HD 486A Reflective Study: Fieldwork

Erika Enriquez
Pacific Oaks College

I will be discussing two key experiences in my professional work. These experiences

include my hands on observations in regards to communication, leadership, problem solving,
diversity and cultural issues. I will be discussing an incident early on in my childcare career. Two
months into my career. Secondly, I will be discussing a conversation that was had between my
assistant teacher and I, as well as everything that followed. I will conclude each experience with
a developmental theory.
I was 19 years old and eager to work. I had finished taking my core classes in child
development and was referred to a nonprofit organization by a classmate. This company seemed
promising. The more child development classes the better. My pay reflected the amount of
education I had. I needed the interview skills and applied for an assistant teacher position. I
didnt have any experience working with children, so I was willing to do anything to get my foot
in the door.
To my surprise I got the position, I was an assistant teacher. I was new to childcare and
knew the first months were going to be challenging. I was working with a wonderful person who
had a lot of knowledge to share. I learned so much from her. I felt excited when I learned that I
was going to be getting extra hours during the summer, due to the program running an all day
program.
Along with that excitement, I was disappointed that I would not be working with my site
director who taught me everything. My summer staff was a mix up of new and old staff. I felt
nervous to be working with new people. I was used to working much like my site director and
knew I was going to have to prove myself.
The early part of summer was a bit chaotic. The staff seemed to take a step back and no
one was really taking charge. As a fairly new employee this made me uncomfortable. Our

program was encouraging to have a good rapport with the school staff, so when a teacher asked
if I could pick up a child from class everyday because she feared he would not make it. I agreed
to do it, I felt obligated. Throughout the weeks that followed I made it my routine to pick this
child up. Along the way other children in our program would linger and walk back with me. I
would then walk up to the back door with the kids and tell the teacher I was bringing student into
our program. She would acknowledge him and I would walk back to my classroom.
One day after doing the usual routine I got a call from the site director. She asked me
where another child was, I told her I didnt have that child with me because he belonged in her
classroom not mine. Her response was that she knew, but the mom was there picking up her son
who never made it into the program. The other teacher that was in my room went up to the first
classroom to see what was going on.
The mother left the classroom and went to look for her son at school. After a couple of
minutes she came in with her son and said she found him walking around the school. Needless to
say this parent called our administrator and filed a complaint. Her complaint consisted of her not
agreeing with the way the situation was handled. The complaint led to an investigation. I felt
worried and feared I would lose my job. The investigation consisted of questioning all the staff
that was present. I felt attacked and guilty. The investigation led to a reprimand. I was devastated
and felt bitter. I felt as if the site director was given more leniency because she had a long
standing relationship with the supervisors. I felt bewildered and unappreciated.
Somehow the site director managed to convince the supervisor that I was doing a pick up
of all children in summer school when in reality I was only responsible for the one child. I
explained to the supervisor yet my voice went unheard. I felt as if I was unimportant and not of

value to the company. The whole investigation went one sided and was never really given a
proper opportunity to be heard.
Needless to say, I went through the rest of the summer with fear and felt disconnected
with my co-workers. I felt as if I could not trust them or anything they said. The lack of
communication and leadership from my supervisor left a sour taste in my mouth. I could not
understand how I was responsible for the incident, when the Site Directors lack of leadership and
communication was clearly at fault. From that point on, I went into work feeling unhappy and
tried go unnoticed by others. I felt miserable and could not wait for the summer to end.
I learned that when an employee feels disappointed, she will be unhappy with her job. I
learned that when an employee feels nervous, she will step back and let others take over. I
learned that when an employee feels obligated, she will do what needs to be done. I learned that
when an employee feels worried and fearful, she will not super exceed at her job. I learned that
when an employee feels bewildered and attacked, she will feel unappreciated and eager to leave.
The second incident takes place years later. I was 28 years old and had 9 years with the
company. I was assigned to open a new center in a new area. The school was an ideal school to
work at the parents seemed to be actively involved in the school and its functions. I felt I was
prepared for the first year.They had hired an assistant who was positive and receptive to my
suggestions, and we made a great team. Toward the end of the year I was notified that my
assistant would not be returning to me. She was being reassigned. I was told that they were going
to hire someone new, and that I would have to train this person. I felt discouraged that my current
assistant was going to be moved. I also felt excited that I would be able to train a new assistant
teacher.

The time came to set up the classroom before school started. I was excited to have time to
work on my room and meet my new assistant. I got to my site and opened up, a few minutes later
my new assistant walked in. I greeted her with a smile and tried to be friendly with her. I
explained to her that we were going to be a team and I felt that we needed to look out for
eachother. At that point she seemed to be on the same page as I was. One conversation led to
another and we discussed school. She had just graduated with her Bachelor's degree, but had not
experience working with children. I told her I had my Associate degree and nine years of
experience. Her face dropped. She told me she couldnt believe that she had more education than
me and I made more than her.
I explained to her that I held my child development site supervisor permit and had lots of
experience working with school age children. She still seemed skeptical about the school issue. I
decided to let it go. I was not going to move forward with that conversation. Her skepticism
made me feel inapt of my position. She made me feel as if I was given my position based on a
superficial notion.
I had several meeting to attend therefore I was having to adjust my hours. I explained to
my assistant that we were not getting overtime therefor I was to leave early. She seemed
bothered by my early departures. I felt as if she was upset because I had to leave early. One day I
asked her to come in early so we could go over the notes from the meeting. She came in early
and I went over the notes. I then told her that I would be leaving thirty minutes early that day.
She frowned and said okay.
I had felt her disapproval prior to this incident so I decided to ask her if she had a
problem with me leaving early. She said she didnt understand why she had to be left alone for
such a long time. I explained to her that her job consisted of her closing the site down. I also told

her that I had never left her over the teacher-child ratio. I asked her what bothered her about
being alone. She then proceeded to tell me that she felt uncomfortable being alone with the
children. I tried to understand her point, but could not understand. I then asked her why she felt
uncomfortable. She then proceeded to tell me that she didnt want to be alone when a particular
parent came in. As the Site Director, I felt the need to understand her and try to help her. I
pressed on she then told me that she was uncomfortable because the childs parents were a
lesbian couple.
I asked if the parent had made any advancement toward her to make her feel that way.
She said no. She then continued to tell me that they gave her the creeps and that it was gross. I
felt offended (for personal reasons) that she could be so close minded. My own personal interest
aside, I explained that we are to help each child grow as an individual and we need to set our
own judgments aside. She was so apprehensive to my suggestions that I felt frustrated. I could
not believe that someone who worked with kids could be so inconsiderate towards this child and
his family. She was unpersuadable to my suggestions that I felt resentful toward her ignorance.
Her judgments on this child and his parents had no foundation and I felt bothered by it.
I learned that when a person feels like if education is not enough, she will feel inapt to do
her job. I learned that if a person feels undeserving of her job, she will second guess her
decisions. I learned that if a person feels upset at them, she will try and figure out why. I learned
that if a person feels her coworkers disapproval, she will feel frustrated. I learned that if a person
feels apprehension from her co worker, she will feel frustrated toward that person. I learned that
if a person action are based on ignorant idealism, she will feel resentful.
Life experiences mold us into who we are. Although some experiences outweigh others
both positive and or negative we learn from each of them. Through my experiences I learned that

in order to have a healthy work environment everyone needs to respect each other for who they
are. I learned that everyones thoughts, opinions, and suggestions should be heard and taken into
consideration.