This document discusses the author's philosophy on working with adults. It addresses that adults should be treated with respect in the workplace and past experiences can impact work performance. The author believes effective communication is key, including listening, asserting needs, and managing stress. Adults need an environment where they feel understood, cared for, and can continue growing both personally and professionally. Respecting differences and focusing on strengths can help create a supportive community.
This document discusses the author's philosophy on working with adults. It addresses that adults should be treated with respect in the workplace and past experiences can impact work performance. The author believes effective communication is key, including listening, asserting needs, and managing stress. Adults need an environment where they feel understood, cared for, and can continue growing both personally and professionally. Respecting differences and focusing on strengths can help create a supportive community.
This document discusses the author's philosophy on working with adults. It addresses that adults should be treated with respect in the workplace and past experiences can impact work performance. The author believes effective communication is key, including listening, asserting needs, and managing stress. Adults need an environment where they feel understood, cared for, and can continue growing both personally and professionally. Respecting differences and focusing on strengths can help create a supportive community.
This document discusses the author's philosophy on working with adults. It addresses that adults should be treated with respect in the workplace and past experiences can impact work performance. The author believes effective communication is key, including listening, asserting needs, and managing stress. Adults need an environment where they feel understood, cared for, and can continue growing both personally and professionally. Respecting differences and focusing on strengths can help create a supportive community.
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WORKING WITH ADULTS
HD411 Working with Adults/online class
Alma Ramirez-Rodriguez Philosophy Statement Pacific Oaks College June 21, 2015 Professor Dr. Earl Ruhnke
Working with Adults
Philosophy Working with Adults In developing a philosophy statement, there are some question that come to mind 1. When adults are treated with respect, how effective are they in their work environment? Perhaps, many adults spend a great time outside of their actual home thus making their work environment a second home. This is where many adults give it their all and others feel unvalued and become less interested. Every aspect and idea of each person at a work site is a representation of it unless it is proven otherwise. 2. Skeletons in the closet, how does that contribute to a persons personality? Traumatic experiences can affect an adults way of seeing things, making it difficult for a work environment to succeed. Adults should take the time to reflect on themselves before becoming a supervisor or lead in their group. Making this an important point to what each person has to offer. Going through this philosophy statement I became interested on how adults have surfaced due to their past. I do believe that past traumas, experiences and society make a person for who they have become. Working with adults, is not always easy and to come up with a technique for adults to reflect and become understanding people is what I will seek to understand. I also want to learn how I can become a better adult for when I go back into the working world and not let my past emotions interfere in the work environment. I believe that each adult is unique, regardless of religion, gender, race and ethnicity. They need a caring, understanding, secure and an atmosphere where adults can continue to grow. The 1
Working with Adults
learning environment consisting of social, emotional and logical growth helping the adults feel comfortable and not judged. Adults can feel safe and open to the communication; there should be certain steps to begin and maintain this type of environment, respecting each individual, focus on their positive attributes and facilitate as a guide. When a supervisor or coworker respects each others differences, it also reflects the respect that they have for themselves thus opening the floor for different opinions and ideas. If the supervisor directs him/herself to the group with an idea instead of demanding the coworkers, they are susceptive to add their opinions without feeling judged; In other words making the environment a common respectful ground. It is very important to focus on their positive attributes; this can help the environment be a peaceful place, it gives the adult to learn and grow from their mistakes. For instance, if a report has certain pieces missing, directing it in a manner where the adult feels unappreciated for their efforts, it makes the adult shutdown and make the environment bitter. Facilitating as a guide, would be the most important feature. When a supervisor or other adults are guided with patience, nurture and understanding it reflects on the working environment. It becomes a great opportunity to allow and discover themselves with skills. As a guide it is crucial to give information rather than imposing the information. When adults add information or an opinion to a conversation it allows the adult to learn and discover themselves. Another important factor intertwined with working with adults is communication; its not just based on giving information. Communication goes a long way, it is based on feelings, emotions and passion behind the information. Communication has two components that of
Working with Adults
receiving and the sender, in a work environment this component is lost sometimes. Supervisors and lead team members, speak with authority and demanding demeanors. Communication are skills combined with engaged listening, communicating assertively and managing stress. An online article explains the engaged listener, When you really listen you are engaged with what is being said- you will hear the subtle intonations in someones voice that tell you how that person is feeling and the emotions they are trying to communicate. (Mindtools, 2014). Reflecting back on the previous post of each individual, this important key element did not seem to reflect, a few supervisors spoke without engaging and not listening with what the entire team had to say, this does happen quite often. To make an environment work is to create a bond between coworkers beginning with engaging as a listener. Assertiveness, is honest communication in expressing ones needs and wants. This form of communication is allowing open conversations to happen, where neither person feels threatened or judged. When assertiveness is not displayed the work environment becomes hostile where all or certain workers shut down and become less effective with their work. Communication goes hand in hand with adult developmental theories which Erik Erikson theorized stages of life and how each can affect the next stage. Working with adults is not always easy because of the dynamics and ideas that each individual has. Knowing the background or a little bit of a person story can shift that dynamic. For example, a supervisor who speaks with authority does not mean that she is rude and angry. It is most likely that they have had a difficult upbringing where they had many struggles.
Working with Adults
Learning to listen, Learning to teach, gives important points about adults. One that speaks to me is Principle number nine clear roles it explains the importance of communication between the learner and the teacher, supervisor or lead team member. If the teachers role does not lend itself to dialogue, learner will not seek them out. I find this to have truth as taking this online class has been challenging in many ways, since I am a visual learner and the interaction between the teacher and myself is very important. Identifying that the interaction of the teacher was not present unless something was not followed, I felt the need to seek my fellow peers. With that I was able to continue with the dynamic of the class. Working with adults, is becoming a part of a community a sense of kinship. It is a thing of becoming us and not them because of higher positions. It is finding the similarities of each other and thriving and expanding with ideas. A place where dedication, understanding, encouragement and nurture takes places. Kinship is togetherness, acceptance, assertiveness, engagement, listening, communication, and non-judgmental. Our community was part of the course working with adults, I learned that our community thrived on each others experiences and concerns. Our similarities flourished with the skills pointed out on the power point, supporting and helping each other to continue the success. I learned that we gave each other the respect to grow developmentally, cognitively and emotionally. Thus reflecting on our past, and fulfilling the future with changes. The stuns of growth often occur by past experiences leading to low self-esteem, insecurity and depression. In other cases past experiences have also shown the opposite of insecurity by becoming overconfident to the point of always thinking that the person is right and what others might say is wrong or never taken into consideration. This also stunning the potential 4
Working with Adults
growth of an individual. Believing that they have the power to overpower others, when there is room to reflect, allowing one self to process and to problem solve it is given the potential to recover and adapt to new situations that can improve an overall of society. And so, embracing each individual with their unique abilities; the adult can grow and learn in an environment where they feel understood, cared for and nurtured. The sense of equality and non-discrimination is what makes a working adult flourish and feels safe. To make my philosophy statement more inclusive I need to consider the individuals experience and apply theories to other cultures, race, religion, gender ethnicity, age group, sexual orientation and economic level.
Working with Adults
References MindTools. (2014, June 19). Adult learning, communication and skills. Retrieved June 19, 2015, from http://www.mindtools.com/page8.html? Vella, J. (1994). Clear roles. In learning to listen, learning to teach: The power of dialogue in educating adults. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
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