand that there are times parents will be late, it is unacceptable to make it a habit. I will explain the situation to the tardy parents and recommend that in the next likely event that they will be late, they should inform the centre beforehand so the staff in charge will be able to plan an alternative schedule. The staff worker may agree to wait for a certain period. If the parent will not come on time, then that will be a point against him or her and the centre will warn the parent that enrolment privileges of the child may be revoked due to habitual tardiness of the parent. This is a breach of duty of care advocated by the centre. The parent and the staff should be able to agree on the alternative. An example is having the child picked up at a certain place with the staff worker at a certain time he or she is there. This will give consideration to the after-work life of the staff while having the child watched by a responsible adult. Of course this agreement must first be approved by the administration. (b) There are a lot of disputes amongst older preschoolers during outside play at the moment. It seems to be worse after rest time. Staff supervising them at this time (while others are at lunch) are tired of acting as umpires! Many things have to be considered. One is if the schedule appropriately meets the children’s needs. When children are hungry, they may manifest negative behaviors. Another consideration is the number of staff supervising them at this particular time. A possible solution is to have shift in scheduling wherein the children have simultaneous lunch with the staff, so they are adequately supervised by the adults and have the play time before or after lunch period. This will also entail moving up or moving down some routines immediately before and after the outside play period. More staff are now able to supervise the children so avoid untoward incidences as bullying or more aggressive behaviour during disputes. (c) There is always a queue in the bathroom in the 0–3s room at morning tea-time. We have children at different levels and activities, but all the toddlers need to queue up. How can we avoid this? Children at this particular age level are still mastering their sphincter muscle control. They are not to be expected to be able to use the bathroom at specific times. Those who have been toilet trained (mostly those children older than three) may be expected to follow a bathroom routine, but for the toddlers, they need to go when their bodies say so. Queuing up then is not an option as it is very difficult for them to wait around, so this may cause more trouble in their management. My solution is to bring the 0-3 year old toddlers to the bathroom only when they need to go, or be vigilant in checking when their nappies need changing. Question 2 What would you do in the following situations to advise your supervisor of your concerns? Refer to Summerville Children’s Centre policies and procedures in your answers. (a) You have noticed that staff are standing around while outside in the play area. They are obviously watching the children but are interacting with each other rather than the children. They are not down at the children’s level or involved in their play. When I report my concern to my supervisor, I shall be as objective as possible. I will say, “I feel concerned for the children when they are not adequately supervised. As adults, there are times when we tend to be preoccupied with our own worlds even in front of the children that we may fail to be alert to some things that may endanger them. I have observed this in the play area and think this needs to be addressed. I would appreciate it if you would keep reminding all of us that our primary duty here in the centre is caring for the children, and our personal concerns take a backseat. Please include that in our agenda for the next meeting.” (b) A staff member is ‘yelling’ a lot at the children today. I would talk to the staff member concerned privately and remind her that yelling at children may do more harm than good. The only good thing that it might do is to catch the attention of the children. Mostly, yelling will just instill fear in the children and comply with what the “powerful” authority will say because of that fear. If yelling persists, it will lose its power in the long run, as children get accustomed to it. I would give alternative communication strategies like bending down at the child’s level and looking straight into his eye and use a gentle but firm voice in asking him what I want him to do. This may be more effective in getting the results I want with the children. (c) Emma, a carer, belongs to a religious faith that observes Sabbath from dusk on Friday to dusk on Saturday. She should not do any work or work-related activities during this time. Respecting one’s faith is part of the philosophy of the centre. I personally advocate it. All of us should be informed of Emma’s situation and know which particular tasks are considered work-related so that we will not assign those to her during her observation of Sabbath. If she would need the day off, then all of us should understand. We would want to be accorded the same respect if we are in the same situation. Question 3 Read the scenario below and answer the questions that follow. Carla is disgruntled about what she sees as the unprofessional behaviour of some of her colleagues. She says: I enjoy my work enormously. I try my best in my job and I expect my colleague to do too. It irritates me when I see them not doing their work properly. Yesterday, for instance I saw one of the carers who was supposed to be supervising the sleeping toddlers chatting on the phone and to other carers. She never ever completes her tasks when she’s on late shift—and this means more work for me the next mornings. Last week, I actually saw her shouting at a three-year-old. I’m afraid that one of these days I might just shout at her myself. (a) Describe five strategies you would use if you had a conflict in your workplace. 1. I would note down facts related to the conflict so I am backed up with actual evidence no one could contest. 2. I would try to see the perspective of the person I am having a conflict with and objectively assess the situation with an objective third person who will not take sides. 3. I will confront the person I am having a conflict with when both of us are calm and the conflict has been given enough time to cool off, express my concern and together deliberate on a possible solution. 4. Since I cannot change how others think or behave, I should accept that the only thing I would be able to control is my own thinking and behaviour. 5. I would compromise with the person I am having conflict with on some solutions or alternatives to our problems. If not, then we should be respectful enough of each other to “agree to disagree”. This comes with the wisdom that not all people are the same and differences must be acknowledged and respected if they do not bring adverse effects to other people. (b) If you were aware of any unresolved conflict in your workplace, why would it be important to notify your supervisor? Unresolved conflicts have the tendency to rear its ugly head at a future time, and informing my supervisor would make him or her ready for a possible re-occurrence and come up with precautionary strategies or ways to dispel it in the future. Task 3 (30 marks) Choose one skill from Task 1, Question (c) that you identified as requiring further development for your own professional growth. Question 1 Record below the skill that you wish to develop. Organizational skills Question 2 Explain why you have chosen this particular skill. I believe a child carer, or any person, for that matter needs to be organized in order to be more effective at work. Being organized would make my life easier, as tasks are well planned and I will be able to accomplish more in a day. On top of that, I want to be a good role model to the children and to my colleagues so all of us will support each other in an organized culture. Question 3 Identify two professional goals that you would like to work towards in future. Think of goals that you could work towards during your workplacement. They may involve communicating with others, team skills or learning as much as you can about a service. Your goals will help you to achieve what you want. It is important that you set goals that are: specific achievable observable. 1. I would like to learn to do more art activities with the children. 2. I would like to learn more about preparing an activity plan for the children so I am able to contribute more activities in the planning meetings with trained child workers. Question 4 Develop a plan of action that you feel will help you to develop your goal. These are actions or strategies you will take to achieve your goals. These must be very specific to the goals and again should be measurable and achievable. (Use your own paper.) Action Plan to Develop My Goals: Research the library/ Internet or browse in bookstores for some developmentally appropriate activities for children, specifically for the age group I am assigned to. Attending available seminars or workshops on children’s activities Observing art classes in after school activities or summer workshops for children Observing how staff implement children’s activities in the centre. Assist the staff workers in the preparation of materials needed for the activities Ask them questions as to the objectives of the activities and the benefits to the children Volunteer to take a more active role in the implementation of the activities and ask for feedback on my performance. Plan activities for the children and pilot them with children in my home to see how effective they are. Anticipate the children’s responses to some of the activities so I may know how to motivate them. Read More