Essay on Forgiveness and Sin - 1092 Words

Forgiveness and Sin The overall theme of the Bible is simple to find, as it is on nearly every single page of it. It is that of mans sin and Gods attempt to forgive him of that sin while still being absolutely holy and absolutely just. First, God gives man His Law. These are the same rules and regulations that many Jewish Orthodox follow to this very day. Next, in the supreme act of love, God sends His Son, Jesus Christ, to die for mans sins in a final act of forgiveness. Both of these acts are seen through the life of a single person, the essential founder of the Protestant faith and one of the primary founders of Christianity through the ages - the Apostle Paul. Paul was raised as a Roman Jew from Tarsus known as Saul. He was†¦show more content†¦Paul traveled throughout the Roman Empire founding new churches and leading thousands of people to faith in Jesus Christ. He fought with Apostles such as Peter and James who thought that Christianity should remain only a Jewish religion. He taught that Christs forgiveness was available to all people, slave or free, man or woman, adult or child. As a result of Pauls never ending preaching, he spent most of his life as a believer in Roman prisons. Nearly every single letter we currently have from him was written while he was in prison. Yet despite of his current abode, Paul preached of Gods forgiveness through Christ, and that Christs followers should rejoice no matter what their current situation was. Paul eventually died at the hands of the Roman Empire, directly because of his belief in Jesus of Nazareth, the One he proclaimed as Christ. Now that I have established the history of the life of Paul, I would like to look at one aspect of his life in particular, and that is how he viewed sin and forgiveness. According to Pauls Pharisee training, sin was breaking the Law and forgiveness was offered only through ritualistic sacrifice to God. After Pauls conversion though, he embraced a very different view of forgiveness: that of forgiveness through belief in Jesus Christ. As the Pharisee Saul, Paul believed firmly in the Jewish Law and that forgiveness came only in keeping the entire Law throughout life. The Jewish Law is composed of literallyShow MoreRelatedWho Am I1356 Words   |  6 Pagesthings in church (and out of church too) without thinking of what we are saying. For instance, we say in the Creed I believe in the forgiveness of sins. I had been saying it for several years before I asked myself why it was in the Creed. At first sight it seems hardly worth putting in. If one is a Christian, I thought of course one believes in the forgiveness of sins. It goes without saying. But the people who compiled the Creed apparently thought that this was a part of our belief which we neededRead MoreForgiveness : Pardon Letter1594 Words   |  7 PagesSusan Kobzeff FORGIVENESS: Pardon Me Fresno Pacific University Authors Note Susan Kobzeff, Business Management 59 Cohort, Fresno North Campus, Signature Assignment, BIB314, Christopher Casselman. Forgiveness: Pardon Me Forgiveness is a word that is used quite flippantly in everyday language. Using it so loosely waters it down, which extracts its depth and value. Forgiveness is something that everyone desires when they have done wrong. When someone asks for forgiveness when they haveRead MoreThe Case Of Forgiveness And Forgiveness Essay1502 Words   |  7 PagesIntroduction to Forgiveness One of the single most difficult emotions and behaviors of life for most human being is the act of forgiveness. To forgive someone who has offended you and the pain it causes in your life by their offense requires more than we are humanly possible to do alone. To truly forgive and heal can only be done with the power of Jesus. Jesus taught to forgive those that hurt us so that our heavenly would forgive us as well. This paper will evaluate the case study of forgiveness. In examiningRead MoreForgiveness Is The Act Of Pardoning A Person1672 Words   |  7 PagesForgiveness is the act of pardoning a person(s) of an offense and ceasing to feel resentment towards them. It can be argued that the day the act of forgiveness was introduced to mankind, was when Adam and Eve first sinned in the Garden of Eden. Although it is not written in the Bible that Adam and Eve repented from their sins, sought forgiveness, studying the Book of Genesis further, it can be assumed that the action of forgiv eness occurred because Cain and Abel (Adam and Eve’s sons) both made sacrificesRead MoreChristian Beliefs About Forgiveness Essay808 Words   |  4 PagesChristian Beliefs About Forgiveness Christians believe that forgiveness is there trade mark and is essential that you call yourself a Christian. Jesus had more to say about forgiveness than anything else through out his teaching. So this shows us how important it is to us today. He taught forgiveness and carried his teaching into his own life. The old law of moses stated â€Å"an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth and a life for a life†. but Jesus replaced this andRead MoreHow I Have Made And Are Seeking Advice1006 Words   |  5 PagesWhen people sin, they turn away and disobey God. They are choosing their own way instead of remaining faithful to God. When a person sins, it creates a separation between the community, God and the person. Whenever someone sins it hurts and affects the community of believers. When we sin, we damage our ability to experience God’s love and to live fully with a freed conscience. Our actions have a ripple effect that affects the whole community. This means that we need to seek forgiveness, we need toRead MoreSt. Augustine s Confessions Essay1534 Words   |  7 PagesWhen a Catholic thinks of sin, the following questions come to his or her mind: Are my actions morally right? Am I disobeying God? Defying God’s rule is a sin, and seeking forgiveness is pivotal, mainly because it shows that one is aware that he or she has committed a sin, and therefore, he or she must seek redemption. For example, consider the following seven deadly sins: pride, envy, gluttony, lust, anger, greed, and sloth (â€Å"The Seven Deadly Sins,† 1). In Saint Augustine’s Confessions, readersRead MoreMy Brother Committed Murder And Death876 Words   |  4 Pageswe’ve all committed some type of sin, some more than others. Is one sin more serious than the other? It’s hard for anyone to tell what sins you commit, will get you into the kingdom of heaven. The bible lays out Ten Commandments to follow to live a pure life, but when we decide to follow the bottom half and not the top half, I wonder how God sees us then. What happens to a man that’s committed a horrific crime and dies in prison after he asks for forgiveness? In 2009, my brother committed murderRead MoreTheme of Christianity in Rime of the Ancient Mariner Essay1059 Words   |  5 Pagesmany Christian ideals are represented throughout the treacherous journey of the Mariner, such as sin, forgiveness, and prayer. The catalyst for the emergence of Christian symbolism occurs when the mariner commits a sin by murdering one of God’s creatures. By killing the albatross, he inevitably brings about a series of trials amongst himself and those aboard the ship. Though the significance of this sin is first unseen by the mariner, supernatural forces quickly condemn his actions as a severe crimeRead MoreEssay about Journal Critique730 Words   |  3 Pages â€Å"The Forgiveness of Sins and the Work of Christ: A Case for Substitutionary Atonement.† Anglican Theological Review 95.1 (Winter 2013): 9-24. THEO 510 LUO (Summer 2013) Survey of Theology Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary Joshua M. Peoples (ID# 22750743) May 26, 2013 A Journal Critique of â€Å"The Forgiveness of Sins and the Work of Christ: A Case for Substitutionary Atonement.† In his article, â€Å"The Forgiveness of Sins

Is It Time For New Global Currency Finance Essay - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 10 Words: 2967 Downloads: 5 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Finance Essay Type Argumentative essay Did you like this example? This seminar paper focuses on the issue that United States may have to face in future due to fall in the value of dollar.US has been gaining due to this , but that is for short term, but it is definitely a threat in long term period. It has been observed hence, that ever since peak time till 2000-2001 the US dollar has been on a significant decline ever since. The paper also focuses on a need for the global currency and whether further weakening of dollar may lead to introduction of a new global currency which will trap US treasury. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Is It Time For New Global Currency Finance Essay" essay for you Create order Will the U.S. dollar be dethroned soon? Is it really time for a new global currency? The United States has enjoyed the status of being the global superpower for more than half a century because of two unassailable pillars military and financial superiority over the rest of the world and having Dollar as the international currency of choice for global trade. Due to the political, financial and economic reasons the dominance is inclining to an end . Recent events like the financial crisis and the widening fiscal deficit of America have challenged the supremacy of the mighty dollar. Its been more than a decade,U.S. has been running huge external deficits and today its among the worlds biggest debtor. In compression to global balance the size of the US economy has become relatively smaller . The account deficit for U.S. had widened (because of the requirement to supply large quantities of the currency) from $ 98 billion in second quarter in 2009 to $ 108 billion in third quarter in 2009 and is speculated to touch $ 1.35 trillion by fourth quarter. To add to the woes, the developing nations are maintaining lower fiscal and external deficits. It has been observed hence, that ever since peak time till 2000-2001 the US dollar has been on a significant decline ever since. This has got foreign bankers into talking about advancing towards other global currencies like the Yuan, Euro, or a medium which can used to exchange is being prepared by the International Monetary Fund. Under these circumstances the only question that arises is: Will the U.S. dollar be dethroned soon? Is it really time for a new global currency? History Before we go into finding answers to the above question it is important to understand the source of strength and monopoly of Dollar. The Dollar Supremacy story started with the Bretton Woods system established in 1944. By the end of World War II, a vacuum was created in the international financial system due to the downfall of pound sterling. A requirement of a new global currency to rejuvenate the world economy got 44 allied nations to gather in Bretton Woods where dollar took over the role played by pound sterling/gold in previous international financial system. However, in 1971, the Bretton Woods system was revoked by U.S. By this time also, there was no other currency that was as powerful as US dollar to become the international currency of choice. Hence, the global economy moved towards a free floating regime with dollar continuing as the dominant currency. Post Bretton Woods, U.S got into an unofficial pact with Saudi Arabia and rest of OPEC who were the worlds largest oil producers. US provided military cover and political support to the House of Saud in exchange for trading oil denominated only in US Dollars with all the countries. A country that did not have geographical oil reserves had the only option of procuring the only acceptable currency in cross border oil transaction DOLLAR. Hence, with increasing demand for oil across the globe, the demand for Dollar was artificially inflated by this strategy of US and this is how the earlier system of exchanging dollar to gold was changed to dollar exchange for oil. Reason for weakening dollar and Potential Threats Some prominent reasons of concern of the weakening dollar and the threats are: US Creditworthiness U.S had controlled the global markets for over half a century because of the faith, the rest of the world had in the robust financial system of USA. The recent financial turmoil however has been an eye-opener for countries that have been maintaining huge reserves and securities issued by the US Government. There have been few significant signs of economic retrieval. The housing market still remains In trouble. In the labor market, jobs are still being shed and not enough jobs are being added. The creditworthiness that U.S has lost because of this crisis is for years to stay now. A belittling character as a reserve currency Keeping out the CCB (Chinese central bank), which doesnt report its stake to the International monitory fund, around 39% of global reserves are in dollars as compared to 56% a years ago, with the remainder lost to a range of currencies such as the sterling and euro. That fall in importance as a reserve currency is much more than just symbolic. U.S. economy is weak The United States government is bankrupt. The account deficits have been widening since the second quarter of 2009, with the overall 2009 budget deficit estimated to be around $ 2 TRILLION Also, the national debt is now reaching towards $ 12 TRILLION. The Asian Region Currency Partnership Japan, under the prime minister ship of Yukio Hatoyama is leading the charge to form a regional currency partnership based on closer ties between itself, China and South Korea. At the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) discussions in late November, 2009, the trilateral meeting unanimously concluded saying until now we have been too reliant on the United States and we would like to develop policies that focus more on Asia. This is coming to be a potential threat to the US Dollars supremacy. BLACK GOLD set to be quoted in non-dollar currencies Middle Eastern nations and OPEC members are increasingly getting inclined towards non US Dollar trading baskets. There have been sure talks between Chinese and Gulf Arab representatives in Hong Kong of oil trade in non-dollar appellation. Brazil along with India has shown interest in collaborating in non-dollar oil payments. US transition from spending to saving attitude The old Attitude of Americans shop till you drop is showing signs of change with personal savings rate hypes upto about 7% from less than 1% a year before. As people spending accounts upto 70% of USA spending, the economy is undergoing contract in the short term as increased savings rate and hence reduced spending. Leading economists call it the paradox of saving. Inflation Rate The US inflation rates have been declining from 3.8 % in 2008 to 2.6 % in Jan, 2010. This causes higher demand in the market thereby increasing the imports in US and weakening the dollar further. Foreign Currency Reserves Countries like China, Russia and Japan hold vast amounts of reserves in USD. If USD continues to fall, then nations who hold USD as foreign reserves might sell it and replace it with another nations currency, or even gold, thus further weakening the dollar. China, which has the worlds largest foreign exchange reserves at $ 2.3 trillion, has doubled its gold reserves in the last 6yrs to 1054 tones. Impact of weaker dollar on the Global economy? A look at the recent figures shows that the U.S current account deficit increased to $ 108 billion in the third quarter of 2009 and as per the estimate by the Budget office, the federal budget would show a deficit of $1.35 trillion for the fiscal year 2010. On the other hand, many developing countries are showing rapid growth rates and are maintaining lower fiscal and external deficits and over the long term their currencies are expected to appreciate against the dollar. Impact On Commodities There would be an impact even on the commodity prices as the dollar weakens. There exist an inverse relation between the two i.e the U.S dollar and commodity prices Oil prices rise with the weakening of dollar. Due to this, the purchasing power of oil producing nations fall since crude prices are dollar denominated. Gold prices also follow the trend and rise with the weakening of dollar as dollar based currencies become cheaper to buy in other currencies. This is indicated by the fact that the central banks of India, China and Russia have chosen to boost their gold reserves in preference to dollar denominated securities. Impact on U.S The weakening of dollar would lead to an increase in the cost of foreign goods for U.S (it is the largest importer in the world). This would lead to widening of the already federal budget deficit. The fall of dollar might also lead to another financial crisis by causing panic in the financial markets. But on the positive side, the depreciating dollar can lead to increased foreign investments in the U.S markets. This increased capital inflow would lead to creation of more jobs in the economy. It would also make the U.S exports more competitive, thereby increasing the demand. Tourism industry is one of the largest in U.S and hence the weakening of dollar would be beneficial as the tourists would find travel to U.S cheaper. Impact on Emerging Economies The emerging nations are in no way insulated from the losses associated with the dollars losing value, as they are restricted by the dollar monopoly in oil trade. For example, China has a forex reserve of $2 trillion. 1% loss in the dollars value translates into a loss of $2 billion of Chinese forex. Also, emerging markets are facing the threat of decline in exports as their currencies appreciate. India: The depreciating dollar has a major impact on the Indian economy as most of its trade is done through U.S dollars. It erodes the profit margins of our exporters are the prices are no longer competitive in the world market. This can even have an adverse impact on the employment rates. The services sector constitutes 50% of our GDP and any impact on the software exports sectors will have a huge impact on the economy. The FDIs and the FIIs inflows would increase due to high growth rate expectations. China: China holds the largest amount of U.S Treasury bills followed by Japan. A ccording to the approximations till the late 2008 the CCB ( Chinese central bank )held 72% of its reserves in US $ . This heavy place is not going to be for a longer appropriate given concerns about the stability of the dolaar. Changing direction will take time for China but there is already some evidence that China is adding gold holdings as an alternative to the dollar. China would obviously not continue to buy US debt endlessly. However, in the short term such a move would be counterproductive because of fear of losing value of its own substantial investments but there is a possibility in the long run. Alternatives Reserve Currency In decision making about the choice of a currency there are components which are majorly considered macroeconomic stability ,share of world output and trade, development and network, externalities, degree of financial market . EURO The big challenger euro is often seen as the threat. It is a well-managed currency with a better inflation record than the dollar. Nearly 42% of the trading in the London market takes place in Euro. The GDP of European Union is within sniffing distance of that of America and is poised to surpass it by 2015. The growth of London markets stands as a threat to that of New York. Recent performance of the Euro against Dollar have showed that the euro have strengthened against dollar. Although the European Union has a central bank, there is no single European treasury. Instead, there are 27 European treasuries. Investors cannot easily track or influence fiscal policy on the continent. Also the ECB does not have a goal of Internationalization of the Euro. Similarly, Euro lacks depth and liquidity in capitalmarkets.UK is still not part of the Euro zone which leaves London, a major financial centre still without Euro monetary controls. SPECIAL DRAWING RIGHTS Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) were created by the International Monetary Fund in 1969 in an effort to stabilize the international foreign exchange system. The basic definition of SDRs given by the IMF is as follows The SDR is an international reserve asset, created by the IMF in 1969 to supplement its member countries official reserves. Its value is based on a basket of four key international currencies US Dollar, Euro, Yen and British Pound. The US Dollar itself makes up almost half of the value of the SDR. The exact amounts of currency making up SDRs are determined by the IMF Executive Board in accordance with the relative importance in international trade and finance every five years. The currency compostion of the SDR for the period 2006-2010 is 44% USD, 34% Euro, 11% Yen and 11% Pound. The IMFs so-called Special Drawing Rights could be used as the basis for a new currency. Arguments against making SDR the worlds reserve currency include the fact that the US dollar, the Euro and the Pound which make up the large majority of SDRs have all lost value since late 2007 when the recession began. Why replace a falling dollar by an index which so heavily includes the dollar? Also, SDRs do not contain the Chinese Renminbi, Indian Rupee, Australian Dollar or Canadian Dollar, all of which are important benchmark or secondary global reserve currencies. However, even if the dollar is replaced by the SDR, the IMF does not have the financial prowess to safeguard the exchange risk. SDRs would have to be delinked from other currencies and issued by an international organization with equivalent authority to a central bank in order to become liquid enough to be used as a reserve. To make SDR the principle reserve asset, close to $3 trillion in SDRs would have to be created (Currently, it comprises 4% of world reserves). There is a need for a wider basket of currencies in SDR in order to be accepted as a global currency. It would provide a more efficient, fairer and m ore stable basis for our globalised economy. But however, this is not a quick or a short or easy decision and if at all it happens it would be quite revolutionary. YUAN Some currencies like Yuan are likely to achieve international status as it is issued by a large growing country. However, Yuan as a replacement is a very long proposition. For this to happen not only the Chinese economy has to grow considerably bigger (which it very likely in the near future) but also it must develop large financial markets, fully integrated in world exchanges, and the Chinese government must issue top-rated public debt instruments. Currently, Yuan is not fully convertible, the Chinese markets are not integrated and for various reasons, the financial credibility of local authority is limited. If China makes its currency convertible to make it a reserve currency, the consequence is that importing countries must have reserves of Yuan for trade. To buy Yuan, central banks around the world will have to divest from U.S. assets and Treasury bonds causing USD prices to crash and Yuan Prices to rise drastically, resulting in paper losses. Conclusion The copious factor that favour the dollar as the set aside choice includes the quality, stability and size of the dollar asset market, particularly the short term securities market where the central banks tend to be the most active. The high liquidity of these financial markets makes the dollar an excellent medium for exchange. Dollar dominates as a currency for international trade invoicing and payments. US organiztation has plus point that they are able to carry out transactions in their home currency. But it is not true that it shields the U.S from fluctuations in commodity prices. As dollar set commodity prices are formally or informally indexed to the dollar . The foreign exchange reserves of central banks around the world mostly in treasury bills and not in cash. $4.4 trillion, is ten times the value of greenbacks held external of the United States. The share of dollars of foreign exchange reserves is about 60% and any change in the global currency would have a huge imp act on the economies of all countries holding dollar as their reserve currency. OMIs Conclusion (Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has recently presented an interestingly different perception about the state of the world stating that the artificially maintained unipolar system was based on one big centre of consumption financed by a growing deficit and thus growing debt, one formerly strong reserve currency and one dominant system of assessing assets and risks. He went on to castigate the US military presence across the world stating that it survives on what is effectively a massive subsidy by the rest of the world while the US continues to appropriate the exports, companies and real estate of the rest of the world in exchange for paper money of questionable worth.) It is worth recapitulating the process by which the global economy currently finds itself in dire straits. (Unbridled consumption by US citizens, US buyouts of foreign companies and the massive US military spend ing across the World, all paid for in the domestic currency of the US, find their way ultimately to the foreign central banks of the countries that have balance of payment surpluses. These dollars are effectively recycled by the central banks back to the US when they invest in safe financial assets like US treasury bonds.) (The standard prescriptions under structural adjustment programmes are tax and interest rate hikes, currency devaluation, reduction in trade and fiscal deficits, pruning social safety nets, selling government-owned enterprises and natural resources, etc., to the satisfaction of pressing creditors. However, it is surprising to note that the US response to the financial crisis over the last two years is at complete variance to the standard operating procedure in a structural adjustment programme.)

Health and Social Communication Skills Free Essays

string(86) " as they argued over where they were all sitting and some did challenge others ideas\." Group Interaction. Basic Details/Work Context. It is important to be able to communicate effectively in a health and social context, in order to transmit the appropriate care values appropriate to people’s specific needs. We will write a custom essay sample on Health and Social Communication Skills or any similar topic only for you Order Now Just like my one to one interaction, I had to demonstrate my communication skills. I undertook an interaction with a group of young children that were at a primary school. But before undertaking this interaction I had to do some research on group interactions in order for me to do this interaction correctly. Walsh et all [2000] explains a group as â€Å"Groups are collections of people who come together because they have a common purpose or goal and who gradually develop a shared sense of belonging, or group identity† There are four groups in total which people can be classified when communicating together; two of these were identified by Burnard [1992]. The first one he identifies is Primary groups, these involved face to face contact and members will get to know each other. While as Secondary groups are more widely distributed these may include membership of a club such as Trade Unions. The other two groups are Task Orientated Group and Socially Orientated Groups. The Task Orientated Groups are groups that achieve a common goal/objective, a group like this may be a doctor meeting to discuss a patient’s care, and these groups tend to happen cause of a purpose or a point. The last group is the Socially Orientated Groups, these are the friendship groups, and they will share personal reasons and views with each other. As I did my group interaction within a Primary School, I was able to sit one side of the classroom with my group, which was an advantage as the children and I was still in a classroom, an environment where teaching and learning is done. I undertook the role of a teacher’s assistant and had a teacher’s assistant observing me which filled out my ‘Group Observation Sheet’. They were able to comment and feed back to me what I was doing correctly and what I could improve on. I was able to evaluate and take in their comments as they work with groups of children every day. My group interaction consisted of myself, a teacher’s assistant and five children aged from 4-5. I decided to read a story to them relating to a subject they were currently studying and during and after the story I asked questions. Asking questions allowed the children to make them feel more involved, I asked questions such as ‘What do you think is going to happen next? ’ and ‘Do you think that’s a good or bad thing they had done and why? This abled those to express what they thought were going to happen next in the story and compare their ideas with other children. Communication Skills [A01, A02 and A04] Groups can develop over a period of time, and different kinds of groups come together in different ways. A friendship group goes through mutual attraction while as working groups form by a leader. These groups formations can take time, some may be longer or shorter compared to others, but each group will gradually go through four stages of development which is suggested by Tuckman. Tuckman suggests that groups go through four basic shapes in order to become effective. The first stage is Forming, this is when a group comes together and will find out about each other and a leader may emerge. Following onto the second stage is Storming, this is when conflict occurs as group members will argue over purpose, the group members will disagree with the leader. The purpose will become clearer as the arguments are won and lost. The third stage is Norming this is when the group identify develops with a strong set of shared values and norms, their group identity begin to develop. The group becomes Cohesive, this is when all group members begin to work together for the good of the whole. Groups can be affected by the communication strategies that individuals use while being in a group which split into positive and negative. Bales [1970] identifies these types of communication behaviour used by group members. Bales identifies the following types as positive: * Proposing, are communications that offer new ideas and are constructive. * Building is the communications that develop the ideas of others. Supporting, communications that support or agree with the comments of others in the group, this is it good for cohesion. * Summarising involves summing up the contributions and discussions of the group. * Information seeking is when you seek new ideas or information from other group members. * And the last positive communication behaviour is Information giving, these are communications that contribute the ideas and information. Bales also identifies there are also neg ative types that occur when communication with a group. These are: * Disagreeing, this is ommunicating a difference which could be done in a positive or negative way. * Defensive, this is where group members with defend their idea when under attack. * Attacking, communications that challenge other group members, * Blocking, this is when obstacles are placed in the way of others. * And the last negative communication behaviour is Exclusive, this is the opposite to Inclusive, their aim is to block out specific group members. As I was able to do my group interaction within a Primary School they had a colour scheme which represents their level and how they are progressing. Within these ‘colour groups’ there are a group of 4-6 children where they are all working at a similar level. I took one of these groups for my interaction. The children all knew each other well and were able to communicate together in a sensible manner. When doing my interaction I was able to see that ‘Tuckmans’ four stages of group formation had already taken place. I think this particular group was at Tuckmans suggested stage of Storming. There seemed to be conflict between the children as they argued over where they were all sitting and some did challenge others ideas. You read "Health and Social Communication Skills" in category "Papers" There also seemed to be a leader of the group that decided on everything and wanted to be the centre of attention. Although once the children had calmed down I think the children had formed into the Norming stage. The group of children was able to identify similar ideas towards the story most of the time. Most of the children agreed on what were right and wrong in the story and all had similar ideas on what the ending of the story will be. The suggested leader of the group was quieter when settled when starting the task we had to complete together. Within the Norming stage Tuckman also suggested that the group becomes cohesive, when a group becomes cohesive, all group members begin to work together for the good of the whole. This was clearly shown within in the group interaction, when little tasks were asked to be completed throughout the story. Little tasks included things such as role-playing the previous chapter of the book and drawing on A3 paper to show to the rest of class when they join back together. There can be a number of factors that can influence the effectiveness of communication; some can enhance it while others can weaken it. The type of communication and the skills that are used within the communication can vary. Communication will differ between within a hospital and a pharmacy; the health care user will also affect the different types of communication you will use. There are four types of communication that can be used within the health care’s sector although I am looking at Non-Verbal Communication and Verbal Communication. Promoting effective communication should contain a balance of power in care workers and client relationships. Listening to others is essential when promoting effective communication. During my group interaction with young children I used the following skills: Non-Verbal Communication. Non-Verbal Communication is as important as Verbal Communication, According to Gahagan [1984], he believes that â€Å"Non-verbal communication is communication though any means other than language† This includes, body posture, gaze, proximity and touch, personal appearance and use of space and props and also gesture and facial expressions. Other research on Non-Verbal communication is that Argyle [1967] suggests that non-verbal communication functions in 3 ways. The first function is that non-verbal communication communicates inter-personal attitudes and emotions are a key part of interaction, this includes facial expression. Another function is that it supports verbal communication, e. g. listening is a key part of interaction and non-verbal communication establishes evidence that it is happening. The last function is that non-verbal communication replaces speech, e. g. sign language. Eye Contact. Eye contact can send a particular message to a health care user. We often get eye contact messages mixed up, an example of this would be. Long broken eye contact, this can show two very different messages, one of them being attraction or unfriendly staring. Eye contact can also show that you’re listening to what the other person is saying and that you are generally interested in what they have to say. Strengths and Weaknesses of the Skill I was able to demonstrate this skill of eye contact correctly by viewing everyone equally and not just focusing on one particular child. I didn’t use long direct eye contact as this would have made the children feel uncomfortable. Eye contact is a great way to show Bales inclusiveness, I was able to correctly show this, by looking at everyone in the group; I was able to involve everyone in the group by bringing them together and asked for their opinions and views on what’s going to happen next in the story. I extremely focused on children that were more isolated and quiet and often shy, although I ensured that I used eye contact at a comfortable gaze comfortable eye as to much direct eye contact can make an individual feel uncomfortable, anxious and even nervous with the children. I also ensured that all my attention was spread out to everyone; I just encouraged the shy children to bring out their opinion. Contexts of the Skill. Comparing the skill of eye contact and the use of it when communicating with younger children is much easier when using the skill for Therapy groups with the clients being Alcohol Anonymous. With children my group was at a smallish number and they all seemed generally interested except for some of the disruptions. When talking and running a therapy group for Alcohol Anonymous the leader of the group will need to focus on all the group members which tends to be a much larger group. I would need to use eye contact in an appropriate way; it can help to show reassurance and interest which is essential when talking to people in an Alcohol Anonymous. The eye contact will need to be comfortable and not to overpowering when talking to the group, as people within the group will be finding this situation very sensitive and you don’t want to offend them by overpowering eye contact. Body Language. Body language can refer to many various things, such as eye contact, facial expressions and posture. An individual’s posture refers to how an individual sits or stands; this is one way how messages and emotions can be transmitted to the receiving person. Strengths and Weaknesses of the Skill During the interaction I ensured my body posture was open so it could be transmitted onto the group of children. With my body posture being positive and open it allowed the chance of all the children to know that I was relaxed and open to talk and teach. This would be a positive effect on the children’s self-concept on the whole, with my body posture giving of the impression I want to listen to what the children have to say, would of made their self-esteem positive, the way they value themselves would be higher as well. I think my open posture also transmitted that I was confident in what I was going to do with the children, read them a story and various tasks. My body posture remained open throughout the whole of the interaction, during reading the story and helping them with their tasks. Having an open body posture is also a way of letting of positive energy and made the children feel good as I wanted to take all the time to teach and talk to them, especially as I was new visitor in the class. Contexts of the Skill As body posture is an important skill to transmit the right feelings and expressions across to the receiving person, a health care professional needs to be able to transmit the right expressions correctly. In a dentist context, I would need to be able to transmit a happy comfortable body posture to my patient. A dentist can be a scary uncomfortable place for many individuals, so a positive posture is needed to almost comfort their patient. I would demonstrate this skill by welcoming the patient gently and using hand gestures to guide them to the seat. I wouldn’t be standing upright as this would suggest I’m tense or serious, but my posture would be open which a sign of relaxation and comfort is. The patient would able to recognise and read my body posture, which would be able to keep them calm and the feeling of being able to trust me would also appear. The patient should be able to feel in safe arms with me being the dentist. Facial Expressions. Facial expressions can also be used to show and express what an individual may be thinking or feeling and can replace verbal communication. During my interaction with the children I ensured I made my facial expressions match what I was actually saying, as this was going to avoid confusion with the children. As most of the interaction was reading a story to the children and stopping at parts of the story to discuss what had happened and what was going to happen next. I was able to show excitement during the story by using my mouth to smile and my eyes were large as this is seen as a sign of interest and excitement. Although I doubt the children would notice about the eyes as they haven’t been exposed to pick up the signs of eye contact. Along with my facial expressions I also used hand gestures; this also helped explain what was saying to the children. Strengths and Weakness of the Skill. Being able to perform the skill of facial expression was one of the easiest skills to perform to the children. I was able to correctly use facial expression to match what I was saying verbally. Examples of this is when a sad part of the story came up and I was told to discuss what had happened and how the child would feel if they were in that position. I was able to show the sadness by facial expressions by making my mouth frown almost like and showed emotion through my eyes. The use of gestures was also used by suggesting what it could feel like with my hands. I was able to use the ‘OK’ hand gesture to a child sitting at the back of the group, as they asked to go to the toilet. When I first replied the children did not hear me, but when I repeated the answer again and did the ‘OK’ hand gesture, the child understood what I was saying. Contexts of the Skill Hand gestures and facial expression would be extremely important if you are communicating with a child who has learning difficulties. In a context of a Nursery the child may have difficulties understanding verbal language. The use of facial expressions would be extremely useful to the child as they would be able to pick up key signs such as smiling would mean something positive is being said and would be able to digest that easily. I would also use hand gestures would also be useful as I would use my hand to suggest where the toilet is, or where a particular item is. Hand gestures can also be used to do sign language to help the child. Verbal Communication. Asking Questions. The workers in the health and social care sector need the ability to help people discuss and talk about their feelings, thoughts and concerns. Burnard’s theory refers to this as drawing out. He suggests there are four main components to this process. These include, Open questions, reflection, understanding the checks and Empathy building statements, which I have previously explained in my one to one interaction. There are two different types of questions that can be used in communication, closed and open questions. I used more of the open questions, as this allowed the children to think and discuss their ideas of the story with their peers and myself. There are also Prompts and Probes which can be used within asking questions. I used both types, but used Probes much more then Prompts. Strengths and Weaknesses of the Skill I think I was able to perform the skill of opening questions correctly and precisely each time, open questions are great to keep the conversation flowing. The children were able to say their views and listen to what the other children had to say, the children argued on certain points which in general turned out to be a healthy debate about the story we was currently reading together. I used many probes during my interaction; Probes are a very short question that usually follows on from an answer that the other individual has given. I used Probes as they are used to dig deeper into the child’s answer. Which is great when discussing, it abled me to probe into what a child had and then for them to reply with a more detailed answer and often allowed them to explain their answer in a more detailed context. A weakness of this skill of asking questions is that I didn’t use as many Prompts as I should of, prompts are short questions or words which you can offer to person in order to prompt them to answer. There were a couple of shy children who might of distanced their selves from the group when discussing the story, even though they are shy they might of felt excluded as I didn’t try to involve them as much as I should of. This would have affected their self-concept negatively; their self-image and self-esteem could have been affected by this. I should have used more Prompts in order for the shy children to join in with the group discussion 100%, using such words as ‘and what does that mean to you? ’ ‘what do you think is going to happen next? ’ could of provoked more responses out of the shy children which would of made them feel more part the group and feel way more involved. Contexts of the Skill The way you ask questions can vary on what the context of the situation is, the way you ask questions to a young child will be far easier then asking an adult. The questions will be far more complex when speaking to adults comparing it to young children. With each client a health care professional must be able to adapt asking the appropriate questions to their client user. In the context of a doctor asking their patient what is wrong with them, i will need to ask the essential questions to find the diagnosis. A doctor uses questions daily when interacting with their patient; I would use a persistent use of probes and prompts to get the information out of the patient. This allows me to get the correct symptoms out of the patient and for them to prescribe a prescription if needed. There are some cases where a patient is embarrassed or shy when visiting them. If this was to happen I would approach the situation delicately, I would slowly ask questions but allowing the patient to think of their answer and wait for them to reply. I may begin the conversation with an open question such as ‘Hello, what can I do for you today’ and the patient will then explain their symptoms or illness. I would then prompt the patient to answer questions relating to the illness I think they have. I wouldn’t s use too many prompt questions, as this will be pressuring the patient into answering and will make them feel highly un-comfortable. A doctor needs to enrol the role of a professional in which the patient feels they can trust them. Tone ,Pace and Volume of Voice. During my group interaction I had to adjust my tone, pace and volume to fits with the children’s acquirements and needs. I had to speak directly to all the children, so I made sure I projected my voice so that every child could hear what I was saying and wouldn’t be left out. I ensured i kept my sentences short as they were young children. My sentences remained quite simple and not as complex to if I was speaking to an adult. I also used traightforward language and vocab due to the children’s young age. I made sure I used straightforward language and vocab so they could actually understand what I was talking about, wouldn’t want to use over complicated words and for the children to get confused about what is being said. I also maintained comfortable eye contact with all the children when they were speaking; this showed that I w as listening and generally interested in what he was going to say. I was able to speed up my pace of voice, which showed excitement when reading the story which was able to transmit onto the children. Speeding up will invariably makes the tone of voice more urgent and compelling. Strengths and Weaknesses of the Skill I was able to demonstrate my tone, pace and volume effectively during my group interaction with the children. I was able to adjust my voice with the children. I ensured I had a positive tone of voice as they made the children want to communicate back with me. This was because my tone of voice was soft and inviting which convinced the children I wanted to talk to them and listen to what they had to say. As the children are quite young, I did speak a bit slower than usual so the children could digest and understand what I was saying. I made sure I wasn’t patronising to the children with my slow voice, but ensured they felt comfortable to talk to me. I think I was promoted the children’s self-concept during the interaction, by congratulating them when they said a good answer or point. I really allowed the children to talk and express their opinions thoughtfully. As I was a new visitor to the class, I needed the children to trust me and feel comfortable to talk to me as they were unsure of whom I was. My tone of voice had to invite the children in and make them want to talk to me about the story they were currently studying. My volume of voice stayed stable during the whole conversation, it was a comfortable relaxed volume of voice. The observer of the interaction said ‘my tone, pace and volume ‘were at a correct level when speaking to a group of children’ My observer who is also a teacher’s assistant followed on to say that ‘ I was well spoken and had a voice that edged the children to speak to me perfectly fine. After my observer commented on my tone, pace and volume they then followed onto to say that ‘Although she did sometimes use to over complicated words which the children couldn’t understand and enquired about’. As this all comes under the vocab I used, I should have researched more into what words the children would know and what they wouldn’t. I could have overcome this weakness by speaking to the teacher or even the teacher assistant that works with the group of children every school day what kind of reading level they were all at. This would of abled me to research on the amount of knowledge the children would have. A good thing I could have done was asked the teacher or teacher assistant what words they have recently learnt and ensured I used them in my interaction. Contexts of the Skill Adjusting your tone, pace and volume of your voice varies on what service user you are talking to. If I was a nurse working with an elderly person in a care home, I would have to adjust my voice to ensure the individual could hear me properly and for them to communicate back with me. It is typical to stereotype that all elderly people are death and need hearing aids, although there hearing does deterates over time, we can’t assume they are deaf. As this would hurt their self-esteem. I would be very sensitive towards the matter, I wouldn’t jump to conclusions that all people struggle with their hearing when speaking to them. I would address them I would with any other people, as they would reduce them feeling patronised. I would adapt their volume of voice to suit the service user. I would not shout at the individual as this may make them feel intimidated, although I may speak a tad louder so they could hear them. As older peoples hearing does deteriorate over time, they may have difficulties in what I was talking about so they may ask to repeat what I was saying. I would not get angry towards them for not being able to understand me, as this would make the individual to feel little and worthless. I would simply repeat what i said over and over again until they understood properly. For all of this to be possible for the elderly person to communicate back with me. I would ensure to make myself seen clearly and would face the care user, so this allows my mouth to be visible to the elderly person. I would then continue to speak clearly and slowly. I would also have to reduce the background noise, so this wouldn’t interfere with the conversation. I could also make the communication easier for the elderly person by using non-verbal signals where it’s appropriate. Care Values and Transmission [AO1, AO2 and AO4] Maintaining Confidentiality. During my group interaction I was able to demonstrate the care value of Confidentiality precisely. I was able to do this by not mentioning any specific names in this coursework; I always refer to the ‘children’ or the ‘child’. This shows that I was protecting the children’s identity and keeping them protected. Also on the observation sheet that I made sure my observer didn’t comment on any specific children that were in the group I was interacting with. I was also able to demonstrate the skill of confidentiality by saying to the children before the interaction had started what I was going to do through the interaction and ensured that no names would be use when writing about it in my coursework. I also got the children to sign a sheet which explained what was going to happen and that their identity would be kept safe and anonymous. (This sheet is attached to the coursework) The teacher also went through what was going to happen with the children to guarantee they knew what was happening, I also asked if any of the children had any questions before the interaction took place which I would be happily to answer. Contexts of the Care Value. Every Health and Social Care Sector needs to be able to stick and demonstrate the Care Value of Confidentiality with every client they are presented with. Confidentiality can be easily shown in an Alcohol Anonymous group. As a group leader I would ensure and stress that all members are safe to talk about their previous experiences and thoughts, and must allow the members to feel comfortable with the group knowing that they are all together as one. I could show confidentiality at the beginning of the session by saying ‘Whatever is said today stays within the walls of this room and doesn’t travel out of it’. This should make all the group members feel safe and ready to share their experiences. Promoting Anti-Discriminatory Practice. Anti-Discriminatory practice involves challenging unfair discrimination and counteracting any effects that it has already had on an individual. Discrimination can be done in many ways such as: age, sex, disability and even homophobia. It is important to keep within this care value as I was working with a group of children and within this group I had many children who shared different cultures and beliefs. I was able to treat every child equally and didn’t favor or disfavor and particular child. I ensured that every child felt included, secure and valued. I was able to show this Anti-Discriminatory practice by allowing the children to form a circle, also known as ‘circle time’ to discuss ideas about the cultures within the story. The children are more likely to feel comfortable about exploring issues if they feel that what they say and do is cared about. Circle times allowed children to help listen to each other, talk about other cultures they knew and religion. Contexts of the Care Value. My context is going to be within a primary school with children, I will explain how Anti-discriminatory practice takes place within schools, as I wasn’t able to show this as much as I wanted to during my interaction. Children need to hear songs and stories from a range of cultures, Music and dance offer opportunities for expression regardless of language; however, there is a need for sensitivity around dancing in some cultural groups. Music and dancing allows the children to feel as if they were in that particular culture and for them to express themselves, which would be making their self-image and self-esteem positive. The way the children see theirs selves and value themselves will be much higher than before. Dressing up clothes can also represent the styles of different communities, allowing children to take on roles and develop imaginative play skills. The school can also have a large selection of books that introduce different cultures which can be introduced to the children and for them to become aware of them and well educated. The book corner should also involve traditional stories from around the world. Strengths and Weakness of the Care Value. I think I was able to demonstrate the care value correctly, as I kept everyone equal and didn’t favour any of the children. Although there were children who had different culture backgrounds and shared different beliefs compared to other children but I wasn’t able to investigate and promote Anti-Discriminatory Practice within the rest of the children. If I was undertaking a activity with the children talking about religion and cultures I would have been able to promote the differences and make the children more aware that there are many different cultures and religions in the world. Promoting Effective Communication. During my group interaction, I showed the way how projected the sound of my voice when speaking to the whole of the group. As my group were young children, I had to adjust the vocabulary I used; this was due to their age. I couldn’t use over complicated vocabulary as the children wouldn’t of understood and would then be confused. I was able to promote an Effective Communication with all the children during the story and smaller group activities. I was encouraged to use ‘Circle Time’ as this would influence the children to talk and discuss their ideas. To encourage the children to discuss their ideas I used a range of prompts and probes to get information out of the children. This encouraged the children to really express his thoughts and feelings towards the book. I asked every child in turn, what their thoughts were and ensured them that there was no wrong answer. I praised each child when they told the rest of the group their thoughts, praising the child made the children’s self-esteem more positive. The way they value themselves would increase as I praised them for their good work and made them feel good about their self. When asking these questions I allowed enough time for the children to think of a response, and when they replied I ensured I listened to their reply and commented back. All these things show that I was able to Promote Effective Communication with all the children, due to them having happy facial expressions and smiling throughout the whole interaction. Contexts of the Care Value. In the situation of a support group for giving up smoking with the NHS sector, the leader/host of the group would need to show Effective communication throughout the whole group towards everyone. I would have to show support and encourage group members to quit together. I would also show praise towards people that have achieved a goal or a target. A simple thing like praising the individual will affect their self-concept on a whole. Their self-image will be positive and their image will also look more appealing to their selves. I could have given up smoking 10 years ago and knows what the struggles are when trying to give up. This means that I would be able to sympathise with all the group members as I have been through the whole situation herself. When sympathising with a member, I would ensure I speak directly to the individual and ask them to express their feelings as best they can. The best ways to show sympathy is to listen attentively while the other person talks. Asking questions can also make individuals feel more comfortable in the group and will also make them feel welcomed and part as a group, as a leader, a target is to include everyone in the conversation. Finding out information about the individuals can do great good both for the individual and me. The individual may feel like something has been lifted of their chest, by explaining their situation, thoughts and feelings. I would also ensure that I listen thoughtfully when the individual is replying and would use head gestures and ‘replying with yes’ gives the individual that they are being listened to. Promotion of Equality And Diversity. This care value was easy to transmit in the group interaction, when talking about the story I made sure the children was in ‘Circle Time’ so we could discuss the children’s ideas and thoughts. Following on Circle Time I asked the children to get into smaller groups (pairs) for some activities and then asked them to go alone to complete the given task. I went round and gave attention to every child equally and didn’t leave anyone out. Strengths and Weaknesses of the Care Value. I gave attention to each child when discussing what they thought was going to happen next in the story. I asked every child in my group to ensure no one felt left out. I spent roughly the same amount of time on each child when discussing with them about the story, I was giving out my divided attention equally to everyone. During the activities we had to complete, the children were put into smaller groups or by their selves for some activities. In their solo activities I went round and gave them my divided attention, I asked what they were doing and encouraged them to do their best. I did this with every child so again they didn’t felt left out but felt involved just like other group members. I also ensured that I kept an eye on what the other group was doing with their teacher; we were both doing the exact same activity and had a routine/plan to stick to. When the teacher moved onto the next section I also did the same. All the children in class 1 had the same amount of time to complete the tasks; no one had any extra time as this would be making a child seem more important than the others. Contexts of the Care Value. In the situation of working within AE, it is constantly busy throughout the day and workers need to be able to deal with the rush of patients needing emergency medical attention. A nurse or doctor needs to be able to give every patient the same quality of care and support, they must all treat every individual the same. Every patient that comes to the AE is unique and nurses and doctors need to recognise their individual differences. For example, they need to address how serious the injury is and if they need to be prior due to the fatal accident and if addressed quickly and lead to serve consequences for the patient. All different service users will use AE and the workers need to figure out what care to give them, different service users need different care, such as elderly care will be different compared to young children. If a young child came in with a serve injury such as cracking their head open due to something landing on their head, and their head is full of blood and is not stopping, and another service user came in AE with a ‘sore wrist’ which comes out to be just a sprained wrist. The nurses will put the child first as without immediate attention the child will bleed to death while as the client with a ‘sore wrist’ is not a major injury, although the nurses will give the appropriate care to the client but will put the child first as its more serious. Promoting Anti-Discriminatory Practice In my interaction it was essential and so important not to discriminate against of the children because of their age, sex, race or religion. Within my small group I had a child who suffered from a learning disability they was diagnosed with dyslexia. This made certain school work activities hard for him to complete and took him longer to do so compared to the other children. I didn’t discriminate against their learning disabilities and treated him equally like I did with any of the other children. I influenced the children to voice their opinion and thoughts and share them with the other children. When discussing thoughts in ‘Circle Time’ I influenced and persuaded the children to talk about what they really thought. There was children in the group who had different religious beliefs and culture compared to me and the other children, which meant they had different opinions to certain subjects. I welcomed any new ideas and thoughts from the children and listened to them with an open mind and didn’t reject their opinions. I praised the children when they voiced their opinion and told them what I thought about their opinion in a positive way which influenced their self-esteem, the way individuals think about their selves positive. Strengths and Weaknesses of the Care Value. I don’t think I was able to transmit their Care Value as much as I wanted to; this was because the teacher told and advised me to do a range of particular ideas so I couldn’t really demonstrate what I would do to promote Anti-Discriminatory Practice. If I was given the chance to transmit this Care Value I would of asked to be in a religious studies (RE) lesson, this would mean that I could explain many different religions and cultures. I may tell the children all the ifferent religions we have in our country, after doing so I would then further on to explain some of the religious beliefs they have and similar ones we share. I would get a group discussion going with the children so they could express their own thoughts and would answer any questions about different religions beliefs if children asked. After telling them loads of information about the religions, I could get the children to do a task in small groups, this would c onsist the children being given a particular religion and them to draw/write on an A3 bit of paper about the religion. Then the groups of children would have to explain what they had written/drawn on the A3 sheet to the rest of the class, every group would do this in turn. Work Related Issues/Problems [A03] Encouragement of Independence and Choice. During my interaction I allowed the freedom of choice to all of the children when interacting with them. Even though I was instructed by the teacher to do certain actives I did allowed the children to choose what small group they wanted to work with. I noticed that the children worked with the people who they were sitting next to, and they seemed quite happy to all be working together. This may suggest that they were working with their friends, and by doing this they produced great group work by working as a team. I supported the children’s opinion when expressing in ‘Circle Time’, I often praised the children when they spoke their thoughts and feelings. This would have made every child’s self-esteem value much higher than usual. The way the children values themselves should be positive due to my positive comments I made throughout the interaction. I also allowed the choice and independence of the children going to the toilet by themselves. Adjusted Vocabulary I was able to present myself in a happy positive way when being introduced to the group of children. I tried to use a range of sentences to gain the children’s attention due to my self being a new visitor to the class and the children had never met me before so they seemed to be very anxious of me. so Bob wouldn’t get to confused, this was done so that he could digest the conversation we was having. I also allowed enough time for Bob to think what I had previously said; I didn’t hesitate when he asked me to re-peat what I had said. Even though I tried to use simple vocab, my observer did comment on the ‘use of over complicated words’ which of made Bob struggle. I should have done more research on the language and vocab disability children can understand, to overcome this barrier I could of seeked permission from his mother to look through his school books and completed home work so I could get an idea on what language and vocab Bob uses himself. Interferences/Disturbances. Ensuring the environment is comfortable and not to over powerful is an important factor to effective communication. It is important to make the perfect environment for the interaction to take place. My interaction was completed in a room where my group of children felt comfortable, relaxed and defiantly not anxious of where they were. This was because my room was the classroom the children are used to. This is where they come five days a week to learn and be in school. This made the children easier to settle down as they were in their normal environment. If I had asked the teacher to be placed in a separate room, separated from the rest of the children, it could of made the children feel un-easy and uncomfortable and this could of cause problems such as the children playing up and not setterling down. It could of made me interaction very difficult and negative which would then be picked up by the children. Although I did ensure the place where my interaction took place was in view of the rest of the children and teacher, but was at the other end of the class. This made sure there wasn’t too much background noise, as this would have affected my communication with the children. Being to close to the rest of the class could have intruded on the conversation I was having with the group, this again would cause distraction and make the group hard to settle down and be quiet. This also might have made it hard for the children to pay focus to me, if they could overhear the teachers voice and other children discussing. The lighting was not to bring nor to dark, as this can effect non-verbal communication. This was already done due to being in a school environment. Too much darkness reduces the ability to read non-verbal messages, It can affect people with degrading eye sight or with people who have bad eye sight but use glasses; poor light would of enable the children to see my face clearly. Therefore making it difficult for them to communicate and understand properly what I was saying. Positively Establishing a Friendly Relationship. I effectively promoted a friendly relationship with the whole class. Although it was a struggle at the beginning, this was because I was a new face to the class. The children had never met me and I had never met them either. It took time for the children to pay attention to me; I had to start the interaction by introducing myself and asking the children’s names. The children were still a bit weary of me at that time, so I started a conversation by saying ‘I use to go to this school’ this opened up a lot of conversation between me and the group of children. By saying a true statement like that it abled the children to trust me and feel comfortable with my presence. I also relaxed and wasn’t so tense, which the children could of picked up on. I treated all the children in a sensible manner and treated them all equally. I didn’t pick or favourite any child. By allowing a positive friendly relationship to form I ensured my body posture and facial expressions were transmitting positive ideas to establish this relationship to the group of children. I made sure I smiled when I was listening to the childrens ideas and also nodded which transmitted to the children that I was generally happy to speak to them and listen to all what they had to say. Comparison [AO4] During the one to one interaction with ‘Bob’ I could easily communicate and get them to pay attention to me without struggling to much, but in the group interaction with the small group of school children was much harder to ensure that every child was paying attention to me. I was dealing with a group of children instead of just one person. Although it was only a small group of children, I had never interacted with them before, so this made the children unaware of me and did take a while to settle and actually listen to me. Even after the children were comfortable with my presence it was hard to give them all my focus and attention, as I had to share it out equally between a group of them. There were some children who craved for more attention from me then the other children, so if I was giving them attention by answering questions. I would be giving my divided attention onto just one child instead of the group. Even though some children weren’t afraid to ask more questions, there was still one child who was highly shy and hardly asked or answered questions when I directed it at them. So that particular child wasn’t getting the same divided attention as the other children. This could have had an effect on the child’s self-concept. Also my one to one interaction was with a child who had a learning disability, Bob easily got upset when he couldn’t accomplish tasks that were set. Bob found school life more complicated and frustrating then other school children. Even though Bob had a learning disability, I was able to go through some of his school books and talk to his mother before the interaction so I could gather up an idea what it was like for Bob himself. Also just being a one to one interaction, I was able to communicate with Bob and get him to open up to me about what specific things he found hard and how these things had an effect on the way he felt. I was able to get Bob to confide in me and tell me how he really felt, while playing one of his favourite games. We were in a familiar environment which made myself and Bob feel comfortable and not out of place. While as the group interaction I felt highly uncomfortable at first as I was in an environment which I wasn’t comfortable with and I think the children could see this. Which made the interaction difficult at first, I had to get the children to know me first before they started answering questions and asking questions about the book we were reading together. Even though Bob had a learning disability and this did make me think more carefully about what I was going to say and what I shouldn’t say, I found this interaction easier to complete, as I was only dealing with one individual. While as the group interaction I was dealing with a group of children and had more responsibility then the one to one, I had to ensure I didn’t offend any of the children so I had to watch what I said. Although the children were roughly the same age, the one to one interaction with Bob was much easier to complete then the group interaction. Also when dealing with a group of different individuals, they all have different views and thoughts compared to each other, they all have different perspective views into their religion and their beliefs. I had to take this into account as I didn’t want to offend anyone in what I was saying. This made things more complicated as some of the children had different religious beliefs then the other children and me. So I ensured that I didn’t say anything insulting or anything which may seem insulting to a particular child and single them out. With the one to one interaction I only had to talk to one person, and Bobs religious beliefs were the same as mine, so I knew what to say and not what to say. Conclusion [AO4] During this assignment comparing the two interactions it made me think how different communication techniques are used when interacting one to one or to a group. You also use different techniques and skills when communicating with different client groups and different ages. It is important to ensure Health and Social care professions are able to transmit care values to their users and clients. It is important for these care values to be in place as these care values such as Maintaining Confidentiality, Promoting Anti-Discriminatory Practice and Promoting Effective Communication protect and help the individuals that use the services. If these services didn’t provide these care values such as Maintaining Confidentiality, patients at a Doctors surgery’s personal details would be on show and no long anonymous. People would be able to ask for other people’s personal information without people questioning it. Service users use this care value, to keep their details anonymous and to protect themselves. In the one to one interaction I was in Bobs family home, this made things easier for myself and Bob. Bob was comfortable when talking to me as he was in a friendly well known environment which made him feel comfortable when speaking to me. I think if the interaction took place in a different environment which was not known to Bob, then possibly Bob wouldn’t have been so open with me and wouldn’t of told me how he was really feeling when discussing what he thought about school and his school work. Bob could of possibly not trusted me like he did during our interaction, if you’re in a comfortable environment you’re going to feel comfortable enough to talk to anyone as you feel safe in your own family home. Knowing that Bob felt comfortable it also made me relax a little bit more, which is why me and Bob got along so well! Even though I think both my interactions went well, there are still improvements to be made to make the interactions more successful if I was to do them again. Both my interactions could have been better, but if I was to re-do the one to one interaction I would of done some internet research and textbook research on Bobs learning disability so it would make the interaction possibly more easier. Doing that extra research could reveal doing specific tasks in which Bob would be better at, for example. ‘Bob might find visual tasks easier then memory ones’ These interactions have made me realised how important communication is in a Health Care Profession, without good communication the workers and service users relationship would be very poor. Essential communication is needed to sort out problems and ask for advice and even book appointments in a doctor’s surgery or dentist. I will be able to use all my skills that I have learnt during the interaction in future situations. I can use the communication skills when communicating with my family, my work colleagues and even teachers. These interactions have taught me how we use eye contact, facial expressions, and hand gestures along with verbal communication to transmit excellent communication to other individuals. This can be extremely useful when working in a health/care and even retail environment, as all these services should provide excellent customer service, and using the above skills can help these services please service users, in which means they will be willing to come back. How to cite Health and Social Communication Skills, Papers

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string(86) " as they argued over where they were all sitting and some did challenge others ideas\." Group Interaction. Basic Details/Work Context. It is important to be able to communicate effectively in a health and social context, in order to transmit the appropriate care values appropriate to people’s specific needs. We will write a custom essay sample on Health and Social Communication Skills or any similar topic only for you Order Now Just like my one to one interaction, I had to demonstrate my communication skills. I undertook an interaction with a group of young children that were at a primary school. But before undertaking this interaction I had to do some research on group interactions in order for me to do this interaction correctly. Walsh et all [2000] explains a group as â€Å"Groups are collections of people who come together because they have a common purpose or goal and who gradually develop a shared sense of belonging, or group identity† There are four groups in total which people can be classified when communicating together; two of these were identified by Burnard [1992]. The first one he identifies is Primary groups, these involved face to face contact and members will get to know each other. While as Secondary groups are more widely distributed these may include membership of a club such as Trade Unions. The other two groups are Task Orientated Group and Socially Orientated Groups. The Task Orientated Groups are groups that achieve a common goal/objective, a group like this may be a doctor meeting to discuss a patient’s care, and these groups tend to happen cause of a purpose or a point. The last group is the Socially Orientated Groups, these are the friendship groups, and they will share personal reasons and views with each other. As I did my group interaction within a Primary School, I was able to sit one side of the classroom with my group, which was an advantage as the children and I was still in a classroom, an environment where teaching and learning is done. I undertook the role of a teacher’s assistant and had a teacher’s assistant observing me which filled out my ‘Group Observation Sheet’. They were able to comment and feed back to me what I was doing correctly and what I could improve on. I was able to evaluate and take in their comments as they work with groups of children every day. My group interaction consisted of myself, a teacher’s assistant and five children aged from 4-5. I decided to read a story to them relating to a subject they were currently studying and during and after the story I asked questions. Asking questions allowed the children to make them feel more involved, I asked questions such as ‘What do you think is going to happen next? ’ and ‘Do you think that’s a good or bad thing they had done and why? This abled those to express what they thought were going to happen next in the story and compare their ideas with other children. Communication Skills [A01, A02 and A04] Groups can develop over a period of time, and different kinds of groups come together in different ways. A friendship group goes through mutual attraction while as working groups form by a leader. These groups formations can take time, some may be longer or shorter compared to others, but each group will gradually go through four stages of development which is suggested by Tuckman. Tuckman suggests that groups go through four basic shapes in order to become effective. The first stage is Forming, this is when a group comes together and will find out about each other and a leader may emerge. Following onto the second stage is Storming, this is when conflict occurs as group members will argue over purpose, the group members will disagree with the leader. The purpose will become clearer as the arguments are won and lost. The third stage is Norming this is when the group identify develops with a strong set of shared values and norms, their group identity begin to develop. The group becomes Cohesive, this is when all group members begin to work together for the good of the whole. Groups can be affected by the communication strategies that individuals use while being in a group which split into positive and negative. Bales [1970] identifies these types of communication behaviour used by group members. Bales identifies the following types as positive: * Proposing, are communications that offer new ideas and are constructive. * Building is the communications that develop the ideas of others. Supporting, communications that support or agree with the comments of others in the group, this is it good for cohesion. * Summarising involves summing up the contributions and discussions of the group. * Information seeking is when you seek new ideas or information from other group members. * And the last positive communication behaviour is Information giving, these are communications that contribute the ideas and information. Bales also identifies there are also neg ative types that occur when communication with a group. These are: * Disagreeing, this is ommunicating a difference which could be done in a positive or negative way. * Defensive, this is where group members with defend their idea when under attack. * Attacking, communications that challenge other group members, * Blocking, this is when obstacles are placed in the way of others. * And the last negative communication behaviour is Exclusive, this is the opposite to Inclusive, their aim is to block out specific group members. As I was able to do my group interaction within a Primary School they had a colour scheme which represents their level and how they are progressing. Within these ‘colour groups’ there are a group of 4-6 children where they are all working at a similar level. I took one of these groups for my interaction. The children all knew each other well and were able to communicate together in a sensible manner. When doing my interaction I was able to see that ‘Tuckmans’ four stages of group formation had already taken place. I think this particular group was at Tuckmans suggested stage of Storming. There seemed to be conflict between the children as they argued over where they were all sitting and some did challenge others ideas. You read "Health and Social Communication Skills" in category "Papers" There also seemed to be a leader of the group that decided on everything and wanted to be the centre of attention. Although once the children had calmed down I think the children had formed into the Norming stage. The group of children was able to identify similar ideas towards the story most of the time. Most of the children agreed on what were right and wrong in the story and all had similar ideas on what the ending of the story will be. The suggested leader of the group was quieter when settled when starting the task we had to complete together. Within the Norming stage Tuckman also suggested that the group becomes cohesive, when a group becomes cohesive, all group members begin to work together for the good of the whole. This was clearly shown within in the group interaction, when little tasks were asked to be completed throughout the story. Little tasks included things such as role-playing the previous chapter of the book and drawing on A3 paper to show to the rest of class when they join back together. There can be a number of factors that can influence the effectiveness of communication; some can enhance it while others can weaken it. The type of communication and the skills that are used within the communication can vary. Communication will differ between within a hospital and a pharmacy; the health care user will also affect the different types of communication you will use. There are four types of communication that can be used within the health care’s sector although I am looking at Non-Verbal Communication and Verbal Communication. Promoting effective communication should contain a balance of power in care workers and client relationships. Listening to others is essential when promoting effective communication. During my group interaction with young children I used the following skills: Non-Verbal Communication. Non-Verbal Communication is as important as Verbal Communication, According to Gahagan [1984], he believes that â€Å"Non-verbal communication is communication though any means other than language† This includes, body posture, gaze, proximity and touch, personal appearance and use of space and props and also gesture and facial expressions. Other research on Non-Verbal communication is that Argyle [1967] suggests that non-verbal communication functions in 3 ways. The first function is that non-verbal communication communicates inter-personal attitudes and emotions are a key part of interaction, this includes facial expression. Another function is that it supports verbal communication, e. g. listening is a key part of interaction and non-verbal communication establishes evidence that it is happening. The last function is that non-verbal communication replaces speech, e. g. sign language. Eye Contact. Eye contact can send a particular message to a health care user. We often get eye contact messages mixed up, an example of this would be. Long broken eye contact, this can show two very different messages, one of them being attraction or unfriendly staring. Eye contact can also show that you’re listening to what the other person is saying and that you are generally interested in what they have to say. Strengths and Weaknesses of the Skill I was able to demonstrate this skill of eye contact correctly by viewing everyone equally and not just focusing on one particular child. I didn’t use long direct eye contact as this would have made the children feel uncomfortable. Eye contact is a great way to show Bales inclusiveness, I was able to correctly show this, by looking at everyone in the group; I was able to involve everyone in the group by bringing them together and asked for their opinions and views on what’s going to happen next in the story. I extremely focused on children that were more isolated and quiet and often shy, although I ensured that I used eye contact at a comfortable gaze comfortable eye as to much direct eye contact can make an individual feel uncomfortable, anxious and even nervous with the children. I also ensured that all my attention was spread out to everyone; I just encouraged the shy children to bring out their opinion. Contexts of the Skill. Comparing the skill of eye contact and the use of it when communicating with younger children is much easier when using the skill for Therapy groups with the clients being Alcohol Anonymous. With children my group was at a smallish number and they all seemed generally interested except for some of the disruptions. When talking and running a therapy group for Alcohol Anonymous the leader of the group will need to focus on all the group members which tends to be a much larger group. I would need to use eye contact in an appropriate way; it can help to show reassurance and interest which is essential when talking to people in an Alcohol Anonymous. The eye contact will need to be comfortable and not to overpowering when talking to the group, as people within the group will be finding this situation very sensitive and you don’t want to offend them by overpowering eye contact. Body Language. Body language can refer to many various things, such as eye contact, facial expressions and posture. An individual’s posture refers to how an individual sits or stands; this is one way how messages and emotions can be transmitted to the receiving person. Strengths and Weaknesses of the Skill During the interaction I ensured my body posture was open so it could be transmitted onto the group of children. With my body posture being positive and open it allowed the chance of all the children to know that I was relaxed and open to talk and teach. This would be a positive effect on the children’s self-concept on the whole, with my body posture giving of the impression I want to listen to what the children have to say, would of made their self-esteem positive, the way they value themselves would be higher as well. I think my open posture also transmitted that I was confident in what I was going to do with the children, read them a story and various tasks. My body posture remained open throughout the whole of the interaction, during reading the story and helping them with their tasks. Having an open body posture is also a way of letting of positive energy and made the children feel good as I wanted to take all the time to teach and talk to them, especially as I was new visitor in the class. Contexts of the Skill As body posture is an important skill to transmit the right feelings and expressions across to the receiving person, a health care professional needs to be able to transmit the right expressions correctly. In a dentist context, I would need to be able to transmit a happy comfortable body posture to my patient. A dentist can be a scary uncomfortable place for many individuals, so a positive posture is needed to almost comfort their patient. I would demonstrate this skill by welcoming the patient gently and using hand gestures to guide them to the seat. I wouldn’t be standing upright as this would suggest I’m tense or serious, but my posture would be open which a sign of relaxation and comfort is. The patient would able to recognise and read my body posture, which would be able to keep them calm and the feeling of being able to trust me would also appear. The patient should be able to feel in safe arms with me being the dentist. Facial Expressions. Facial expressions can also be used to show and express what an individual may be thinking or feeling and can replace verbal communication. During my interaction with the children I ensured I made my facial expressions match what I was actually saying, as this was going to avoid confusion with the children. As most of the interaction was reading a story to the children and stopping at parts of the story to discuss what had happened and what was going to happen next. I was able to show excitement during the story by using my mouth to smile and my eyes were large as this is seen as a sign of interest and excitement. Although I doubt the children would notice about the eyes as they haven’t been exposed to pick up the signs of eye contact. Along with my facial expressions I also used hand gestures; this also helped explain what was saying to the children. Strengths and Weakness of the Skill. Being able to perform the skill of facial expression was one of the easiest skills to perform to the children. I was able to correctly use facial expression to match what I was saying verbally. Examples of this is when a sad part of the story came up and I was told to discuss what had happened and how the child would feel if they were in that position. I was able to show the sadness by facial expressions by making my mouth frown almost like and showed emotion through my eyes. The use of gestures was also used by suggesting what it could feel like with my hands. I was able to use the ‘OK’ hand gesture to a child sitting at the back of the group, as they asked to go to the toilet. When I first replied the children did not hear me, but when I repeated the answer again and did the ‘OK’ hand gesture, the child understood what I was saying. Contexts of the Skill Hand gestures and facial expression would be extremely important if you are communicating with a child who has learning difficulties. In a context of a Nursery the child may have difficulties understanding verbal language. The use of facial expressions would be extremely useful to the child as they would be able to pick up key signs such as smiling would mean something positive is being said and would be able to digest that easily. I would also use hand gestures would also be useful as I would use my hand to suggest where the toilet is, or where a particular item is. Hand gestures can also be used to do sign language to help the child. Verbal Communication. Asking Questions. The workers in the health and social care sector need the ability to help people discuss and talk about their feelings, thoughts and concerns. Burnard’s theory refers to this as drawing out. He suggests there are four main components to this process. These include, Open questions, reflection, understanding the checks and Empathy building statements, which I have previously explained in my one to one interaction. There are two different types of questions that can be used in communication, closed and open questions. I used more of the open questions, as this allowed the children to think and discuss their ideas of the story with their peers and myself. There are also Prompts and Probes which can be used within asking questions. I used both types, but used Probes much more then Prompts. Strengths and Weaknesses of the Skill I think I was able to perform the skill of opening questions correctly and precisely each time, open questions are great to keep the conversation flowing. The children were able to say their views and listen to what the other children had to say, the children argued on certain points which in general turned out to be a healthy debate about the story we was currently reading together. I used many probes during my interaction; Probes are a very short question that usually follows on from an answer that the other individual has given. I used Probes as they are used to dig deeper into the child’s answer. Which is great when discussing, it abled me to probe into what a child had and then for them to reply with a more detailed answer and often allowed them to explain their answer in a more detailed context. A weakness of this skill of asking questions is that I didn’t use as many Prompts as I should of, prompts are short questions or words which you can offer to person in order to prompt them to answer. There were a couple of shy children who might of distanced their selves from the group when discussing the story, even though they are shy they might of felt excluded as I didn’t try to involve them as much as I should of. This would have affected their self-concept negatively; their self-image and self-esteem could have been affected by this. I should have used more Prompts in order for the shy children to join in with the group discussion 100%, using such words as ‘and what does that mean to you? ’ ‘what do you think is going to happen next? ’ could of provoked more responses out of the shy children which would of made them feel more part the group and feel way more involved. Contexts of the Skill The way you ask questions can vary on what the context of the situation is, the way you ask questions to a young child will be far easier then asking an adult. The questions will be far more complex when speaking to adults comparing it to young children. With each client a health care professional must be able to adapt asking the appropriate questions to their client user. In the context of a doctor asking their patient what is wrong with them, i will need to ask the essential questions to find the diagnosis. A doctor uses questions daily when interacting with their patient; I would use a persistent use of probes and prompts to get the information out of the patient. This allows me to get the correct symptoms out of the patient and for them to prescribe a prescription if needed. There are some cases where a patient is embarrassed or shy when visiting them. If this was to happen I would approach the situation delicately, I would slowly ask questions but allowing the patient to think of their answer and wait for them to reply. I may begin the conversation with an open question such as ‘Hello, what can I do for you today’ and the patient will then explain their symptoms or illness. I would then prompt the patient to answer questions relating to the illness I think they have. I wouldn’t s use too many prompt questions, as this will be pressuring the patient into answering and will make them feel highly un-comfortable. A doctor needs to enrol the role of a professional in which the patient feels they can trust them. Tone ,Pace and Volume of Voice. During my group interaction I had to adjust my tone, pace and volume to fits with the children’s acquirements and needs. I had to speak directly to all the children, so I made sure I projected my voice so that every child could hear what I was saying and wouldn’t be left out. I ensured i kept my sentences short as they were young children. My sentences remained quite simple and not as complex to if I was speaking to an adult. I also used traightforward language and vocab due to the children’s young age. I made sure I used straightforward language and vocab so they could actually understand what I was talking about, wouldn’t want to use over complicated words and for the children to get confused about what is being said. I also maintained comfortable eye contact with all the children when they were speaking; this showed that I w as listening and generally interested in what he was going to say. I was able to speed up my pace of voice, which showed excitement when reading the story which was able to transmit onto the children. Speeding up will invariably makes the tone of voice more urgent and compelling. Strengths and Weaknesses of the Skill I was able to demonstrate my tone, pace and volume effectively during my group interaction with the children. I was able to adjust my voice with the children. I ensured I had a positive tone of voice as they made the children want to communicate back with me. This was because my tone of voice was soft and inviting which convinced the children I wanted to talk to them and listen to what they had to say. As the children are quite young, I did speak a bit slower than usual so the children could digest and understand what I was saying. I made sure I wasn’t patronising to the children with my slow voice, but ensured they felt comfortable to talk to me. I think I was promoted the children’s self-concept during the interaction, by congratulating them when they said a good answer or point. I really allowed the children to talk and express their opinions thoughtfully. As I was a new visitor to the class, I needed the children to trust me and feel comfortable to talk to me as they were unsure of whom I was. My tone of voice had to invite the children in and make them want to talk to me about the story they were currently studying. My volume of voice stayed stable during the whole conversation, it was a comfortable relaxed volume of voice. The observer of the interaction said ‘my tone, pace and volume ‘were at a correct level when speaking to a group of children’ My observer who is also a teacher’s assistant followed on to say that ‘ I was well spoken and had a voice that edged the children to speak to me perfectly fine. After my observer commented on my tone, pace and volume they then followed onto to say that ‘Although she did sometimes use to over complicated words which the children couldn’t understand and enquired about’. As this all comes under the vocab I used, I should have researched more into what words the children would know and what they wouldn’t. I could have overcome this weakness by speaking to the teacher or even the teacher assistant that works with the group of children every school day what kind of reading level they were all at. This would of abled me to research on the amount of knowledge the children would have. A good thing I could have done was asked the teacher or teacher assistant what words they have recently learnt and ensured I used them in my interaction. Contexts of the Skill Adjusting your tone, pace and volume of your voice varies on what service user you are talking to. If I was a nurse working with an elderly person in a care home, I would have to adjust my voice to ensure the individual could hear me properly and for them to communicate back with me. It is typical to stereotype that all elderly people are death and need hearing aids, although there hearing does deterates over time, we can’t assume they are deaf. As this would hurt their self-esteem. I would be very sensitive towards the matter, I wouldn’t jump to conclusions that all people struggle with their hearing when speaking to them. I would address them I would with any other people, as they would reduce them feeling patronised. I would adapt their volume of voice to suit the service user. I would not shout at the individual as this may make them feel intimidated, although I may speak a tad louder so they could hear them. As older peoples hearing does deteriorate over time, they may have difficulties in what I was talking about so they may ask to repeat what I was saying. I would not get angry towards them for not being able to understand me, as this would make the individual to feel little and worthless. I would simply repeat what i said over and over again until they understood properly. For all of this to be possible for the elderly person to communicate back with me. I would ensure to make myself seen clearly and would face the care user, so this allows my mouth to be visible to the elderly person. I would then continue to speak clearly and slowly. I would also have to reduce the background noise, so this wouldn’t interfere with the conversation. I could also make the communication easier for the elderly person by using non-verbal signals where it’s appropriate. Care Values and Transmission [AO1, AO2 and AO4] Maintaining Confidentiality. During my group interaction I was able to demonstrate the care value of Confidentiality precisely. I was able to do this by not mentioning any specific names in this coursework; I always refer to the ‘children’ or the ‘child’. This shows that I was protecting the children’s identity and keeping them protected. Also on the observation sheet that I made sure my observer didn’t comment on any specific children that were in the group I was interacting with. I was also able to demonstrate the skill of confidentiality by saying to the children before the interaction had started what I was going to do through the interaction and ensured that no names would be use when writing about it in my coursework. I also got the children to sign a sheet which explained what was going to happen and that their identity would be kept safe and anonymous. (This sheet is attached to the coursework) The teacher also went through what was going to happen with the children to guarantee they knew what was happening, I also asked if any of the children had any questions before the interaction took place which I would be happily to answer. Contexts of the Care Value. Every Health and Social Care Sector needs to be able to stick and demonstrate the Care Value of Confidentiality with every client they are presented with. Confidentiality can be easily shown in an Alcohol Anonymous group. As a group leader I would ensure and stress that all members are safe to talk about their previous experiences and thoughts, and must allow the members to feel comfortable with the group knowing that they are all together as one. I could show confidentiality at the beginning of the session by saying ‘Whatever is said today stays within the walls of this room and doesn’t travel out of it’. This should make all the group members feel safe and ready to share their experiences. Promoting Anti-Discriminatory Practice. Anti-Discriminatory practice involves challenging unfair discrimination and counteracting any effects that it has already had on an individual. Discrimination can be done in many ways such as: age, sex, disability and even homophobia. It is important to keep within this care value as I was working with a group of children and within this group I had many children who shared different cultures and beliefs. I was able to treat every child equally and didn’t favor or disfavor and particular child. I ensured that every child felt included, secure and valued. I was able to show this Anti-Discriminatory practice by allowing the children to form a circle, also known as ‘circle time’ to discuss ideas about the cultures within the story. The children are more likely to feel comfortable about exploring issues if they feel that what they say and do is cared about. Circle times allowed children to help listen to each other, talk about other cultures they knew and religion. Contexts of the Care Value. My context is going to be within a primary school with children, I will explain how Anti-discriminatory practice takes place within schools, as I wasn’t able to show this as much as I wanted to during my interaction. Children need to hear songs and stories from a range of cultures, Music and dance offer opportunities for expression regardless of language; however, there is a need for sensitivity around dancing in some cultural groups. Music and dancing allows the children to feel as if they were in that particular culture and for them to express themselves, which would be making their self-image and self-esteem positive. The way the children see theirs selves and value themselves will be much higher than before. Dressing up clothes can also represent the styles of different communities, allowing children to take on roles and develop imaginative play skills. The school can also have a large selection of books that introduce different cultures which can be introduced to the children and for them to become aware of them and well educated. The book corner should also involve traditional stories from around the world. Strengths and Weakness of the Care Value. I think I was able to demonstrate the care value correctly, as I kept everyone equal and didn’t favour any of the children. Although there were children who had different culture backgrounds and shared different beliefs compared to other children but I wasn’t able to investigate and promote Anti-Discriminatory Practice within the rest of the children. If I was undertaking a activity with the children talking about religion and cultures I would have been able to promote the differences and make the children more aware that there are many different cultures and religions in the world. Promoting Effective Communication. During my group interaction, I showed the way how projected the sound of my voice when speaking to the whole of the group. As my group were young children, I had to adjust the vocabulary I used; this was due to their age. I couldn’t use over complicated vocabulary as the children wouldn’t of understood and would then be confused. I was able to promote an Effective Communication with all the children during the story and smaller group activities. I was encouraged to use ‘Circle Time’ as this would influence the children to talk and discuss their ideas. To encourage the children to discuss their ideas I used a range of prompts and probes to get information out of the children. This encouraged the children to really express his thoughts and feelings towards the book. I asked every child in turn, what their thoughts were and ensured them that there was no wrong answer. I praised each child when they told the rest of the group their thoughts, praising the child made the children’s self-esteem more positive. The way they value themselves would increase as I praised them for their good work and made them feel good about their self. When asking these questions I allowed enough time for the children to think of a response, and when they replied I ensured I listened to their reply and commented back. All these things show that I was able to Promote Effective Communication with all the children, due to them having happy facial expressions and smiling throughout the whole interaction. Contexts of the Care Value. In the situation of a support group for giving up smoking with the NHS sector, the leader/host of the group would need to show Effective communication throughout the whole group towards everyone. I would have to show support and encourage group members to quit together. I would also show praise towards people that have achieved a goal or a target. A simple thing like praising the individual will affect their self-concept on a whole. Their self-image will be positive and their image will also look more appealing to their selves. I could have given up smoking 10 years ago and knows what the struggles are when trying to give up. This means that I would be able to sympathise with all the group members as I have been through the whole situation herself. When sympathising with a member, I would ensure I speak directly to the individual and ask them to express their feelings as best they can. The best ways to show sympathy is to listen attentively while the other person talks. Asking questions can also make individuals feel more comfortable in the group and will also make them feel welcomed and part as a group, as a leader, a target is to include everyone in the conversation. Finding out information about the individuals can do great good both for the individual and me. The individual may feel like something has been lifted of their chest, by explaining their situation, thoughts and feelings. I would also ensure that I listen thoughtfully when the individual is replying and would use head gestures and ‘replying with yes’ gives the individual that they are being listened to. Promotion of Equality And Diversity. This care value was easy to transmit in the group interaction, when talking about the story I made sure the children was in ‘Circle Time’ so we could discuss the children’s ideas and thoughts. Following on Circle Time I asked the children to get into smaller groups (pairs) for some activities and then asked them to go alone to complete the given task. I went round and gave attention to every child equally and didn’t leave anyone out. Strengths and Weaknesses of the Care Value. I gave attention to each child when discussing what they thought was going to happen next in the story. I asked every child in my group to ensure no one felt left out. I spent roughly the same amount of time on each child when discussing with them about the story, I was giving out my divided attention equally to everyone. During the activities we had to complete, the children were put into smaller groups or by their selves for some activities. In their solo activities I went round and gave them my divided attention, I asked what they were doing and encouraged them to do their best. I did this with every child so again they didn’t felt left out but felt involved just like other group members. I also ensured that I kept an eye on what the other group was doing with their teacher; we were both doing the exact same activity and had a routine/plan to stick to. When the teacher moved onto the next section I also did the same. All the children in class 1 had the same amount of time to complete the tasks; no one had any extra time as this would be making a child seem more important than the others. Contexts of the Care Value. In the situation of working within AE, it is constantly busy throughout the day and workers need to be able to deal with the rush of patients needing emergency medical attention. A nurse or doctor needs to be able to give every patient the same quality of care and support, they must all treat every individual the same. Every patient that comes to the AE is unique and nurses and doctors need to recognise their individual differences. For example, they need to address how serious the injury is and if they need to be prior due to the fatal accident and if addressed quickly and lead to serve consequences for the patient. All different service users will use AE and the workers need to figure out what care to give them, different service users need different care, such as elderly care will be different compared to young children. If a young child came in with a serve injury such as cracking their head open due to something landing on their head, and their head is full of blood and is not stopping, and another service user came in AE with a ‘sore wrist’ which comes out to be just a sprained wrist. The nurses will put the child first as without immediate attention the child will bleed to death while as the client with a ‘sore wrist’ is not a major injury, although the nurses will give the appropriate care to the client but will put the child first as its more serious. Promoting Anti-Discriminatory Practice In my interaction it was essential and so important not to discriminate against of the children because of their age, sex, race or religion. Within my small group I had a child who suffered from a learning disability they was diagnosed with dyslexia. This made certain school work activities hard for him to complete and took him longer to do so compared to the other children. I didn’t discriminate against their learning disabilities and treated him equally like I did with any of the other children. I influenced the children to voice their opinion and thoughts and share them with the other children. When discussing thoughts in ‘Circle Time’ I influenced and persuaded the children to talk about what they really thought. There was children in the group who had different religious beliefs and culture compared to me and the other children, which meant they had different opinions to certain subjects. I welcomed any new ideas and thoughts from the children and listened to them with an open mind and didn’t reject their opinions. I praised the children when they voiced their opinion and told them what I thought about their opinion in a positive way which influenced their self-esteem, the way individuals think about their selves positive. Strengths and Weaknesses of the Care Value. I don’t think I was able to transmit their Care Value as much as I wanted to; this was because the teacher told and advised me to do a range of particular ideas so I couldn’t really demonstrate what I would do to promote Anti-Discriminatory Practice. If I was given the chance to transmit this Care Value I would of asked to be in a religious studies (RE) lesson, this would mean that I could explain many different religions and cultures. I may tell the children all the ifferent religions we have in our country, after doing so I would then further on to explain some of the religious beliefs they have and similar ones we share. I would get a group discussion going with the children so they could express their own thoughts and would answer any questions about different religions beliefs if children asked. After telling them loads of information about the religions, I could get the children to do a task in small groups, this would c onsist the children being given a particular religion and them to draw/write on an A3 bit of paper about the religion. Then the groups of children would have to explain what they had written/drawn on the A3 sheet to the rest of the class, every group would do this in turn. Work Related Issues/Problems [A03] Encouragement of Independence and Choice. During my interaction I allowed the freedom of choice to all of the children when interacting with them. Even though I was instructed by the teacher to do certain actives I did allowed the children to choose what small group they wanted to work with. I noticed that the children worked with the people who they were sitting next to, and they seemed quite happy to all be working together. This may suggest that they were working with their friends, and by doing this they produced great group work by working as a team. I supported the children’s opinion when expressing in ‘Circle Time’, I often praised the children when they spoke their thoughts and feelings. This would have made every child’s self-esteem value much higher than usual. The way the children values themselves should be positive due to my positive comments I made throughout the interaction. I also allowed the choice and independence of the children going to the toilet by themselves. Adjusted Vocabulary I was able to present myself in a happy positive way when being introduced to the group of children. I tried to use a range of sentences to gain the children’s attention due to my self being a new visitor to the class and the children had never met me before so they seemed to be very anxious of me. so Bob wouldn’t get to confused, this was done so that he could digest the conversation we was having. I also allowed enough time for Bob to think what I had previously said; I didn’t hesitate when he asked me to re-peat what I had said. Even though I tried to use simple vocab, my observer did comment on the ‘use of over complicated words’ which of made Bob struggle. I should have done more research on the language and vocab disability children can understand, to overcome this barrier I could of seeked permission from his mother to look through his school books and completed home work so I could get an idea on what language and vocab Bob uses himself. Interferences/Disturbances. Ensuring the environment is comfortable and not to over powerful is an important factor to effective communication. It is important to make the perfect environment for the interaction to take place. My interaction was completed in a room where my group of children felt comfortable, relaxed and defiantly not anxious of where they were. This was because my room was the classroom the children are used to. This is where they come five days a week to learn and be in school. This made the children easier to settle down as they were in their normal environment. If I had asked the teacher to be placed in a separate room, separated from the rest of the children, it could of made the children feel un-easy and uncomfortable and this could of cause problems such as the children playing up and not setterling down. It could of made me interaction very difficult and negative which would then be picked up by the children. Although I did ensure the place where my interaction took place was in view of the rest of the children and teacher, but was at the other end of the class. This made sure there wasn’t too much background noise, as this would have affected my communication with the children. Being to close to the rest of the class could have intruded on the conversation I was having with the group, this again would cause distraction and make the group hard to settle down and be quiet. This also might have made it hard for the children to pay focus to me, if they could overhear the teachers voice and other children discussing. The lighting was not to bring nor to dark, as this can effect non-verbal communication. This was already done due to being in a school environment. Too much darkness reduces the ability to read non-verbal messages, It can affect people with degrading eye sight or with people who have bad eye sight but use glasses; poor light would of enable the children to see my face clearly. Therefore making it difficult for them to communicate and understand properly what I was saying. Positively Establishing a Friendly Relationship. I effectively promoted a friendly relationship with the whole class. Although it was a struggle at the beginning, this was because I was a new face to the class. The children had never met me and I had never met them either. It took time for the children to pay attention to me; I had to start the interaction by introducing myself and asking the children’s names. The children were still a bit weary of me at that time, so I started a conversation by saying ‘I use to go to this school’ this opened up a lot of conversation between me and the group of children. By saying a true statement like that it abled the children to trust me and feel comfortable with my presence. I also relaxed and wasn’t so tense, which the children could of picked up on. I treated all the children in a sensible manner and treated them all equally. I didn’t pick or favourite any child. By allowing a positive friendly relationship to form I ensured my body posture and facial expressions were transmitting positive ideas to establish this relationship to the group of children. I made sure I smiled when I was listening to the childrens ideas and also nodded which transmitted to the children that I was generally happy to speak to them and listen to all what they had to say. Comparison [AO4] During the one to one interaction with ‘Bob’ I could easily communicate and get them to pay attention to me without struggling to much, but in the group interaction with the small group of school children was much harder to ensure that every child was paying attention to me. I was dealing with a group of children instead of just one person. Although it was only a small group of children, I had never interacted with them before, so this made the children unaware of me and did take a while to settle and actually listen to me. Even after the children were comfortable with my presence it was hard to give them all my focus and attention, as I had to share it out equally between a group of them. There were some children who craved for more attention from me then the other children, so if I was giving them attention by answering questions. I would be giving my divided attention onto just one child instead of the group. Even though some children weren’t afraid to ask more questions, there was still one child who was highly shy and hardly asked or answered questions when I directed it at them. So that particular child wasn’t getting the same divided attention as the other children. This could have had an effect on the child’s self-concept. Also my one to one interaction was with a child who had a learning disability, Bob easily got upset when he couldn’t accomplish tasks that were set. Bob found school life more complicated and frustrating then other school children. Even though Bob had a learning disability, I was able to go through some of his school books and talk to his mother before the interaction so I could gather up an idea what it was like for Bob himself. Also just being a one to one interaction, I was able to communicate with Bob and get him to open up to me about what specific things he found hard and how these things had an effect on the way he felt. I was able to get Bob to confide in me and tell me how he really felt, while playing one of his favourite games. We were in a familiar environment which made myself and Bob feel comfortable and not out of place. While as the group interaction I felt highly uncomfortable at first as I was in an environment which I wasn’t comfortable with and I think the children could see this. Which made the interaction difficult at first, I had to get the children to know me first before they started answering questions and asking questions about the book we were reading together. Even though Bob had a learning disability and this did make me think more carefully about what I was going to say and what I shouldn’t say, I found this interaction easier to complete, as I was only dealing with one individual. While as the group interaction I was dealing with a group of children and had more responsibility then the one to one, I had to ensure I didn’t offend any of the children so I had to watch what I said. Although the children were roughly the same age, the one to one interaction with Bob was much easier to complete then the group interaction. Also when dealing with a group of different individuals, they all have different views and thoughts compared to each other, they all have different perspective views into their religion and their beliefs. I had to take this into account as I didn’t want to offend anyone in what I was saying. This made things more complicated as some of the children had different religious beliefs then the other children and me. So I ensured that I didn’t say anything insulting or anything which may seem insulting to a particular child and single them out. With the one to one interaction I only had to talk to one person, and Bobs religious beliefs were the same as mine, so I knew what to say and not what to say. Conclusion [AO4] During this assignment comparing the two interactions it made me think how different communication techniques are used when interacting one to one or to a group. You also use different techniques and skills when communicating with different client groups and different ages. It is important to ensure Health and Social care professions are able to transmit care values to their users and clients. It is important for these care values to be in place as these care values such as Maintaining Confidentiality, Promoting Anti-Discriminatory Practice and Promoting Effective Communication protect and help the individuals that use the services. If these services didn’t provide these care values such as Maintaining Confidentiality, patients at a Doctors surgery’s personal details would be on show and no long anonymous. People would be able to ask for other people’s personal information without people questioning it. Service users use this care value, to keep their details anonymous and to protect themselves. In the one to one interaction I was in Bobs family home, this made things easier for myself and Bob. Bob was comfortable when talking to me as he was in a friendly well known environment which made him feel comfortable when speaking to me. I think if the interaction took place in a different environment which was not known to Bob, then possibly Bob wouldn’t have been so open with me and wouldn’t of told me how he was really feeling when discussing what he thought about school and his school work. Bob could of possibly not trusted me like he did during our interaction, if you’re in a comfortable environment you’re going to feel comfortable enough to talk to anyone as you feel safe in your own family home. Knowing that Bob felt comfortable it also made me relax a little bit more, which is why me and Bob got along so well! Even though I think both my interactions went well, there are still improvements to be made to make the interactions more successful if I was to do them again. Both my interactions could have been better, but if I was to re-do the one to one interaction I would of done some internet research and textbook research on Bobs learning disability so it would make the interaction possibly more easier. Doing that extra research could reveal doing specific tasks in which Bob would be better at, for example. ‘Bob might find visual tasks easier then memory ones’ These interactions have made me realised how important communication is in a Health Care Profession, without good communication the workers and service users relationship would be very poor. Essential communication is needed to sort out problems and ask for advice and even book appointments in a doctor’s surgery or dentist. I will be able to use all my skills that I have learnt during the interaction in future situations. I can use the communication skills when communicating with my family, my work colleagues and even teachers. These interactions have taught me how we use eye contact, facial expressions, and hand gestures along with verbal communication to transmit excellent communication to other individuals. This can be extremely useful when working in a health/care and even retail environment, as all these services should provide excellent customer service, and using the above skills can help these services please service users, in which means they will be willing to come back. How to cite Health and Social Communication Skills, Papers