1. Understanding the principal of developing positive relationship with children young people and adults.
To establish a positive relationship with the others is one of important skill in order to get along with the others. Whether it is in a professional or outside professional environment, it is our human nature that we want to get along with the others. There are various ways of communicating with each other. Not only having a face to face conversation but also with emails, letters, telephone etc. Whichever method we use, there are certain principles which help us build positive relationships with others in order to avoid misunderstanding and conflict in our relationships.
The Principle of Positive Relationship Building
It is important to be organised and to have clear key points of discussion and to state what is the outcome. It is necessary to state the facts clearly to avoid misunderstanding and complication regarding issues when we are discussing. For instance, when we are talking to parents who come to find out their child's progress and to discuss their child's future, we need to discuss child's current status and future clearly in the polite manner to avoid any bad feelings between the parents and the teacher / carers.
It is also important to be considerate and respectful to the others. It is necessary to do a little research about others who you are communicating with such as name of the people who are involved in the situation, their social background and cultural differences. For instance, there are many different nationalities of people when we are around the school. One rule may be appropriate to one culture but not always applicable to other cultures. We have school assembly every week where each class learn about different culture and countries and present in front of the whole school. For instance, we recently had an assembly regarding Chinese New Year and everyone took part in singing Chinese songs! Through assembly, both children and young people as well as we can raise our awareness that there are different cultures and religions.
To understand their individual family back ground, we use the school home diary in order to understand a child needs/requirements on a daily basis. In this way, we can approach our children better. Knowing their background family information or what is happening maybe at home can always help to improve communication between child, parent and teachers.
Staff remembering information which is personal to others such as birthdays, sometimes help in terms of building our good relationships.
Furthermore, good listening skills are extremely important. It is necessary to take our time to understand what others are asking and maintain our interest and focus in our conversation. Including a sense of humor in our discussion sometimes creates laughter which can relax the atmosphere and relieve stressful situations.
Effective communication is one of the important principles. It has been mentioned that ' effective communication and positive relationship do not happen by chance' (B, Baker and Burnham, L. supporting teaching and learning in school P.2). This suggests both positive relationship and effective communication can be built around and based on the other principles.
Importance of effective communication
Effective communication will benefit children and young people when we are working in the school environment. It is important to demonstrate how we approach other people and how to respond to others in a good manner in order develop positive relationship with others at school, not only with the children or young people but also with adults such as member of staff and also with parents.
To become an effective communicator, it is important to consider the principle which I have mentioned above. Moreover, how we speak i.e. selecting words and vocabularies, tone of voice and the complexity of the sentences and in what situation or context of conversation. We also need to consider our
