Know

Throughout this module, you have learned about the importance of professionalism. Working with children, youth, and their families is an important endeavor. It means that you will have young, impressionable minds watching, listening, and learning from you. It means that you will interact with family members who will be your partners throughout this process. And it means that you will work with colleagues to provide high-quality care for children and families in your care. While doing all of the above, you must be acting as a role model at all times. Being a positive and supportive role model will strengthen your work and will positively affect the lives of children and families you interact with.

儿童保健领域已经变得非常有限r the past several years, and there is always new information and research on the significant roles adults can play in children's development.You can truly make a difference。您越熟练，承诺，知识渊博，您成为，更有效，有意义，持久的影响力将是儿童和家庭的生命。作为一名直接护理工作人员，您希望您的练习不断改进，努力成为儿童和家庭可以成为最好的。您应该期待为您提供积极的，为儿童和家庭创造积极的，关怀的环境。您还应该与您的培训师或教练一起工作，继续专业学习和发展。您对专业行为的高标准和期望将积极影响您提供的护理质量，以及周围人的关系质量。

Always Keep On Learning

Throughout this course, you have read about the process and the path of becoming professional as well as the attributes, skills, and knowledge you need to pursue. No matter how experienced you are and how much you know, it is important to continue to pursue education and training to learn more about your field and to further grow as a professional. This is true for a number of reasons (Koralek, Dodge, & Pizzolongo, 2013):

You care about children and their families.

To be a successful staff member, you need to care about children and families you work with. This means that you want to improve you knowledge and skills, update what you know, and strive for practices that will positively impact development and outcomes for all children and families. Think about working with children and youth with special learning needs, for example. Because you care about what you do, you will approach working with children with diverse abilities as an opportunity to meaningfully engage them in experiences, and you may invite their families in your classroom or program to share their knowledge about how to best work with their children or youth. Ultimately, you want to provide best practices and your love for what you do drives you to be the best in doing that.

Continuous learning allows you to recognize, evaluate, and improve your existing practices.

Self-awareness enables you to acknowledge strengths, talents, skills, and accomplishments, and at the same time it helps you recognize and identify competencies or skills you need to improve. Knowing who you are as a person and as a professional is empowering, as it enables you to engage in self-improvement and growth. You can do this by talking with colleagues and arranging to observe each other to learn more and improve each other's practice. Or you can review materials and resources that keep you updated with new ideas and research in your area of expertise. You should also participate in professional organizations and training events and opportunities.

你想要专业发展。

Being committed to ongoing learning can improve your knowledge, skills, and performance. This learning will help you gain new skills and hone existing skills, and this may come with increased confidence, more responsibility, and even a promotion.

总有新的信息要学习！

印度神秘的ramakrishna说：“只要我活着，我学习这么久”，而古希腊哲学家苏格拉底说“真正的知识存在，知道你无所谓。”

All professionals need to keep up with new information, knowledge, and research in their fields. As a responsible and committed professional, you have an obligation to keep up with new information and use that in your practice with children and families.

Experiences and Resources for Professional Growth

职业化有许多优秀的资源。教育工作者Fran Simon（2015）提供了一个建议列表：

• 开放to what is possible, not held back by what you think is impossible.
• Join professional associations, attend conferences, volunteer.
• Be curious and ask questions.
• Value and work to establish and maintain relationships in your daily practice.
• Make time to learn, connect, and network.
• Be authentic and open with the people you meet along the way, even if you do not share their viewpoints.
• Participate in live and virtual professional learning networks.
• Share your ideas with colleagues, trainers, and managers.
• Engage in formal professional, career, and leadership development.
• Find a mentor! Everybody needs inspirational people in their lives.
• 建立一个图书馆领导和相关的话题。
• Subscribe to email and print newsletters and professional journals from a variety of sources.

考虑到自己的健康

自我意识对于您自己的专业增长和学习非常重要。狗万app怎么下载教育工作者Donna Witters和Sandy Petersen强调，“知道自己涉及探索我们的优势和脆弱性。我们需要想知道，并试图了解我们的反应，我们的挫折和我们工作的挫折的意义，让我们带来欢乐。这种探索有时可能是困难或不舒服的“（2013，第409页）。思考这一点的另一种方式是“护理”背后的“护理”。

我们所有人都可以发现自己在努力了解涉及儿童，青年和家庭的情况和关系。正如您可能在其他课程中学到的那样，观察是我们最好的策略之一。观察可以帮助您更好地了解并理解您的程序中的孩子或青年，从而改变您的感受。

Another strategy you can use is visualization. As a staff member, you are likely to encounter children, families, and fellow staff members from a variety of backgrounds. It is important for you to understand the complexity of culture's influence on identity and equally important to understand individual differences. For example, a family member who has had a lifetime of encouragement, praise, and support, may have a very different parenting style or needs from a family member who has experienced extensive criticism, doubt, and isolation. See yourself interacting positively with a child or family in your program. If the child is displaying behaviors that seem to disrupt your teaching approach, try seeing this child without those behaviors and you responding in a caring way. If the family has views that are different from your own views (e.g., when it comes to eating independently or providing assistance with tasks), try to understand the family's point of view and respond in a respectful and caring way. As a staff member, you will need to be able to provide children, youth, and their families with culturally and developmentally sensitive care and help them be successful.

Self-care is a very active and powerful choice to engage in the activities that are required to gain or maintain an optimal level of overall health. This includes not just the physical, but the psychological, emotional, social, and spiritual components of an individual's well-being. In your role as a direct- care staff member, you can create an environment that supports children's development. Your own self-care practices can be a starting place to demonstrate the importance of self-care. Learning to use self-care practices is an indication of developing a strong self-concept, and staff members who are aware of self-care practices can act as positive role models for children, families, as well as fellow staff members.

Many of us are accustomed to saying "yes" to everything that is asked of us for fear of appearing weak or uncooperative. Learning how to say "no" is a good skill to cultivate, and it shows you know your limits and are able to put your needs first, which will make you a better colleague and team member. It is also important that you learn to let go of stress. Here are a few tips:

• 考虑保留期刊。在纸上写一天的活动和您的观点，它可以是治疗性的。您也可能考虑保持一种感谢日记，帮助您注意您生活的积极方面。
• Make connections. Reach out to friends, family, and acquaintances. Go out for lunch or for a cup of coffee with a friend. Speak to the person in front of you in line at the grocery store. These small moments can help you feel connected and supported.
• Even a little regular exercise can help you feel better, sleep better, and cope better with life's daily stressors. Healthful eating can make a difference, too.
• 记得呼吸。当我们受到压力时，我们倾向于喘息。通过花点时间拍摄一些深呼吸，我们正在为自己花费时间，降低我们的压力水平。

看

Continuous Learning

Do

According to child-care expert Jeff Johnson (2010), your attitude can help you make changes in your life and your program. Johnson has six suggestions:

• Positive outlook: Thinking positively about situations and people can help you bring about beneficial outcomes. Your personal outlook on life plays a critical role in your level of self-care.
• 自我意识：知道你是谁包括意识到你的感受，你的情绪，你的想法和你的关系。首先占据你的优势和劣势。检查你的生活，过去和现在。注意你到了多远，你拥有的技能让你到这一点。
• Healthy selfishness: It's important to recognize your own needs as valid and do what is necessary to meet them.
• Relinquish control: Allowing yourself to relax and see things as gray instead of black and white can allow you to see more options and opportunities.
• Playful attitude: Changing your mindset requires playfulness, curiosity, and excitement. Try exploring life through the eyes of a child and see how different things seem.
• Thoughtful choices: As life gets busy, slow down and make sure you are making thoughtful choices. Reconcile with yourself that you may never master a task perfectly and sometimes it is going to have to be good enough.

自我护理