Describe How to Establish Respectful, Professional Relationships with Children and Young People

Developing positive relationships is important within most situations in life, a good way of ensuring these positive relationships progress is to ensure you have effective communication. When working with children if you complicate things it can lead to the child becoming confused as to what is expected of them. Make sure the language that you use is age appropriate to avoid confusion. You may be able to see if the child has understood your request by either checking that your instructions have been carried out or simply by asking the child "do you understand?" and asking them to relay back what you have asked. Communication is a two way thing and to have a positive relationship with somebody you will also

TDA 2.3 – Communication and Professional Relationships with Children Young People and Adults Interacting with and Responding to with Children and Young People

A teaching assistant plays an important role for the standards of behaviour expected in the classroom.

Forming and maintaining positive relationships within a school setting is of great importance. To have good relationships with pupils, staff and parents is not only beneficial to the school but also to pupil’s achievement.

All members of the staff must act as professionals while at work, especially with young children. The administrative and teaching staff must work together to ensure their practices are developmentally appropriate, and share new and/or creative ideas with one another. It is also the responsibility of a teacher to establish an open, trusting relationship with the parents of each children in their care. Thus, parents can freely communicate their thoughts, concerns, and/or suggestions about their child or the program. Parent satisfaction is something that every child care or development center should strive for.

I need to gain children’s trust and respect to be able to provide best developmental opportunities for them that is why children are assigned a key worker to ensure warm and mutual relationships can be built and developing good relationships with both the child and their parents. It is very essential to use appropriate language (I must always address the children and the adults politely and using the correct terms, we often speak to children in their home languages too if it is other than English).

However, with children and young people it is important to remember your relationship to them as a professional care giver. For children and young people an essential part of communication is praise and encouragement, and this helps to build self-esteem and confidence. There are four methods that can be used –

Children, like adults will have their disagreements. As children get older their arguments can become more serious and are not simple squabbles. In order for children and young people to trust us, it is important that we can identify difficulties and help them wherever possible to find ways through them. It is essential that children and young people perceive our way of doing this as fair. When you have a conflict with a child, there is an opportunity for learning about how to solve problems. Conflicts help children to understand that other people have different thoughts and feelings to their own. Listen to the child and try to understand their point of view, and help them to understand yours. Then together, try to think of ways to solve the problem that you are both happy with. It might take a while but it will be worth it, and will help to build your relationship.

This quote helps us understand how children (and adults!) really want to be listened to:

Some of the principles of building relationships with children, young people and adults are to be caring, understanding, respectful and accepting of other people for who they are. Building relationships with children needs extra attention as they can be very impressionable and the way we behave with them could affect the way they behave towards others, so being a good role model is very important. Setting agreed limits and boundaries with children will mean they learn what acceptable behaviour is and what is not and will help them to take responsibility for their own behaviour, in a school setting this could mean having a written agreement. Likewise with young people and adults you need to have agreed levels of acceptable behaviour when building relationships. Having respect for other people’s opinions and views and allowing others to express themselves even though we may disagree is also very important, as is letting children have their say. Treating others the way we would like to be treated ourselves and encouraging children and young people to do the same is an important lesson in relationship building as is being able to express our emotions and feelings openly but in an appropriate way. Encouraging children and young people to recognise and deal with emotions and feelings in a positive way will help build better relationships with adults as well as with each other. Maintaining a sense of humour and making things fun will go a long way towards building positive

Teaching assistants work closely with children and are well placed to identify the early signs of a child who may be suffering abuse, neglect or bullying. Children feel more comfortable at school as it is neutral ground and can be more comfortable to talk to people because they feel it’s a safe place to work and play. In day-to-day work you may start to have a growing concern for a pupil and you may feel it necessary to report those concerns to a senior member of staff. They will hold the responsibility for deciding whether they feel it necessary to contact the police or social services. Specific assessments may be required and you might be asked to carry out the task of assessing the child as they trust you, by doing so you are providing

Ways to enrich children’s understanding and having respect are being aware of one’s own views, developing positive attitude towards cultural differences, gaining knowledge of different cultural practices and world views, developing skills for communication and interaction across cultures. By getting each child involved and teaching them to mix with children from a different background and encouraging them and letting them know that they don’t just have to be friends with people their own colour. Share with the children different actives and let them know the great things about different places around the world. Share with them stories from different countries and also sharing with them movies for them to be able to see for their self the

Providing the child with consistency this can be being on time to lesson and using the same form of communication that the child is happy with and is comfortable with e.g. Makaton

An open and reliable working relationship with children and young people can be demonstrated through various ways. One way can be through the adoption of the child-centred approach. This approach ensures that any interactions with the children consider factors like their age, stage of development, likes and dislikes, individual targets and goals. Basically, it helps to create a good working environment and tailored activities for effective participate and effective learning of the children. In addition, there must be emphasis on meeting the needs of the individual child or young person. Carers, planners and other can gain the trust and respect when their efforts are geared towards to the achievement of their needs. They also need to be involved

I currently do not work in a daycare setting however, I have had some experience in building relationships with the children at my Practicum placement. One thing I always did was greet the children by their name when I arrived or they arrived. At times when I arrived to my practicum placement the children would be having free play at this time I would go up to the children and ask them questions such as what are you building, what is that, what are you drawing. Often times each child has been eager to talk. Having communication with each and every child in your care is not only extremely important to get to know the children but also is key to building relationships with the children. Another thing I did to build relationships with the children at my practicum placement is play with them. During free play I would walk around to each center