Inquiry Task 2d

In all my lines of work (Playworker, Nursery Nurse and a Youth worker) I have to use Reflective Practise to become more experienced and confident at what I practise, I see reflective as a kind of self examination. Within my places of work reflective practises help me to;

·         Evaluate my personal effectiveness

·         Increase my own professional knowledge and skills

·         Learn techniques of reflective analysis

·         Use personal experience to increase confidence and self-esteem.

Generally we monitor and evaluate most activities we do with the Babies, Children and Young people that we work with, this is so we can make improvements to our own practise and also see how the Children are developing new skills and what affect this has on them.  

Using different methods to reflect such as writing, talking through discussions with colleagues, child and YP and using visual images such as flow diagrams, pictures and video is how I learn from my experiences best. By evaluating and reflecting on these experiences I am able to observe if my own interactions and inventions are appropriate to the children I work with and question my actual current practise.

A Sad Thought.

It saddens me that some people might think that just because practitioners who work with Children and Young people have to have an Enhanced Criminal Record Check (CRB) that makes them safe to be around, when in actual fact I have come across some really poor practise. (Shouting at young people, shoving toddlers, false feeding of babies).

Myself and most of my colleagues do perform good practise but there is always room for improvement to make outstanding practise that is why reflection is vital to learn from experience, to be honest with yourself and others, to become more aware of your strengths and weaknesses and to make improvements on what you have done previously.

A Happy Thought.

I enjoy assisting children and young people in creating safe, fun play spaces, helping them to think creatively whilst drawing pictures, making posters and dress up etc. Role play is an excellent way for children and YP to gain confidence and I feel dancing, singing and acting is an excellent way for children and YP to stay fit and active.

Something I do not understand at work.

One thing I do not understand about people working in youth work is why some of the more mature youth work practitioners are so set in their ways of working and communicating to with colleagues and children and YP. I am not age discriminating against the older colleagues I work with but in my own experience I have found that they have an older fashion way of working which sometimes I feel doesn’t work with some particular young people especially when dealing with those with challenging behaviour.  I thankfully am not the only one who thinks like this at work and some have felt so strongly about this, that they have left the organisation completely.

A question I would like to investigate more.

What can be the triggers for making Children and Young people behave badly? (Weather at school, within a Play centre/Nursery or at a youth centre)