Learning to
Communicate
Effectively

When working with children, staff learns to communicate
with a variety of people for different purposes:
 Building relationships with colleagues
 Plan curriculum with the staff members to support
children’s learning
 Participate in the supervisory process with head
teachers or directors
 Communicating with parents about child development
 Interact with professionals (doctors, social workers,
psychologists)
Becoming a SelfConfident Teacher

Beginner teachers need time to become more
confident in the work setting:
 Communicating with parents
 Leading group time
 Less depended on the supervisor
 Experience, staff development, and training can
have an exciting effect on the self-confidence of
caregivers
Understanding
Children

Working with children overtime, deepens caregivers
understanding of child development:
 Milestones of development
 Address important problems that children face
(delays in language or child abuse)
Understanding
Oneself

While working with children and interacting with
parents and other professionals, supervisees reflect
about their own growth and development:
 Some change their own attitudes toward learning
and disciplining children
 Attend workshops and complete college courses
 Having support from a supervisor, stimulates the
staff to think what they need to do to improve
Respecting Others

 Respect and appreciate other cultures
 Value other human being in their daily work
 Attend trainings to learn appreciate the cultural and
ethnic differences and better communicate with
parents
Gaining Satisfaction and
Stimulation from Professional
Growth

 Increase staff competence
 Broaden their roles and responsibilities based on
their personal interests (playground or classroom
design or child advocacy work)
 Staff who work in the nurturing and stimulated
environments, remain in their jobs despite the low
pay
Building a Philosophy
of Learning

With experience, teachers tend to develop strong
points of view about how children learn best:
 How children should be handled
 How a play area should be designed
 How children learn best
Valuing Good
Supervision

 Part-time volunteers do not expect to be trained,
observed, or evaluated
 Full-time staff have high expectations for
supervisors and can be critical when acceptable
supervision is not provided
 Staff value a supervisor who is willing to spend
time with them, to listen to their thoughts, feelings,
and concerns

 Staff appreciate constructive criticism
 Staff appreciate supervisors who engage them in
group problem-solving activities, seek their input
in decision making
The Developmental
Dynamic at Work

When a problem arise with the supervisee, consider
his/her developmental level to determine the most
appropriate supervisory strategy. In case of a 66-yearold who is great with children, except in areas of
discipline.
The Supervisory Plan

 Meet with the supervisee
 Make her feel special person and recognize the
good work she has been doing
 Going over routines and clarifying her role
working with children
 Immediately address the issue
 Take time to observe the supervisee in the
classroom

 Hold individual conferences with the person on a
regular basis to get to know him/her
 Provide feedback to him/her from observations to
begin to reflect on her behavior in disciplining
children
 Provide monthly training sessions with others to
deal with child care techniques and provide them
with opportunities to share their thoughts
 Invite this person to staff meetings so she/he feel
part of the program and learn from the staff
The Five Stages of
Clinical Supervision

Clinical supervision is an ongoing professional
development of staff members
Stage 1: Pre-observation Conference
 Opportunity to begin to establish positive working
relationships with each other
 Discuss concerns
 Review activity plans for children
 Make plans for observations and establish a time
for the post-observation conference

Stage 2: Observation
 Supervisor or peer may observe teachers at work
during formal/informal lessons with children
 To link between the plans made during stage 1 and
actual practice

Stage 3: Analysis and Strategy
 Give immediate feedback
 Observed events are analyzed in terms of concerns
and strategies are formulated

Stage 4: Supervision Conference
 Discuss strategies for improvement
 Offer specific help
 Plan for the next observation

Stage 5: Post conference Analysis
 Self-improvement for supervisors and staff
members
 Assess the nature of communication during the
conference
 The role that each individual played
 Progress was made on the issues discussed
Modes of Communication

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Small- and Large-group meetings
Hallway conversations
In-house newsletter
Internal memos
E-mail
Staff bulletin board
Voicemail
Text Messaging
Website, Twitter, or Facebook
Daily message log
Coaching to Connect Curriculum, Assessment,
and Teaching

 Observe
Understand assessment choices
 Reflect
Make meaning of documentation
 Develop
Curriculum plan
 Apply
To teaching strategies
 Evaluate
Celebrate a project