Myself as a communicator

This week I took three quizzes that determined my communication styles in verbal aggressiveness, listening styles and communication anxiety.  I know that I have some anxiety about speaking in front of people, so when I scored moderate or "situational" on this quiz, I wasn't surprised.  Since working with children and families, I have had to push past my feelings of comfort in speaking with and in front of others and have success with my anxiety levels.  I can now do things that would have terrified me years ago.

My verbal aggression score was moderate, which I believe is accurate, because I am not one to pick fights or try to make others feel bad about themselves.  It takes a lot to make me push back and be "mean" when others are being verbally aggressive towards me.

The last quiz was Listening Styles.  My score showed my that I was people oriented in my listening style, that I am empathetic and concerned about people's emotions, which I believe to be true.  It also says that it can interfere with proper judgment because I tend to be very trusting of others.  This was a bit eye opening.  I am actually not that trusting of people's motives, but will tend to take them at their word, sometimes against my better judgement.  In the future I will keep this in mind.

Had to add a little of The Far Side. These cartoons were great commentary on how we communicate.  

Cultural diversity and communication in my life

When I think about my workplace, there is a lot of diversity.  I have staff members from the Philippines, Vietnam, Africa, Thailand, Hawaii, and the U.S. Mainland.  We all have different life experiences, world views, and cultures.  Getting to know my staff, I have found that I have to be cognizant of the cultural background of the person I am talking to.  For example, my African staff member sometimes need further explanation for things and, although her English is good, I try to use simpler language with her in order to facilitate clearer communication.  I think that with her it will be good to be patient and get to know her I know that my Thai staff member has a different communication style and it often rubs her colleagues the wrong way.  One way that I can use what I have been learning this week is try to coach her in her communication style while reminding staff members to be understanding and patient with her.  While I don't understand all the nuances of the communication styles of my various staff members, I can always be open and honest and let them know that they can feel free to speak freely, and let me know if they don't understand me or what I am trying to communicate.

Communication Assumptions

For this week's assignment we are to watch a show we haven't seen before and see what we can assume from watching with no sound.  The show I chose was 30 Rock starring Tina Fey.

From this episode I assumed that the show was based in a television studio.  Without sound I assumed that Tina Fey (Liz) seemed to be in charge of some people and subordinate to others.  I could tell from the way she communicated to certain people that they were subordinates.  There was a young woman in the studio who she seemed to be a mentor and mother figure to.  She had several heart to heart talks with her.  There was a also a woman her age, who seemed to be the star of the show Liz works on, who appears to be her friend.  Her boss seemed to be an intimidating figure to most of the staff.  Her boss's assistant seemed to be at the whim of the boss and frightened of him.  Liz often seemed frustrated and annoyed by her subordinates but attempted to appease her boss and Tracy Morgan's character.  I enjoyed this show.  It was really funny :D

After watching with the sound on, I found that many of my assumptions were right, but some where not.  I assumed that some characters were friends, but that was because one character (Tracy) was pretending to like the other one.  He was not Liz's boss, but she was in charge of his happiness.  I assumed that the Boss's assistant was just frightened of his boss but he really was protective of him; at the same time, he blamed Liz for things that went wrong in order to keep any heat off of himself; his dislike of Liz was more obvious in his words.

If I was familiar with this show or had watched it several times, I probably could have made better assumptions in regards to the plot and relationships.  Also, I was unclear about some of the relationships and one episode did not get me to understand all the connections simply by watching interactions.  It was interesting watching without sound because I was actually able to glean a lot more than I thought and definitely more that I could have if I had only been listening to it and had nothing visual to go on.  This tells me that body language and non-verbal cues are very important in communication and in being able to understand a situation.

Beginning of EDUC 6165 Communication and Collaboration in the ECE Field

Effective communication model in my own life

It is the beginning of a new course.  For this week's assignment I am to describe a person that I know that I believe has very effective communication skills (or not).  For me this is my 2nd level supervisor at work.  I really admire her communication skills.  When speaking to individuals, this person is very responsive.  She gives you her full attention and responds with words like "absolutely" and validates what you are saying to her when she concurs.  When she doesn't agree, she tells you that she doesn't and gives her reasons why without making you feel stupid or wrong.  She will then ask if you agree or understand.  Another thing that she does is that she is very open to feedback when talking to a group.  She gives people room to talk if they have questions or concerns, but at the same time she is able to take control of the situation and get the attention of the group.  Her tone is authoritative, but respectful.  Another thing that I think she does well in terms of communication is that she admits her mistakes.  She acknowledges that she is not perfect and makes mistakes, and will say that she has to find out if she does not know an answer to a question.

These are skills that I try to emulate, especially the tone and manner in which I communicate.  I think that I could use work in the area of my professional tone and I use her as an example when speaking to subordinates.

Professional Hopes and Goals-End of EDUC 6164

As I end this course, my hope is that I have learned the things I need to know in order to go forward and serve the families and staff I work with with fairness, equity and honesty.  I feel like my perspective on diversity and equity has been expanded and broadened in that I have a clearer picture of how people can feel marginalized and how bias and prejudice can lead to injustice.  I have been given some tools to help me navigate these waters and I feel like I have some more tools in my toolbox now. :)

One goal that I would like to set for the early childhood field in regard to diversity, equity and social justice is to see more senior citizens in the early childhood.  I really believe that seniors can bring a great deal to the field and I will try to make opportunities for this to happen in my own environment.

In closing, I want to thank all of my colleagues for their not only their great support during this course, but for the personal information that they shared and for the respect they showed me when I shared my personal stories.  It was not an easy course but the interactions with my colleagues made it easier.

Good luck in the next course everyone!  Hope to see you there!

BethAnn

Welcoming Families From Around the World

This week, I am to imagine a scenario in which I will be receiving a child into my program whose family has recently immigrated to the U.S. from a country I know nothing about and how we will prepare for this. (In this scenario, I can choose the country).  I chose for my immigrant's family Sudan.  I chose Sudan because I know nothing about it except that it is in Northern Africa and is a war torn and extremely impoverished country.  As I read about Sudan, I learned that its people have been experiencing wars, unimaginable poverty and oppression, and countless other human rights violations.  Anyone that is lucky enough to be able to get out of there would probably have a lot of physical, emotional or psychological issues.

To prepare for this family, I would first make sure I understood the region they were coming from and what was happening there.  I would then consult a developmental psychologist for advise on children that come from war torn environments.  I would not assume they are Muslim, because the persecution of Christians there would lead me to wonder if they were religious refugees.  Once I knew for sure their religion, I would make whatever accommodations I could for them if necessary.  Another thing I could do is learn a little of their language and about their surface culture so I could teach the children in the program some things about Sudan which would help to ease the transition for the child a little bit.  If possible, I would try to locate other Sudanese in the area to help bridge the communication gap, as well as create a more familiar atmosphere for the child and family.

I would hope that all of these preparations would benefit the family and child by giving a sense of welcoming, caring and friendship to the new immigrants.  It will also educate the staff by teaching them about a region of the world that they probably never thought about before and that is completely different from the comfortable life they have here in the U.S.

Images of Sudanese Children

The Personal Side of Bias, Prejudice and Oppression

I have been trying to think of a specific time when I have faced bias, prejudice and oppression.  I can't think one specific instance, but I know that as a young woman I experienced harrasment by boys; as a Mormon I have dealt with people who are completely biased against the LDS church and have crazy, ignorant ideas about my faith; I have had to deal with negative comments about white people, conservatives, adoption, the military, Americans, women (working mothers, stay at home mothers).  The list goes on.  Everything that I am, and everything that I identify as, has at some point been the target of bias and prejudice, no matter how slight.   I carry with me the frustration of not being able to enlighten people of the reality of the facts, but I do not carry with me pain or anger toward those people.  It seems futile to do so.

I have often felt this way from the men I work with.  

As I read the blogs of all my colleagues, I read many different accounts of bias and prejudice, from breastfeeding to overt racism.  I think that as early childhood professionals it behooves us to be aware that no matter what, biases and prejudice will always exist.  We must find a way to deal with it appropriately when we face it, and not dwell on it when it is not present.  We need to teach tolerance and appreciation for others to our children more than anything.