Evaluating Communication

This week we had an assignment to evaluate ourselves through some online quizzes.  In turn, two other individuals we know had to evaluate our communication as well.  Prior to this assignment I thought that I was an excellent communicator.  One thing that surprised me was my score on the verbal aggressive scale.  I tend to consider myself very mild-mannered and this score was not as high as I hoped it would be.  I will take this into consideration moving forward and recognizing any aggressiveness when dealing with others.  It was encouraging that when my colleague took the verbal aggressive scale test about me that my score was higher than I had received.

It is so interesting to realize how others perceive you and how you may be perceiving yourself without even noticing.  I do not tend to think I am as good of a listener as I could be.  I often become so passionate about a topic during conversation that I tend to interrupt others, however the listening test made me aware that in general I am a good listener.  Also, when another colleague took the test about me it too said that I was a good listener.  I think the process of evaluation and understanding yourself as a communicator is such an important part of being a human being and an early childhood educator.

Overall - I really enjoyed this assignment and will continue to seek out tests and quizzes that help me to reflect on my behaviors and evaluate myself personally and allow other to evaluate my skills and weaknesses.

Effective Communication

Communicating is an important part of every day life and can help to build relationships.  On the other hand, it can also be a factor in destroying and hindering relationships.  As early childhood educators it is essential that we understand and acknowledge diversity and the way it affects communication.  I have learned throughout this course that communication involves verbal, nonverbal, AND listening!!

When considering culture in your interactions with others, it is important to understand how different groups and culture react to various communication patterns.  It is important to communicate in a way that is comfortable and inviting to others when dealing with children and families of different backgrounds.  You definitely do not want to offend someone by being ignorant of their beliefs, values, and methods of communication.  I have taken this into consideration when dealing with multicultural groups of people and it has changed the way I view communication and its relation to culture.

Three strategies that could help me be more effective with the people or groups I am communicating are:

1. Always be mindful of cultural practices.  Take time to understand and learn about various cultural practices, verbal and nonverbal, and their significance to emotion.

2. DO NOT be afraid to ask questions to learn more about others.  This will help to build a strong bond between ourselves and those we work with, whether colleagues, students, or families.

3. Assess your nonverbal cues and listening skills as they are often overshadows by verbal communication techniques.  Be aware and collaborate with colleagues so that you gain an outside perspective and are truly aware of your behaviors.

Learning about Communication through Television

This week's blog assignment was very interesting to me.  I think that it really forced me to think outside my normal thought process.  We were required to view a TV show that we don't normally watch, and view it without the volume turned on.  I chose a show called The League.

   This show is about a group of friends that participate in a fantasy football league. When I was watching the show I saw that the relationships were light-hearted and friendly.  You could tell by watching that the characters had a sort of back-and-forth camaraderie in a joking manner.  The nonverbal behavior was aggressive at times.  There was eye rolling and hostility at times between the men especially.

  What I learned about communication was that is very dependent on your environment.  It is something that I haven't really thought about too often but is something I will pay more attention to. Recognizing how your communication changes with your surroundings and environment is an important part of being an educator.  Realizing how your tone needs to be with children and how it should not change dramatically when transitioning from professional to personal lives.  I think it is important to maintain balance and ensure that we are holding ourselves to a standard whether we are in the classroom environment or outside of it.

Communicating Competently

   First of all, I am excited to begin this class on communication and collaboration.  It is such an essential part of being an educator, particularly in early childhood when children are at their prime developmental years.

  The most effective communicator I know is my grandfathers.  He speaks to committees and groups at length helping to find funding for nonprofit organizations.  He is knowledgeable, understandings, and approachable.  I believe his knowledge helps increase his effectiveness as a communicator.  He is very good at speaking to people with various backgrounds and diverse cultures.

  I would like to model many of my communication behaviors after him.  I think the balance he exhibits with respect to passion and cooperation during communication is such a great quality as a leader and communicator.  Being effective in reaching various cultural groups is also another quality I admire and hope to be effective with in my communications.

  I look forward to learning and hearing from all my classmates!

Summing Up Diversity and Equity in Early Childhood Education

When I think about working with children and families who come from diverse backgrounds I hope that I can make a difference in their lives and help them to feel comfortable and welcomed.  I hope that I can learn to discuss the diversity within the classroom without offending any particular group or persons.  I hope I can be an anti-biased educator that leads children to become accepting and equitable people in society.

One goal I would like to set for the early childhood field related to issues of diversity, equity, and social justice is that each child has the ability to receive an equitable education.  I hope that children can feel respected and equal regardless of economic status, culture, and gender (just to name a few).

I would like to thank my colleagues for being open and honest when sharing personal experiences of discrimination and struggles with equity.  It has helped me learn the value of collaboration and sharing experiences.  I have learned so much from each colleague and will continue to lean on others ideas and values to expand my knowledge of diversity.

Welcoming Families from Around the World

    The country I chose as my new family's origin is Bulgaria.  It is very important to understand each child's country of origin and the issues they could face when transitioning into a new environment. Five ways I would prepare myself would be:

1. To create a visual for the early childhood environment so that the new student feels welcome and the other students can learn about the new child's country of origin.  This will also help me to learn increase my surface knowledge of the country.
2. Create lesson plans that cover each child's country of origin along with certain aspects that children are familiar with, such as native food, weather patterns, and language variances.
3. Create a comparison to the demographics of the United States that is in visual format so that the new child can understand their new country and environment and the current students can learn more about where the new child is coming from and the changes that are occurring to their environment.
4. Discuss special, comforting aspects of the Bulgarian culture that might make the child feel more welcome and at home in their new environment.  For instance, have the parents give me an object that pertains to their life in Bulgaria and display it in the classroom (environment) for a day.  Discuss with the class why this object is important to the new student and what objects in their lives make them feel comfortable in new environments.
5. Meet with the parents to discuss and understand the emotions and feelings that the child has been going through during the move.  How these new emotions and feelings vary from their ordinary behaviors and what they feel like could be potential issues dealing with diversity.

I hope these preparations would benefit me, the family, and the child because they strive to create a comforting and familiar environment.  They would allow all children in the program or classroom to learn about diversity and one another's culture.  By speaking with the parents, we learn how we communicate with one another and more about each other environments and how to best teach their child.

The Personal Side of Bias, Prejudice, and Oppression

   My memories of prejudice are not ones in which I experienced the act personally, however I did witness the act of prejudice occurring.  It is very unfortunate when you witness these acts because in such a diverse world, you wish that people would be more accepting of others.  This happened when I was dating a person of a different race.  Seeing someone I cared about go through the experience and be judged on exterior appearances was difficult.  The experience diminished equity because it made me aware that people can be cruel and think they are better than others for no particular good reason. Because someone is different is not a legitimate reason to be biased and verbalize prejudices.

   The feelings I experienced were of disgust and confusion.  I find it difficult to believe that people can be so socially incompetent that they do not understand the affects their decision can have on other people.  Regardless of what form the prejudice comes, if it is intentional it is something I view as ignorance.  I believe in today's society that there are resources available to educate oneself on bias, prejudice, and oppression.  I understand that people unconsciously discriminate, however self-reflection is a great way to make oneself aware of biases that may be occurring.  In order to make this situation into an opportunity for greater equity it would need for that person to learn they had affected not just one persons, but two people's lives, because of their verbal discrimination.d