Question 1 Explain why effective communication is important in developing positive relationships with children young people and adults. Children – you need to work closely with children both on their own and in a group, when working with welcome and valued as individuals, being proffesional at all times and not too distant, taking the time to sit and listen to and to connect with them. You need to make it clear to the child / children what it is you need from them and what you are saying / asking of them addressing their needs as you go along.
There may be issues that cause barriers in the communication for example speech or language. They need to see that you are listening to them, concentrate on what they are saying to you and look at their body posture / language you can tell a lot from how they sit for example are they leaning away or towards you, are they talking very quiet ? these are just 2 things that could tell you that they are scared of talking to you. Try to encourage them to talk to you and open up, ask them questions and if they ask you questions answer them in a language they understand.
Use appropriate tone of voice when talking to the child as the tone may frighten or upset the child so be relaxed and use words that are relevant to the conversation and words that the child will understand. If there are problems then you need to decide on what course of action needed and wether another teacher / adult needs to be involved work with the child and ask what they would like to do and discuss how to go about this. Young people- Good communication is central to working with young people.
It involves listening questioning understanding and responding to what is being communicated by them. It is important to be able to communicate both on a one to one basis and in a group context. Communication isnt just about the words you use but also your manner of speaking , body language and also the effectivness with which you listen. To be able to communicat effectivley you need to take into account the culture and context for example if english is a second language.
Effective engagement requires the involvement of the young person and the person / persons caring for them in all aspects of the design and delivery of services and all decisions that effect them so the importance also being consulting them and to consider their opinion and perspective from the start. Another important and key part is trust both between the young person and the teachers and the carers it is important to build the respect honesty nd understanding and to keep the continuity going promoting the engagement and improvement of lives Adults- When communicating with adults there are several aspects of the engagement that should be considered. Listening is an important aspect of effectivly communicating with adults as it helps productive intertactions. Bad listening can lead to misunderstanding and frustration. Effective and active listening requires effort on the part of the both people maintaining eye contact and blocking out all enviromental distractions during the discussion.
Using non verbal communication including posture, facial expressions, gestures, appearance, eye contact, proximity, rate of speech, tone, pitch, volume and even touch in some circuimstances. The awareness of how non verbal communication is interpreted is key to how successful the communication is for example crossing of arms lack of eye contact placving hands on your hips the tone of voice could all interpret the person not being bothered / angry.
On the other hand constant eye contact, leaning forward, smiling nodding all point to the person wanting to know and being interested. Sensitivity also plays a part and is increasingly important for communicating with adults from different cultural backgrounds with it comes the potential for missunderstandings due to the different communication expectations and the increase of the adult being unduly offended. Communication between adults also needs honesty to avoid the conflict that could occure
Question 2 Explain the principles of relationship building with children, young people and adults. Children- The first and formost is the welfare of the child. From the beginning the practitioners all contribute to the childs care from being born to when the go to school working with parents to achieve the best possible care throughout, and up holding the childs right to be involved in decision making requires adults and organisations to build respectful relationships with the children.
Young person – First and formost is the welfare of the young person upholding the young persons rights and respecting them and their views, building positive relationships with them by listening to them and involving them addressing the equality needs such as age maturity culture and dissability to name a few. They need to feel confident and not scared. Adults – as an adult you still need the basics of listening to the person, respect them and their views , involve the adult by addressing their needs that could include age culture dissability language and ethnicity including travellers.
Be open to discussion and develop knowledge and understanding Question 3 Explain how social background, professional background and cultural background effect relationships and the way people communicate. Social background can affect the relationships and the way people communicate by the area you live in is it a posh area where everyone owns their house is it a little council estate, is it a big house or small where you and your brothers/ sisters have to share rooms do you shop in top named stores or do you recycle all your clothes by passing them down to your younger brothers and sisters.
Do you own a fast posh car or do you have to walk everywhere to name a few things. People sometime will stay away from those that live in a posh house if they live in a small place as they may be embarressed also feel embaressed if they wear hand me down clothes instead of things that are the trend at the time. Does your cultural background stop you from making friends are you hindu or are you a traveller.
Some traveller communities will only let you marry them in your community, some cultures dont allow their women to walk about with out their faces covered do you wear a cap people dont always understand that people do follow certain cultures and have their own beliefs for what ever reason, if people were to sit down and listen to these peole they will find they arnt that different.
Some people will stay clear of people that have their faces covered as it could make them un easy or affraid of the person, also with the traveller communitys there may be problems that arose many years before and the people have carried on the same tradition as the adults have before them Proffesional background for example police force can be difficult due to the nature of the job also if you are in the armed forces or ambulance service to name a couple these can be dangerous at times for example if you are dealing with a person that has had too much to drink they may not understand and may think you are trying to harm them. Question 4
Explain the skills needed to communicate with children and young people. Children – The skills needed are you need to be available to make time to listen to the child concentrate on what the child is saying, face the child and lean in slightly smile and nod as they talk use open hand gestures and dont clench your fists, let them have their say and when they finished then you can talk to them as they listen to you be polite and dont shout or talk while they are talking use a soft tone of voice be relaxed and confident around them, use words they will understand, encourage them to talk and respond positively to what they tell you.
Adapt to communication methods to suit individual needs for example hearing impairment. Young people – be available to talk to the young person take the time to sit and listen concentrate on what they have to say use words they will understand lean forward, encourage them to say what they need to say dont shout or clench your fists, be polite and dont talk while they are talking respond positively to what they tell you, check they understand what you are saying to them encourage them to ask questions adapt to communication methods to suit individual needs for example hearing impairments of blindness. Question 5
Explain how to adapt communication with children and young people for the age of the child or young person the context of communication and communication differences. When communicating with children and young people it is important that you adapt to their needs. Be on their level and look them in the eye, use age appropriate words that they will understand. If you are having difficulty you could use props to get the message accross ie tidying up get on their level and tell them they need to put their toys away but show them what it is you are asking explaining this is what is needed at the end of playtime.
You need to be clear in your message to them making sure they understand what it is you are saying or asking of them, you wouldn’t ask a 6yr old to go and take something out of the oven you would do it yourself but explain what you are doing aswell as showing them while you do it. This may be needed also if the child is older and they have learning disabilities or hearing impairments you may need to speak slower or have to write things down so that it helps them understand a little better. Also those children who dont speak our language as their first language might eed help in understanding in which case an interpreter or a helper that speaks their language may be needed. What about blind children you will need to have special books for the child to use either braille or you could use tape books. All these circumstances are surrounded by barriers that need to be overcome the context of which is clear to us of how to deal with them. Question 6 Explain the differences between communicating with adult, communicating with children and communicating with young people Children – age, language, hearing and sight to name a few differences.
You need to be able to understand what they are saying and asking of you aswell as them understanding what you are saying and asking of them. With out this the communication is greatly reduced. If a child is crying depending on their aige you would ask them what was wrong , check their nappy and change it if needed, ask if they need a drink offering them a cup of juice or a bottle and a teddy the child might not have been able to tell you what was wrong as they may not be able to talk.
Young people – to name a few differences age language sight and hearing. You need to be able to understand what they are telling you and they need to be able to understand what you are saying to them, if the person is blind then you could talk to the person and maybe even use braille to get the message accross or if their 1st language is different from ours then you would use an interpreter if the person is deaf you would use either sign language or write things down so you can communicate.
Adults – even as adults there are difficulties in communicating with age language hearing and sight, depending on age the person may be hard of hearing and so speaking slower and a little louder could help otherwise writing things down, but then you have the problem of maybe the persons eyesight is not be as good as it was where braille would be an idea to use, they may only use a different language to us so there for you would need an interpreter.
Question 7 Explain how to adapt communication to meet different communication needs of adults. If a person was deaf i would manage the situation by trying to communicate with them by speaking slowly as they may be able to lip read or i would write down what i needed them to know if i was struggling with these ethods i would have to get some one to sign what i need them to know all the time i would be on their level so they could see me properly If a person was blind i would manage the situation by being on their level and talking to them telling them what i needed them to know or if they didnt understand what i was saying then i would try and use braille If the persons 1st language wasnt the same as mine first i would get on their level i would manage the situation by taking an interpreter with me so i have a method to use so they can understand what i need them to know. Question 8
Explain how to manage disagreements with children young people and adults. Children – if the child was having a fight with another child i would seperate them and sit them down and get on their level then i would ask them each what had happened. I would listen calmly to both children in turn with out taking sides. I would ask each child what they would do to try and resolve the issues and negotiate with them both and try to find a solution they both agree on. Young people – i would get them and sit them down getting on their level and ask them to explain what has happened.
After listening to each young person in turn i would ask them each what they would like to do to resolve the situation then negotiate with them as a group to find the best outcome. Adults – i would ask the adult what the problem was and after talking about the problem i would ask them what they would like the outcome to be and how we could best get the desired outcome I would try to deal with all issues in an appropriate manner and not discriminate at anytime against any person or persons and treat them all with the same manner and respect. Question 9
Summarise the main points of legislation and procedures covering confidentiality , data protection and disclosure of information. Confidentiality is used to keep information of a person or persons secure locked away wether it be on computer or written in folders locked away in an office but is made available when needed. It must not be shared with anyone outside the school as they do not need to know. There are certain things however that can be shared outside the school and they are for example school hours dates and times holida outside the school and they are for example school hours dates and times holidas out of school activities.
The data protection act states that all data must be fair and lawfully processed adeqawfully processed adequate, relative and accurate to the person named, processed in accordance to the data laws and destroyed when is no longer needed it is not allowed to be transfered to different countries with out adequate protection and must always be secure You can only disclose confidential information when it is absolutely necessary when a child is seriously at risk for example neglect, physical abuse or sexual abuse and must only be disclosed to agreed agencies and in the agreed format.
Question 10 Explain the importance of reassuring children, young children and adults of the confidentiality of shared information and the limits of this Children young people and adults need to be reassured about confidentiality because it is important that they know the information held about them will go no further than the school and teaching staff with in and so we have all the relevent information on each person.
They need to know that if there are problems that they can talk to a member of staff/ adult and we will treat it confidentially and only tell others where there is a serious need to if the problem is down to learning then all the childs teachers that teach them need to know so they can find the best way of sorting this and helping. There are limits to confidentiality as to what can be shared with everyone in and out of school for example school hours days holidays any personal information will not be used unless a serious need arrises and then only be disclosed to relevent authorities and in appropriate and agreed format.
Question 11 Explain under what circumstances would confidentiality and data protection rules are broken. Only in serious circumstances will confidentiality and data protection rules be broken for example sexual abuse, mental abuse, physical abuse and neglect. If a child comes to you and tells you one of these things are happening then protocol needs to be followed and the relevent authorities need to be involved. You need to reasure the child that whatever happens they are not at fault for what has happened and that what is happening is protocol and needs to be done to safeguard others (if they ave younger/older brothere/ sisters). Bibliography I have enjoyed working through this assignment and have found some of the questions quite difficult. I have however tried my best to answer all questions and find information for these. I have used the book “teaching assistant’s handbook level 3” written by Teena Kamen and various websites some recomended by the book and others i have typed in what i need and used various websites from the list that come up.
Also i have read and used some information from the units sent via the internet from the collage Harvey, N. (2006) effective communication. Second revised edition. Gill & MacMillan ltd http//www. ehow. co. uk effective communication with adults. http//www. pearsonschoolsandfecollages. co. uk http//webarchive. nationalarchives. gov. uk http//www. hertsdirect. org www. education. com/referance/artical www. childrensworkforcematters. org. uk/node/819 http/www. sideroad. com/bussiness_communication/effective-communication. html.
