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Professionalism In Health And Social Care

Decent Essays

Introduction
In this essay I will be discussing the nature of professionalism and how this can be contested. Next, I will be discussing relevant legislation and theory between being a professional and professionalism. Furthermore, I will highlight and discuss personal development and its relation to being a childcare worker. I will support this through theory and literature in relation to my personal experiences. Finally, I will discuss the importance of being a reflective practitioner and how this relates to professionalism.
Nature of professionalism
Professionalism defines a range of attributes held by someone who is part of a profession; these may include knowledge and understanding, compassion and personal commitment. In my role as a childcare …show more content…

“There is a clear distinction from ‘being a professional’ and ‘behaving professionally’” being a professional relates to status, reward, public recognition and behaving professionally. Behaving professionally however relates to dedication, standard of behaviour and a strong service ethics (Helsby, 1996). Professionals are well known in the community for their work and are respected. The role of a doctor is known from a young age. Doctors are respected for the work they do and are also well paid and rewarded for the work they do. Childcare differs from this as it is seen as a low status, low paid job (Lane, 2015) He also suggests that there are seven signs of the professional. These are protected roles, special body of knowledge, special skills, a code of ethics, image, rewards and values. Similarly (Brock, 2006) suggests there are seven dimensions of professionalism. These are knowledge, education and training, skills, autonomy, values, ethics and rewards. There is a clear difference between the signs of the professional and the dimensions of professionalism; although both agree that values and rewards are attributes of both it is clear that attributes of professionalism may differ from worker to worker as they may have a varied level of education, skills and knowledge. Whereas the signs of a professional will be similar from worker to worker such as their image, the special skills they require and the roles they …show more content…

By following these standards childcare workers are continually further developing knowledge and skills. Furthermore, it encourages continual reflection on practice as it encourages childcare workers to reflect on their self as a practitioner and identify any gaps in their knowledge. Benchmark 18 in the standards for childhood practice (SSSC, 2015) states that “Managers/lead practitioners engage in professional reflection for continuing improvement” this encourages practitioners to be critical of their practice, support their own reflection and to include other users of the setting to become involved in reflection. In my experience involving other users of the service such as parents, carers and children in reflection may be beneficial as it allows you to take their thoughts, ideas and experiences on board as well as your own personal reflections. Brookfield (1995) suggests that reflection has four lenses, one of these being the student’s lens. Workers should involve the experiences of the users of the setting during reflection to develop their knowledge and skills and gain confidence. As discussed previously it is important to reflect on practice as it encourages childcare workers to reflect on their self as a practitioner and identify any gaps in their knowledge. This will ensure we are continually further developing attributes of

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