TDA 3

NAME: SANDRAGASSEN RENGHEN (EDDY)

TDA 3.1: Communication and Professional Relationship with Children, Young People and Adults.
Question 1.1: Explain why effective communication is important in developing positive relationships with children, young people and adults.
Effective communication is an essential tool to help in establishing, maintaining positive and better relationship when working with children, young people and adults. How we communicate is as important of what we communicate, therefore we should be conscious the way we approach and respond when dealing with others. When dealing with children, it is important that we are clear, precise and concise depending upon the ages, abilities and needs of the children. The words and the how we phrase our sentences should be in a simple manner for them to understand.
As teaching assistants, we have to model the positive and effective communication skills. Note, children will not do what we told them to do but mainly they will do what they see us doing. They will witness how adults interact with one another and work together which in turn will influence their behaviours. We are in a position in which pupils notice and take their lead from our behaviour and the way in which we relate to others. We can model what is acceptable or inacceptable in our behaviours and comments on a daily basis.
Whenever communicate takes place, it means that we have information to pass on and this information will be well received when a positive relationship has been established between the sender and the receiver. For example, you can find in a school some children who are not confident and they will find it hard to communicate to others, including you as a teaching assistant. So if you approach one of the children mentioned above in a positive and gentle manner, it is more likely that they will open up and talk to you. Positive relationship can also be built with parents and colleagues through effective communication, which in turn benefits the children progression. For example, it will be in the benefit of the school and the children when staffs of a particular school have an open, supportive relationship with parents because parents will be more concern to get involved and become supportive with school’s objectives. Effective communication involves listening, questioning, understanding, responding to what is being communicated between teaching assistant, pupils and the parents.
Questions 1.2: explain the principles of relationship building with children, young people and adults.
There are principles of relationship that we need to consider whenever communication takes place. The reason is that these principles make communication more effective and avoid any confusion between the sender and the receiver. If someone is comfortable with you, it is certain that the person will open up with you. On the other hand, if anyone is uncomfortable in your presence whether it is a child, young person or adult, he/she will shut up the door of communication and avoid sharing anything with you. So, we will look at the principles of relationship building with children, young people and adults in any context.
Effective communication: this is the most important ingredient in any relationship. It can be said that a relationship stands or fall upon the type of communication involved. Nearly all breakdowns occur due to barriers in communication. Effective communication does not involve talking but listening skill as well. In fact, I will say, it is more about listening attentively to what others have to say than to express what we want to share with others.
Treating everyone with respect: everyone has a different point of view/s, idea/s and opinion/s. Some with which we may agree and others not but what is important for us as teaching assistant for the development and the maintaining of positive relationship is that we give everyone a chance to express his/her point of view/s or opinion/s irrespectively of their beliefs, cultures and backgrounds. Respect or courteous always attracts back respect or courteous. They are contagious.
Being considerate: as a teaching assistant, whenever you notice a change in a child’s behaviour, you should first find out what cause such change. This is the law of cause and effect. Reacting in a certain way is the effect of a cause. Take time to consider what trigger the unexpected reaction. It could be that there are some issues the child is facing such as family problems at home.
Remembering issues which are personal to them: there are things and events that are important and dear to people such as particular food, traditional dress and wedding anniversary. By asking these things mentioned above, can help us build a positive relationship. For example, I remembered calling one of my friends about his uncle who was taken ill for quite a while and at another time, went to visit my neighbour on the day; he lost his dad 2 years ago. It shows the other person that you have listened to what they have told or shared with you and placed some importance to it.
Taking time to listen: one thing that we need to be aware of; communication is more than talking. It involves good listening skills. Sometime by just listening to someone who wants to confide in you, even if you don’t have the right words to respond back, can make the person feel better. As a teaching assistant, by lending your ears, show that you care to those you are working with, either, children, young people or adults.
Being clear on key points: understanding that children’s communication skill is still in the developing mode is very important. It is so easy for them to get confused and distracted in the process of learning. Whenever you give information about a task, make sure that you are clear on key points and that the children have well understood. And the best way to do that is to ask the children to repeat the main points of the task.
Have a good sense of humour: though in the learning setting, it is important to be formal and professional; however there is no harm to see the funny side of life. A little humour will enhance the process of learning, especially with children. Teaching can be boring sometime depending on the subject. Therefore, a little joke or a laugh can help a lot to change from an atmosphere of heaviness to a joyful and funny environment.
Question 1.3: Explain How social, professional and cultural contexts may affect relationships and the way people communicate.
As a teaching assistant, communication takes place on a daily basis. Therefore, it is crucial that we consider the contexts in which we are working whether it is social, professional or cultural, so that we can adapt ourselves with any situation that arise. If we don’t have a good and clear understanding of these forms of contexts mentioned above, relationships can and will be affected. Though, we need to be formal in our working place, however, we will be less formal and relax with colleagues in the office than in a board meeting. For example, the way I communicate with my line manager on a daily basis at work is different when we sit down for a meeting. He can joke the whole day while working but in a meeting, his language is different. The way I answer my friend’s phone call will be less formal than when I am answering the phone at work.
Unlike, the professional context, we are more relaxed and informal in the social environment. This is because; the people we are surrounded with are mostly to be friends or relatives. The body language and gestures will automatically shift to a different mode and even the tone of voice. There is no need to be formal in a social and friendly atmosphere. Whenever I am among friends, colleagues or family members, I am always on a relaxing and informal mode. A little jokes here and then won’t hurt.
As a teaching assistant we will encounter people, children or adults from different backgrounds and cultures. Therefore, we should always bear in mind that different cultures and backgrounds will have their own ways of behaviour which may be to do with gestures, body language and eye contact. A child or a colleague, that we work with, can be from a different culture or background that us and what seems to be ok for you and I can seem to be offensive to them. For example my friend who is a Nigeria would never have eye contact when conversing with my manager. My manager thought in the beginning that this was rude until she found out that in my friend’s culture, it means respect towards one’s superior at work.
Question 2.1: explain the skills needed to communicate with children and young children.
Effective communication is an important aspect of teaching and demands a number of skills. These skills are influenced by adults around children and young people and how responsive they are. By providing children with consistent support and opportunities to communicate, they will develop the skills needed too.
Firstly, I will say that it is important to develop the skill of listening attentively to others of what they have to say. When you listen to what a child has to say, you make that child feel valued, regardless of his/her age, background and culture. Most of the breakdowns in communication are due to people not listening to others. I have found out that oftenly a person would listen to the other person talking to him/her, but the question is; do they really hear what the other person is saying? This is because either they are thinking about something else or too eager to put their own opinions across. When a child feels that he/ she is not being listened to or heard of, he/she will likely not initiate communication.
Secondly, it is important to encourage children to express their views and opinions. While many are more opened to talk to adults, some find it difficult to express themselves due to low self-esteem or lack of confident. But children should be encouraged to ask questions and put their ideas forwards because it is by questioning and finding out that they learn. Therefore, as teaching assistant, we need to make sure that reasonable time is allocated to children to speak out their minds. Every view or opinion is important and any child’s contribution is valid. One thing I have noticed, Children like the feeling of being partaking in the process of learning.
Giving a child your full attention when he/she is speaking is crucial. You can do so by making eye contact with the person talking to you. The signal you are sending is that I am interested with what you are saying. How will you feel if you are talking to a person and the person is looking at his phone or talking to someone else while you are still speaking? That’s rude, isn’t. It gives you the impression that the person is not interested in what you are saying. This is what a child or young person would feel and he/she would not initiate communication.
Question 2.2: explain how to adapt communication with children and young people for:
. The age of the child and young people
. The context of the communication
. Communication differences
Everyone (including children) is different in his/her style of communicating. When communication takes place, the person/s you are talking to, need to feel secure and valued irrespective of their cultures, backgrounds or abilities. Therefore, communication and behaviour need to be adapted to individual needs accordingly. Moreover, Children no matter their age should not feel pressurised when speaking. As teaching assistant we need to be conscious that children or young people might have a degree of anxiety, nervousness or shyness when speaking especially to adults, while other may have speech disorders, such as stammer, therefore we should adapt and give them time to express themselves instead of trying to help them by filling in words for them or guess what they are going to say. This will cause more distress for the child.
The age of a child and young person does matter in communication because different age requires different level of communication. The attention required for a 3 years old toddler will not be the same as a teenager of 15 years old. As the 3 years old child will still be developing speech process, talking alone will not work. The best way for communication will be using strong facial expressions and gestures and simple words, together with talking.
When communicating with children and young people who have communication differences, teaching assistant should always remain calm and patient at all times. For example a deaf child will take more times to respond. Teaching assistant should never rush the child into saying what he needs to say or finish the sentence for him.
Children and young people with asperger’s syndrome may have difficulties understanding language in context and may take things literally. They may have no eyes contact when communicating with the teacher’s assistant and therefore unable to pick up on their body language or facial expressions.
Children and young people with autism will take a longer time to respond and sometimes the teaching assistant will need to ask the question a second time. Teaching assistant should give them the time to respond and should never fill in words for them or guess what they are going to say as this may add to their distress.
Therefore, communication should be adapted to the individual needs.

Question 2.3: explain the main difference between communication with adults and communication with children and young people.
Communicating with adults and children are nearly similar, like for example, always making eye contact, responding to what they are saying and treating them with respect and courtesy.
However when teaching assistant communicates with children we also need to adjust our communication to the appropriate tone; we have to be more animated and speak in a higher voice which we know will keep the children’s attention. Additionally, we need to be clear and unambiguous so that they can understand what is expected of them and at the same time to learn how to communicate well. When a child refuses to speak or does not have the vocabulary, I would ask the child the questions and at the same time give the child the answer to choose from, for example I would ask the child if he wants juice or milk
When communicating with children and young people, we should not give them too much information or too much jargon so as to confuse them but we should give only as much information that is needed. Sometimes, we should even repeat ourselves to make ourselves clear. If we notice that a child’s attention is straying, we should encourage the child to look at us when communicating.
To encourage children and young people to be engaged in communication, we should ask extra questions and smile at them to encourage them to keep speaking.
When communicating with children and young people, we need to maintain the relationship of carer to children. The relationships with children and young people at school should be formal. However well we get on with children, we should not get close with them but children should see us as a carer.
When interacting with children, we must ensure that we do not encourage physical contact. However it can be very hard to avoid this with young children as they like to be hugged or hold hands. In this situation it will be inappropriate to tell them not to as they might feel rejected. We should try to the best of our ability not to offer physical contact with children or be overly physical with them at any time.
It is vital that teacher’s assistants are sensitive to the communication needs of adults, particularly if they have communication difficulties. Teaching assistants need to change the way they react to adults depending on the way in which these adults react to them. For example, when speaking with a carer or parent with hearing impairment, teaching assistants should ensure that they are facing them and making eyes contact when communicating with them so that they can lip-read
One of the skills that teaching assistant must have is to have good observation skills. Very often school send out information in form of letters or emails. Depending on the individual needs, the recipients may not be able to access this method of communication easily. Therefore, teaching assistants need to observe sensitivity and ask parent or carer why they have not responded to a particular letter for example.
In the case of adults who speak English as their second language, teaching assistants need to ensure that these adults understand what is being communicated to them, otherwise a translator must be made available to them.
Question 2.4: explain how to adapt communication to meet different communication needs of adults.
Each individual has different needs because each individual is unique. As teaching assistants, we should be sensitive to the needs of adults particularly if they are mentally slow or have communication difficulties. It is very important to adapt to them without them realising that we are talking to them differently.
If we are speaking to a parent who is hearing impaired, we must ensure that we are facing them, making eye contact with them and not speaking too fast so as to enable them to lip-read.
When communicating with an adult whose second language is English, we must give them a little bit more time to allow their brain to register what we just said. It is also important to repeat ourselves if necessary or to speak slower. However, if the information we are trying to communicate is complex and we notice that the person is a bit loss, then we may need to make arrangement for a translator.
If an adult has hearing impairment then it is necessary to speak louder but not so loud that it embarrassed them by making them think that we are shouting at them and drawing other people’s attention. It must be in a clam voice but a bit louder. We must be sensitive so as to know when to repeat ourselves if need be.
If for example an adult is blind, they will rely only on their hearing. So, teaching assistant should speak clearly and use a calm and a straight to the point tone of voice.
One of the skills that teaching assistant should have is to be sensitive and observant. If for example a parent has not responded to a letter, we must ensure that the parent has been able to access the information. We therefore need to be observant and sensitive so as to know the individuals needs and then act accordingly.
Question 2:5: explain how to manage disagreements with children, young people and children.
People go through disagreements all the time but they should be managed carefully so that bad feeling does not occur and persist afterwards. As adult we sometimes misread or perceive the information wrongly. We even blame others to something we have not understood ourselves. Where there are arears of conflict with other adult, teaching assistant need to be sensitive and try to resolve the situation as soon as possible. If ever there is a disagreement with a child, teaching assistant will need to manage the situation carefully and seek advice if necessary. The causes of disagreement are poor communication, opposing expectations, different values and ideas, external factors and lack of confidence.
Poor communication
Disagreement occurs because of ineffective communication, for example there has been a misunderstanding, or communication has not been passed on by parents or children. Teaching assistants should ensure that they do not ignore either the disagreement or the people involved in it. This is because it causes short and long term hostilities. So, the best way to overcome poor communication is to find the cause of the poor communication, discuss about it with the people involved in it, explaining clearly what they meant and then find a way forward together.
Opposing expectations
Another factor which causes disagreement is opposing expectations. Teachers assistant may not have the same expectations as the children and this causes disagreement. The way to deal with this is by clarifying the aims of what we as teachers assistant are supposed to do and why. This will give the child a clear idea of what to do.
Different values and ideas
Parents and school have different ways of dealing with situations as they both have different views of doing things. Teaching assistants need to work alongside others to explain and clarify why things need to happen in a different way in school.
External Factors
External Factors such as home pressures may affect communication and causes disagreement. Parents are likely to be time pressured and other pressures at work which teaching assistant may not be aware of. But with experience and as teaching assistant get to know people, they will be able to identify if parents are behaving in an unusual way and then ask if they can help them accordingly.
Lack of confidence
Sometimes, if adults lack confidence or if they are not sure what they are doing, they act in an aggressive way. Teaching assistants need to be sensitive to this and offer help and support to enable them know themselves and their abilities better.
Question 3.1: summarise the main points of legislation and procedures covering confidentiality, data protection and the disclosure of information.
Teaching assistants need to understand and be aware of the legislation that affects them when working with children. It is important to recognise that each child is unique and have respect for their human rights. Legislation is an area which is constantly changing so it is important to be kept up to date by reading relevant publications.
Every Child Matters
Every Child Matters (England 2003) is a piece of legislation that ensures that every child is included and cared for. It also ensures more integrated services and information sharing between professionals. This was brought about by the Victoria Climbe case where there was a lack of communication between agencies and so led to a tragedy that could have been prevented.
Data Protection Act 1998
To be able to care for children efficiently and effectively, schools ask parents and carers for a variety of information. These information need to be directly relevant to the child, for example health or medical information, records from previous school, records for children who have special educational needs. These information are confidential and only need to be used for the purpose it has been gathered. Parental consent will need to be given if ever these information need to be passed to a third party. This is done by parents signing a consent form.
Any organisation which hold information on individual needs to be registered with the Information Commissioner. This is to ensure that information on individual are protected and not being passed to a third party without the consent of the individual.
The Principles of practice which govern the use of personal information are as follows:-
Information must be - Processed fairy and lawfully
Used only for the purpose for which it was gathered.
Adequate, relevant and not excessive
Adequate and keep up to date where necessary
Kept for no longer than necessary
Processed in line with the individuals rights
Kept secure
Not transferred outside the European Union without adequate protection.

Teaching assistants need to be aware of a range of information from issues around the school to the individual needs of the children with whom they work with. They should know when and how to access and share information. Their line Manager should be their first point of contact to guide them if they are unclear or concern about who to speak to or to Special educational needs (SEN) the SENCO.
Teaching assistants need to be very careful not to disclose any information to anyone they know at school. Passing on information without following the correct channel may lead to abusing their position of professional trust and this can be very damaging.
Also, parental permission is required before filming or taking photographs of children for display. Teaching assistants should not take pictures for their own portfolio. They should not pass information to
Other children in the school
Other parents
Other professionals unless parents have been consulted.
Visitors
Question 3.2: explain the importance of reassuring children, young people and adults of the confidentiality of shared information and the limits of this.
Confidential information should not be disclosed to a third party unless written consent is obtained by the party concerned. This reassure children, young people and adults that any information about them is kept confidential and only used where and when necessary to maintain their trust and security.
It is their right to privacy to have their information kept confidential and not passed on for others to gossip about. As teaching assistant, it is important not to violate their trust or put them at risk of teasing or bullying by other pupils.
Similarly, adults need to feel secure that they or their children will not be the topic of playground gossip by other parents and that their home details will be safe. Parents should be reassured that the school is providing correct care and support for them and their children.
Sometimes due to the legal obligation, it is the duty of the school to divulge confidential information to a third party if there is any indication that the child or young adult are at risk. There are other cases where information on children and young adult need to be accessible to all teaching staff. The main reason is to prevent the children or young adult from danger, for example, where they have medical conditions such as asthma or epilepsy. The school should have an agreed system in place for any eventualities that might happen. Also there may come a time when teaching assistants will need to let others know their obligations with regard to confidentiality and the sharing of information they have gathered.
There are certain situations where the confidentiality protocols must be breached, for example in situation of suspected child abuse. Teaching assistants should inform the child or young adult that they will not be able to keep certain information confidential if ever the child or young adult decide to confide to them.
Question 3.3: justify the kind of situation when confidentiality protocols must be breached.
Confidentiality is a serious matter when dealing with children. In normal circumstances, only the appropriate people should have access to student’s personal records. As teaching assistants the safety and well- being of students must be their first consideration. Teaching assistants cannot guarantee absolute confidentiality especially if there is concerns that a child is experiencing or at risk of significant harm. They need to understand that they have the responsibility to share relevant information about the protection of the children with other professionals such as in the case of an abuse child, to social services or the police.
In such case mentioned above, if let say, a child confides in a teacher’s assistant and requests that the information is kept secret, it is important to remind the child that he has the responsibility to refer his case to the appropriate services to enable him to get help.
In other circumstances, information needs to be disclosure where the child has a medical problem. Information need to be share to the medical professional so that the child can receive appropriate help and in some cases save the child’s life.
Also, disclosure of personal information is required by law, for example when a child is reported missing. Personal information need to be given to the appropriate authorities to enable them to do their work effectively.