Professional Love – observation clip 4 Scroll to learning area

Harry and Teya are climbing about in the nursery classroom. Felicity, their key person, supports then with keeping themselves safe indoors.

Good for looking at

• Professional love
• Unconditional positive regard
• Supporting children to manage risk
• Attunement (Tuning in)
• Physical development – self-care

“The work of early childhood professionals involves not only ‘care and education’ but ‘love, care and education’”

(Page and Nutbrown 2008:183)

Keep this quote in mind while you watch the clip and also think about the following question:

Notice

• What evidence do you see of professional love and unconditional positive regard for children and parents?

Reflect

What are your thoughts about:

• What Harry and Teya were communicating about their feelings – think about their body language, gestures and verbal communication?
• What are they learning from this interaction – about being loveable and about somebody being there for them when they need it?
• How are harry and Teya learning? Which areas of development, engagement and characteristics of learning can you observe?
• The role of the adult in this interaction – how did she support Harry and Teya?

Further reflection

(you may want to watch more observation clips before moving on to further reflection)

• Being in a warm loving environment is beneficial for us all. What impact does it have on your emotional well-being when you watch or are around children and adults who display loving relationships?
• What have you felt when your key children have left or moved on?
• Are there times when you’ve found it more difficult to treat all of your key children with unconditional positive regard? Why do you think this was?
• What access do you have to professional supervision and reflection on your role as a key person?
• What further support would help you – to safeguard your wellbeing as well as improve your practice?
• How do you support parents to understand the particular nature of the key person role?
• If you are a manager, how do you handle the complexities of the key person approach in your setting?
• How do you ensure that you are providing a warm, nurturing environment for children and adults alike?

Respond

• What provision/support system could be put in place to support the complexities of relationships between you, the child and their family?
• Could these kinds of issues be discussed in personal supervision sessions?