Working In a Learning Context - Essay Example

WORKING IN A LEARNING CONTEXT by Working in a Learning Context Introduction Working in a learning context requires one to teach the learners and develop his/her personal and professional communication skills, as well. The essay details my skill development based on certain learning outcomes expected after working in a primary school with Reception for 20 hours. Being assertive while working with the children is part of my communication skills development. I have learnt how to establish positive relationships with the children in that children also feel motivated to work with me. During the period of 20 hours of professional engagement, I have identified the particular ways in which I approach and respond to the children. My communication skills development has been achieved through showing respect, being considerate, taking your time to listen to the children, among others. I have been assertive while engaging in effective communication with the children. Communication Skills Development In order to communicate effectively with young people particularly primary school children, there are number of skills one needs to demonstrate during the course of their interaction. Although these skills might be applied on a daily basis, you should reflect on how they impact your personal and professional skills. Research shows that children learn to communicate through the responses made by their seniors. In addition, the fact that communication is a two-way process would mean that engaging in a conversation with children is beneficial in communication skill development for both parties (Green and Hopwood 2015). During the working period, I identified that pupils ought to be given a chance to talk. In addition, one should actively listen and maintain eye contact with the child. When I identified that some children lack enough confidence to express themselves, I engaged them in a friendly conversation as if we were equals. In this way, the children actively put forward their thoughts, and I also learnt to ‘dig in’ information from the children, which is an essential professional skill in addressing day-to-day issues. Giving eye contact to the children, in addition to the use of body language made me approachable to the children (Lefevre 2010). In this sense, I developed some personal skills, which are essential during staff meetings and engagement with my colleagues. Being assertive involves expressing yourself effectively, while maintaining your point of view, as well as the rights and beliefs of the listeners. In particular assertive communication is relevant while working with children in that one can boost the children’s self-confidence. In addition, one can learn to be open-minded and ready to listen to other people’s point of views (Maguire, Wooldridge and Pratt 2006). During the period, I learnt that children are naturally willing to be heard during conversations. Therefore, earning their respect impacted on my personal development in that I learnt how to communicate assertively with people including adults as a way of enquiring more information. Assertive communication is supported by the Assertion theory of 1996, which is based on that every human has basic human rights that are ought to be respected by others (Lindon 2003). For example, every person has the right to refuse others’ opinions, make mistakes and express oneself as without violating the rights of the others. The fundamentals of assertive communication are exclusively based on the assertion theory. Being assertive provides the opportunity for developing other personal and professional skills of the worker (Merrell, Ervin and Gimpel 2012). When you give room for children’s views, they may express their feelings and thoughts during the conversation. At this point, one may be able to react and comment on the pupil’s response. In this way, you facilitate the communication process while developing basic personal skills for both the child and yourself (Milner and Bateman 2011). Being clear in responding to pupils is another way of developing one’s professional skills at work. Other than addressing the issues with children, one acquires the ability to avoid giving ambiguous information in staff meetings, parades, and other adult conversations. Professional Engagement Professional engagement involves identifying, analysing and expanding one’s learning needs to enhance professionalism both individually and collegially. In primary school Reception, a worker may interact with children, parents, colleagues and other school community members. In this context, one is required to demonstrate professionalism and respect to all the stakeholders. Effective communication while working with the reception enables one to be sensitive to the parents/guardian’s needs concerning their children’s learning (Keay and Lloyd 2011). Although the teacher is responsible for the children’s learning, the receptionist can as well train the children to gain some professional skills. The ethical approaches that aided in my personal development during the period include the utilitarian and rights approaches. Utilitarianism theory was developed John Stuart Mill and Jeremy Bentham in the 19th century. The utilitarian approach suggests that ethical actions are the ones that provides the best experience and does the least harm to the receiver. Using this ethical approach, I learnt that children’s issues should be addressed until completion in order to deliver the best experience (Cole 2008). Showing interest and actively listening to the children’s concerns enables one to develop professional skills, which are applicable when dealing with other school members. In a primary school, the workers are required to give the children knowledge, train them to have discipline and guide them in life issues. Being authoritative, while respecting the rights of children individually is an ethical action that would provide the best outcome in a primary school. The rights approach suggests that an action will be ethical if at all it respects the moral rights of the others. Human beings are perceived to have the right of choosing what to do with their lives (Lynn and Leo 2011). In my professional engagement with the children, I used the rights approach in combination with assertive communication as a way of addressing their issues effectively. When you understand and appreciate the moral rights of the children, you can engage in conversation while training them to lead in the right directions. For example, some children are not disciplined and influenced by the wrong people in the external school community. However, through engaging in a two-way conversation, there is a great likelihood that such children will change their behaviours (Cooper 2013). During the working period, I developed professional skills in dealing with extreme cases that usually arise in a learning environment. Reflections on my Professional Learning A receptionist of a primary school is expected to work and relate to the children, as well as their parents at all times. As indicated earlier, communication skills developed while working with children are vital to one’s personal and professional roles. Therefore, during the professional engagement with children, one should reflect on the ways in which the lessons learnt are important in one’s role. Being assertive while communicating with children has significant impacts on the professional and personal skills of the receptionist. First, one can think about why he/she experience difficulties in remembering issues that are personal to the children. Assertive communication will enable you to recognize and appreciate the rights of the children as well as their personal details and issues. In this way, assertive communication will help solve an existing problem of identification of students (Petrie 2011). Another part of my reflection would involve thinking about why some children do not follow my instructions at all times. With the aspect of being clear in effective communication, you can enhance your professional learning by proving clear and explicit information to the teachers. Additionally, you can initiate conversation by asking the children what you have told them. In this way, you will have reflected your professional learning as a receptionist and enhanced your approach to work (Mockler and Sachs 2011). Maintaining humour in a conversation is essential in establishing positive relationships with the children (Gibbs 2015). It means that the sense of humour encourages the children to participate in a conversation, while expressing their feelings and thoughts. During the working period, I would think about the best ways in which one can maintain good relationships with children and their respective parents. I would introduce jokes while communicating with children and parents and in this way, I settled issues that had been very difficult in the past. Professional engagement using the utilitarian approach enabled one to solve issues until completion. The approach was part of my personal development in that I learnt how to handle children’s issues with their parents with the aim of delivering the best experience/outcome. As part of my reflection, I would think of the best ways to enhance competence in my future roles in learning context. Using the utilitarian ethical approach, I would ensure that the directions and actions taken against the children were not harmful to them. As a result, I enhanced my professional learning while satisfying my learning need to become the most competent receptionist. Conclusion Personal development in a learning context involves many issues ranging from developing communication skills of the learners, developing one’s personal and professional skills to reflection to one’s professional learning. My personal development, while working with children in a primary school revolves around being assertive, clear, giving the children to talk during the day-to-day conversations. In combination with the rights approach, assertive communication enabled enquiry of sufficient information from the children, which aids in giving correct instructions. The utilitarian ethical approach towards professional engagement is essential to showing respect and being considerate of the children and their parents’ concerns. Reflecting on the assertive communication skills learnt during the period enabled me to conceive the best ways to remember children’s personal issues. Additionally, I reflected on the ethical approaches used in professional engagement in enhancing my professional learning. References List Cole, R W 2008, Educating everybodys children: diverse teaching strategies for diverse learners. Alexandria, VA, Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. Cooper, J 2013, The Early Years Communication Handbook a practical guide to creating a communication friendly setting. Luton, Andrews UK. Gibbs, P 2015, Transdisciplinary professional learning and practice. Boston, Springer. Green B & Hopwood N 2015, The Body in Professional Practice, Learning and Education: Body/Practice. New York, Cengage Learning. Keay, J K & Lloyd, C M 2011, Linking childrens learning with professional learning: impact, evidence and inclusive practice. Rotterdam, Sense Publishers. Lefevre, M 2010, Communicating with children and young people: making a difference. Bristol, UK, Policy Press. 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