Reference no: EM132552735

Case Study 1

Scenario
Susan Pearson is working as a kindy assistant at Sparkling Stars Childcare Centre. A few months ago, Tina Housdenwas assigned as the new group leader in the kindy room.
Susan found Tina difficult to work with. Tina is often rude and abusive to Susan and expects her to do tasks outside of her responsibilities. Susan is thinking about finding a new job.
As their supervisor, you need to help resolve this conflict and promote effective workplace relations between Susan and Tina.

Part 1. Identifying conflict.

a) Identify the two (2) primary conflict situations in this scenario.
b) Describe an appropriate strategy to resolve the conflict and minimise negative effects on the workplace.
c) How does the strategy you've described address the rights and responsibilities of both Susan and Tina?

2. Role-play conflict resolution.
Record a short video that shows you attempting to resolve the conflict between Susan and Tina, and submit to your assessor. You will demonstrate this by recording a brief mediation meeting between yourself, Susan and Tina. The organisational constraints at Sparkling Stars mean you are required to conduct the mediation and facilitation yourself.
See instructions below.

Instructions:
• The video should be no more than three (3) minutes in length.
• You may record the video using a camcorder, webcam, or even your mobile phone; however, you must ensure that the audio can be clearly heard and understood in order for your assessor to evaluate your performance.
• You will act as the supervisor in the recording.
• The roles of ‘Tina and Susan' may be played by friends or family members for the video. Alternatively, you may use inanimate objects (such as stuffed animals) in place of Tina and Susan, but you must speak to them as if you were conducting a meeting withthem in real-life.
• In your meeting with Tina and Susan, you must:
o Come up with a solution to the conflict.
The solution you suggest must be beneficial for both parties and does not favour one over the other.
The solution you propose should prevent future conflicts like this from happening.
o Ensure both parties have access to appropriate support and debriefing.
Suggest at least two (2) support groups and/or services in your State/ Territory. (These must be real support groups, people, hotlines, websites, or services.) Include details about these groups or services in your recording, such as their contact numbers, address, or website, etc.
Provide Tina and Susan clear instructions on what they can do, should they need additional support.

Case Study 2

Scenario
You have been designated as the acting supervisor while the Nominated Supervisor is away on bereavement leave.
You have been monitoring the staff while the children play outside and found that the kindy assistant has been standing with her back to the children and occasionally leaves the area without informing others, leaving staff ratios lower than the legislative requirements.
You spoke to the centre Director regarding this issue, and they would like you to talk to the kindy assistant.

1. Make a short video recording, in which you must provide the kindy assistant with a verbal warning about her behaviour, and provide some counselling and support to improve performance. Submit to your assessor.
See instructions on the pages that follow.

Instructions:
• The video must be no more than three (3) minutes in length.
• You may record the video using a camcorder, webcam, or even your mobile phone.However, you must ensure that the audio can be clearly heard and understood in order for your assessor to mark.
• You must include two (2) additional characters in your roleplay:
o The Kindy assistant
o The Director
Should you prefer an audio recording, make sure the voices of all characters involved are distinguishable from each other. A transcript of the recording must also be submitted with the audio recording.
• Other characters in your video may be played by friends or family members.
• Your recording must have a dialogue between you and the Kindy assistant, where both parties speak. The questions you ask must be relevant to her behaviour in the centre, such as:
o Is something bothering you?
o Why do you leave the area when the children are playing?
The Kindy assistant must have short, simple, and realistic answers to the questions you ask. You must address her responses, as well, modelling active listening and effective communication.
• Your warning must be in accordance with Clause 6 of the Sparkling Stars grievance procedure.
• You must provide the assistant with support on how she could improve her performance, such as reminding her of the regulations that the centre must follow, suggesting training or mentoring with another more experienced staff member.
• You must also refer the Kindy assistant to a professional organisation or a community group to address their needs. (This referral must be in line with the answer the Kindy assistant gives in your conversation with her.)
The professional organisation or community group must be a real one. Include contact details in your recording.
• You must set a review period within 1 to 4 weeks of this meeting.
• Save the recording in a format that can be opened in most computers, such as .mp3 or .mp4. Submit the recording as shown below.
• Write an outline of this meeting, summarising the issues you have addressed, the advice and support you give, and the expected outcome you wish to see from the Kindy assistant. Save this outline as attached below.

2. Unrelated to the performance issues above, the assistant resigns and provides 5 days effective notice. You are aware that she has resigned due to an ongoing illness.One of the staff members in another room has emailed you, enquiring as to the reason for her resignation.
In the space below, compose a reply email that ensures the confidentiality of the kindy assistant.

Case Study 3

Scenario
You overhear a number of staff members gossiping in the yard about the fact that they always miss out on their programming time and never get to take their 10-minute breaks, which they are entitled to.This is because a small number of educators are continually calling in sick or turning up late to work.

1. Being groomed for the supervisor role, you have been tasked by your supervisor to contact the Director about this issue.
Compose an email to the Director of the centre, listing ideas from a strategic point of view to overcome the concerns you overheard from the other staff members.

2. After reading your email, the Director decided to hire an additional educational assistant. An advertisement has been sent out.
The centre received a number of submissions.Access the applications submitted and assess them for shortlisting.

3. Following the final interview, management has decided to hire Georgina. She has been offered the position and will be commencing in two weeks. The Director has asked you to work alongside her and assist with completing the induction process.
a) Some tasks in the induction process have already been completed. For the rest of the items, describe the strategy you would employ. You may include the resources you need, if any.

b) Record a video of yourself simulating the induction process with Georgina, based on the strategies you cited in Part 4 (a) of this Case Study.
See instructions on the page that follows.

c) Create a six (6) month professional development plan that outlines ways in which you can support Georgina and ensure that she is able to effectively transition into her role as an educational assistant. The plan must include a timetable, the tasks to complete, the strategies you wish to employ, and the resources that may be required.
The required tasks in the plan are as follows:
• Get to know all of the children's names
• Introduce self (Georgina) to all family members of the children
• Have Georgina start contributing to the daily / weekly documentation
• Have Georgina contribute to the curriculum and observations
• Have Georgina run small group and large group experiences
Your plan must include criteria to measure the successful completion of each task.

1. In order to properly induct Georgina, it will be helpful to understand Sparkling Stars' Organisation Structure, Philosophy and Mission.
a) Review the Sparkling Stars Organisational Chart located at theend of the intranet home page.
Sparkling Stars Childcare Centre
(Username: newusername Password: newpassword)

List the names of the following people:
i. Georgina's room leader
ii. The centre's nominated supervisor
iii. The office manager
b) Review the following document:
Sparkling Stars Information for Parents
The centre's philosophy states that a special curriculum model is used. Which model is it?
c) Sparkling Stars Information for Parents also contains the centre's mission statement. What is this mission?
d) Given Sparkling Stars' mission statement, what kind of leadership style would work for the centre to fulfil this mission? Explain your answer.
e) Refer to Sparkling Stars' Grievance Procedures for Staff:
Sparkling Stars Grievance Procedures for Staff
(Username: newusername Password: newpassword)
Answer the following questions:
i. How many written warnings will a staff member receive after a verbal warning before they are terminated for unacceptable behaviour?
ii. What is the first step or procedure in dealing with staff conflict?

Attachment:- Case-Study.rar