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Unit 4
These skills help you to be a good listener and to help the pupil work
through whatever is causing worry or concern.
For many children with low self-esteem the praise and reward
system has to be more subtle. You need to place more emphasis on
the use of body language. A touch on the shoulder, a wink or a
thumbs up to show you’ve noticed the quality or effort put into their
work can work wonders. I acknowledge them without making it too
big a deal and then as their self-esteem develops they may be able
to move on to the same praise and reward system used by other
pupils.
Body stance is also a factor in communication. I always bend or
crouch down to speak to children, to be at their level when working
with them. Standing over them can be intimidating and threatening,
also defensive body language, such as crossing your arms, can be
seen as a barrier.
Facial expressions, eye contact, gestures and body stance can also
be used to show disapproval. Sometimes a ‘look’ is all that’s needed
to discourage unwanted behaviour, especially when the teacher is
talking to the class.
When a small group of children sit round a table they naturally form
a social group. Ideally this leads to cooperation and joint learning,
but if not handled correctly it can cause conflict and negative
comparisons. I find it important to set down expectations for
behaviour before I start work with them on task. Depending on the
ability of the pupils, you may need to demonstrate and teach the
behaviours you need from the group. Some examples are:
-getting the pupils to write their answers down (if able) and then to
show me at the same time;
Pre-Linguistic Stage.
0-3 months
3-6 months
Babies become more aware of others and so communicate more. They
begin to imitate sounds they hear and react to the tone of someone’s
voice. They begin to use vowels, consonants and syllable sounds, e.g.
‘ah’, ‘p’, ‘ee aw’. They begin to laugh and squeal with pleasure.
6-9 months
Babble becomes tuneful like the lilt of the language they hear. They
begin to understand words like ‘up’ and ‘down’, using gestures like
raising their arms to be lifted. The baby repeats sounds.
9-12 months
Cooperation develops further, i.e. when adults wave ‘bye bye’, or say
‘show me your shoes’ the babies enjoy pointing and waving. Babies can
follow simple instructions, e.g. kiss teddy. Word approximations
appear, e.g. mamma, dadda and bye bye. Babies make their voices go
up and down just like adults do around them.
Linguistic Stage
12-18 months
They can point at and often name parts of their body, objects,
people and pictures in books. They echo the last part of what others
say (echolalia). One word or sign can have several meanings. For
example, Cat = all animals, not just cats. By 18 months the child’s
main carers should be able to recognise around 10 words.
18 months-2 years
Vocabulary develops quickly and by 2 years children know around 200
words. They over extend the use of a word, e.g. all animals are called
‘doggie’. They can talk about an absent object when reminded of it,
e.g. saying ‘biscuit’ when seeing an empty plate. They use phrases,
e.g. ‘doggie-gone’, they call themselves by their name (or their
variation of their name). They can follow a simple instruction or
request. They want to share songs, conversations, finger rhymes,
etc. more and more.
2-3 years
Their thinking goes faster than the pace at which they can say what
they want to say, which means they can quickly become frustrated.
3-4 years
They begin to ask why, when and how questions as they become more
fascinated with the reasons for things and how things work. Pas,
present and future tenses are used more often. They can be taught
to say their name, age and address. They become more accurate in
the way they pronounce words, and begin to use grammar. They take
their lead from adults and copy what they say.
4-8 years
They can now speak confidently and with more and more fluency.
Vocabulary is increasing all the time. They use more methods of
communication such as reading and writing. They can use language
creatively and as a social skill. They establish a sense of audience
and adapt speech accordingly.
8-16 years
They can now use much more complex sentences, and start gaining
confidence with expressing ideas, telling jokes, reading and writing.
By the end of this period they will experience a major shift from
concrete to abstract thinking. Handwriting should be fast and
legible.
Sometimes you may need to get the ball rolling when pupils are slow
to start a discussion by mentioning a relative comment a child made
previously and asking them to expand upon it. I find joining in myself
and making my own contribution to the discussion gives pupils ideas
and time to prepare, also try not to let more enthusiastic pupils to
take over the discussion.
-giving the child your full attention and showing interest in what
they are saying;
-remaining calm;
-respecting the child’s opinions and being aware of any major factors
which may affect them i.e. religion and culture.
-Different values and ideas. Again, there is not much you can do to
change this. Just acknowledge the differences and respect the
other’s opinions.
When you work closely with a child there are bound to be times when
you hear or see information, e.g. about the child’s home life, which
must remain confidential. This does not apply, however, to disclosure
of abuse, which is information you have a duty to share with your
class teacher, head teacher or SENCO.
In the course of your job you may find pupils confiding in you. While
you may discuss information with other professionals concerned,
remember that the information you come across in the course of
your job is not for discussion or comment with outsiders.
Pupils who have had difficult social histories may feel that they have
been ‘let down’ by the important adults in their lives and feel it is
hard to trust someone to be consistent, fair and encouraging. A pupil
with a low opinion of him or herself, for whatever reason, is going to
expect to fail. It is, therefore, vital that you take every opportunity
to point out what the pupil is good at and to lead them to expect
that they can succeed. For example, when working with a child who
has difficulties with spellings, I may say something like: ‘That is a
really great piece of work Beth. I can see how hard you have worked
and I am really proud of you. If we just make a tiny change to some
of your spellings it will be absolutely perfect’. Always make a big deal
of the positive points and play down the negative whilst still
correcting any mistakes.
It may take time but if you have a consistent, positive and fair
attitude towards the child, he, or she, will learn to develop self-
confidence and to trust you.
No child can learn effectively when they are not feeling valued. It is
a key role of the teaching assistant to value every child. Any child
who is thought of as ‘different’ from other pupils may encounter
negative attitudes, particularly if their disability is obvious.
Surviving childhood teasing is often dependent on self-esteem, so it
is very important that the child feels secure and highly regarded by
the important people in their life.
School staff need to bear in mind the fact that every family is
different and has different needs and traditions. It is also
important to remember that the majority of parents want to do
their best for their children, even if they are unsure of what the
best might be. Parents usually welcome help with trying out some
alternative methods of doing things but they will not want to change
too much too quickly, or to feel changes forced on them.
It is important not to judge parents, and to respect their good
intentions. Almost every parent, however uninterested they may
seem on the surface, wants to do the job well. Staff need to
recognise this and to work positively with this as a central focus.
Concentrating on the good intentions of parents gives them a
positive image. Just as children need positive images reflected about
themselves, so do parents.
Parents often worry deep down whether the staff like their child.
They say things like ‘Has she been good?’ when they probably mean
‘Do you like my child?’ Staff can reassure the parent by what they
say, i.e. staying positive, even if the child has been showing unwanted
behaviour, by emphasising what the child learnt from the situation,
and what improvements were shown.
Parents will want to talk as well as listen and it is important they are
given the opportunity to do this. Time will need to be set aside for
this, however, so that parents do not try to take the teacher’s
attention when they are involved with the children. Some key points
for communication with parents are:
-remember your body language will show how you really feel;
-never gossip;
-summarise the main points of what has been said to the parent
every so often;
-if you do not know the answer to something, say so, and tell the
parent you will find out for them;
-Physical factors;
-Vocabulary;
-Opportunity;
-Confidence;
-Languages spoken.