Who is a child care worker?

Arie Verkaik

Part of an address given some years ago at a Midwest Conference for child care workers in Rockton, Illinois, by a child care worker from Michigan ...

I have the privilege of being one of the instructors for the Michigan Association of Children's Alliances child care training programme. One of the homework assignments that I ask students to complete is to answer the question: Who is a child care worker? Allow me to share a few of their answers:

A child care worker is a helping person who uses his skills from experience and training to help better the lives and futures of children. A child care worker may act as a parent, big brother, teacher or friend at any given time. Patience is required as well as the ability to verbalise your feelings.
A child care worker is someone who works with children in a place where delinquent children are cared for.
A child care worker must be a people-oriented person, a person who wants to work with people and desires to help them. There are many positive traits that effective workers have in common. A worker need not have all the traits, but the more he/she has, the better. These traits include: sensitivity, ability to listen, consistency and flexibility; giving, thoughtful, creative, confident, tolerant and responsible.
A child care worker is someone with deep respect and a caring attitude to children, regardless of their previous life experience or background. They are willing to be patient and tolerant of the emotions and behaviour of children who need help. With the aid of a college education and practical life knowledge, a child care worker blends all of the best human qualities into his/her role as a teacher and model in order that a child may benefit and grow from each encounter.
A child care worker is a person who gains satisfaction and reward from knowing that he/she can be a positive influence in a young person's life. The child care worker plays many roles in an attempt to reach the goal of re-educating troubled youths to re-enter their home environments. Some of these roles include: teacher, parent, disciplinarian, and probably most important: caring friend.

So the question remains: Who is a child we worker? I have mentioned several different opinions. Did you draw any conclusions?

Keep in training
Our eldest son graduated from college this past June. He is also the athlete in the family, a cross-country runner. As a father, I can honestly say that he is a pretty good runner. His mother would say he is really good. He doesn't have Olympic qualities but he has earned his share of medals and awards. I can ask the question 'Who is a runner?' The answer is that we all are. All of us can probably get up and run around the room. For some of us that is all we can do. Those of us who are in better shape can run around the whole building, or perhaps even a mile. And still others who are in training can run several miles. In other words, the more we train, the further and faster we can run. But to train, we need dedication, consistent dedication. If a runner doesn't train for a couple of weeks, he loses something which can only be regained by more training. The runner also needs to know his physical limitations, to have a good mental attitude, and to be self aware. He also needs to have the medical knowledge of his body and the ability to go beyond his limits in order to finish the race, and then be able to come back and do it again. A runner might also belong to a team, and therefore he runs both for himself and for the team. But all this means absolutely nothing if the runner doesn't have that certain something that makes him a great runner. For want of a better word, let's call it talent. The runner must have those innate qualities that make him good at what he does. I believe the same is true for the child care worker.

Hence, my answer to the question “Who is a child care worker?" has three parts.

First, a child care worker is a person who is constantly seeking new knowledge.
Second, the child care worker has dedication which consists of patience, “I don't want to give up" and “Never say die" attitudes, self-understanding and the abilities to be consistent and to 'bounce back' after periods of stress.
Third a child care worker has that certain something, talent, which knowledge and dedication will help build him/her into being a good child care worker.

Not all of us are great, but with the right combination of talent, dedication and knowledge, we can be good child care workers. This does not mean that everyone can be a good child care worker. You can't take anybody off the street and make them a child care worker. A child care worker is a unique breed. It's not easy to be a child care worker, because:

It is not easy to apologise
It is not easy to begin over
It is not easy to take advice
It is not easy to be unselfish
It is not easy to admit error
It is not easy to face a sneer
It is not easy to be charitable
It is not easy to be considerate
It is not easy to keep trying
It is not easy to avoid mistakes
It is not easy to endure success
It is not easy to profit by mistakes
It is not easy to forgive and forget
It is not easy to think and then act
It is not easy to keep out of a rut
It is not easy to make the best of little
It is not easy to subdue an unruly temper
It is not easy to shoulder a deserved blame
It is not easy to recognise the silver lining

It is not easy to be a child care worker, but in order to be a good child care worker you must be able to do all of this – and more.

Acknowledgement: Child Care Work in Focus. Copyright – The Association for Child and Youth Care Practice