A child’s self -concept and self-image is established over the first few years of their life. Children who have high self -image will be very confident and feel good about themselves. Self-image is very important as it affects the way people feel about themselves. When children have low self-image they do not always have the confidence to try new things and are often shy and withdrawn.
People who work with children need to make them feel confident and good about themselves and need to counteract any negative influences in their lives.
Children gain their confidence, mainly through adults, especially their family as they are the first carers of children.
Tips for keeping children’s self-image high
- Make sure you step in if children make unkind remarks about each other
- Smile and greet children and their families warmly
- Never talk negatively about children
- Do not compare children or have favourites
- Do not tease children
- Be careful about commenting on children’s appearance
- Praise children as much as possible
- Report any signs of bullying
- Report any signs of racism
Being a professional practitioner
As well as having a wide and extensive knowledge of children’s development, practitioners need to be professional in the way in which they work with children. They need to have many skills as well as knowledge.
These skills include
- Being confidential
- Being able to work with parents
- Have a calm personality
- Be enthusiastic
- Be reliable
- Be able to work in a team
- Work with other professionals
- Have the ability to look at individual children’s needs and know how to meet these
- Have imagination and be creative
- Be able to reflect on your practice
- Be able to take criticism
How to be an effective member of a team
The majority of adults who work with children work in team. The exception is when you work as a child minder or as a nanny.
Sometimes team are small e.g. in a small community school but sometimes teams are large e.g. in large city primary school
For teams to do well they must work together. A good team member always puts the other adults and children’s needs first