Developing Reflective Practice Essay Example for Free

Developing Reflective Practice Essay This essay will focus on developing reflective practice through exploring a critical incident in the workplace. It will explore different methods of reflection and use one particular method to reflect on the critical incident (appendix 1) and explain why this individual method was chosen. It will evaluate individual career development by reviewing past practice and the skills that have been gained throughout time, for example teamwork, group roles and experience gained, which will be ways to measure how development has progressed. It will illustrate a critical understanding of assessing personal capability within the workplace. It will identify a range of personal and interpersonal skills that contribute to effective professional practice and different types of work methods and will also reflect on practice and develop action plans to meet personal goals for the future. It is important to reflect on practice to help us grow as people, find faults and work on issues to better ourselves. Wigens (2003:1) states ‘reflective practice has been identified as one of the key ways in which we can learn from our experiences’, however Atherton (2003) cited in Johnston and Nahmad-Williams (2009:367) ‘questions whether reflection can really bring together the practical and theoretical’. Paige- Smith and Craft (2008) puts forward that it is important to reflect on how we interact with children and observe their peer interactions; this helps us to reflect on how important interactions are. After looking at Different methods of reflection, I investigated and considered a few, for example Gibbs and Kolbs. Gibbs is quite similar to De Bonos as you are able to explore the different stages in depth, but found that Kolbs does not have a clear cut off between each phase of the cycle, therefore I found it difficult to pull the case study apart using this method. Johnston and Nahmad-Williams (2009:365) writes ‘Although Kolbs model is useful to see where refl ection fits into the learning cycle, it does not provide detail about what reflection is and the processes in which it is achieved’ The model of reflection that has been chosen is De Bono’s six thinking hats. This method struck to be the most interesting to myself as it can be quite a visual tool. The hats are referred to by their colour at all times as opposed to their function (De Bono 2000), the reason for this is as De Bono (2000:14) states ‘If you ask someone to give his or her emotional reaction to something, you are unlikely to get an honest answer because people think it is wrong to be emotional’.  Lindon (2012) puts forward that De Bono’s method is a parallel way of thinking, meaning that you are looking and thinking in the same direction yet the direction changes. It helps to give a more rounded viewpoint and helps see things from a different perspective. Dreyer (2012) illustrates this by imagining a house with four people around it, one facing the front, one facing the back and one at either side; All may argue that their viewpoint is the best, but until you walk around and view the house from all four angles you will not be able to have an understanding of different perspectives. Johnston and Nahmad-Williams (2009:365) state that ‘Dewey (1859-1952) was an influential figure in education and viewed reflection as a way of purposeful thinking that is systematic and raises questions and answers’. De Bono (2000) suggests that thinking is imperative in everyday life and no matter how good we think we are we should always strive to be better. De Bono’s six hat model has six aspects the first being the white hat which suggests that you first examine the data you have available, the facts and the figures, in this case Child Ls mum wants to be able to bring her child into nursery earlier than 8:00am as she has to be in work, but thinks it is too expensive to pay for the early sessions, after being told to not come in early, mum still persisted in arriving prior to 8:00am. The second aspect is the red hat which is your intuition, emotions and reaction, in this case feelings were frustration that mum did not want to pay like others, annoyed that she was ignoring me, aggravated she kept bringing child L early, infuriated at the fact that she was not communicating with staff, uncooperative as did not want to help mum and nervous to keep having to tell her repetitively. The third aspect is the black hat which is the negative points of the situation, De Bono (2000) states that this is the most valuable of all of the hats an d should not be seen as a bad hat, it is only to highlight possible risks and potential problems, in this case it is unfair to parents that are paying for the early start and not fair on staff members setting the room up. The fourth aspect is the yellow hat which is the positive aspects of the situation, in this case it is good for parents to test staff members patience as it helps deal with things in future calmly and confidently, having gained knowledge and experience, also that the manager and parent were able to meet half way and come to a conclusion of a joint decision. The fifth aspect is the green hat which summarises and  concludes of events, helping to decide what has been learned and what you will take forward into future practice. In this case it has shown that parents are going to get upset at times and practitioners have to deal with it as effective as possible. In future I would try and resolve the situation myself by coming to a resolution without involving the manager if possible, this way it may have not escalated as quickly as it did. The final aspect is the blue hat which is the evaluation to put the green hat into action. In this case make sure there are parent comment boxes wher e if a parent is unhappy they are able to voice their opinion and feel listened to instead of getting worked up. If it is possible to find an alternative and affordable way to engage struggling parents for example to be able to drop their child off early maybe just five minutes. You may then imagine you were the complete opposite and ask yourself how you would now feel. By going through these different thought processes you are allowing your brain to take a journey to come to a fair conclusion. Having worked through the above reflective model it has highlighted some personal strengths and weaknesses which have been useful to reflect on professional development. Writing a timeline of career progression (appendix 2) has enabled me to look at past practice and focus on the skills gained throughout years of training. This has been a useful method of looking at personal progression. The most enjoyable experience had to be when I worked in Majorca as a children’s representative. Whilst here learnt to tone down my expressive personality, after a hurricane struck I panicked and scared the holiday makers, my manager pulled me into the office and explained that it was very unprofessional and that I needed to control my emotions. Another experience was after returning home, a family that used to attend my previous nursery had informed me of some very upsetting news. They told me that the mother of a 1 month old baby had died. The father asked if I would be interested in becoming their private nanny, after working on the other side of child care in a home environment I was able to see things from a different perspective and can relate to parents in current practice. Many times in life the opportunity have arisen for me to develop and grow as a practitioner. Since being a child my career path has been quite clear and after leaving school I began to study child care, alongside working with children. Looking back it was quite a vulnerable decision as the importance o f childcare was not as  great as now, and after working in several nurseries, learnt that it is hard work. The chance finally came for a promotion to be third in charge of a nursery, after being successful in the position I realised that it was going to be a difficult journey. The job was very rewarding, although the time spent with the children had been halved due to paperwork and other duties, and other practitioners that used to work alongside me were now taking instructions from me. Through this time I began to deal with confrontation, at first the thought was quite daunting but after lots of practice feel very comfortable to approach this. The next step in my career development was a job that I happen to stumble across. I quickly arranged an interview as the money was greater yet the responsibilities cut. The setting was not like one I have worked in, or heard of before as there were lots of deprived children and chance to delve into the social work side of things. In the past my experience has been in upper class nurseries with highly qualified parents such as Lawyers and Doctors. I quickly learned that this was going to bring me lots of experience and after working there for a year and a half I got promoted to a room leader, this is my current situation and have now been working there for four years. Every day I feel I learn something new in my job role and am one of the few people who love my job. Within my duties I attend core group meetings and case conferences, liaise with social workers and other professionals, as well as support the staff in my room with their daily duties and most importantly care for the children within my setting. The team we have is a highly qualified group of people who have all worked there for a long time and enjoy working together. Each staff member has a different personality which helps the nursery see things from different perspectives. Miller (2005) proposes that teams get together by different personalities balancing out so everybody has an input. I have a very bubbly and confident personality yet a colleague of mine is qui te the opposite. It is this balance that helps the staff and parents to feel comfortable and be able to approach individual members of the team with ease to support their personal preference. Manktelow (1995) illustrates you are able to solve different problems using numerous approaches such as ambition, sensitivity, creativity etc. As staff we are able to approach difficulties within our working hours and overcome them giving each other great support. Like Lindon (2012) we work effectively as a team even though there is a hierarchy  everyone is allowed to have their own opinion and are listened to which helps everybody feel positive. All members of the team enjoy attending regular training courses to make sure we are up to date with current practice and procedures. Miller (2005) puts forward that it is important for practitioners to take a critical look at theory and practice when working with children. Regular staff meetings are held and staff appraisals. It is important to be able to give and receive constructive criticism. I recently have started to give the 4 practitioners underneath me appraisals. I find it to be quite difficult to explain that they need to work o n different parts of their practice. This is an area that I need to work on. The praise sandwich is a tactic that my manager explained to me, when you have something negative that you need to discuss with a member of the team, you should start and end by saying something positive. This helps the person to realise that they are acknowledged for the good practice as well as the bad. She also told me to be more of a Swan which was explained to me like this. A swan is a beautiful creature who is relaxed above water, however below the water her feet are going very fast. My manager explained for me to stay calm on the outside in situations even if underneath I am struggling. After researching more about this found a good self reflection tool called SWAN. Jagusiak (2013) writes that it stands for Strength, Weakness, Ambition and Need. She explains that it involves witnessing and examining ones own practice, although you are watching someone else, this will help to analyse and critique any weaknesses. I am proud to be part of the team and feel that we are at the performing stage in our career. Tuckman (1965) cited by Smith (2005) argues that when groups of people come together they go through four separate stages as they meet and establish. These phases are called forming, storming, norming and performing. Forming is when the people in the group are meeting and accepting each other, they tend to test boundaries and figure interpersonal behaviours out. Storming is when they are a bit more comfortable and are able to speak out, question and criticize one another, they feel more comfortable to form conflict. Norming is when the group is established, they have overcome resistance and able to express personal opinions. Performing is the fourth stage where a team work well together, almost complement each other and help one another, roles are well established and performance is high. This is where my team are at the moment. Tuckman later in 1977 proposed an update and added a fifth phase adjourning. This is the stage where tasks are complete, people go their separate ways and group members can disengage. This can be due to retirement or the setting closes. After conducting some individual experiments to see how I work and how I fit into my team, I found that an auditory learning style suits best as the spoken word seems to digest better personally. The Belbin Team Inventory test showed that the implementer stuck out from the rest. I find this to be true as am a very positive person and am motivated and self disciplined. My favourite questionnaire had to be the Honey and Mumfords learning style. After completing this it was found to be quite evenly distributed between all of the aspects, which are the activist, the theorist, the pragmatist and the reflector. My scores were slightly higher in reflector and pragmatist. I am in agreement with this as am very enthusiastic about trying new things out in pract ice, yet able to stand back and view the whole picture before jumping in head first. Lindon (2012) writes once we have highlighted our preferred learning style using many questionnaires there are a number of ways to put these into practice. Completing these self-reflection tests has enabled me to understand more about the person that I am, how I work and what I need to strive to achieve in the near future. Taking this into consideration I have planned for some future development. I thought it would be useful to look at the early year’s standards and aim to develop some aspects of these. With this in mind I have chosen 2.5 Develop and sustain respectful relationships with children and their families. I have chosen this one linking back to my critical incident. It is important to sustain respectful relationships with parents as you have to work in partnership with them on a daily basis. Through these professional relationships comes trust allowing us to fulfil our parents as partner’s ethos. The second aspect I would like to develop is 7.2 take a lead in establishing and sustaining a culture of cooperative working between colleagues and wider professionals. I have chosen this one due to the fact I actively engage with outside agencies and other professionals on a daily basis and would like to make sure that I am continuing this cooperative behaviour. In conclusion I feel that I am a very reflective person. I enjoy receiving constructive criticism, as I like to have goals to work towards and always strive to better myself. I have enjoyed completing this essay as it has highlighted many things about myself I had forgotten along the way, such as how I used to behave and react to problems. By illustrating this it has stated the fact that without knowing I have been learning and developing from the start. I have discovered ways for me and my team to find out more about how we work as practitioners and ways to overcome certain situations like my critical incident. I am proud of my personal achievement and would encourage anyone to work with children as it is a very rewarding path in life. Dreyer, L Arts Forward, Munch Club #1: Edward deBono’s Six Thinking Hats Sep 10th 2012; http://artsfwd.org/munch-club-1-edward-debonos-six-thinking-hats/ On-Line-UK [Accessed 20.11.13] De Bono, E (2000) Six Thinking Hats, Penguin Books; Great Britain Jagusiak, C (2013)SWAN technique; http://www.satyaliveyoga.com.au/2013/04/16/swan-technique/ On-Line-UK[Accessed 10.12.13] Johnston, J and Nahmad- Williams (2009) Early Childhood Studies, Pearson Education Ltd; England Lindon, J (2012) Reflective Practice and Early Years Professionalism, 2nd edition, Bookpoint LTD; Oxon Manktelow, J (1995) Mind Tools Essential Skills for an excellent career, Mind Tools, UK; Blackwell Miller, L (2005) Developing Early Years Practice, Oxon; David Fulton Publishers Paige-Smith, A and Craft, A (2008) Developing Reflective Practice in the Early Years, Berkshire; Open University Press Reed, M and Natalie, C (2010) Reflective Practice in the Early Years, SAGE Publications LTD; London Smith, M. K. (2005). ‘Bruce W. Tuckman – forming, storming, norming and performing in groups, the encyclopedia of informal education. [http://infed.org/mobi/bruce-w-tuckman-forming-storming-norming-and-performing-in-groups/. Accessed: [02.12.13]. Wigens, L (2003) Beginning Reflective Practice, Cheltenham; Nelson thornes Ltd

American Industrialization Essay -- American History

Between 1865 and 1920, industrialization caused significant changes in many people’s lives. First, the development of a new railroad system help settle the west and made it more accessible to people. Second, public transit systems in big cities provided an outlet from congested cities. Last, the discovery of a method for transmitting electricity helped to light up our daily lives. I feel that these are three of the most important changes in people’s lives caused by industrialization. First, the building of railroads out west played a huge part in the successful expansion of our country and the fulfillment of American dreams. Priot to the development of a more efficient railroad system, the movement of people and freight were relatively slow, difficult, and costly. Because of different rail gauges, sometimes freight had to be unloaded and then reloaded on boxcars. Second, most goods had to be produced and provided locally on a small scale. As a result, prices for products were very high. Nevertheless, with the help of federal grants, railroad promoters were able to build a more efficient railroad system that would connect the settled east with the unsettled west. After the completion of the new railroads system, farmers were in reasonable distance of railroad depots, which meant manufacturers could locate their plants anywhere and be able to bring in raw materials and send their products wherever they could find customers. Also, freight and passengers could travel by rai...

Impact Diet on Health

Diet makes people think as a weight loss regime. The majority of people think it is products with low calories, and help you to control your weight. But the actual meaning is a process of eating food or nutrients vitamins. Healthy diet and nutrition have a positive impact on human health. On the other hand poor diets have harmful lasting effects. If a human does not have a good diet the body won’t have any nutrients to play the inside role of the body. Nutrition helps your body to be strong and to fight against diseases.Unhealthy diet can have consequences with physical body, as well as can affect your thinking and mental job. A poor diet can result to many health issues, such as heart disease, high blood pressure high levels of cholesterol, asthma, sometimes even diabetes. But a very dangerous problem usually caused by eating less than you are supposed to can cause Anorexia.. This mental and physical disorder is usually found in athletes, models or ballet dancers, who aim to get thin day by day. This syndrome can be found in normal people who have an unhealthy poor diet.It is more towards a physiological disorder, there is a stage of Anorexia Nervosa is when person is constantly dieting carrying to an extreme level, and that is Dale. Dale is when people try to loose much more weight than necessary, and they still feel overweight. They see themselves as very fat, and that’s what makes them to keep on loosing weight. Force feeding anorexic people does not work, since there brain is mentally trained not to eat, therefore they will throw up if they are force fed. Having a poor diet can result many physical effects related to the extreme weight loss.Heart rate can increase, BMR, in addition to the body temperature all drop to low levels. When the fat in the human body is used, the body breaks the muscle tissue for energy, and that can result to heart damage. As well as if this disorder occurs in an age of puberty the body growth stops. Anorexic victim s usually have low confidence level which in generally cause of this disorder. The science has not found the exact treatment for this; but however a small treatment requires a team of professionals, physicians, nurses, psychiatrist and dieticians- to work together.Mental condition analysis is required to treat this. This treatment plan is developed that deals with physical effects of anorexia and mental reasons for its occurrence. It sometimes involves force feeding, and however does not work with most of the patients. The benefits of the treatment are that psychiatrists and dieticians try to convince the person to eat, as well as knowing the reason for occurrence. A drawback is that there is no certain cure for this, as well as it is very hard to encourage anorexic people to eat, it is very hard to put them back on the right track.At the same time as well as there is no medicine that can help to cure anorexic people. The social impact of anorexia is the relationship among family an d friends can be in tense as the anorexic becomes more and more obsessed with not eating, and tried to stay away from gatherings and parties in fear of force feeding. As well as this disease can be caused by political reasons. E. g. in some countries the distribution of cops is equal and if a family is not able to feed the children that will result to a poor diet and since the children are expected to work on the farms that means too much exercise and poor diet.And when the children get used to it, they do not feel hungry anymore and that is when anorexia can occur. Furthermore in some cultures or old traditions parents do not feed their daughters, or otherwise they will get fat and nobody will marry them. So they try to feed as least as possible and in addition to they can afford that much. If day by day they get less food than they are used to it, and get thin so much that don’t even realize. Also in some European countries they are forbidden to show slim models on TV and i n mass media advertisement, since the fans admire it so much they follow the celebrity.By not showing them this it can help to prevent it. . Every human being should look after their diet; they should apply all the vitamins nutrients their body requires. All individuals should have a diet, and shall be aware of the amount of nutrients they receive. Poor diet also consists of less nutrients, but also unhealthy food that does not help your body to cooperate with you. Anorexia is nowadays very common among people. Not knowing the reason behind it. And after a person has anorexia it is almost impossible to put him/her on the right track.Anorexia can lead to different stage, at a level where there is high risk of death. There are no single causes that may influence upon occurrence of anorexia. Usually, all 2 factors are brought into play: The psychological factor- influence of the family and internal conflicts The social factor- influence of environment, expectation, imitation (watching celebs on the TV, your friends around you, you are being insulted that you are fat) However there is no easy cure for this, so care for yourself, accept yourself, and you will never be caught into the trap of inferiority complex.

Obesity A Major Health Challenge - 1319 Words

Introduction Obesity is a major health challenge in the United States. The World Obesity Federation reports obesity has become a major growing health problem since infectious diseases and nutrient deficiencies began to fade in the first half of the 20th century (WOF, 2015, para 1). Obesity is one of the biggest challenges facing healthcare today. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention report more than one-third of adults in the United States are obese and childhood obesity is at 17 percent. Health information and education are needed to promote a healthier society. This discussion will examine influences, initiatives, developed outcomes and progress and the current status as it relates to obesity. Obesity is more than†¦show more content†¦HTN, HLD, DM, and sedentary behaviors are the leading cause of stroke and cardiovascular disease (CVD) (Lana, et al., 2016). CVD is the leading cause of death in the Americas (Lanas, et al., 2016). Obesity leads to increased chronic conditions, h igh medical costs, and shortened life expectancy (Brody Meeks, 2016). Past and Present Obesity Initiatives The obesity epidemic in the United States have proven difficult to reverse. As a nation, we have not been successful in helping the people sustain the eating and physical activity pattern that is needed to maintain a healthy body weight (Mitchell,et al.,2011) .There is a growing recognition that we will not be able to sustain healthy life style until we are able to address the environment and culture that currently support unhealthy lifestyle. The energy requirement for much of the population may be below the level of energy intake than can reasonably maintain and over the time ways we produce and market our foods and the ways we inadvertently promote the sedentary behavior (Mitchell,et al.,2011). Efforts are underway to prevent the obesity in schools, worksite and communities. 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