darkenedangel's Blog

Identify two or three people who have been influential in your life. Which of their words, attitudes or behaviours do you consider to be significant and why? What effect this had on your own behaviour, beliefs or attitudes? What implications could this have for your work with young people?

The first and most influential person that has been in my life would be my connexions adviser Ewan. Ewan has been working with me since the age of thirteen so we have built up a strong relationship, Ewan’s persistent and caring behaviour means that we now have trust and understanding. He has a beneficial attitude that always focuses on the future. This is then making me look forward rather than back. This is one of the more important points that I consider to be most effective when working with young people, as it is inspiring them to see their future. It also helps them to remain positive throughout their life. I consider his language choice to be significant as it is always bright and cheerful, an example of this is when we text to arrange our one-to-one meetings he always starts with “ Hey Star”, this then improves my mood and shows me that he cares. He often uses quotes such as “ can, not can’t” and “you can do anything if you put your mind to it!” which is enforcing a very optimistic look on life and definitely improves my out look on things. Ewan has always been there to help me and because of this I know that he is reliable and I can depend on him. When working with young people you need to be consistent and be there when they need you as this will build up a relationship. It also means the young person will feel comfortable around you. Ewans communication skills are brilliant, he always gives eye contact, talks when necessary but also shows me that he listens. Our meetings are always informal which makes it less serious and I feel more at ease talking about things. We often joke and laugh to lighten the mood if the subject that we are discussing is serious. You need to be able to communicate well when you are working with people especially youths as they may have built up barriers and have negative opinions towards others. Ewan has a very calm approach and does not order me to do things but asks me to consider things such as healthy eating. This has a major affect on the way that I behave because he is not telling me what to do but is giving me the options so I am more likely to respond to him. By doing this he is showing that he cares and it’s giving me an insight to what concerns he may have for me. Me and Ewan have been working closely for a long period of time so he knows how to act, he often asks questions and will repeat questions if I answer with “I’m fine” and he knows I’m not. I often take Ewans advice over others and value what he says as I know he is trying to help me. He always has faith in me and this builds my confidence, because of our good relationship I respect what he tells me.

The second influential person in my life would be my tutor Claire. The main reason that I trust and listen to her is because she approached me asking if I was okay, rather than me going to her. The fact that she didn’t even know me but offered me support and a chance to talk made me instantly warm to her. Her Caring attitude and cool approach made me open up to her. At the beginning of my second year I was un-happy in my tutor group and Claire arranged for me to move into hers. This made me see that she was reliable and helpful. I was then going to leave college and Claire encouraged me stay and finish my A-levels. I am glad that I did stay on at college and I will benefit from the results. Claire is not only my tutor but teaches me for film studies, so she knows the way I work and can spot the signs when something is wrong. It also means that we can talk about random films and other topics to make the conversation more enjoyable. I talk to Claire about everything and I know that she will help me to deal with things or she will find me the appropriate help. Her tactics are to offer me a lot of options and she makes me think about alternatives. She also will do pro’s and con’s to get me to think more. Claire is a very organised person and has good communication skills. Claire is quite open with me and our chats our very informal. I like the fact that the conversation is equal and that she is happy to sit and listen to me. At one point I had tutor every week for an hour with her and it really helped me to sort things out and to focus on my college work. Her consistent and reassuring behaviour helped me through some difficulties that I was experiencing. The fact that she did see me every week showed that she was willing to give me as much time as I needed. This then meant that we did not rush through things and any problems were dealt with properly. Claire has a very calm and relaxed attitude when talking to her students. This chilled attitude is more likely to work with young people as its not formal, strict or uncomfortable. Claire lets me do most of the talking which is a good thing to do when working with youths, as it means they can express how they are feeling and what is going on for them. It’s important to give the young person the time and space that they need and to not force them to talk about issues they don’t want to talk about.

The last person that was a massive influence in my time at college was my English and film studies tutor Julian. I love Julian’s teaching tactic and his approach to working with young people. He would often make his lessons fun, which meant that the students stayed interested in the subject. Julian always appeared happy and smiley. This behaviour made people like him. This could really benefit for people who work with the youth of today. Julian taught me that if your remain positive then that mood can reflect on others. If a young person is having a hard time then they are likely to be down when approaching you, if your happy and optimistic it may help them to feel this way too. Julian also helped me a lot through some of more difficult times at college. He dedicated a lot of his time to me, this made me feel like I had some strong support within the college. As a young person it helped me a lot to know that I had someone I could turn to if I needed any help. He helped me to remain focused on my work and helped me to achieve in my lessons. His passion for teaching shown me that he really does care for his students. Young people may not feel like anybody cares so it’s important to show this when working with them. Julian offered me good advice which was in my best interest, which I was very grateful for, I think its important that when working with young people they are the centre of attention and that they get your full attention. Julian worked alongside Claire to make sure that I was getting all the support I needed showing me how effective team work could be.

Working with these three people has influenced me to work with young people as I want to help people and encourage them to think about their lives. They have taught me to prioritise what’s important and taught me how to communicate and talk more. Ewan, Claire and Julian all made me think about things that affect my life and how to deal with certain situations, issues and emotions. I know that they are non judgemental and there to support me. This is the most important thing while working with youths as young people could tell you anything and you are there to help not to judge. When talking about issues and other things you have to be able to show empathy towards the young person, Claire Ewan and Julian have all shown me how to do this effectively but in different ways. I know to take a calm approach and to build up relationships over time. When working with others I know that you need to be able to communicate well but respect that everyone is different. When leaving Julian’s classes, I often felt happier and more enthusiastic and after speaking to Claire and Ewan I feel a lot happier and ready to face the world, I want to be able to have this affect on people and I want to be able to inspire young people to improve their future.