Working in Teams with Caregivers

1. Working in Teams with Caregivers

2. Objectives • Identify characteristics of effective teams • Distinguish useful and dysfunctional communication strategies • Identify strategies for sharing team responsibilities • Assess the effectiveness of your own team practices

3. What’s My Attitude? • Individually, complete the statements on pages 8-9 in your TB. • Share with a partner. • The attitude we bring to the caregiving environment profoundly affects the relationships we have with children, parents and team members! • Now complete your Team’s Attitude on page 10-11 in TB.

4. The Goal is Relationships We don’t get to choose who we work with! Attitude is not fixed--We make a choice about it! “In infant-toddler group-care settings, the goal is to build strong, supportive relationships between caregiver and child, between caregiver and parents, and among caregivers themselves; these relationships can then support the vital relationships between parent and child.” ---Tender Care and Early Learning, p. 296

5. It Takes a Team to Make a Baby! Even though these babies are made out of socks and nylons, you each contributed your thoughts and ideas of who this baby is and you all have strong feelings about the care of him/her! • Make a Baby out of the materials on the table. • Write on a note card: • Your baby’s name • Your baby’s age, temperament, likes and dislikes • How to take care of your baby • As a group, share your feelings, hopes and dreams for your baby.

6. Team Experiences • What enjoyable group or team experiences have you had throughout your life? • What made these experiences memorable? • What characterized the group’s/team’s interaction styles? • How did the groups/teams deal with disagreements and conflicts?

7. Our Team Definition Based on everyone’s team experiences, let’s define a successful team?

8. Team Elements • Small number of people --- 2 to 6 • Complementary skills • Common purpose and goals • Common approach • Mutual accountability

9. Benefits of A Team • Working as a supportive adult team reflects the kind of supportive relationships we strive to have with our children and families. • Our work as caregiving teams is one clear way to provide continuity of care for infants and toddlers. • Children learn that they can count on the same supportive interactions from the adults who care for them. • What are the advantages of working together in teams? • Why is teamwork an essential element of high quality experiences for infants and toddlers?

10. The Caregiving Team • Remains together from one year to the next • Meets for daily team planning • Practices open communication • Makes joint decisions • Observes children throughout the day • Discusses, interprets, and records child observations, using the key developmental indicators as a guide • Plans ways to support individual children

11. Current Team Strengths • With a partner, turn to page 15 and discuss the current strengths of your team. • Discuss as a whole group.

12. What is Open Communication?

13. Four Common Conversational Styles • Blaming • Placating • Computing • Distracting

14. Who Am I? Placater

15. Role Play this Scenario As a person who is a Placater, respond to this scenario about your co-caregiver: A child was sick and threw up and they were suppose to clean it up.

16. Who Am I? Blamer

17. Role Play this Scenario As a person who is a Blamer, respond to this scenario about your co-caregiver: A child was sick and threw up and they were suppose to clean it up.

18. Who Am I? Distracter

19. Role Play this Scenario As a person who is a Distracter, respond to this scenario about your co-caregiver: A child was sick and threw up and they were suppose to clean it up.

20. Who Am I? Computer

21. Role Play this Scenario As a person who is a Computer, respond to this scenario about your co-caregiver: A child was sick and threw up and they were suppose to clean it up.

22. Levelers

23. Communication Styles Role Play • In groups of 3, turn to page 19 and role play this team meeting scenario according to the instructions. • Discuss responses to each role as a whole group.

24. Acknowledging your own and other’s feelings is critical. If you skip this step, adults in conflict tend to give lip service to the problem solving process, but the problem never gets resolved and comes back! Levelers Practice the Adult Conflict Resolution steps • Approach calmly. • Acknowledge adults’ feelings. • Exchange information. • Look at the problem from the child’s viewpoint. • Restate the problem. • Generate ideas for solutions and choose one together. • Be prepared to follow up the problem.

25. Practice Conflict Scenario • In pairs, turn to page 21 and role play the conflict scenario using the 7 steps. • Discuss as a whole group.

26. Sharing Team Responsibilities Makes joint decisions about • Space and materials • Schedules and routines • Roles and responsibilities Turn to page 22-23. With your group follow the instructions about making decisions as a team. (Use pgs 24-25 to help)

27. Homework • Please read pages 26-28 on the Stages of Team Development. • Then complete page 29 on your teams current development. • We will be discussing this topic first thing in the morning.

28. Let’s Talk About Your Babies It is for these reasons that we must practice primary caregiving, continuity of care, and supportive caregiving relationships!

29. Teamwork in Your Own Settings • Get with others who are from your setting. • Turn to page 30. • What will you… • Start • Continue • Stop

30. Teamwork Implementation Plan • Turn to pg 31. • Think about our topic on working as teams and begin to make plans to strengthen your role in your team.

31. Stages of Team Development • Forming – Orientation Stage • Storming – Dissatisfaction Stage • Norming – Resolution Stage • Performing – Production Stage

32. Stages Graph Once we become familiar with these stages, we can anticipate and welcome them (rather than dread and fear them) knowing they lead to effective team work!