1) What challenges did you overcome throughout this action project? How did you go about
overcoming these challenges?
In our action project, volunteering at an elementary school, the main challenges that Valeriya and I faced was communication. Thus, gaining trust, respect and learning how to productively talk and act with young students were great tasks. In more detail, we had issues with dealing with tantrums, children not listening to our advice and asking the students to give their all on work. In contrast, we were able to overcome our main problem by researching different strategies to incorporate in our volunteering. For instance, we tried compromising, using active listening, demonstrating our care, being a positive force and much more. Overall, these habits truly helped us conquer our problem of communication.
2) How did this action change the way you think? How did this investigation/action impact your future decisions?
From this project I have gained better understanding on how to use various important skills for successful general communication. Furthermore, I have learned how to truly implement patience, quick problem-solving skills, empathy, management and leadership in situations that need it. For example, like I mentioned in previous challenges many children have an issue with staying calm and communicating and by experiencing this I have obtained a better skill-set and learned how to apply them in real-world situations. Therefore, this will impact my future decisions when I am interacting with children in my day-to-day life, like in babysitting, cousins and possibly my own children. To conclude, I now know how effectively navigate the emotions, problems and communication barrier of children and will continue to use these skills in the future.
4) What impact will this investigation/action have on others locally and/or globally?
This action has successfully created a positive impact in our nearby community. Locally, Valeriya and I have lifted the stress off of teachers in Ranch Park Elementary in their chaotic, load and overwhelming classrooms. In all, we created a more optimistic, upbeat, constructive and encouraging classroom environment, creating a better place for students to learn and play. The students were able to have more support, resources and encouragement, leading them to focus better in class and on their work. Whilst teaching us many different lessons of responsibility, patience and communication that we will continue to use. In conclusion, this action project has had positive effects all around.
Thanks for reading!
