CHCORG303B
Participate effectively in the work environment
Topic 1: Contribute to the effective operation of the workgroup
Section 1 Identify own job responsibilities and their contribution to service delivery 3
Position specifications and role responsibilities 3
Identifying job responsibilities 3
Working in a team 6
The childcare educator’s responsibilities 6
The team’s responsibilities 7
Section 2 Work within defined job role and responsibilities 8
Statement of duties 8
Knowing limits of roles and responsibilities 8
Clarifying scope or practice in position description 9
What is a supervisor’s role? 9
Section 3 Seek assistance and direction and obtain as required 10
Clarifying instructions 10
Section 4 Work in a manner that complements that of others according to policies and rules of workplace practice 12
Being consistent 12
Working cooperatively 12
Section 5 Complete activities to standard expected in workplace 14
Maintaining knowledge and skills 14
Section 6 Carry out set tasks in a positive and courteous manner 15
Section 7 Identify resources needed to carry out own work duties 17
Section 8 Deal with shortages of resources according to organisation practices 18
Section 9 Keep work area well organised and safe in accordance with relevant standards/policies 19
Appendix 1 20
Job Description: Educator ( Certificate 3) 20
Section 1 Identify own job responsibilities and their contribution to service delivery
Position specifications and role responsibilities
Your position within a children’s service as an educator is complex and varied. Each day you will be required to interact with a diverse range of people—children, parents, staff, management, and other community organisations. In the workplace, there are several legal responsibilities and obligations expected of you. There are also policies, procedures and protocols to be followed.
We will be discussing how these responsibilities are communicated to educators —through position specifications, or job descriptions. We will also explore the various roles you may fulfil when contributing to the delivery of a quality children’s service while also meeting the legal responsibilities and obligations (Note: many of these legal requirements are discussed in greater detail in the unit CHCCS400B Work within a relevant legal and ethical framework).
Identifying job responsibilities
When working in the childrens’ services industry, all workers must work within their duty of care. Your ‘duty of care’ is a legal requirement that a person ‘act toward others and the public with the watchfulness, attention, caution and prudence that a reasonable person in the circumstances would use’. Your duty of care includes acts you do (e.g. feeding a six month old raw peas would be in breach due to the known choking hazard), as well as acts you don’t do, or omit (e.g. not feeding the baby at all when he is hungry). To work within their duty of care, an educator must do what a ‘reasonable worker’ would do according to ‘their skills, training, duties and job description’. Duty of care also includes anticipating what may happen in any given situation and being ready to act.
Your responsibilities or duties within a service will vary according to the type of service that is being provided and the number, skills and experience of the people that you work with. The services may range from a large council service with several qualified staff members to a small out-of-school hours service where you may be working with only one other person. Hence, your job responsibilities in contributing to the service will vary depending on the range of different duties to be performed within the day, by the service team members. To enable you to identify your responsibilities and complete your duties as an educator, you will need to refer to a position specification for your job - commonly known as a job description.
Job descriptions
A job description describes what it is expected of you in completing your job satisfactorily - what your role and responsibilities are. Below are examples of varying expectations:
• If you were employed as a cook in a service, your role and responsibilities would be very different from those of an untrained worker whose primary role would involve directly supervising and interacting with children.
• If you were employed as a room or team leader, you would have a higher level of responsibility than an ordinary educator.
• If you are a Diploma trained educator, you would again have a greater level of responsibility than a Certificate 3 trained educator.
• If you were employed as an out-of-school hours worker, you may have a different role in supervising children’s travel to and from the service than a childcare worker in a service for children under six years of age.
When seeking work in the industry it is important to read the job description thoroughly before accepting a position and, once you do accept a position, you should follow that description. There are several reasons for this.
• Accountability to the people who use your organisation - A job description is a way of ensuring parents and children receive a professional standard of service
• Accountability to your employer - A job description lets you know what is expected of you by your employer (your role and responsibilities) and provides guidelines that clarify those expectations. Your employer may use this to monitor your work practices. They may also use it as a basis for negotiating changes to your role and planning for other positions. Job descriptions are planned to ensure professional service provision. Each position has different requirements. Unless employees adhere to those requirements, the service cannot be sure it is achieving its goals and/or adhering to its liabilities.
• Accountability to yourself - A job description is a reminder to you of your limits and provides a way of protecting yourself from exceeding those limits. It is a means of protecting you and preventing employers from exploiting you as a worker. It is also a way of checking that you are, in fact, fulfilling your responsibilities.
• Accountability to your colleagues and your profession - By accepting your job description and working according to it, you are agreeing that it is a reasonable set of expectations for all workers in that position. Therefore, if you accept an unreasonable description or if you do not comply with a reasonable description, you are letting down your fellow workers.
It is important that workers have a copy of their job description. This can guide them in determining their role and level of responsibility and assist them in making decisions and taking actions on a day-to-day basis.
There is a sample of a job description for an educator (Certificate 3 trained) in Appendix 1
Activity 1
Working in a team
Workers in the children’s services spend considerable time working in groups or teams, either with children, parents, colleagues, community members or a combination of these people.
A team consists of two or more people, although it is more commonly thought of as three or more. A work team is a group of people who work together with a common goal or purpose. They may work together temporarily or permanently, on single or multiple issues. The membership of a team can be stable or changing and often various people with different roles are included in a team.
In order for teams to work effectively, individual members (including you!) and the team as a whole, have a number of responsibilities which they need to maintain. Job specifications outline the expectations for individual team members.
In addition to our individual job responsibilities, we also have team responsibilities. Within children’s services there is a need for all members of the team to work collaboratively, identifying and respecting the different roles and responsibilities that each individual team member contributes to the service provision. In doing this, we make a positive work atmosphere and model to children desired behaviours and skills that are important in developing positive relationships throughout our lives.
The educator’s responsibilities
As an educator, you have these responsibilities:
• Be clear and direct in your communication. Actively listen and respond to communication.
• Clarify your role within the team. Be aware of your own personal style. For example, are you an ideas person? A leader? Do you focus more on the task at hand or the relationships in the team? And what are your strengths and weaknesses?
• Be honest, open to new ideas and suggestions and respectful of all individuals. Recognise what strengths/contributions they bring to the service.
• Be willing to support other members of the team. Be flexible in the completion of the daily tasks and job specifications for all members.
• Participate in decision-making.
• Deal with any lingering misunderstandings or conflict you may have with other team members. Don’t let resentments build up. Consider how others will react to your actions. Be sensitive to the feelings and beliefs of others.
• Notify your supervisor if you are having problems or have concerns within the team.
The team’s responsibilities
The team has these responsibilities:
• Clarify the team’s purpose or goals and prioritise these.
• Clarify each member’s roles and responsibilities.
• Recognise the strengths and contributions that each member brings to the team situation.
• Encourage a sharing of roles and knowledge.
• Set aside regular meeting and discussion times.
• Address any conflict that may arise.
• Work at ways of developing decision-making and member participation.
• Identify and resolve issues that may be impinging on teamwork (eg, lack of time or lack of skills).
Within a children’s service, there will be roles that require different responsibilities due to the training, experience, and knowledge. These will vary depending on the size and type of service.
In a child care centre the staff usually include:
· Director, who is usually the Supervisor, responsible for the management of the centre and ensuring that the centre meets regulatory requirements.
· Early childhood teachers – a staff members with early childhood teaching qualification (university qualification)
· Educators qualified with either a Certificate 3 in Children’s Services or a Diploma in Children’s Services. The National Regulations refers to child care workers as educators. The Children’s Services Award 2010 refers to such workers as Children’s Services Employees
· Cook
· Casual or relief staff who are educators.
In larger services, there is usually a Director and the staff may include team leaders, trained staff who have the responsibility to oversee a group of children in a section of the centre. e.g. The Nursery with 0-2 year old children or the preschool section with 3-5 year olds. It would be the team leader’s role to facilitate the team morale, skills and strengths and they would ultimately take responsibility for trying to ensure these responsibilities are fulfilled.
When all members of a children’s service team are comfortable in their knowledge of their roles and responsibilities and can identify and respect the roles and responsibilities of the other members of the team, a positive work environment develops that encourages consistent, flexible and supportive team work. Working towards this also assists in meeting your legal responsibilities and guidelines in regard to Education and Care Services National Regulations and National Quality Standards (NQS) and anti-discrimination legislation.
Section 2 Work within defined job role and responsibilities
Statement of duties
When you apply for a position, the advertisement usually gives you an awareness of the skills and qualifications the organisation requires of you. It will not, however, give you more than a general idea of the actual duties you will be required to perform and how much time it is expected you should spend on individual tasks. A ‘statement of duties’ or ‘job/position description’ is a document that will give you specific information in this regard.
Knowing limits of roles and responsibilities
It is important to be clear about your roles and responsibilities. However this does mean that you do not take on tasks which are outside your area of responsibility. There will be times when there is a task to do that you are perfectly capable of doing. In this case there is no reason why you should not do it – after all, that’s what makes teamwork work! However there also may be times when you are asked to do something (or decide to do something without being asked) that is both outside your responsibilities as described in your job description and outside your level of expertise or skill. It may also be that you feel you are competent to perform a particular task but it is something that service policy designates as being a task for a Diploma qualified worker. For example, a Certificate 3 worker may not be ‘allowed’ to speak to a parent about inappropriate behaviour of a child. This is better handled by a Diploma qualified worker who can offer support and advice on various aspects of behaviour management, and has the training and experience in dealing with parents in regards to difficult situations!
Always try to:
• Be mindful of your job description and focus your energy on completing tasks that are clearly defined as your responsibility.
• Seek advice/clarification with your supervisor where necessary.
• Adopt a team approach to completing complex tasks—two hands are better than one!
• Work within policies and procedures of the service.
• Use supervision as an opportunity to formally clarify expectations and to identify your training and support needs.
Clarifying scope or practice in position description
In a childcare centre, you may come across situations where you’d need to clarify the practices and the scope of responsibility within your position description.
Clarification may be necessary in these situations:
• staff changes occur
• staff conflict arises
• working conditions change
• regulations change
• staff qualifications change.
It is also really important that you recognise your own limitations and seek assistance when you are having trouble fulfilling your obligations and work role.
The first thing you should do is to discuss your concerns with your supervisor. Approach him or her with a well prepared and logical reason as to what it is you are having difficulty with, what you have done to try and achieve all the requirements and perhaps some suggestions as to what might be done to remedy the situation.