Communication Evaluations

This week’s assignment required me to evaluate myself and my communication anxiety, listening and verbal aggressiveness. I also chose my mother and co-worker to also evaluate me in the same areas. I was surprised that based upon my Communication Anxiety assessment that I fall into the Mild category and not the Low. I feel that I am very comfortable and confident when I have to speak in front of others and am only nervous or anxious if I am not familiar with the subject matter or what is to be communicated. My mother and co-worker both ranked me in the Low category so I feel that I am able to mask any anxiety or fear when I am in front of others even though I may not feel the same way on the inside.

Insight that I have gained from these evaluations is that I have the characteristics to be moderately verbally aggressive and will be able to use this in my professional and personal life. I do respect the viewpoints of others and try to rely on the facts and not the person. I do not believe in personally attacking anyone in order to prove a point or make myself look good. I am also aware that the way in which I view myself and the way that I project myself when I am around my family, friends and co-workers will determine their view of me and the ways in which we communicate. 

Communication with People from Different Groups and Cultures

Question: Do you find yourself communicating differently with people from different groups and cultures?  Explain.

I do find myself communicating differently with people from different groups and cultures because the world calls for the adjustment of our communication methods in order to function in society. The Andrea that goes to work each day to work with children and families is different from the Andrea who is at home and who is at church. Different forums call for different methods of communication. I am not going to speak to my Pastor the same way that I speak to my friends. This is the same for my parents and friends. When I speak to people of a different culture the main thing on my mind is making sure that I do not offend them or make myself look disrespectful or ignorant.

Based on the information that I have learned in my previous course and the past three weeks the strategies that I will use to communicate are:

1.       Put my viewpoints aside in order to view things from the perspective of the person I am communicating with.

2.       Don’t be so quick to judge and make assumptions.

3.       Education myself on other cultures beyond the surface and learn deep cultural facts and information.

4.       Don’t be afraid to ask questions when I am unclear of what is being communicated in order to prevent misunderstanding. 

Interpreting Communication in Television

The show that I chose to view was Return to Amish on TLC. This is a reality show that follows a group of Ex-Amish young adults who left their Amish community and are now retuning to be closer to their Amish family and loved ones.

When I watched the show with the sound off I observed the relationships between the cast to be civil between a husband and wife, brother and sister, mother and son and friends.  Based upon the nonverbal communication the husband and wife were going though something and the wife was trying to make up by giving him a handmade shirt. The brother was taking his sister out to a party that made her feel uncomfortable.  Two friends were out at a restaurant eating and talking to one another and a mother was having a serious conversation with her some about something important. One of the girls from the restaurant is emotional about something that happened at the restaurant.

When I watched the show with the sound on I was correct in my assumption about the husband and the wife. I assumed that Jeremiah and Katie were brother and sister but he is not related to her. He took her to a party and then showed her how to talk to boys without her parent’s knowledge. Katie had never been to party and was uncomfortable about what was going on around her. Rebecca and Chapel were meeting at the restaurant to talk about Rebecca’s previous relationship with Andy who is now with Chapel. Chapel was trying to get information about Andy’s previous relationships with other girls. Mom and was speaking to her son Andy about her concerns about him being with Chapel and her being a bad influence on him. The mom was worried that Andy would go back to jail. The show ended with Chapel giving a confessional about her being called to come into the doctor’s office and her not knowing what it is about.

I believe all of my assumptions would have been correct if I would have been familiar with the character and already knew their back stories as I was watching the show. After completing this exercise the first thing that I have learned is that I am very blessed to have the gift of hearing. I have an aunt who is deaf and I used to watch TV with her as a child and wonder how she knew what was going on and when to laugh when she could not hear what was going on. Looking at a show in which I am not familiar and do not know what is going on what a little frustrating for me as I thought I knew what was going on but had interpreted some of the episode and relationships between the cast incorrectly.

Competent Communication

The person that has demonstrated competent communication in my life has been my mother. She has always spoken to me and others in a way that did not degrade or intimidate. When my mother was upset or wanted to make sure my brother and I were listening to her she would not raise her voice but begin to whisper because she said that whispering would force us to listen to her words. That technique worked with us all of the time and it is something that I use with my own children and in my classroom as well. My mother was also always honest with my brother and me providing reasoning and explanation instead of just dismissing us and telling us what to or not to do. I appreciated that as it would allow me to understand the consequences of my actions and make my own decisions. I believe decision making is a very important skill that has helped me throughout my childhood and into adulthood and it one of the reasons I am successful today. 

Professional Hopes and Goals

One hope that I have when I think about working with children and families who come from diverse backgrounds is that I can use what I have learned these last eight weeks to make a difference in my classroom and in the lives of every child I come in contact with including my own children. I have learned that we must respect others and individuality. I will work to collaborate with families and make sure that I am respecting their culture and ideals while being conscious of microaggressions and –isms.

One goal that I would like to set for the early childhood field related to issues of diversity, equity, and social justice would be that all professionals would embrace the anti-bias education approach and work to advocate for all children and their families.

I would like to thank my colleagues for opening themselves up and sharing their stories of sadness as well as your triumphs. I also appreciate your feedback and words of encouragement and support. I wish you all the best and look forward to collaborating and working with you in the future. 

Welcoming Families From Around the World

Country: Finland

Scenario: I am working in a child care center and receive word that the child of a family who has recently emigrated from Finland will be joining my class. I have no prior knowledge about Finland but want to prepare myself to welcome the child and her family.  The five ways in which I would prepare myself to be culturally responsive towards this family are:

1    1..    Know the primary language of Finland. I would try to learn a few basic phrases or words in Finnish.
2.       Finland’s ideas about education
3.       The role of children in Finland
4.       Gender Roles in Finland – how men and women are seen or valued
5.       Primary religious beliefs of the people of Finland.

I believe that taking these preparations will allow me to be prepared to welcome the child into the classroom. It would help to ease any uncertainty or apprehension that I may have about adding a new child to the learning environment and will also equip me with the tools I need to help make their transition smooth.  Knowing beforehand how the child’s previous county viewed education, the roles of children and gender roles will help me to know how to approach certain conversations or topics with the family as I work with them.  I do not want to offend them or make them feel as if they are not welcomed or understood. 

The Personal Side of Bias, Prejudice, and Oppression

The memory that I will share involving bias, prejudice and/or oppression will be a story that I was told by mother.  My mother was working as a consultant providing home training services to parents who needed additional strategies to help their children at home and school. My mother made contact with a woman regarding her son over the phone. My mother informed her of who she was and what she would be coming to the home to do. When my mother arrived at the home she introduced herself as Dr. Johnson and asked to come into the home. The mother looked at my mother as if she was surprised to see her and that my mother was not the person she was expecting to see. While my mother was at the home providing information to the mother the father arrived home. The mother and father then began having a conversation in the other room and then the mother came out and said they would not be needed the home services. The next day the mother called back to the office and requested services again asking would the person coming out be white or black. A white person was sent out to the home and the mother accepted the home services. 

I believe this incident diminishes equity as I feel the mother and father were saying that a black person was not capable of providing services to the family because they were black. My mother has worked very hard to obtain her doctorate and was more qualified to provide the services but was denied the opportunity to help the child and their family just because of the color of her skin.

The feelings that this incident brings up for me are anger and frustration. I am upset that my mother was treated in this manner but I am also upset that a parent would turn down services that could benefit their child because of the race of the person trying to assist them.

The people that would need to change in this incident would be the mother and father as well as the company that my mother was working for at the time. Once the company found out that the parents were requesting a different consultant of a specific race they should have informed that parents that they would not be sending another person if race was the only reason to request another person in their home. I feel the parents were being told that it is okay to discriminate by the company when their request was granted.