Reflecting on ‘Reflective practice’ Essay

â€Å"Maybe reflective practices offer us a way of trying to make sense of the uncertainty in our workplaces and the courage to work competently and ethically at the edge of order and chaos†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Ghaye, 2000, p.7) Reflective practice has burgeoned over the last few decades throughout various fields of professional practice and education. In some professions it has become one of the defining features of competence, even if on occasion it has been adopted – mistakenly and unreflectively – to rationalise existing practice. The allure of the ‘reflection bandwagon’ lies in the fact that it ‘rings true’ (Loughran, 2000). Within different disciplines and intellectual traditions, however, what is understood by ‘reflective practice’ varies considerably (Fook et al, 2006). Multiple and contradictory understandings of reflective practice can even be found within the same discipline. Despite this, some consensus has been achieved amid the profusion of definitions. In general, reflective practice is understood as the process of learning through and from experience towards gaining new insights of self and/or practice (Boud et al 1985; Boyd and Fales, 1983; Mezirow, 1981, Jarvis, 1992). This often involves examining assumptions of everyday practice. It also tends to involve the individual practitioner in being self-aware and critically evaluating their own responses to practice situations. The point is to recapture practice experiences and mull them over critically in order to gain new understandings and so improve future practice. This is understood as part of the process of life-long learning. Beyond these broad areas of agreement, however, contention and difficulty reign. There is debate about the extent to which practitioners should focus on themselves as individuals rather than the larger social context. There are questions about how, when, where and why reflection should take place. For busy professionals short on time, reflective practice is all too easily applied in bland, mechanical, unthinking ways, Would-be practitioners may also find it testing to stand back from painful experiences and seek to be analytical about them. In this tangle of understandings, misunderstandings and difficulties, exactly how to apply and teach reflective practice effectively has become something of a conundrum. This paper explores current ideas and debates relating to reflective practice. In the first two sections, I review key definitions and models of reflection commonly used in professional practice. Then, in the reflective spirit myself, I critically examine the actual practice of the concept, highlighting ethical, professional, pedagogic and conceptual concerns. I put forward the case that reflective practice is both complex and situated and that it cannot work if applied mechanically or simplistically. On this basis, I conclude with some tentative suggestions for how educators might nurture an effective reflective practice involving critical reflection. Defining reflective practice †¦reflection can mean all things to all people†¦it is used as a kind of umbrella or canopy term to signify something that is good or desirable†¦everybody has his or her own (usually undisclosed) interpretation of what reflection means, and this interpretation is used as the basis for trumpeting the virtues of reflection in a way that makes it sound as virtuous as motherhood. Smyth (1992, p.285) The term ‘reflective practice’ carries multiple meanings that range from the idea of professionals engaging in solitary introspection to that of engaging in critical dialogue with others. Practitioners may embrace it occasionally in formal, explicit ways or use it more fluidly in ongoing, tacit ways. For some, reflective practice simply refers to adopting a thinking approach to practice. Others see it as self-indulgent navel gazing. For others still, it  involves carefully structured and crafted approaches towards being reflective about one’s experiences in practice. For example, with reference to teacher education, Larrivee argues that: â€Å"Unless teachers develop the practice of critical reflection, they stay trapped in unexamined judgments, interpretations, assumptions, and expectations. Approaching teaching as a reflective practitioner involves fusing personal beliefs and values into a professional identity† (Larrivee, 2000, p.293). In practice, reflective practice is often seen as the bedrock of professional identity. â€Å"Reflecting on performance and acting on refection†, as McKay (2008, Forthcoming) notes, â€Å"is a professional imperative.† Indeed, it has been included in official benchmark standards laid down for professional registration and practice (see table 1 in Appendix 1). One example is in the way it has been included, explicitly and implicitly, in all Project 2000 curricula for Nursing Diplomas, while reflection is highlighted as a pivotal skill to achieve required Standards of Proficiencies in nursing and other health professional education (NMC, 2004; HPC, 2004). It has also become a key strand of approaches to the broader field of continuing professional development, work-based learning and lifelong learning (Eby, 2000; HPC, 2006). Given its growing emphasis in professional practice and education, it would seem important to explore the concept of reflective practice in some detail. To this end, this section distinguishes between different types of reflective practice and looks at the sister concepts of reflection, critical reflection and reflexivity. Reflection ‘in’ and ‘on’ practice Dewey (1933) was among the first to identify reflection as a specialised form of thinking. He considered reflection to stem from doubt, hesitation or perplexity related to a directly experienced situation. For him, this prompted purposeful inquiry and problem resolution (Sinclair, 1998). Dewey also argued that reflective thinking moved people away from routine thinking/action (guided by tradition or external authority) towards  reflective action (involving careful, critical consideration of taken-for-granted knowledge). This way of conceptualising reflection crucially starts with experience and stresses how we learn from ‘doing’, i.e. practice. Specifically Dewey argued that we ‘think the problem out’ towards formulating hypotheses in trial and error reflective situations and then use these to plan action, testing out our ideas. Dewey’s ideas provided a basis for the concept of ‘reflective practice’ which gained influence with the arrival of Schon’s (1983) ‘The reflective practitioner: how professionals think in action’. In this seminal work, Schon identified ways in which professionals could become aware of their implicit knowledge and learn from their experience. His main concern was to facilitate the development of reflective practitioners rather than describe the process of reflection per se. However, one of his most important and enduring contributions was to identify two types of reflection: reflection-on-action (after-the-event thinking) and reflection-in-action (thinking while doing). In the case of reflection-on-action, professionals are understood consciously to review, describe, analyse and evaluate their past practice with a view to gaining insight to improve future practice. With reflection-in-action, professionals are seen as examining their experiences and responses as they occur. In both types of reflection, professionals aim to connect with their feelings and attend to relevant theory. They seek to build new understandings to shape their action in the unfolding situation. In Schon’s words: The practitioner allows himself to experience surprise, puzzlement, or confusion in a situation which he finds uncertain or unique. He reflects on the phenomenon before him, and on the prior understandings which have been implicit in his behaviour. He carries out an experiment which serves to generate both a new understanding of the phenomenon and a change in the situation. (Schon, 1983, p. 68) For Schon, reflection-in-action was the core of ‘professional artistry’ – a concept he contrasted with the ‘technical-rationality’ demanded by the (still dominant) positivist paradigm whereby problems are solvable through the rigorous application of science. A contemporary example of this paradigm is the evidence-based practice movement, which favours quantitative studies  over qualitative ones, and established protocols over intuitive practice. In Schon’s view, technical-rationality failed to resolve the dilemma of ‘rigour versus relevance’ confronting professionals. Schon’s argument, since taken up by others (e.g. Fish and Coles,1998), was as follows: Professional practice is complex, unpredictable and messy. In order to cope, professionals have to be able to do more  than follow set procedures. They draw on both practical experience and theory as they think on their feet and improvise. They act both intuitively and cr eatively. Both reflection-in and on -action allows them to revise, modify and refine their expertise. Schon believed that as professionals become more expert in their practice, they developed the skill of being able to monitor and adapt their practice simultaneously, perhaps even intuitively. In contrast, novice practitioners, lacking knowing-in-action (tacit knowledge), tended to cling to rules and procedures, which they are inclined to apply mechanically. Schon argued that novices needed to step back and, from a distance, take time to think through situations. Whether expert or novice, all professionals should reflect on practice – both in general and with regard to specific situations. Schon’s work has been hugely influential – some would say ‘canonical’ – in the way it has been applied to practice and professional training and education. For example, in the health care field, Atkins and Murphy (1993) identify three stages of the reflective process. The first stage, triggered by the professional becoming aware of uncomfortable feelings and thoughts, is akin to Schon’s ‘experience of surprise’ (what Boyd and Fales, 1983, identify as ‘a sense of inner discomfort’ or ‘unfinished business’). The second stage involves a critical analysis of feelings and knowledge. The final stage of reflection involves the development of a new perspective. Atkins and Murphy argue that both cognitive and affective skills are prerequisites for reflection and that these combine in the processes of self-awareness, critical analysis, synthesis and evaluation (see Appendix 2). In the education field, Grushka, Hinde-McLeod and Reynolds (2005) distinguish between ‘reflection for action’, ‘reflection in action’ and ‘reflection on action’ (see Appendix 3). They offer a series of technical, practical and critical questions for teachers to engage with. For example, under reflection for action teachers are advised to consider their resources and how long the lesson will take (technical); how to make the resources relevant to different learning styles (practical); and to question why they are teaching this particular topic (critical). Zeichner and Liston (1996) differentiate between five different levels at which reflection can take place during teaching: 1. Rapid reflection – immediate, ongoing and automatic action by the teacher. 2. Repair – in which a thoughtful teacher makes decisions to alter their behaviour in response to students’ cues. 3. Review – when a teacher thinks about, discusses or writes about some element of their teaching. 4. Research – when a teacher engages in more systematic and sustained thinking over time, perhaps by collecting data or reading research. 5. Retheorizing and reformulating – the process by which a teacher critically examines their own practice and theories in the light of academic theories. While Schon’s work has inspired many such models of reflection and categories of reflective practice, it has also drawn criticism. Eraut (2004) faults the work for its lack of precision and clarity. Boud and Walker (1998) argue that Schon’s analysis ignores critical features of the context of reflection. Usher et al (1997) find Schon’s account and methodology unreflexive, while Smyth (1989) deplores the atheoretical and apolitical quality of his conceptions. Greenwood (1993), meanwhile, targets Schon for downplaying the importance of reflection-before-action. Moon (1999) regards Schon’s pivotal concept of reflection-in-action as unachievable, while Ekebergh (2006) draws on  phenomenological philosophy to argue that it is not possible to distance oneself from the lived situation to reflect in the moment. To achieve real self-reflection, she asserts, one needs to step out of the situation and reflect retrospectively (van Manen, 1990). Given this level of criticism, questions have to raised about the wide adoption of Schon’s work and the way  it has been applied in professional practice and education (Usher et al, 1997). There have been calls for a m ore critical, reflexive exploration of the nature of reflective practice. Reflection, critical reflection and reflexivity Contemporary writing on reflective practice invites professionals to engage in both personal reflection and broader social critique. For example, work within the Open University’s Health and Social Care faculty has put forward a model whereby reflective practice is seen as a synthesis of reflection, self-awareness and critical thinking (Eby, 2000) (see figure 1). In this model, the philosophical roots of reflective practice are identified in phenomenology (with its focus on lived experience and personal consciousness) and also in critical theory (which fosters the development of a critical consciousness towards emancipation and resisting oppression ). Self-awareness Roots: phenomenology – The cognitive ability to think, feel, sense and know through intuition – To evaluate the knowledge derived through self-awareness to develop understanding Reflection Roots: existential phenomenology and critical theory -interpretive and critical theory – tool for promoting self- and social awareness and social action – improving self-expression, learning and co-operation – links theory and practice Reflective Practice Critical thinking Roots: scepticism and critical theory – identifying and challenging assumptions – challenging the importance of context – to imagine and explore alternatives which leads to reflective scepticism Figure 1 Skills underpinning the concept of reflective practice. Other authors argue for the concept of critical reflection, which is seen as offering a more thorough-going form of reflection through the use of critical theory (Brookfield, 1995). For adherents of critical reflection, reflection on its own tends to â€Å"remain at the level of relatively undisruptive changes in techniques or superficial thinking† (Fook, White and Gardner, 2006, p.9). In contrast, critical reflection involves attending to discourse and social and political analysis; it seeks to enable transformative social action and change. For Fook (2006), critical reflection  Ã¢â‚¬Å"enables an understanding of the way (socially dominant) assumptions may be socially restrictive, and thus enables new, more empowering ideas and practices. Critical reflection thus enables social change beginning at individual levels. Once individuals become aware of the hidden power of ideas they have absorbed unwittingly from their social contexts, they are then freed to make choices on their own terms.† Fook and Askeland argue that the focus of critical reflection should be on connecting individual identity and social context:  Ã¢â‚¬Å"Part of the power of critical reflection in opening up new perspectives and  choices about practice may only be realized if the connections between individual thinking and identity, and dominant social beliefs are articulated and realized.† (Fook and Askeland, 2006, p.53). For Reynolds (1998), four characteristics distinguish critical reflection from other versions of reflection : (1) its concern to question assumptions; (2) its social rather than individual focus; (3) the particular attention it pays to the analysis of power relations; and (4) its pursuit of emancipation (Reynolds, 1998). By way of example, Reynolds argues that when managers critically reflect (rather than just reflect) they become aware of the wider environment in which they operate. They begin to grasp the social power exercised by their organisation through its networks and relationships. : In the field of teaching, Brookfield (1995) characterises critical reflection as ‘stance and dance’. The critically reflective teacher’s stance toward teaching is one of inquiry and being open to further investigation. The dance involves experimentation and risk towards modifying practice while moving to fluctuating, and possibly contradictory, rhythms (Larrivee, 2000). A key concept giving momentum to the idea of reflective practice involving both personal reflection and social critique is reflexivity. Reflexive practitioners engage in critical self-reflection: reflecting critically on the impact of their own background, assumptions, positioning, feelings, behaviour while also attending to the impact of the wider organisational, discursive, ideological and political context. The terms reflection, critical reflection and reflexivity are often confused and wrongly assumed to be interchangeable. Finlay and Gough (2003, p. ix) find it helpful to think of these concepts forming a continuum. At one end stands reflection, defined simply as ‘thinking about’ something after the event. At the other end stands reflexivity: a more immediate and dynamic process which involves continuing self-awareness. Critical reflection lies somewhere in between. Previously, I’ve proposed five overlapping variants of reflexivity with critical selfreflection at the core: introspection; intersubjective reflection; mutual collaboration; social critique and ironic deconstruction (Finlay, 2002, 2003). These variants can similarly be applied to  distinguishing between the types of reflection practitioners could engage in when reflecting on practice. Reflective practice as introspection involves the practitioner in solitary self-dialogue in which they probe personal meanings and  emotions. Intersubjective reflection makes the practitioner focus on the relational context, on the emergent, negotiated nature of practice encounters. With mutual collaboration, a participatory, dialogical approach to reflective practice is sought – what Ghaye (2000) calls a ‘reflective conversation’. Here, for example, a mentor and student, or members of a team, seek to solve problems collaboratively. Reflective practice as social critique focuses attention on the wider discursive, social and political context. For instance, the practitioner may think about coercive institutional practices or seek to manage the power imbalances inherent in education/practice contexts. Finally, reflective practice as ironic deconstruction would cue into postmodern and poststructural imperatives to deconstruct discursive practices and represent something of the ambiguity and multiplicity of meanings in particular organisational and social contexts. At the very least, a critical and possibly satirical gaze could be turned to challenging the ubiquitously unreflexive rhetoric of reflective practice. In practice, introspection is the dominant mode of reflective practice. Sometimes presented as merely a promising personal attribute (Loughran , 2006), it is a predominantly individualistic and personal exercise (Reynolds and Vince, 2004) in which practitioners tend to focus on their own thoughts, feelings, behaviours and evaluations. This passes as legitimate ‘reflective practice’ which professionals then can use to advance their cause to fit formal requirements for continuing professional development. While such reflective practice may take place in dialogical contexts such as supervision sessions, the onus stays on the individual practitioner to reflect upon and evaluate their own practice. What is lacking is any mutual, reciprocal, shared process. Institutional structures and quality assurance  systems encourage, perhaps even require, this individual focus. It starts early on during professional education and training where learners engage professional socialisation and are taught how to reflect, using structured models of reflection. One of the consequences of the lack of consensus and clarity about the concept of reflective practice is the proliferation of different versions and models to operationalise reflective practice.

Child Care Introduction to Children

Unit 1; E1 Statutory; sectors that are fully funded but it depends on the boroughs. One example is school nurseries. In this setting professionals aim to make life in the setting feel like a family atmosphere for children to feel comfortable. Professionals also help children to develop with carefully chosen activities to do with the 6 learning areas, these are; language and literacy, creative development, physical development, personal social and emotional development, knowledge and understanding of the world and mathematical development.They aim to help children develop at their pace and doesn’t rush anything because they know every child is individual in their own way. The nurseries also help children feel safe and secure in the environment and give them a healthy balanced lifestyle such has healthy meals, 5 a day and run around out the garden areas. The private sector; is full costing to parents, they have to pay the cost for their children, it isn’t paid for them. O ne example of this is preschools.The care they offer is just that little bit more then statutory this is because the sector makes the children feel like the school is also their home and that the professionals are family. Professionals in the sector will constantly observe the children for safety. Education in this sector is organised daily, this includes creative learning, letter and number work, singing and story time to boost confidence and their understanding. Education is also provided in a way of treating the child as an individual to show they develop at their own speed.This sector will also treat special needs children equal and show no discrimination. Voluntary; a small grant is donated for them to start up there business one example is child lines and mother and toddler groups. Voluntary provides help, support, and education to children. On nspcc. org. uk is say this is doing by; 1) ‘Focusing on areas which will make the biggest difference 2) Prioritise the children at risk 3) Learn what works the best for them 4) Create leverage for change’. When the sector finds new ways to help children they will test it out to see ow it goes and if it works then they will carry on with the new idea. They educate the children by the things they say and do to them to forget about certain things in their life and to develop them to move on and stay strong. E2 Statutory sector supports children and their families by doing things that will help their children to develop and grow, they fit around parents timetables and help them to go about their daily life knowing there child is in good monitored care. The statutory sector protects children and gives their families a sense of relief.It also helps parents with educating the child in their background and helps them understand more of the culture, also helps the families get good education for their child with the cost being mostly funded for them so it’s free. The private sector supports families and their children by giving them a safe secure place and making the child feel at home. It helps families go about their schedules and have a feel of relief that their child is going to be happy where they are, it supports them in a way of helping a child become better at their strengths, and it includes everything important in the Childs life.Voluntary work supports children in helping them overcome serious happenings in their life, and to become aware of people who have experienced similar going on and to help them have a better life in the future, and gives them closure. It supports the parents by being free of cost. E3 Childrens Act 2004; The act was around in 1989 but after a lot of going on it was updated to Children’s act 2004, it planned to improve how social services worked and how people would treat the children in their care.To help the children they plan to bring multiple agencies together to protect innocent children and stop the abuse that maybe going on. The 1989 act was poor, it made it easier for abusers to get away with what they did or gets a low sentence, this is because agencies didn’t come together and share information. The children get better response for what has happened and their needs are more focused on, the court decides what is best for the child to make them safer as it is one of their rights. The act allows children and their families to come together a lot more in making them a lot afer then what they would have felt before. On surrey. gov. uk website it says ‘The Act aims to improve effective local working to safeguard and promote children’s wellbeing’. The act has a lot of intention in making a Childs well-being noticed and important and aim to do the following; * Keep the child healthy * Keeping the child safe * Help the child have fun and enjoy life more and achieve things they thought they couldn’t. The children act 1989 was poor; the new act 2004 was promoted in ways such as teaming a lot more agencies together to work on keeping a child safe and having rights to what they deserve.The act shows people that children have rights to an education, healthy lifestyle and to be a child and enjoy their life without any threat. Education Act 2002; This act came around in 2002, on the europarchive. org website it say that ‘It is a substantial and important piece of legislation intended to raise standards, promote innovation in schools and reform education law’. This would help children get a better and healthier education through their life and make their lifestyle normal and challenging to become what they are willing to become.The act helps children to qualify for a greater and more flexibility in certain areas of the national curriculum. This helps children become involved with other people because it joins schools together as a team to work together on the well-being of the children. Human Rights Act 1998; This act came around in 1998 and aimed to help children have major rights in their life to give their lifestyle normality and a lot more easy going when it comes to the way families are. The rights support children in a way of safety and a healthy life some examples of human rights that are important to a child’s life are; 1. reedom from torture and degrading treatment 2. the right to respect for private and family life 3. the right not to be discriminated against in respect of these rights and freedoms 4. the right to an education If any of this rights are breached you have the right to an effective solution in law even if the breach was done by a police officer you still have the right to go to law. E4 Every child Matters; This provides every child no matter their background or circumstances the support they will need.Every child needs to be healthy which includes growing and their development as well as their emotional and physical well being, the environment needs to be a safe place for them to be able to develop, ano ther principle is for the children to enjoy and achieve through their learning and be able to achieve economic well-being through their life. These are crucial to be in your placement for the children to develop as the first 3 years are critical. This will help children’s life become healthy and have normality to. Welfare of children is paramount (children act 1989); A child’s welfare is paramount.The idea is that when decisions are made the needs and interests of the children must come first this means they need to be recognized as an individual. This will shape children in becoming aware of routines and the way their daily life will carry on. The court determines what will be best for the child’s upbringing and decides this by these points legislation. gov. uk it states ‘the ascertainable wishes and feelings of the child concerned (considered in the light of his age and understanding). Cache Statement of values; The values in this are ways of putting the child first.To do this you will never use physical punishment towards a child, respect the parent or those in a parenting role, respect the staff in the child care industry and those involved, respect values and spiritual beliefs of the child and their family, honour the confidentiality of the child and their family. If these are not respected and done right then these could be life threatening to a child and those involved with the child. This will shape children in building their respect by showing you’re respecting others they will copy. E5The importance of valuing and respecting children will show them that you as a member of staff or a practitioner will not judge them or label them for who they are or how they look and do certain things. It will help them understand that everyone is individual and different but that doesn’t mean to treat them any different. If you show the children respect it shows a sense of care for them and will boost their confidence. Respect ing and valuing will help the child understand more on what they are doing and will help them in life, to support this on community. rg it states ‘creating environments  that foster creativity, innovation, discovery, inquiry,  questioning and problem solving. This is how settings help children increase and how it shows we respect what they need to learn and discover. it will show they are just as important as anyone else in the establishment which will make them not as shy. Their self esteem will rise if you talk to them like an adult and say more positive things, also saying their name correctly and praising them on the good shows that you value them as an individual and that learning their name also will show their important to.C The practitioner should listen to a child views and their opinions because it will help them with their confidence on showing that they can have a conversation about anything and show they have a voice to. If their confidence rises then they wil l communicate better with others and make new friends and be able to talk about their daily life routine a lot more and be able to say if something is wrong and if they need help. Listening to a child shows their important just like everyone else and that you value them as a person.A more confident child will tend to work harder in what they do to achieve and develop a lot more as well. The more a child is listened to the more open minded they will become and more outspoken. This will make it easier for them to become understood and will allow practitioners to identify their wants and needs. It’s a way of involving a child in decision making and showing them there are not really any wrong answer and they can learn from their mistakes.Also to show you have time to try and understand what they are saying, to support what I have said Tassoni et al (2007 page 13) ‘a child might need you to listen carefully so that you can understand what he or she is trying to say’. Also from listening to children a practitioner will gain their respect for you . A A child centred approach means to identify a child’s abilities and weakness’s and work around that with activities that they could handle, it also means to make the environment to the standard of their needs and to cater what they may need. Everything is based around the child.On growingplaces. org. uk they state ‘It allows freedom for children to think, experience, explore, question and search for answers’. Tassoni et al (2007 page 234) says ‘You will need to ensure that children’s interests are always reflected in what they do’ this is a way of ensuring the child is interested in learning and activities. The advantages of a child centred approach are that the children all gain something important to do with their life it helps families and practitioners notice their strengths and weaknesses as an individual so it is easier to help them focus on certain things.Another advantage is their needs are always catered for. They have a home like atmosphere in the environment for example toilet and sinks to keep their hygiene up also there are potties and nappies, changing rooms for those children who will need them. Their dietary is focused on and professionals will work around it. Another way of making a child centred approach is for early year practitioners to communicate this will help an individual child extend their knowledge or thinking, model ideas, prompt questions, nurture development, support the acquisition on specific skills.The disadvantages of a child centred approach is that it could make it hard for a child to go into something different like a primary school as they have not been prepared for that big leap in their life, it also makes it hard to slightly explain to a child that they can’t do something they ask as in past experience the child has always got what they have needed due to the child centred approach. I b elieve that the child centred approach is a good thing because it helps a child have a healthy lifestyle and helps them notice what they are going to gain and their strengths in the environment.Also that it helps them live their life as a child before rushing into something strange, the routine of their life is kept the same in some places as it is at home. E6 Confidentiality; This is an important skill because it shows that you are keeping private information about a child or a child’s household inside the nursery and not outside. This is an important skill to need in the work place with children because children will say a lot and if they say something about what may of happened to them for example abuse then it is the rules of being in a childcare establishment that you tell nobody if you on’t keep it confidential and it may not be true you could hurt someone and lose your right to work in that place. This will help support your work with children because it shows y ou are a trustworthy person and that you have knowledge of the rules and regulations of the workplace. It will make professionals trust you. To support what I have said in Tassoni 2007 page 11 it states ‘some of this information will be confidential information and must not be shared’.Communication; This is an important skill because you need to be confident enough to be able to talk to parents and other staff members about the children and things that will be needed to do around the work area. This will help support you working with children because you need to be able to communicate properly with the children because you will need to talk to them at different levels and know how to talk to children from babies to 11 year olds, also the be able to communicate with the other staff members to discuss planning activities or if the child is hurt you will need to communicate with the staff member and communicate in a team.Observation skills; This is important because youâ⠂¬â„¢ll need it to observe activities that are going on and the way children are behaving if it is appropriate or not. This will help your support with working with children because it shows that you know how to do things when working in that establishment for the future, it will help you set up activities or learn a child’s need. It shows that you can see children as an individual and that’s what you will need to do. Having this will also show that you are good at learning new things by observing how other staff members do things. E7Time management; This would be important to support your training because being able to show up on time for a placement and to take in coursework that’s due in shows you’re determined to do well and give a good impression. Being able to keep on time also shows that you’re well organized when it comes to deadlines or dates you need to be in and that you’re taking things seriously. Managing time is not a tricky th ing to do and being able to be on time for everything shows dedication. If you’re on time or early for placements it could lead to a permanent offer or a good review of your time there.The children are less developed in time management then you and will take what you do in to mind on time-management-success. com it states ‘Punctuality is a big issue in terms of time management for kids who have a less developed sense of time’. Giving Presentations; This helps support your training because it helps you take away what you’ve learnt and seen and put it up for everyone else to see your understanding. Being able to give a presentation also shows confidence and your understanding of the subject as well.It makes things easier for tutors to see how much you have developed and if you do need any help at all or if there are any errors. Note Taking; This helps support your training because it helps you go over anything you may not understand, note taking shows that y ou’re serious about learning things about what to do and what not to do in a placement. Also it helps you do units and give you ideas on what to write. Note taking in a placement will help you understand the difference in other childcare areas and it may lead to questions that you would like to ask to improve your knowledge. BConfidentiality; It is important to understand this boundary because working in a nursery or day-care centred even a primary school you will hear stories from the children or over here parents and staff talking about private things. The information you may hear is private and you must understand you cannot talk to anyone outside of the placement as someone who knows that family could over hear and this would affect them. A good test to know if a piece of information is confidential is to think about whether it’s common knowledge or if you only know it because of the position of you are in inside the nursery (Tassoni et al 2007).Understanding this will stop you hurting others or gossiping about other people behind their back. Health and safety; This is important to understand as a boundary also because you will need to know the child’s health issues if there are any or whether the child is safe where they are in the environment. You will need to understand what you should do if you see a gate or door open, this could be an easy way for unwanted visitors in the environment. On the premises you should as a member of staff what to do if a fire alarm goes off so you know what to do with the children when something like that does happen.If you don’t understand your limits when it comes to healthy and safety with children then you could be making a lot of mistakes and this could upset a lot of people. Also understand the limits of what a practitioner can do such as changing nappies and taking children to the toilet you may not be able to do this yet as you’re a learner. Managing A child behaviour; Practitioners may come across children with anger problems or any other behaviour problems which could be medical or non medical. When dealing with this you need to know what your limit is on how to handle them.You will need to go to a member of staff or manager and ask questions on what to do if a child has got a behaviour problem and what your limits are in dealing with this. You will also need to learn your boundaries because you could over excite a child and distract them when they must be focusing on an activity. Understanding your limit and boundaries is important on the well-being of the child. D1 There are three main types of people you as a practitioner should maintain a relationship with are; 1) Parents ) Professionals The Parents; The reason it is important to have an appropriate relationship with a parent is because you will need to talk to the parent about how their child is developing, what they have ate. What they have been doing throughout the day and if there have been any probl ems. You will see and need to speak to the parent occasionally on behalf of the child. The parent will need to trust you with their child and feel comfortable so they can get on with their life knowing their child is in safe hands.Other Professionals; It is important to maintain an appropriate relationship with other professionals as you will be working alongside them for a long time. You will be working as a team and you will need to have a relationship to feel comfortable in putting your views across and asking question on if you’re confused or not. If the relationship between you and the other professional is complicated then the children (who are your main priorities) will pick up on this atmosphere and feel wary and upset.If the child senses a positive feeling between a practitioner and professional then they will feel a sense of safety and calmness and comfort to know that nothing is going to happen and everyone will be fine. D2 Multi-agency team functions by bringing t ogether practitioners from different sectors and professions. On cwdcouncil. org. uk they quote ‘within the workforce they provide integrated support to children and their  families, for example a ‘team around the child' (TAC)’. The multi agency also has several professionals coming together as a team.Many benefits are in this type of agency such as support and advice on parents that need it. It helps families with young children by placing them in a onsite nursery until there finished with classes such as parenting. Multi agency is an effective way to support the children that have extra needs and help with improvement on their development. The way they make sure they meet the child and families needs is by communicating well with each other and by understanding their roles and responsibilities within the agency.As a practitioner you will need to learn what other professionals are involved in your setting and how this might affect your work. Some of the charact eristics of a multi agency are cooperation/collaboration, knowledge, common goals and effective communication. This will all help you when working in a multi agency because it will help you with what you need to find out and understand more on what the parent or child will need when in an environment such as help on certain subjects, dietary and religion.It helps other professionals in an environment also to share knowledge of a family together so professionals do not ask the family the same questions over; they are well organized and serious about their roles on making life easier for families and children. E8 Bibliography Community childcare growing places – what is meant by child centred approach [online] http://www. growingplaces. org. uk/reggio. htm (13/10/2011) Children Act 1989- Welfare of the children http://www. legislation. gov. uk/ukpga/1989/41/section/1 (15/12/2011) Children Services Community Management. We Value Children. ttp://www. cscommunity. org. au/index. p hp? id=45 (15/12/2011) Cruelty to children must stop. FULL STOP. Our approach to what we do http://www. nspcc. org. uk/what-we-do/about-the-nspcc/our-approach/our-approach_ wda72244. html (12/10/2011) Multi-agency working An effective way of supporting children and families with additional needs http://www. cwdcouncil. org. uk/multiagencyworking (14/10/2011) Tassoni P, Beth, K. Bulman, K & Eldridge, H. (2007) CACHE Level 3 Child Care And Education 4th Edition Heinemann: England. THE CHILDREN ACT 2004 – OVERVIEW – Background [online] ttp://www. surreycc. gov. uk/sccwebsite/sccwspublications. nsf/f2d920e015d1183d80256c670041a50b/5e17effdd34f9726802572f30055617d/$FILE/CYPP%20Childrens%20Act%20Briefing%20v2. pdf accessed (11/10/2011) The National Archives-Main provisions of the Education Act 2002 [online] http://collections. europarchive. org/tna/20091115062646/teachernet. gov. uk/educationoverview/educationact/summary/ (13/10/2011) Time Management Success. Why is time man agement important. http://www. time-management-success. com/why-is-time-management-important. html (15/12/2011) Child Care Introduction to Children Unit 1; E1 Statutory; sectors that are fully funded but it depends on the boroughs. One example is school nurseries. In this setting professionals aim to make life in the setting feel like a family atmosphere for children to feel comfortable. Professionals also help children to develop with carefully chosen activities to do with the 6 learning areas, these are; language and literacy, creative development, physical development, personal social and emotional development, knowledge and understanding of the world and mathematical development.They aim to help children develop at their pace and doesn’t rush anything because they know every child is individual in their own way. The nurseries also help children feel safe and secure in the environment and give them a healthy balanced lifestyle such has healthy meals, 5 a day and run around out the garden areas. The private sector; is full costing to parents, they have to pay the cost for their children, it isn’t paid for them. O ne example of this is preschools.The care they offer is just that little bit more then statutory this is because the sector makes the children feel like the school is also their home and that the professionals are family. Professionals in the sector will constantly observe the children for safety. Education in this sector is organised daily, this includes creative learning, letter and number work, singing and story time to boost confidence and their understanding. Education is also provided in a way of treating the child as an individual to show they develop at their own speed.This sector will also treat special needs children equal and show no discrimination. Voluntary; a small grant is donated for them to start up there business one example is child lines and mother and toddler groups. Voluntary provides help, support, and education to children. On nspcc. org. uk is say this is doing by; 1) ‘Focusing on areas which will make the biggest difference 2) Prioritise the children at risk 3) Learn what works the best for them 4) Create leverage for change’. When the sector finds new ways to help children they will test it out to see ow it goes and if it works then they will carry on with the new idea. They educate the children by the things they say and do to them to forget about certain things in their life and to develop them to move on and stay strong. E2 Statutory sector supports children and their families by doing things that will help their children to develop and grow, they fit around parents timetables and help them to go about their daily life knowing there child is in good monitored care. The statutory sector protects children and gives their families a sense of relief.It also helps parents with educating the child in their background and helps them understand more of the culture, also helps the families get good education for their child with the cost being mostly funded for them so it’s free. The private sector supports families and their children by giving them a safe secure place and making the child feel at home. It helps families go about their schedules and have a feel of relief that their child is going to be happy where they are, it supports them in a way of helping a child become better at their strengths, and it includes everything important in the Childs life.Voluntary work supports children in helping them overcome serious happenings in their life, and to become aware of people who have experienced similar going on and to help them have a better life in the future, and gives them closure. It supports the parents by being free of cost. E3 Childrens Act 2004; The act was around in 1989 but after a lot of going on it was updated to Children’s act 2004, it planned to improve how social services worked and how people would treat the children in their care.To help the children they plan to bring multiple agencies together to protect innocent children and stop the abuse that maybe going on. The 1989 act was poor, it made it easier for abusers to get away with what they did or gets a low sentence, this is because agencies didn’t come together and share information. The children get better response for what has happened and their needs are more focused on, the court decides what is best for the child to make them safer as it is one of their rights. The act allows children and their families to come together a lot more in making them a lot afer then what they would have felt before. On surrey. gov. uk website it says ‘The Act aims to improve effective local working to safeguard and promote children’s wellbeing’. The act has a lot of intention in making a Childs well-being noticed and important and aim to do the following; * Keep the child healthy * Keeping the child safe * Help the child have fun and enjoy life more and achieve things they thought they couldn’t. The children act 1989 was poor; the new act 2004 was promoted in ways such as teaming a lot more agencies together to work on keeping a child safe and having rights to what they deserve.The act shows people that children have rights to an education, healthy lifestyle and to be a child and enjoy their life without any threat. Education Act 2002; This act came around in 2002, on the europarchive. org website it say that ‘It is a substantial and important piece of legislation intended to raise standards, promote innovation in schools and reform education law’. This would help children get a better and healthier education through their life and make their lifestyle normal and challenging to become what they are willing to become.The act helps children to qualify for a greater and more flexibility in certain areas of the national curriculum. This helps children become involved with other people because it joins schools together as a team to work together on the well-being of the children. Human Rights Act 1998; This act came around in 1998 and aimed to help children have major rights in their life to give their lifestyle normality and a lot more easy going when it comes to the way families are. The rights support children in a way of safety and a healthy life some examples of human rights that are important to a child’s life are; 1. reedom from torture and degrading treatment 2. the right to respect for private and family life 3. the right not to be discriminated against in respect of these rights and freedoms 4. the right to an education If any of this rights are breached you have the right to an effective solution in law even if the breach was done by a police officer you still have the right to go to law. E4 Every child Matters; This provides every child no matter their background or circumstances the support they will need.Every child needs to be healthy which includes growing and their development as well as their emotional and physical well being, the environment needs to be a safe place for them to be able to develop, ano ther principle is for the children to enjoy and achieve through their learning and be able to achieve economic well-being through their life. These are crucial to be in your placement for the children to develop as the first 3 years are critical. This will help children’s life become healthy and have normality to. Welfare of children is paramount (children act 1989); A child’s welfare is paramount.The idea is that when decisions are made the needs and interests of the children must come first this means they need to be recognized as an individual. This will shape children in becoming aware of routines and the way their daily life will carry on. The court determines what will be best for the child’s upbringing and decides this by these points legislation. gov. uk it states ‘the ascertainable wishes and feelings of the child concerned (considered in the light of his age and understanding). Cache Statement of values; The values in this are ways of putting the child first.To do this you will never use physical punishment towards a child, respect the parent or those in a parenting role, respect the staff in the child care industry and those involved, respect values and spiritual beliefs of the child and their family, honour the confidentiality of the child and their family. If these are not respected and done right then these could be life threatening to a child and those involved with the child. This will shape children in building their respect by showing you’re respecting others they will copy. E5The importance of valuing and respecting children will show them that you as a member of staff or a practitioner will not judge them or label them for who they are or how they look and do certain things. It will help them understand that everyone is individual and different but that doesn’t mean to treat them any different. If you show the children respect it shows a sense of care for them and will boost their confidence. Respect ing and valuing will help the child understand more on what they are doing and will help them in life, to support this on community. rg it states ‘creating environments  that foster creativity, innovation, discovery, inquiry,  questioning and problem solving. This is how settings help children increase and how it shows we respect what they need to learn and discover. it will show they are just as important as anyone else in the establishment which will make them not as shy. Their self esteem will rise if you talk to them like an adult and say more positive things, also saying their name correctly and praising them on the good shows that you value them as an individual and that learning their name also will show their important to.C The practitioner should listen to a child views and their opinions because it will help them with their confidence on showing that they can have a conversation about anything and show they have a voice to. If their confidence rises then they wil l communicate better with others and make new friends and be able to talk about their daily life routine a lot more and be able to say if something is wrong and if they need help. Listening to a child shows their important just like everyone else and that you value them as a person.A more confident child will tend to work harder in what they do to achieve and develop a lot more as well. The more a child is listened to the more open minded they will become and more outspoken. This will make it easier for them to become understood and will allow practitioners to identify their wants and needs. It’s a way of involving a child in decision making and showing them there are not really any wrong answer and they can learn from their mistakes.Also to show you have time to try and understand what they are saying, to support what I have said Tassoni et al (2007 page 13) ‘a child might need you to listen carefully so that you can understand what he or she is trying to say’. Also from listening to children a practitioner will gain their respect for you . A A child centred approach means to identify a child’s abilities and weakness’s and work around that with activities that they could handle, it also means to make the environment to the standard of their needs and to cater what they may need. Everything is based around the child.On growingplaces. org. uk they state ‘It allows freedom for children to think, experience, explore, question and search for answers’. Tassoni et al (2007 page 234) says ‘You will need to ensure that children’s interests are always reflected in what they do’ this is a way of ensuring the child is interested in learning and activities. The advantages of a child centred approach are that the children all gain something important to do with their life it helps families and practitioners notice their strengths and weaknesses as an individual so it is easier to help them focus on certain things.Another advantage is their needs are always catered for. They have a home like atmosphere in the environment for example toilet and sinks to keep their hygiene up also there are potties and nappies, changing rooms for those children who will need them. Their dietary is focused on and professionals will work around it. Another way of making a child centred approach is for early year practitioners to communicate this will help an individual child extend their knowledge or thinking, model ideas, prompt questions, nurture development, support the acquisition on specific skills.The disadvantages of a child centred approach is that it could make it hard for a child to go into something different like a primary school as they have not been prepared for that big leap in their life, it also makes it hard to slightly explain to a child that they can’t do something they ask as in past experience the child has always got what they have needed due to the child centred approach. I b elieve that the child centred approach is a good thing because it helps a child have a healthy lifestyle and helps them notice what they are going to gain and their strengths in the environment.Also that it helps them live their life as a child before rushing into something strange, the routine of their life is kept the same in some places as it is at home. E6 Confidentiality; This is an important skill because it shows that you are keeping private information about a child or a child’s household inside the nursery and not outside. This is an important skill to need in the work place with children because children will say a lot and if they say something about what may of happened to them for example abuse then it is the rules of being in a childcare establishment that you tell nobody if you on’t keep it confidential and it may not be true you could hurt someone and lose your right to work in that place. This will help support your work with children because it shows y ou are a trustworthy person and that you have knowledge of the rules and regulations of the workplace. It will make professionals trust you. To support what I have said in Tassoni 2007 page 11 it states ‘some of this information will be confidential information and must not be shared’.Communication; This is an important skill because you need to be confident enough to be able to talk to parents and other staff members about the children and things that will be needed to do around the work area. This will help support you working with children because you need to be able to communicate properly with the children because you will need to talk to them at different levels and know how to talk to children from babies to 11 year olds, also the be able to communicate with the other staff members to discuss planning activities or if the child is hurt you will need to communicate with the staff member and communicate in a team.Observation skills; This is important because youâ⠂¬â„¢ll need it to observe activities that are going on and the way children are behaving if it is appropriate or not. This will help your support with working with children because it shows that you know how to do things when working in that establishment for the future, it will help you set up activities or learn a child’s need. It shows that you can see children as an individual and that’s what you will need to do. Having this will also show that you are good at learning new things by observing how other staff members do things. E7Time management; This would be important to support your training because being able to show up on time for a placement and to take in coursework that’s due in shows you’re determined to do well and give a good impression. Being able to keep on time also shows that you’re well organized when it comes to deadlines or dates you need to be in and that you’re taking things seriously. Managing time is not a tricky th ing to do and being able to be on time for everything shows dedication. If you’re on time or early for placements it could lead to a permanent offer or a good review of your time there.The children are less developed in time management then you and will take what you do in to mind on time-management-success. com it states ‘Punctuality is a big issue in terms of time management for kids who have a less developed sense of time’. Giving Presentations; This helps support your training because it helps you take away what you’ve learnt and seen and put it up for everyone else to see your understanding. Being able to give a presentation also shows confidence and your understanding of the subject as well.It makes things easier for tutors to see how much you have developed and if you do need any help at all or if there are any errors. Note Taking; This helps support your training because it helps you go over anything you may not understand, note taking shows that y ou’re serious about learning things about what to do and what not to do in a placement. Also it helps you do units and give you ideas on what to write. Note taking in a placement will help you understand the difference in other childcare areas and it may lead to questions that you would like to ask to improve your knowledge. BConfidentiality; It is important to understand this boundary because working in a nursery or day-care centred even a primary school you will hear stories from the children or over here parents and staff talking about private things. The information you may hear is private and you must understand you cannot talk to anyone outside of the placement as someone who knows that family could over hear and this would affect them. A good test to know if a piece of information is confidential is to think about whether it’s common knowledge or if you only know it because of the position of you are in inside the nursery (Tassoni et al 2007).Understanding this will stop you hurting others or gossiping about other people behind their back. Health and safety; This is important to understand as a boundary also because you will need to know the child’s health issues if there are any or whether the child is safe where they are in the environment. You will need to understand what you should do if you see a gate or door open, this could be an easy way for unwanted visitors in the environment. On the premises you should as a member of staff what to do if a fire alarm goes off so you know what to do with the children when something like that does happen.If you don’t understand your limits when it comes to healthy and safety with children then you could be making a lot of mistakes and this could upset a lot of people. Also understand the limits of what a practitioner can do such as changing nappies and taking children to the toilet you may not be able to do this yet as you’re a learner. Managing A child behaviour; Practitioners may come across children with anger problems or any other behaviour problems which could be medical or non medical. When dealing with this you need to know what your limit is on how to handle them.You will need to go to a member of staff or manager and ask questions on what to do if a child has got a behaviour problem and what your limits are in dealing with this. You will also need to learn your boundaries because you could over excite a child and distract them when they must be focusing on an activity. Understanding your limit and boundaries is important on the well-being of the child. D1 There are three main types of people you as a practitioner should maintain a relationship with are; 1) Parents ) Professionals The Parents; The reason it is important to have an appropriate relationship with a parent is because you will need to talk to the parent about how their child is developing, what they have ate. What they have been doing throughout the day and if there have been any probl ems. You will see and need to speak to the parent occasionally on behalf of the child. The parent will need to trust you with their child and feel comfortable so they can get on with their life knowing their child is in safe hands.Other Professionals; It is important to maintain an appropriate relationship with other professionals as you will be working alongside them for a long time. You will be working as a team and you will need to have a relationship to feel comfortable in putting your views across and asking question on if you’re confused or not. If the relationship between you and the other professional is complicated then the children (who are your main priorities) will pick up on this atmosphere and feel wary and upset.If the child senses a positive feeling between a practitioner and professional then they will feel a sense of safety and calmness and comfort to know that nothing is going to happen and everyone will be fine. D2 Multi-agency team functions by bringing t ogether practitioners from different sectors and professions. On cwdcouncil. org. uk they quote ‘within the workforce they provide integrated support to children and their  families, for example a ‘team around the child' (TAC)’. The multi agency also has several professionals coming together as a team.Many benefits are in this type of agency such as support and advice on parents that need it. It helps families with young children by placing them in a onsite nursery until there finished with classes such as parenting. Multi agency is an effective way to support the children that have extra needs and help with improvement on their development. The way they make sure they meet the child and families needs is by communicating well with each other and by understanding their roles and responsibilities within the agency.As a practitioner you will need to learn what other professionals are involved in your setting and how this might affect your work. Some of the charact eristics of a multi agency are cooperation/collaboration, knowledge, common goals and effective communication. This will all help you when working in a multi agency because it will help you with what you need to find out and understand more on what the parent or child will need when in an environment such as help on certain subjects, dietary and religion.It helps other professionals in an environment also to share knowledge of a family together so professionals do not ask the family the same questions over; they are well organized and serious about their roles on making life easier for families and children. E8 Bibliography Community childcare growing places – what is meant by child centred approach [online] http://www. growingplaces. org. uk/reggio. htm (13/10/2011) Children Act 1989- Welfare of the children http://www. legislation. gov. uk/ukpga/1989/41/section/1 (15/12/2011) Children Services Community Management. We Value Children. ttp://www. cscommunity. org. au/index. p hp? id=45 (15/12/2011) Cruelty to children must stop. FULL STOP. Our approach to what we do http://www. nspcc. org. uk/what-we-do/about-the-nspcc/our-approach/our-approach_ wda72244. html (12/10/2011) Multi-agency working An effective way of supporting children and families with additional needs http://www. cwdcouncil. org. uk/multiagencyworking (14/10/2011) Tassoni P, Beth, K. Bulman, K & Eldridge, H. (2007) CACHE Level 3 Child Care And Education 4th Edition Heinemann: England. THE CHILDREN ACT 2004 – OVERVIEW – Background [online] ttp://www. surreycc. gov. uk/sccwebsite/sccwspublications. nsf/f2d920e015d1183d80256c670041a50b/5e17effdd34f9726802572f30055617d/$FILE/CYPP%20Childrens%20Act%20Briefing%20v2. pdf accessed (11/10/2011) The National Archives-Main provisions of the Education Act 2002 [online] http://collections. europarchive. org/tna/20091115062646/teachernet. gov. uk/educationoverview/educationact/summary/ (13/10/2011) Time Management Success. Why is time man agement important. http://www. time-management-success. com/why-is-time-management-important. html (15/12/2011)

Affectability of positive and negative written personal accounts

Expressive writing paradigm, positive and negative affect, positive meaning finding finding and positive affect. An individual's conduct of thoughts and feelings disclosure relating to aspects of their life is often utilized through expressive writing as a therapeutic strategy. This act is more formally recognized as the expressive writing paradigm (Nicholls, 2009), describing the health benefits of expressive writing production. Rebuttals against this theory include its lack of a clear definition in regard to the reasons it proves an effective therapy (Sloan & Marx, 2004), though its effectiveness remains undisputed.Expressive writing in studies can include a variety of deferent topic suggestion in analysis of any emotion from traumatic events to Immense positive experiences. Emotional expression has been shown to effect general satisfaction positively or negatively dependent on the correlated emotion to the subject of concern. Further enhancing this suggestion Is the notion of stre ngthened self-efficacy through emotional expression (Kirk. Schuster, & Hint, 201 1 Already, Implications of Its use In positive regard becomes more applicable In applying positivist more generally as a result of written divergence.Writing has proven a powerful tool across studies In both mental and physical responses. An experiment conducted on Swedish athletes found a positive correlation between the writing of positive self-talk and reaction times (?seedeater, Spender, & S ¶Darlene, 2012). Another more extreme case of expressive writing incorporation was used in a 2012) This study focused on the positive outcomes of the experience and was found to exhibit positive effects on common survivor constraints as fatigue, intrusive thoughts, post-traumatic stress and so on.Yet another study of interest involves the SE of expressive writing, though not with an observer's direction of positive or negative affect. This study simply engaged participants to write down their traumatic experie nce. Outcomes of which included decreased physician visits and use of aspirin over time (Baneberry & Bell, Confronting a traumatic event: Toward an understanding, 1986). These studies lie among a multitude of others (Kelly, 2012) – all of which indicate a significant positive impact of expressive writing on general satisfaction (Baneberry & Chunk, 2007).One argument against this expressive rating paradigm is that the use of written emotions is not necessarily the promoter of positive affect. Instead, the act of expressing emotions in any form will release tension of the event (Baneberry, 1997). Expressive writing may be said to provide means for structure and organization of an individual's emotions in a way they may never have thought about, or never have wanted to think about (Baneberry, 1997). This written account allows for little emotional repression if the participant involves themselves entirely in the process.This leaves open the argument that different harpies may pr oduce different results and with a society of subjectivity, this argument remain undisputed. Nonetheless, expressive writing cannot be undermined as a sound means for effective therapy. Interestingly, a study set forth to decipher whether written trauma showed increased positive affect than vocalism the trauma in a public setting (Fez, Valances, & Gonzalez, 1999). The study found that a written account of the trauma proved more negatively provoking than revealing in a public setting.Although further research needs to take place on this issue, it is hypothesized that written trauma is too intense, flooding emotions that the participant found more anxiety provoking than in a setting amongst other trauma victims. Linked to the term, as mentioned, are a number of different theories. As is with the case with many psychological theories, a singular theory is not applicable. To some, this may prove reason to avoid its use (Kelly, 2012). It may also be argued, however, that subjectivity amo ng individuals necessitates more than a singular theory.Of these theories is the concept that the act of interacting with an emotional vent in a more analytical sense may provide an outlet (Baneberry, 1997). It is thought that this outlet may reduce a traumatic influence of the event or enhance and remind of a pleasant memory. Furthermore, interacting with the event forces the individual to structure and organism an event in a way that they may have not previously thought about, or have wanted to think about. It is thought that this may bring clarity of the situation, release and perhaps even closure through self-efficacy.These theories are described as the immediate cognitive changes through the act of expressive writing. The more long term theories include the release of memories that may have had impact on the working mind. This theory suggests that as expressive writing is further indulged, immediate arousal of the memory diminishes (Baneberry, 1997). This becomes especially ess ential with traumatic events which tend to lose emotional arousal over a number of expressive writing sessions. With this act of release, a biological theory arises in that anxiety and other illnesses as a expression writing is that of a more social front.A study on holocaust victims valued that 70% of survivors had not shared information socially (Baneberry, 1997). After writing and talking about these experiences with researchers. Many were able to then share them with others, providing further therapy in a social context (Baneberry, 1997). Many studies are devoted to uncovering expression writing and the theory behind it. So too have studies encapsulated the long-term effects on well-being of its use as a therapy. Fewer studies examine expression writing in its immediate effects on an individual.This study focuses on the immediate effects of emotional writing on an individual's affect. With previous studies in mind, it is hypothesized that a positive affect will be correlated wit h exposure to positive experience writing; whereas a negative affect will be correlated with exposure to negative experience writing. Method Participants Participants were 173 (129 females) undergraduate students from an Australian tertiary education institution. The mean age of the participants was 30. 19 years (SD ? 9. 17); male mean age was 28. 14 (SD = 7. 2), and female mean age was 30. 89 (SD = 9. 60). Materials. The Ego-Resiliency Scale (ERR-89; Block & Kramer, 1996). This 14 item measure of trait saliency uses a 4-point Liker scale, ranging from does not apply at all (1) to applies very strongly (4). The scale is reportedly highly reliable (a = . 76) with example items including: ‘l am more curious than most people' and ‘l quickly get over and recover from being startled'. Resiliency was calculated by summing scores from all 14 items with higher scores indicating greater resiliency.The Depression, Anxiety, Stress Scale (DADS-21; Loving & Loving, 1995). This 21 ite m measure of depression, anxiety and stress records responses on a 4-point Liker scale from never (1) to almost always (3). The DADS-21 is reportedly highly reliable (a = . 96). Example items include â€Å"l find it hard to unwind† and â€Å"l felt that I wasn't worth much as a person†. The General Health Questionnaire (GHZ-12; Goldberg & Williams, 1988). This 12-item measure of general mental and physical health utilizes a 4-point Liker scale from not at all (O) to quite a bit (3).The reported reliability of the GHZ-12 ranges from . 82 to . 86. Example items include whether participant have â€Å"lost much sleep over worry' and â€Å"been unhappy and depressed†. Positive and Negative Affectively Scale (PANS; Watson, Clark, & Telling, 1998). This 20-item scale was used to assess positive and negative ambient mood. Participants were asked to rate the extent to which they felt the emotions ‘right now' on a 5-point Liker scale, ranging from very slightly or not at all (1) to extremely (5). Both the positive mood scale (a = 0. 90) and the negative mood scale (a = 0. 4) are considered highly reliable. Example positive mood descriptors included interested, excited, strong, proud and inspired. Example negative mood descriptors included distressed, upset, guilty, irritable and nervous. Positive affect is calculated by summing scores from all 10 positive items, with higher scores indicating greater positive affect. Positive meaning finding. A series of questions adapted from those reported by Tugged and Frederickson (2004) were administered in order to assess the degree to which participants found meaning in their described event.To prompt meaning finding, participants completed two open ended the significance of the event? Specific meaning finding questions included: ‘To what extent do you feel you might benefit from this situation in the long term? ; ‘How likely s it that there is something to learn from this experience? ; and ‘How easy is it to find meaning in the described event? Ratings for these questions were made on a seven- point scale, ranging from not at all (1) to extremely (7). Meaning finding was calculated by summing scores for these three questions. Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count 2007 (LAIC; Francis & Baneberry, 1996).All written positive disclosure essays were converted into individual word documents and analyzed through the LAIC program. The LAIC program was used to yield descriptive data on the number of costive and negative emotion words, and insight words used in the written disclosure pieces. In addition it was used to generate percentages of insight words used in the extended response positive meaning finding questions. The LAIC program has been found to correlate with Judges' ratings in the range of . 37 to . 81 (Francis & Baneberry, 1996). Procedure Data were collected from participants in either face-to-face or online first-year classes.Upon commencing the class, participa nts were introduced to the session as one on emotions. Qualities was the software program used to host the online survey. Participants were asked to pay close attention to instructions provided during the testing session. The session commenced with the ERR-89, DADS-21, GHZ, all of which served as distraction questionnaires, and the PANS. Following completion of these, the experimenter informed participants that they would complete a 15 minute writing task and that it was important that they tried to type for the entire 15 minutes.Participants were randomly assigned to the positive, neutral, or negative written disclosure condition. Participants in the positive written disclosure condition achieved the following instructions: Write about the most intensely positive experience of your life. Write about the experience in as much detail as you can. Really get into it and freely express any and all emotions or thoughts that you have about the experience. As you write, do not worry about punctuation or grammar; Just really let go and write as much as you can about the experience.Participants in the negative written disclosure condition were instructed to do the following: For the next 1 5 minutes write about the most important personal problem you are currently acing in your life. Write about the experience in as much detail as you can. Really get into it and freely express any and all emotions or thoughts that you have about the experience. As you write, do not worry about punctuation or grammar; Just really let go and write as much as you can about the experience. Continue writing until you are instructed to stop by the researcher.Finally, those in the control condition were asked to write about the activities of their day thus far in the most structured and detailed format possible (for an example see Tugged & Frederickson, 2004). The experimenter stopped participants at the end of the 1 5 minutes and directed them to continue with the rest of the experiment. The remainder of the test consisted of a post-test PANS, positive meaning finding and demographic questions. Once completed, participants were debriefed and provided with experimenter contact details should they require further information regarding the experiment.Results Prior to running the statistical analyses all data were screened for normality and positive written disclosure statements revealed participants chose to write about a wide variety of positive experiences. The five most common positive experiences included parenthood, establishing a significant relationship with a life partner, traveling overseas, career, and academic achievements. The five most common negative experiences included future career prospects, current employment, financial concerns, mental health, and relationship issues.Hypothesis 1 stated that writing about an intense positive experience will result in a greater increase in positive affect. To examine whether positive affect increased, change in positive affect scores were calculated by subtracting the pre-test from the cost-test positive PANS score. A one-way NOVA with three levels of the independent variable (positive, neutral, or negative written disclosure task) was performed to test the impact of the written tasks on change in positive affect. Results revealed that there was a significant difference between the neutral (M = -1. 12, SD = 5. 6), negative (M = -3. 81 , SD = 9. 54), and positive written disclosure conditions (M 3. 14, SD = 7. 34) for change in positive affect scores, F(2, 173) = 12. 14, pHypothesis 2 proposed that writing about an intense positive experience will result in greater meaning finding. A one-way NOVA was calculated to compare meaning finding scores between the three conditions following the written task. Results valued that there was a significant difference between the neutral (M = 14. 60, SD = 4. 20), negative (M = 15. 46, SD = 4. 35), and positive written disclosure conditions (M 19. 24, SD = 2. 65) for meaning finding scores, F(l, 189) = 24. 60, pPost hoc analyses using Bonfire adjustments revealed that the differences between the positive and negative, and the positive and neutral conditions were significant to the . 001 level. Participants who wrote about an intense positive life experience elicited greater positive meaning from the experience, compared to those who wrote about a active experience, or the days events. Discussion This data indicates that writing about positive and negative experiences increases and decreases affect accordingly, in conjunction with neutral conditions.The data also represents a greater meaning finder in participants engaged with positive written expression as opposed to negative and neutral conditions, with negative written expression producing the lower meaning finder of the two. With the hypothesis of the expressive writing paradigm in mind, it may be said that obtained results support this suggestion. In previous mention of the term, the ex pressive rating paradigm has been supported in many studies over long periods of time and through rather more intense conditions; such as the example of breast cancer survivors (Lu, Ghent, Young, Gawk-Singer, & LOL, 2012).Furthermore, previous studies focus greatly on the expression of traumatic instances (Baneberry, 1997) quite the opposite in that negative expressive writing produces a negative affect and lower meaning finder among participants. These results, however, are compared to that of writing positive experiences and so it may be said that a decreased score would be expected. Alternatively, being a cross-sectional design, perhaps more interesting results would be compiled from a series of written expression of the same account in the case of a negative experience.From previous studies, it is implied that regular written expression of a negative experience may produce positive results, contrary to those shown in this study. One of the implications of this study may be relat ed to indulging regularly in written accounts of positive experience to improve positive affect and meaning finding. Future studies, however, would benefit from the analysis of regular positive written expression. As is shown in previous studies with that of traumatic events, increased confrontation through written expression is shown to reduce negative affect.It may be possible that the opposite effect adhere to regular confrontation of positive experience. Perhaps this positive experience would decrease in positivist, or even have a reverse effect over time. The limitations of this study include, primarily, the tested participants. Undergraduate psychology students may not accurately represent the population. Many other studies of the same caliber have an inclination to testing of traumatic situations among a particular sub-group. Interesting would be the results obtained from a randomly selected participant group, and measuring them both for instant results and results over a num ber of tests.A further limitation may be described in the means in which data was collected. Lending to an intrusive subject matter, a face-to-face collection in class may not yield the greatest results. Anonymity to observer aside, students sitting within close proximity to another student may feel threatened by invasion of privacy and not reveal inner most feelings, effecting results. Furthermore, participation in the study was of a compulsory status. This may have affected the amount of effort students put into discussion as opposed perhaps to an individual actively seeking treatment or even involvement in a study.To prevent possible confounds in the future, ideally, participants would be of a random selection of willing volunteers. If unattainable however, it may prove advantages to separate students among the class too radius in which their test cannot be overlooked. Despite these limitations, this study shows promising results by suggestion that positive expression writing inc reases positive affect and greater meaning finding. These results may prove useful in a variety of situations and therapies; though further testing should be undergone to discover the extent of its effect.

Financial statement Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Financial statement - Essay Example An income statement reports on the organisations profits, expenses and income over a period of time. An income statement is also known as the profit and loss report, it provides information on the processes of the business enterprise. A statement of cash flows reports on an organisation’s cash flow activities,which include its processing, financing and investing activities. Financial statements for large companies are complex compared to the small companies because they include a wide range of notes added to the financial statements, management discussions, and analysis (Bragg, 2013). The notes added to the financial statements are considered as an essential part of the statements because they normally explain each item on the balance sheet, cash flow statement and income statement in further details. Albrecht an Stice (2011) defined capital maintenance as an accounting concept based on the principle that income is only recognized after capital has been maintained or there has been a full recovery of costs. When the amount of a company’s capital at the end of a period is unchanged from that at the beginning of the period,with any excess amount treated as profit (Albrecht an Stice ,2011). According to the writings of Taparia (2003), the concept of capital maintenance is significant as only income earned in excess amounts is needed to maintain capital may be considered as profit. There two concepts of capital maintenance are the financial capital maintenance and the physical capital maintenance. Under the concept of financial capital maintenance, profit is earned only if the financial amount of the net assets at the end of the fixed period exceeds the financial amount of net assets at the beginning of the period, after excluding any distributions to and contributions from owners during the period (Antle and Garstka,2004). Antle and Garstka, (2004) also stated that financial capital maintenance can be measured in either nominal monetary

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An american slave by Frederick Douglass, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass - Essay Example In this book, Douglass narrated the life of a slave in the United States into finer details. This paper will give a description of life a slave in the United States was living, as narrated through the experiences of Fredrick Douglass. Life of a slave in the United States The narrative begins by informing the readers that slaves were kept in the dark about crucial issues in their lives such as their dates of births. The slaves, particularly those born in slavery, were not allowed to know such important aspects of their lives as birthdays. For instance, Douglass was not sure of his exact birth date. They were even kept in the dark on the identity of their parents, â€Å"I do not recollect ever seeing my mother by the light of day† (Douglass, 10). This implies that the slaves were separated from their biological parents at a tender age, and subjected to harsh living conditions. One of the slaves, Fredrick Douglass, was separated from his mother, Harriet Bailey, when he was seven years old. The slaves are not emotionally affected by the separation since they are separated from their parents at a tender age and they become used to living without their parents. Slaves are subjected to harsh conditions of slavery, despite their parents or even relatives being the slaveholders. Slaves start to witness brutal acts of slavery at a very young age. The slave masters did not care whether their children or relatives were undergoing the harsh conditions of slavery. It is believed that Douglass’ father owned the slaves, â€Å"the opinion was whispered that my master was my father; but of the correctness of this opinion I know nothing.... My mother and I were separated when I was but an infant† (p 10). Slave masters use totalitarianism as a means of monitoring their subjects. The slaves are required to behave in a particular manner when they are interacting with their masters. Slaves themselves encounter cruel interaction among their peers and slave holders . Slave masters administer fears among the slaves, since this is what keeps them going. When they speak the truth, they are penalized by their owners. Ignorance is a slavery tool that is widely used by slaveholders to administer acts of slavery. Initially, many individuals were made to believe that slavery was a natural occurrence. People believed that blacks did not have the capability of actively participating in their civil rights, and therefore should be owned by white community. In this narrative, the whites are depicted as individuals who access power and keep blacks from the time they are born till they die. Slaves are ignorant of important aspects in their lives, not because they like it, but are forced to be in this status. The ignorance that is enforced ensures that the slave children are deprived of the individual identity sense. However, as the children tend to grow older, they secretly learn how to read and write as a means of acquiring literacy, resulting into their se lf sufficiency sense. According to the slaveholders, literacy would make the slaves be on the know-how of their rights and in turn question the whites on why they are keeping them. Ignorance is also used by slaveholders as a means of maintaining active control over what the rest of the world knows about acts of slavery. In this regard, if the slaves are not able to write, their brutal experience would not be exposed to the outside world. When slave masters discovered that the slaves were secretly learning how

Detainees in Afghanistan Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Detainees in Afghanistan - Research Paper Example The collection of materials is primary objective of the HUMINTS and should be pursued with due diligence in order to enhance the credibility of their findings. The purpose of the human intelligence should be intended to enhance human and technical collection techniques with due respect to the national laws. Collection of Information Collection of information is the major duty of HUMINT operations and it must be done with utmost care to safeguard their operations and yield good results. The credibility of collected information is vital to the success of the HUMNT operations and must be safeguarded at all costs in their operation. This is because this is their core mandate in their operations both nationally and internationally. The elements of the intelligence community are authorized to collect and retain any information based on the command of the organization in which they work for and the interest of the information they pursue.2 The procedures or information use and retention sho uld also be done after the consultation with the attorney general of the concerned state. Such procedures protect constitutional and other legal rights and limit the use of such information to unlawful government purposes thus infringing the rights of the victim. The use of electronic surveillance is only limited for the purposes of training, testing and conducting countermeasures to hostile electronic surveillance and is thus avoided in most instances. Inconsequential physical searches by the elements of intelligence community are also highly restricted by the law. The attorney general is delegated the power to give the necessary legal assistance and advice in the operations of the HUMINT practices. The elements of intelligence services are expected to cooperate with other appropriate law enforcement agencies for the purposes of protecting information and property of any element of the intelligence community. The members of the intelligence are authorized to provide special equipme nt, technical knowledge and necessary assistance when the lives of the suspects are endangered and support the local law enforcement agencies in necessary sectors. The provision of personnel services is limited to the approval by the general counsel in the concerned cases. The intelligence members are permitted to render any assistance and cooperate to law enforcement agencies and other civil authorities not precluded by the law in the course of their services.3 All the operations of the human intelligence members are required to be consistent with the law and any act of violation of the constitution is punishable by the courts of law. The participants of human intelligence services are not entitled to join or participate in any organization as they wish in the course of their operations. This can only be done in accordance of the procedures established by the head of intelligence and should be of the interest of the intelligence services. HUMINT Military Regulations The HUMINT has got various limitations and capabilities with regard to military operations in any part of the world. They have the ability to collect information and cross cue from endless variety of potential sources in all respects including detainees and related documents. They are to focus on collection of information not available by other means which includes information on threat intentions

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Social work critical thinking . book-Blaming The Victim by William Ryan - Essay Example The child’s upbringing is brought up repeatedly as an excuse for the lower educational levels of the minorities. The article mentions the influence of the home environment and the lack of experiences as a reason for hindered learning. It goes on to say that these differences in the home environment cause a barrier to education by not teaching the black student with, â€Å"inadequate preparation for the reality of the modern urban school.† (37) Integration became the solution for the poor educational system. So rather than facing the true problem, the victim is blamed and, â€Å"Uneducated parents, crowded living quarters, absence of books, family disinterest in education—all combine to handicap the poor black child as he enters the school system.† (33) Thus not only blaming the victim, but also instilling a belief in negative stereotypical beliefs about the victims. So not only is the child and his upbringing blamed for the lack of education, the inequality is justified by finding defects in the child while blaming. One instance of finding defect is that it was believed that being poor led to a â€Å"functional inferiority.† The Coleman Report was considered comprehensive. Coleman’s studies found that â€Å"blackness and low achievement are highly correlated†. This research blamed the victim by assuming that because white children learn more, black children learn less. Repeatedly, the blame returns to the home environment, blaming the victim for an upbringing. Researchers based findings on how far a student would go based on number of newspapers in the home, educational level of father and mother, books in the home, etc. (51) The research determined that there were more opportunities, more preparations for college and more resources available for whites. According to the author, the Coleman Report blames the victim based on the family background, treating it as â€Å"a cause-and-effect

Applying PR theory and concepts Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Applying PR theory and concepts - Essay Example Vodafone is the largest mobile phone operators in the world and NSPCC is one of the leading charity organizations located in UK. The objective of the PR department in Vodafone is to create a positive and favourable image of the company in the customer’s minds. This is especially applicable during times when the company launches a new product or service and communicates the message to the customers. Similarly NSPCC also undertakes different kinds of PR activities for communicating with its stakeholders. PR activities are considered especially important for the company because it is a charitable organization and makes little investments on advertisements. In such a condition, public relations are considered to be the most cost effective and authentic model of communication with stakeholders. The second part of the project mainly focuses on the different theories of public relations describing them elaborately. Moreover the applications of the theories in practice are also highli ghted along with comments about the ways it could be improved in the future. The three main stakeholder groups identified in Vodafone are its investors, consumers and employees. Maintaining proper relationship with stakeholders is considered to be of prime importance as they are the people who could affect the company’s business or who can be affected by it too. Vodafone seeks to communicate its perspectives with them and at the same time gains their feedback too. The feedback received provides information about the judgement about the sustainability priorities for the company’s strategies and also feeds into the appropriate sustainability strategies (Vodafone, 2011). In order to communicate with stakeholders the company undertakes PR activities like conducting conference calls, or meetings with investors on a regular basis. This is done with the aim of understanding