Duties And Responsibilities Of Teachers And Teaching Assistants In Youth Centers And Childhood Development

Childhood Development

The 20th century would herald an epoch of elaborate organizations such as youth centers poised to dealing with the challenges that young children face while growing up. Children are most impressionable at this stage and the main reason why they seek to understand different perspectives and developmental issues that they may be facing. The teachers and teaching assistants have for a long time served as the counselors and custodians of valuable information that would benefit these children. They spend a considerable chunk of their time interacting with these children where they participate in various activities are meant to aid them to morph into dependable adults. During this phase, the teachers also track the thought process and the behavior of these particular children throughout their teenage years. Changes in a child’s personality often occur when they are young a primary reason why it is integral for these interactions to take place to explain their biological, emotional, social and cognitive processes. It is necessary for teachers and their assistants to be involved as they focus on the normative patterns that exist in development coupled with the variations that occur in these changes (Kinloch, 2015, p. 43). Moreover, they hope to optimize the development of these young individuals and aid their parents in securing a stable attachment to them. In this essay, I will discuss the duties and responsibilities of teachers and teaching assistants in Youth Centers, their responsibilities towards the children and how their actions might influence a child’s development.

One of the crucial duties of a teacher and their assistants is the designing of a program that will guide them in their operations. These plans are specifically tailored for the full range of personalities that they have to interact with on a day to day basis. It entails the designing of instructional programs that will identify the activities that every individual student will participate in to assess them. It is at this particular moment that the tutor will be able to gauge the strength and weakness of different children and consider the programs that will be best suited for them. Sigmund Freud describes a child’s personality as a process that occurs in phases, which is why it is essential for teachers to come in during this stage and guide them through life (In Castro, In Swauger, & In Harger, 2017, p. 34). Personality is an important consideration as it will often describe what the individual is attracted to and might point to the course they might want to charter in life. The teachers also attend program planning meetings at the Youth Center to map out the children under their care and the specific needs that they require to provide them with all that they might expect. Moreover, they will now be able to fully interact with the children, record their observations and share information relating to their behavior and performance of individual tasks throughout the day. The data that is collected then plays a crucial part in supporting the center’s goals for the children while offering a clear pattern of transition into specific program designs.

Teachers are also instrumental in formulating the plans that they have for the children they are guiding. Before embarking on their interaction with the children, it is integral that they first develop a list of goals and objectives that they seek to achieve. They should aim at improving the quality of life of the children placed under their care. After implementation of these various programs, they clarify their objectives to the teaching assistants who then aid them in ensuring that all the set goals come to fruition. It is a process that involves discussing and clarifying on how these instructional programs will be of help for the children. An evaluation of the effectiveness of these objectives is crucial as it is them to properly manage the children while providing feedback on their effectiveness and the appropriate modifications that can be made in line with the objectives. Additionally, they are also able to implement all the available strategies that can accommodate the individual’s learning style and identify the instructional resources needed. They also review and reinforce all available learning activities needed to develop the child’s skills and their conceptual grasp of matters. Their assistants can then monitor the reports, share their concern and identify areas that require additional focus to meet the goals. Planning consultative meetings enables the team to obtain requisite information about the management structure and the expectations that the Youth Center has for the children. They are now able to choose the techniques and specific philosophy that would support the children and get the best out of their demeanor.

In conclusion, Youth Centers now play a huge role in the development of children through the support that they offer them. Teachers and teaching assistants, in particular, develop techniques that aid them during their interactions with these children to achieve their developmental goals. Furthermore, they pick up subtle cues from the children that also help parents to understand their child’s personality and behavior better.

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