LEARNING JOURNAL

Name: Rotchell A. Pelayo

Date: September 14, 2023
Agency: CSWDO Tagum

Activities:

Because there are children who are not yet in school, the Student Field Workers (SFWs) led
them a Zumba exercise. We let the children rest for a few minutes after the exercise, and I
asked the client who had been assigned to me if it was okay to spend a minute with her in a
room. I believe the client (child) has an idea because she asked if the door was carefully closed
After that, I explained why we were in the room, but she cut me off and asked if I was going to
interview, which is why I told her what my goals and objectives were at the time. Of course,
before conducting the interview, I make the client feel at ease and relaxed. After the interview, I
showed her a short video with a moral lesson and asked her what she learned from it. The other
client is also eager to learn about alphabets, so I decided to teach her about them, which I have
continued to do since my classmate needs a break.

Problems/ Difficulties Encountered:

The problem I encountered was that the children are sometimes hardheaded and do not listen
to what you say, so your patience will be tested. In a normal situation, it is acceptable to raise
your voice with a relative, but the children here in the center are different, and you must contain
your voice so that they do not feel offended. In addition, during an interview with the client, she
said things that went beyond the questions I asked her. It's a little difficult to get back on track
because she's a child and talks a lot. On the other hand, I was also having difficulties in
applying the principle of client worker relationship because I feel so much pity for the children in
the center and I want them to feel like they can treat like their older sister. But I know to myself
that I must put boundaries with them to avoid breaking the principle.

Learning Insights:

I have learned a lot this day, children easily trust the persons around them that is why they are
referred to as vulnerable sector in the society. Even if you are a stranger or new to them in just
a small amount of time, they will get attached on you as if they are your younger sister or niece.
As we were teaching them about alphabets and let them watch short stories with moral lessons,
they become more eager to learn when you give them compliments or reward them just like
letting them watch a cartoon for a short amount of time. They also avoid doing negative actions
when you told them that you will not reward them if they do those kinds of acts again just like
not fighting each other, being noisy, loitering around, and not doing their assigned tasks.
This can be anchored to operant conditioning of B.F Skinner which it implies that a behavior will
be more likely to increase or occur when there is a reward being introduced to a child just like
compliments, and there is punishment introduced just like removing the reward to decrease a
behavior such as the negative ones. Moreover, I have realized that the child at the center has
an idea if they will be asked about their cases, because the client that I handled knew that I will
be asking her questions the same as Maám Jovelyn is doing to them. She made it sure that the
door was properly closed before we started. That is why I learned that making it sure to let them
know that no one will know their case except the worker is important and as Student Field
Worker (SFW), I made sure that she knew that we maintain confidentiality and we can be
trusted.

Supervisors’ Notes:

Prepared by:

ROTCHELL A. PELAYO
Student Field Worker