Building Relationships when Working with Children

CONTENT PAGE
ASSESSMENT: BUILDING POSITIVE RELATIONSHIPS
TASK

Summarise the current legal requirements for those working with children. This should include references to the 6 learning goals and how they could be implemented in a child care setting. Page 2

Explain what is meant by respecting and valuing individuality, and devise a plan of how this can be implement in the child care setting. A table format may be used for this task. Page 4

Evaluate the benefits of consistency with regard to positive and negative behaviour, and identify strategies that can be used to encourage positive behaviour in the child care setting. Page 6

Describe the process involved in managing conflict between children and adults. You should refer to at least one behavioural theorist in your answer. Page 8

Answer to task 1)
The Childcare Act was introduced on 11 July 2006. The act requires specific powers and duties of local authorities in England. These duties are:

Provide adequate information for parents.
To improve the outcomes of children aged 0-5
Provide information and training for childcare providers.
Local authorities must work with NHS and Job centre partners to improve the outcomes of all children up to 5.

The Children Act 2004 sets a duty to make certain that every child would have the support they need to:

be healthy
stay safe
enjoy and achieve and make a positive contribution to society
achieve economic well-being.

The Act has certain requirements that childcare providers will need to meet: welfare, learning, development. The requirements are set down in the Ofsted publication “Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage”. (Ref 1)
Childcare providers must guide the development of children’s capabilities with a view to ensuring that children in their care complete the EYFS ready to benefit fully from the opportunities ahead of them. https://www.education.gov.uk/publications/eOrderingDownload/EYFS%20Statutory%20Framework%20March%202012.pdf accessed 26/05/12
The Early years Foundation Stage learning and development requirements comprise:

The assessment schedule must be arranged for children to establish their achievements.
the early learning goals, such as – the knowledge, skills and understanding.
The educational programmes.

These are the learning goals:

Communication, language and literacy. Children are extending thier vocabulary, learning to speak correctly using words to construct sentence, learning to write and read accurately. Children must be given access to range of books, poems, and other written materials. Child care providers must give encouragement to children to use their skills in varios situations. It helps develop confidence.

Physical development. Children must be involved in activities that develop their co-ordination, control and movement, and understand factors which lead into healthy lifestyle. Children must be supported in using all their senses to learn about the world.
Personal, social and emotional development. These goals are helping children develop a positive sense of themselves and others, positive relationship, respect others, manage their feelings and understand appropriate behaviour and positive disposition to learn. Childcare providers should help children to know themselves and what they can do.
Mathematics. Children should develop and improve their skills in counting, understanding and using numbers from 1-9, calculating simple addition and to describe shapes, spaces, and measures.
Knowledge and Understanding the world. Children will develop the knowledge; skills and understanding that will help them make sense of the world. They will learn of people, plants, and environment.
Creative development. Children are involved in dancing, music, art, play. It provides opportunities to share their thoughts and feelings. (Ref 2)

Answer to task 2)
The child has to know that they have values and should treasure them.
Parent and childcare providers must start teaching children about respect and valuing individuality from early age. Children like to observe adults and see them as an example the way they deal in certain situation. Childcare providers and parents should show children that they respect individuality, feelings, views, ideas and culture. We have different cultural backgrounds and it is important to teach children how to celebrate them. (Ref 3)

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Indoor and outdoor playtime, individual and group learning encourage children to respect themselves and others. Children will naturally respect those who use their influence in encouraging ways, helping them to learn and grow in safe surroundings. Children who feel valued growing up confident, it helps them to achieve goals in their lives. Good way for children to respect each other to use reward system.
Respecting and valuing individuality plan

Friendship

Friendship is an important part of child development from birth.
Friendship is a source of fun.
Children give and receive practical help and emotional support.

Understanding feeling

Children experiencing wide range of feeling and learning to understand them with help from adults.
Every child is valued and differences are appreciated, everyone feels included and understood.

Communication

A welcoming atmosphere creates effective communication.
Effective communication flows information and knowledge.
All communication is important (gesture, signs and body language).
Posters and pictures are helping children and families recognise that they are valued.

Learning

Children have a lot to learn from adults.
It is important to review child’s progress regularly and contribute with their learning.

Effective practice

Encourage children to use greetings.
All children receive a friendly welcome.
Display list of the words that are used at home in their language.

Positive interaction

Building respectful and caring relationship with children.
Respond appropriately to encourage curiosity in learning.
Discover what children like to do.

Effective teaching

Help children to learn as a result they make connections in learning.
Support and extend each child’s learning.
Provide children with challenges. Teach them not to fear failure and be confident.

Listening to children

Young children and babies with speech delays communicate in other ways.
Children need time to respond, childcare provider must encourage their thinking.

Reflecting on practice

To show children that childcare provider is pleased to see them every day.
Get to know children and build positive relationship.

Secure attachment

Childcare provider helps children become familiar with setting and make them feel secure.
When children feel happy they are confident and like to explore new things.

Independence

When children depend on adults for reassurance and comfort they become independent.
Children are less independent in new situations, they can be unwell and anxious.

(Ref4)
Answer to task 3)
Positive child behaviour can be promoted by using certain plan. It will teach what good behaviour is and how to reach it. Positive behaviour can be achieved working together with children and maintaining sensible expectations. Children behave differently depending on their age and surroundings. Childcare provider and parents must teach children that for negative behaviour there is negative consequence. Some forms of behaviour are acceptable while others are not.
Learning to manage behaviour can be as easy as A B C
Antecedent – what happens before the behaviour occurs.
Behaviour – resulting behaviour is either acceptable or unacceptable.
Consequence – results of behaviour can be positive or negative. http://www.newchildcare.co.uk/page6.html accessed 18/07/12
Using positive and negative reinforcement are two ways to help children to identify good behavior and understand what is appropriate in certain situations.
Any type of reward increasing childs positive behaviour. Rewards tempt child to do their task more regularly and on time.
There are some strategies that can be used:

Children should experience the logical consequences and actions.
Children need guidance to understand positive behaviour.
Teach children the concept of self-control.
Rules and the reasons should be explained.
Some behaviour should be ignored.
Children should be congratulated for good behaviour.
Teaching children new skill and behaviour.
Children must learn that they will not achieve things by being selfish, destructive and angry. (Ref5)

Negative behaviour is one of the worst things that parent and childcare provider can experience. Childs negative behaviour can’t be ignored, because sometimes it can cause unwanted trouble. One type of the negative behaviour is aggression. Child can be angry, sometimes yell, refuse to listen and can be driven by his own thoughts.
Other type of negative behaviour is passiveness. Children remain silent and ignorant in all situations and don’t show any effort to respond. Usually children behave like this when they have something to hide from adults.
It is important to understand the cause of the problem and explain why something is wrong. Children should understand that to repeat the same behaviour is wrong. Children should understand what means “no”.
Every day routine can help improve positive behaviour. For example: teaching good manners when having meals, gathering everyone to the table and have food, being polite, teaching good hygiene habits.
Every parent and childcare providers main goal should be to teach children how to develop self-discipline, responsibility and humanity for others.
Childcare provider can make behaviour plan:

Make a list of desirable behaviour that children need to learn.
Make a list of undesirable behaviour that child may demonstrate.
Make a list of privileges that child can earn reward.

Answer to task 4)
Conflict can occur between children or children and adults every day and most adults and children experience stress.
”The parent-child relationship is one of the longest lasting social ties human beings establish,” said Kira Birditt, lead author of the study and a researcher at the University of Michigan Institute for Social Research.
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/149047.php accessed
Parents and childcare providers are facing many challenges when raising children. It is very important that children would grow happy, safe and would be able to deal with the conflicts in non-violent ways. Solving the conflict can help child develop emotionally. Usually conflicts are seen as negative behaviour. Childcare providers and parents should teach children to manage conflicts and if it’s possible to stay neutral. Sometimes when conflict arise childcare provider and parent can listen and offer support. (Ref 6)
Children have different personalities and temperament and when facing the conflict have varying reactions:

Some children become angry when it comes to disagreement. It is important to help manage aggression.
Some children can be bossy.
Some children back down then it comes to the conflict, because they don’t want to upset anyone. It is important to help them to learn to speak up.

Learning principles
Many researches are carried out regarding conflicts. They believe that conflicts help develop major life skills.
Theorist Piaget believed that conflict in children was healthy, and if worked through, would help children to overcome their egocentric thought patterns (Arsenio & Cooperman, 1996). Erikson believed that life was full of conflict and in order to become a better person, one must resolve the conflict in each stage of life (Trawick-Smith, 2003). Vygotsky saw conflict as a learning experience. He believed that children, if in their zone of proximal development, would learn from the conflict and adult models to function better in social contexts. Looking at the beliefs of all of these well known theorists, one gets the feeling that conflict is a positive, healthy part of a child’s life. http://www.kon.org/urc/dennis.html accessed
Researches show a difference between boys and girls and that they have different type of conflicts. It states that young children are more likely to have conflicts than older and that girls react to words while boys react with actions.
There are some causes of conflict:

Young children have difficulty sharing their things.
Lack of communication skills
When children are tired
Attention seeking children
Cultural differences
Opinions are not matching
Competitiveness
Jealousy

Punishment is not good way to deal with conflict. It can be painful and create fear and not change child’s behaviour.
Adults need to be positive example for their children in handling conflict, smooth the progress of the conflict between children and interfere when children conflict becomes violent.
Reference
Ref1 – http://www.education.gov.uk/childrenandyoungpeople/earlylearningandchildcare/delivery/a0071032/childcare-act-2006 accessed
Ref 2 – https://www.education.gov.uk/publications/eOrderingDownload/EYFS%20Statutory%20Framework%20March%202012.pdf accessed
Ref3 – http://www.ccldnvq3.com/ccld-301/k3d174-the-importance-of-children-valuing-and-respecting-others-individuality accessed
Ref4 – http://www.leics.gov.uk/eyfs_quality_review.pdf accessed
Ref5 – http://www.kidsbehaviour.co.uk/using-positive-negative-reinforcement-promote-good-behaviour.html accessed
Ref6 – http://www.teacherinduction.ie/Downloads/Teaching%20&%20Learning%20docs/Improving%20Pedagogy%20in%20Infant%20Classes.pdf accessed