Who Am I as a Communicator?

I have never been one that liked to talk in front of large groups of people.  I do better in small groups or one on one. The results from the communication assessments were very accurate.  The Communication Anxiety Inventory revealed that I feel uneasy in some communication situations and more confident in others.  This is a very true representation of me.  The Verbal Aggressiveness Scale revealed that I maintain a good balance between respect and considering others' view.  I argue fairly and attach the issue at hand not the person. I am glad that my level of aggressiveness was moderate. I know I can be aggressive at times, but sometimes that's all people understand.  They don't understand when you be nice. The one thing that surprised me most is that I appear to have more patience with people than I give myself credit for.  The insight that I gained is that it's good to have balance when communicating.  This is very important in ECE because we have to be respectful of the children and families we serve.  This has truly been an eye opening experience.  I learned alot about communicating this week.

Communicating

I find myself communicating differently with groups/cultures. I know with my students and parents I have to remain professional at all times.  I try to make sure I am using correct English when I speak to my students.  I speak that way because I want them to use correct English when they speak as well.  We have a flyer posted in the classroom that says leave your casual language at the door. When I am speaking to elderly people I always try to be courteous and polite.  I still say "yes sir and no sir" when I am speaking to older men. I know some people think that's old fashioned but I was raised that way.  When I talk to teenagers or my friends I can use slang and let my hair down a little.  I don't have to be so politically correct. When I communicate with different cultures I am very cautious of what I say.  I don't want to offend anyone so I try to make sure I don't say anything that would be perceived the wrong way.  The three strategies that I would use to communicate more effectively with different groups/cultures are to limit nonverbal cues,  ask questions about the culture or group that I may not understand, and try to be open and respectful to their opinions  regardless of how I feel.

Verbal and Nonverbal Communication

I chose to watch an old tv show Martin.  I haven't watched Martin in years.  That used to be one of my favorite sitcoms.  I felt like watching this episode with no sound was going to be alot harder than I thought.  While watching this show on mute I was able to pick up on some of the characters nonverbal cues.  In this particular episode, Martin appears to be upset because someone broke into his apartment and stole some items.   When Gina comes home he is trying to explain to her what happened. The assumptions I made with the volume off were correct.  Martin was very upset because he found out that one of his neighbors had broken into his house.  I have come to realize that it is possible to communicate with nonverbal cues.  However, I feel like it's much easier to communicate verbally.  A lot of times people misinterpret nonverbal cues the wrong way. 

Competent Communication

My husband demonstrates competent communication on a consistent basis.  He is a talker by nature.  He gets that honestly from his dad.  He is a Social Worker so he does a lot of talking every day.  He gives advice to families on a daily basis. I had the opportunity to sit in on a session he had with a family.  He is professional at all times. He uses eye contact, and he asks questions to clarify information he doesn’t understand.  He is able to put his thoughts into words in a very clear and concise manner. He also keeps a straight face no matter how sensitive the information is.  I would like to model some of my own communication behaviors after him because I need to learn how to control my face when talking to someone.  My facial expression tells how I am feeling at all times.  It’s hard for me to hide how I am feeling about a certain situation.  If I don’t like something or don’t agree with it, my facial expression will let you know immediately. While taking this class about communication, I am going to work harder on my nonverbal communication.

Professional Hopes and Goals

As I think about working with children and families that come from diverse
backgrounds, I hope to bring awareness to different cultures.  All children and families need to understand and learn about different cultures.  This will help make all children well rounded, and they will appreciate different cultures more.

The goal that I would like to set for the early childhood field related to issues of diversity, equity, and social justice is to change our mindsets.  There are a lot of people in the field who do not understand how social identities and microaggressions play a major part in how we feel about people.  I want everyone to become more cognizant of what they say and do.  This will help eliminate some of the stereotypes and biases that we face today.

I would like to thank all of my colleagues for the encouragement and thoughtful posts each week.  This course has truly opened my eyes to the issues of diversity, equity, and social justice. I learned several new insights that make me look at issues differently. I would also like to thank Dr. D for really pushing me to think outside the box.  I have never heard of the term microaggression, but it truly makes me think before I speak.  I really enjoyed this class, and I learned a lot.  I wish everyone much success in their future courses.

Welcoming Families From Around the World

My family’s country of origin is Seychelles.  Seychelles is a small country in Africa. As I prepare to be culturally responsive towards this family there are some things I need to do to make this transition as easy as possible.  I do not know anything about Seychelles so right away I will have to do some research.  I feel like knowing where the family is from is important because it will help me understand their culture.

As I explore things that will make the child feel welcome in my classroom, I would find out specific things about her country.  I would find out the colors and symbols of her country.  I would also find pictures of places that she may be familiar with. I would decorate the classroom with these items to make her feel at ease.  I need to find out the primary language spoken in this country.  I would try to have a translator available when the child and her family arrive at the school to welcome them in their native language.  I would also like to learn a few basic words in order to communicate with the family.  It will be a good idea to learn how they greet each other in their culture.  I think this is important because I don’t want to offend anyone.  I would try to learn about their religious beliefs. This will be beneficial because I need to know if there are any holidays that they would not feel comfortable celebrating.  I hope that the representation of the country in my classroom will make my student and her family feel welcomed.  I hope this lets her know that we respect her culture, and that we are open to diversity. We are excited to have her and learn about her country.

The Personal Side of Bias, Prejudice, and Oppression

The memory of an incident where I witnessed prejudice and oppression was from one of my favorite movies The Color Purple. The Color Purple was movie based on a the lives of  southern African American women.  The main character Celie is a poor, uneducated women who was beaten and raped by her father. Celie experienced oppression by telling Sophia’s husband to beat her.  Her thinking was a reflection of how she was beaten by Mister. Sophia which is another one of the main characters experienced racisim and oppression.  She was asked by the mayor’s wife if she wanted to work as her maid. Sophia felt offended by that question and ended up in an altercation with the mayor.  She ended up in jail for 12 years.  “Racism as an issue is seen in how Sofia was imprisoned and violently beaten for rejecting the mayor's wife's "offer" to be her maid (where the offer in itself was a reflection of racism)”. This movie dealt with some issues that are still prevalent today.  However, it helped shed some light on the various equity issues that women face.  This movie made me realize how far women have come.  We have a lot of rights that we didn’t have.  We play major roles in society now.  We even have a women running for president.  It’s good to reflect on how far we have come.

Reference

Walker, A. (1982), The Color Purple, retrieved from http://www.colorpurple.com