Intercating and Responding to Childeren

How to establish respectful and professional relationships with children and young people: At the start of your professional relationship with a child within your setting you must make sure that your communication establishes rules that lead to respect. This means that both you as a practitioner and the children that you work with are considerate of each other when working together. In order to do this you may start by discussing with a child how you might work together and what you both want to gain from doing so. You also need to talk about what is important as you work with other peers and adults. You may want to talk about communication with regards to listening to others or not talking at the same time as someone else in class. It is through putting respect in place at the very start of a relationship that a teacher or classroom assistant can develop a reciprocally respectful relationship with young people. You will also need to show a child that although you are authoritative as the professional adult; you are supportive and approachable. This will help to build a child's respect for you as they become considerate to the way that they behave towards you and other adults. In order to build respectful and professional relationships with children and young people; you must also take the time to consider what may be important to people of their age. You may also need to talk these issues of importance through with them in need be. This will ensure that they feel valued by you. Respect in any relationship tends to be a two-way concept. If you show a child that they are valued and therefore respected, they will usually behave in a way that is reverential to you too. Involving pupils and taking interest in them is also crucial in making them aware that they are part of a school community. As part of this community, it is likely that if they learn to treat you with respect, they will also respect your colleagues. Pupils may also expect positive regard back from other teachers if they are treated with respect by you as an assistant. If they do not receive the appropriate respect from other adults in school; they are more likely to recognise it and ask for help to solve the problem. This will also benefit their personal welfare as well as the general attitude towards professional relationships throughout the school organisation.

How to behave appropriately for a child or young person's stages in development: Depending on a young person's age and their stage in development they will require your behaviour to be different. Younger children in the early stages of primary school will probably need more attention from you as an assistant. This is due to their level of understanding and their lack in maturity at this age and education. The more attention you need to give may also lead to you having to have more physical contact with a child as well. As a professional you must be aware of any policies that your school have with regards to contact such as carrying a child for example. As a child gets older they may need you to help them with regards to talking about their thoughts and any issues that they may go through in life. This could be a family problem that the child now has understanding of as they have matured for example. You will also need to consider the understanding of a class as they mature. At a very young age a child may require you to repeat what you have said more than once in order for them to fully comprehend. You will need to be patient and understanding of this. You may also need to personally check their understanding regularly yourself, to ensure that they are on task and focused. You must remember that stages of development will differ. If a child has a communication difficulty as a teaching assistant, you must act in a way that is sensitive towards them. You must also behave in a way that is empathetic to the child's difficulty and allow them to take their time when communicating. This will prevent a child from feeling pressured into what they do not feel capable of. When communicating you should try and adapt to individual needs so that a child has constant opportunity to communicate to the best of their ability without being left to feel stressed or anxious. The main thing is that you remember that no child is the same when reaching developmental milestones. One child may struggle where another excels; you must adapt to their individual developmental needs behaving appropriately, depending on the child and their situation.

How to deal with disagreements between other children and young people: If children or young people have any problems with friends or disputes with peers, as a classroom assistant, you must try and approach the situation as calmly and professionally as possible. The situation should be managed in this way in order

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