Week 8 Farewell

I can't believe that this class has come to an end. I have really been enlightened by so many of my colleagues.  It has been an amazing journy.  I now understand the importance of effective communication in areas that I never noticed before.  The information that I have gained throughout this course is very valuable and is something that will be used personally and through my professional carreer. 

I would like to take this time to thank all of you for your support and your encouraging comments. I wish each of you the best as you continue on your professional journey.

Sincerely,
Martha

The Adjourning Phase

     As I began to reflect back to the groups or teams that I have worked with, the one that comes to mind is the year I worked with a team of teachers.  We were in my book the perfect team.  There were four classrooms and a total of eight teachers, all women.  However, we got along so well it was unbelievable. We worked together for four wonderful years.  I know that it was because each teacher had a passion for what she did.  We would meet once a week to brainstorm about activities.  We shared lesson plans and often tried to come up with exciting new experiences for our students. We did not always see eye to eye but because our communication was so strong, we always worked it out. The positive energy level was so high that even our parents began to work together; we had so much fun.  After working together for a few years the administrators decided to rotate some of the teachers and send them to different schools.  We were so heart broken because we began to feel like a family of teachers.  Even the parents were sad because some of them had children that were coming the following year.
     During the last week of school, we decided to have a big celebration.  Our parents joined together and helped the teachers out.  We had something different going on each day and on the last day we had a huge cookout that the parents planned.  It was awesome!  The teachers later met for dinner on another day and exchanged information and promised to keep in touch.  We did good for a while but with time, things eventually died down.  I do have one teacher that I still talk to today, after 15 years.  We have a special bond.  Every now and then we will run into the others.
     As I continue on this educational journey, I would love to be able to stay in touch with many of my collegues. I would like to thank all of you for your wonderful support and positive feedback.  It was encouraging to read your post and responses. I wish each of you the best as you continue on your wonderful journey as an early childhood professional.
   I would like to specially thank Dr. Hampshire for such wonderful support and feedback during this course.  I know that the information that I received in this course is something that I will reflect on on a regular basis.  I have learned so much about communcation and about teamwork. Take care and I wish everyone the best!

Managing Conflict

     As I began to think back, the most recent disagreement that I had was two weeks ago.  Although my girls father and I are no longer together, he seems to always find a way to spark a debate about the most simple issues.  At one time I could not understand why we could not have an decent conversation with out it becoming heated. But I soon found out that he wanted to keep me upset. Basically, he would spark debates on purpose. So in turn, I began to avoid direct conversation with him all together.  I know now that that form of management is called the escapist strategy (O'Hair, D., & Wiemann, M. 2012).  When it comes to our daughters, we often result to quick and simple resolutions.  It may not always resolve the issues but it has been the best solution for the both of us. I also had to learn to manage my emotions while communicating with him. I learned not to engage in the same discussions to avoid repeating the same situations.  I learned to speak calmly to show that I do respect him as my children's father.  Having very limited conversations has been the best solution.  Because he believes that he is right and everyone esle is wrong, I really don't see how any compromise can be made.

Reference

O'Hair, D., & Wiemann, M. (2012). Real communication: An introduction. New York:

        Bedford/St. Martin's.          

Evaluating My Communication

This week I evaluated myself as a communicator and allowed others to also evaluate me. To my surprise there was a few interesting but not surprising oppositions.

The results are as follows:

When it comes to Communication Anxiety Inventory, I consider myself as someone who is often very nervous communicating with someone that I really don’t know or have just met.  When it comes to speaking in public, whether a small or large group, I will say that I often suffer from public speaking anxiety.  On the other hand, those that evaluated me stated that I seemed to speak very well in public and always seem so calm.

In terms of the Listening Styles Profile, I believe that I try very hard to listen with concern and often try to put myself in their shoes.  I believe that I also try not to judge before I know all the facts. Now on the other hand, those that evaluated me actually said it quite differently.  Yes, I do listen with concern, but there are times that I take a few words and run with it.  I don’t often wait for all of the facts before I jump to conclusions.

In terms of the Verbal Aggressiveness Scale, I see myself as someone that tries to be fair and respectful when communicating. I try very hard not to offend and I am very careful not to personally attack a person’s character.  I try to only address the issues.  On the other hand, my evaluators believe that although I do not attack a person’s character, I am very aggressive in my response to something that I don’t like.  I am often looked at as being too honest and straightforward in my answers or response. There are times that I may cross the line a little which attacks a person’s position if I don’t agree with them, which can be offensive.

This experience has really caused me take a step back and take a look at the way that I communicate. I know that I need to work on improving my communication skills. I really do want to be a better listener.  I feel that as an educator, it is important to know how to listen to the full story before jumping into any conclusions.  I was also interested in the fact that they felt that I was a little to straightforward in the way I approach conversations that will require an answer or a response.  I don’t want to offend anyone; however I always want to be truthful.  I just know now that I have to be more watchful when choosing my words and to try not to be so straightforward.  I have always believed that it is not always what you say it is how you say it.

Communication Styles

When it comes to culture diversity, it is important for us to understand that we all communicate differently.  And because communication is an essential human behavior by which we exchange information, it is important that each of us learn how to communicate effectively (O’Hair & Weimann, 2012).  

For many of us, we have mastered the art of “code switching”, which is when communicators change their regular style of language and slang to fit into a particular group (O’Hair & Weimann, 2012). 

 For me, I tend to speak differently depending on my audience.  When communicating with my family, I use a very different style of speaking than with my coworkers.  My family has a unique way of communicating.  We pronounce certain words a certain way only when we are together. It is a language that only we understand.  When I address my colleagues at work or anyone professionally, I immediately switch over to a more formal way of speaking.   I also communicate differently with children than with adults. With children I tend to speak with a higher more cheerful pitch or tone and when I speak to adults I tend to speak in a more serious tone.  

Although I do tend to change the style in which I talk to different people, I have always tried to respect whomever I am communicating with.  I try very hard to think before I speak.  And strive to lift people up not tear down.

Strategies that I can use to help me communicate more effectively with the people that I have identied above is to develop more knowledge of the audience in which I communicate; learn to listen more effectively; be mindful of others and watch my verbal and nonverbal comments and actions to ensure that I do not offend in any way.

Reference

O'Hair, D., & Wiemann, M. (2012). Real communication: An introduction. New York:

        Bedford/St. Martin's.

Nonverbal Communication in Action

Nonverbal Communication in Action

It is stated that nonverbal communications is more believable than verbal communications (O’Hair et. al, 2012). As I began to read the assignments for this week, I became more familiar with what nonverbal communications really means.  This week I chose to watch the show “The Nanny” it is a show that I never really cared to watch a few years back.  I watched the show without sound, concentrating on their nonverbal communications.  It was a very interesting experiment. The Kinesics, which is the aspects of gestures and body movements that send nonverbal messages, was observed (O’Hair et. al, 2012).  While watching the clip, it appeared that there was a disagreement of some sort, and at one time there was a heavy discussion going on between the nanny and Mr. Seinfield.  The nanny used many nonverbal cues such as hand gestures and facial expressions as if she was trying to prove a point or even was pleading for something and Mr. Seinfield was repeatedly denying her request by repeatedly shaking his head as to say no.

Watching the show without knowledge of who the characters were would give the assumptions that the nanny and Mr. Seinfield were husband and wife at that time.  Their behavior towards each other appeared as such. Based on their nonverbal behavior, it was a very heated discussion that appeared very emotional and Mr. Seinfield seemed upset.

Once I began to watch the movie with the sound on, I found that my assumptions were somewhat correct.  They were in a heated discussion yes; however Mr. Seinfield was not upset but worried about his daughter. 

I’m not sure that my assumptions would have been anymore correct than this show had I been watching a show that I am much more familiar with.

Reference                                                                                                                                            

O'Hair, D., & Wiemann, M. (2012). Real communication: An introduction. New York:

        Bedford/St. Martin's.

Communication Skills in Action

     As I began to think about someone in my life that exibits effective communication skills, one spcial person comes to mind.  It is actually my current supervisor.  When I started working with Angie, I noticed right away that she was different from any other person that I have worked under.  At first, I thought that maybe she was putting on a front and would change as time went on, but 8 years later, she is still the same. I have never seen a person that could tell someone off in such a polite way that the person never even realized it.  I have watched her at meetings and I have observed how she would word her emails.  During meetings, she was a listener.  She was very careful to listen to all of the facts before giving an opinion or idea.  She was very respectful even during heated meetings, valuing each persons inpute.  And if someone sent an angry email to her, she would standing her ground but her response would be so well written that the people would often apoligize for their angry actions. 
     I have watched Angie do this so often that I began to follow in her footsteps. One day I decided to ask her about it. That's when she told me that she had a mentor that she admired that did taught her those important lessons and she basically patterned herself after her mentor.  That's when she quoted this old saying, "It is not always what you say, it's how you say it" then she said and "I really believe that".  For me, I also believe that saying and another one that my grandmother used to say, "You can catch more bees with honey than with vinegar."

Professional Hopes and Goals

     These few weeks of studying anti-bias education has been an amazing journey.  I have a strong desire to continue on in my work.  The hope that I have about working with children and families who come from diverse backgrounds is to do what ever I can to make a positive difference in their lives and to make every child and family that I work with feel important and valuable.
     One goal that I would like to set for the early childhood field related to issues of diversity, equity and social justice is to become an ally, to be that voice for those that can not speak for themselves and to inspire other early childhood professionals to become aware of there own bias behaviors and to help them to take notice of the negative and bias comments that they often make. 
     This course has been one of the best courses that I have taken. I thank all of my classmates for sharing such touching and inspiring stories and for providing such wonderful feedback on the assignments given.  Good luck to you all and I wish you the best as you continue on your journey as an early childhood professional.

Welcoming Families Around the World

     If I worked in a childcare center and was told that I would be getting a new student from Japan that could not speak English, there are certain steps that I would take in order to prepare the student and family for their arrival.

     I will first prepare by doing research on the family culture. Next I will conduct a family home visit to begin building a relationship with the child and family. During the visit, I will ask specific important questions about the child.  I will then prepare the classroom environment by putting up pictures and anything else that will make the new student feel comfortable.  I will also ask the parents to help teach me key words in their native language that will help me throughout the day.

      I believe that these preparations will benefit not only the child and family, but the entire class. I believe that doing my research will help me to understand and not stereotype.  I can ask the parent(s) to share culture experiences with the class, such as holidays.  In making my preparations it will be important to make a consistent schedule. Keeping a consistent schedule will help the child to learn what to expect each day. and doing things repetitively will help him/her learn to feel comfortable information on how to manage around the classroom.  I believe that doing things repetitively will make the day to day experience a lot easier on the student as well as the teacher.

The Personal Side of Bias, Prejudice, and Oppression

     Recently, my daughter was the victim of bias and prejudice behaviors at a former job where she worked.  She wants to be a chef and loves to work with food.  She was hired work in the deli section of our local grocery store and was very excited when she got the job, little did she know what she was about to face.  She began to come home and talk about the experiences that she would have daily dealing with the public; many would make your mouth drop.  I will just like to share just a couple with you.

     I would start the first story off by describing it as a microinsult.  See, my daughter is a very beautiful dark skinned woman.  One day a lady walked up to her and said, “You colored people always have beautiful skin”. My daughter said, mom I know that she didn’t mean any harm and was trying to give me a compliment.  But for some reason I felt awkward and a little offended, I guess it was the way she said it and the “you people part”, I don’t know.

     The next experience I would like to share deals with how many older white people would not even want my daughter to serve them.  If she walked up and said, “May I help you?” many would walk away.  At first she blew it off but it became obvious with the regular customers.  If she’s there they will say no thank you and if her white co-worker is there they would go ahead and order.  Some would even what until my daughter would go in the back and then walk back up to be helped by her white co-worker.  One man was so bold that he told my daughter “no, I want her to help me” pointing to her co-worker. 

    Now as a mother, it hurt to know that my daughter was being treated in such a manner however; I told her that it is a lesson that she has to learn.  Prejudice is real and does exist; some people are still stuck in the past and refuse to look at us all as equal.  For many older people, I don’t know if they will ever change or if there is anything that we can do to get them to see things differently. 

    

Practicing Awareness of Microaggressions

      

     This week was an interesting week for me as I had the opportunity to facilitate professional development training for a group of childcare providers on the topic of “diversity”.  As we neared the end of the training teachers began to share experiences of times that they heard racial comments.  One teacher began to share a comment that she and another teacher had witnessed. She stated that while standing at the bus stop, they heard a little “White girl” comment on a few Black children playing.  Her comments stated: “the Black kids are always so loud and silly.” At that moment, the two teachers looked at each other and then they looked at her mother.  Her mother seemed embarrassed and stated, “I don’t know where she got that from.” While listening to the teachers’ responses, they all agreed that the little girl had to hear it from an adult in her environment.

    For me, normally I would have been offended but I did not take it personal at all.  I realize that this issue is too serious and it is something that we all have to over come.  Instead, I used it as an invitation to share what we have been studying this week.  I began to talk about the three types of microaggressions and that the type of aggression that was displayed was that of the microinsults.  I shared with them how similar the comment was to a scenario that was a part of this week’s discussion question. Many of the teachers stated that this topic is very difficult and hard to approach but agreed that it is something that should be discussed often.  It was a great learning experience and the teachers were very responsive to the information.

 

Prospective on Diversity and Culture

     Whenever you hear anyone speak of culture and diversity the terms are used simultaneously.  In today’s society, it is very hard to use one without the other.  I asked a few acquaintances to give me their definition of culture and their definition diversity. 

     Out of the three definitions that were given for culture, at least one was given as the typical definition and that is concerning race. When people think of culture, they immediately think of a person’s ethnic background.  The other two answers were similar to the definition that has been given during this course of study and that is, culture is how you were raised; how you and the people around you share certain behaviors and beliefs, language, food, and traditions.

     The definitions on diversity were all pretty similar.  Each gave the definition of diversity as different types of people and cultures; basically a mixture of individuals with different backgrounds, race, gender and beliefs.  The answers were similar to what I have been reading in the course text. 

     As early childhood educators we must take notice and respect all cultures.  We must build relationships with all families regardless of their background and try to eliminate all bias behaviors.  Many teachers often look at those things that are visible and assume that they can predict the behaviors of children; however culture is deeper than things that can be seen.

My Family Culture

     If I were in a situation where my family and I had to move to another country far from my own and could only take three items with us, it would be our family Bible, our family album and our music.  We would take the Bible because the word of God is our foundation and it is what gets us through life.  I can’t begin to tell how much just reading Gods word and applying the principles has helped us down through the years.  The next thing we would take is our family Album. We have always been a pretty close family and every now and then we like looking at pictures and remembering good times.  In addition, the third thing is music; we would bring something that could hold as much music as possible, it is who we are, a musical family. 

     Now if we had to choose between the three items listed above, I would have to say our family Bible.  When it comes to the family album, it would be painful to loose photographs, but we can still talk about the good times.  As for our music, because we actually sing as a family group, we can write down our favorite songs and sing them on our own.  But when it comes to the Bible, even though some of the scriptures are planted in our hearts, we still find new revelation every time we read it; it has helped us through life. Personally for me, reading it every day is how I start each morning. It brings me Joy!

When I think of Research.....

     After taking this course, I look at research from a totally different point of view.  The research process is more complicated than I originally imagined.  It involves much more than observations, surveys and data charts.  There are methods to consider, designs to choose, a process to follow, ethics, equity, evaluations and much much more. There is so much information that I found myself going in circles.
     As I began the study the research process , I began to get a little confused about how to tell the difference between qualitative and quantitative designs.  Before I could truly grasp the concept, it was time to move on to the next section which involved ethics and then analysis and how to determine whether a topic can be framed as and hypothesis or not.  I continued with my weekly assignments never really understanding the difference between qualitative and quantitative. 
    As the weeks began to come to an end, I became troubled because I really wanted to understand the process.  In my frustration, I decided to step back and study the first two chapters again and to my surprise, it suddenly came clear to me.  I was so relieved because I have always wanted to know more about research and I had no idea that it involved so much interesting information.
    I think from now on, I will look at research more closely.  I will probably examine it in terms of whether it is bias or involves equity.  I can say now with confidence that if the opportunity presented itself.  I feel that I would be able to conduct a small study.

Reference:

Mac Naughton, G., Rolfe, S.A., & Siraj-Blatchford, I. (2010). Doing early childhood research: International perspectives on theory and practice (2^nd ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.

Research Around the World

I had an opportunity to examine the early childhood Australia website; www.earlychildhoodaustalia.org browsing through, I found information on many topics.  It was interesting to see that they have the same early childhood issues and concerns that we have in the United States.  The site included the latest discussions on teaching standards, quality care and a child’s right to play.

The most popular topic discussed was that of quality childcare and based on new recommendations, how some are showing improvements. It also touches on their National Quality Standards, which is something that has been discussed for years in the United States.

I also got a chance to browse through an area called RIP-which stands for Research in Practice.  Early Childhood Australia's Research in Practice Series is an essential resource for those involved in the early childhood field. The books are easy-to-read, idea-rich and to-the-point its a resource that offeres new approaches for challenging issues that arise in early childhood education.

Information was retrieved from: www.earlychildhoodaustalia.org

Research that Benefits Children and Families- Uplifting Stories

When we think of children, it is not unusual for early childhood professionals to go into the protective mode.  We are always concerned about the protection and wellbeing of children. So it is not unusual for educators to ask questions about research involving children.  However, According to scientific research of the National Academy of Sciences today have recognized how critical it is to honor ethical research.  The benefits that biomedical research has brought to infants, children, and adolescents are remarkable. In recent decades, research has helped change medical care and public health practices in ways that, each year, save or lengthen the lives of tens of thousands of children around the world. (NAS, 2005)  Breakthroughs have led to polio, measles, and other vaccines that have dramatically cut child deaths, disability, and discomfort from communicable diseases. (NAS, 2005)  

Many premature babies with underdeveloped lungs who once would have died now survive with the use of mechanical ventilators and surfactants (substances that make breathing easier). (NAS, 2005) This example holds dear to my heart because I have a daughter that was born premature at 2 pounds 11 ounces.  She stayed in the hospital for two months to allow her lungs to develop. For this personal reason and many more I believe that very careful research on children is necessary because it benefits not just those directly involved but all children.

References:

Retrieved from an article of the National Academy of Sciences http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=10958

My Personal Research Journey

From the first time I realized that I would be taking a research class until now, I had one topic in mind.  I wanted to research any topic on "Brain Development".  What was I thinking?  The problem with this topic is that it is such a broad topic and is very difficult to narrow down to just one subtopic.  I have spent the last week trying to decide which direction to go with this and have even thought of changing to a topic more realistic.  After searching for the subtopics and found nothing, I decided to make a slight change to one of the topics and began the search again. When those articles began to pop up, I can't tell you the joy that I felt.

Actually, I know that had this problem because even my subtopics were too broad and had to be broken. 
I realized this by reading Chapter 2 in out classroom text book, Doing Early Childhood Research, 2nd edition where it talked about the practicalities of deciding what is a workable research question.  It tell you to simplify questions, make it workable and appropriate. "Breaking up a complex area into a series of smaller areas and questions is good discipline for any researcher." (Naughton, et. al. 2010)  I feel that I am on my way to being a researcher!

Reference:
Naughton, G. M., Rolfe, S. A., Siraj-Blatchford, Iram (2010) Doing Early Childhood Research International Perspectives on Theory & Practice 2nd Edition.