Who Am I as A Communicator

           As I wrapped up this week's assignment for my blog post I believe that constantly assessing my competence level for strengths and weaknesses is very important steps (O'Hair & Wiemann, 2012).   According to the authors there are three ways to evaluate your expectations, executions, and outcomes.  These three ways are through self-actualization, self-adequacy, and self-denigration.  In my assessment I have found that I am an effective communicator but not a 100% communicator.  I can always tell when self-actualization has taken place when I am communicating.  The feeling of fulfillment comes over me and this makes me feel great.

                There are also times when I know that I have not communicated my best and what I have learned from this week's lesson is that in these situations I am feeling a sense of self-adequacy when I have not communicated my best with others (O'Hair & Wiemann, 2012).  The one thing that has surprised me the most about how I have assessed myself as opposed to how others assessed me is that they feel that I am a great and effective communicator.  They replied that I paid full attention to them as we communicated and that they could see me giving thought to what was asked before I answered back.  This surprised me because I know that I am a great and effective communicator but I also know that there is room for improvement.  The other two that assessed me led me to believe that I did not need improvement. 

                I believe that self-adequacy and self-efficacy are two insights that I have learned this week that may inform my professional work and my personal life.  Knowing that I may not always give a stellar performance when I communicate to others helps me with self-improvement (O'Hair & Wiemann, 2012) which will always help me in my professional work and in my personal life.

References

O'Hair, D., & Wiemann, M.O. (2012).  Real communication:  An introduction. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's.

Communicating with Different Groups & Cultures Week 3 6165

           I have on several occasions communicated differently with people from different groups and cultures.  I have found that I have had to listen more effectively when I am interacting with people from different groups and cultures.  When I am communicating with people from my ethnic background I tend to not listen because I can understand our language, but when I am communicating with people from another culture I not only have to listen, but I sometimes have to read their lips in order to make out what they are trying to say.  Another instance of me having to communicate differently from people from different groups and cultures is when I am calling a 1-800 number for assistance with my cable or telephone service.  It is sometimes really hard to understand the words spoken from people of different cultures.  I have had to speak a bit louder at times and I have also have had to ask the person assisting me to slow down as they spoke so that I could understand their language. 

            I have even found myself using my hands and body language in the place of using verbal communication.  I have also communicated differently with people from different groups and cultures who share a different belief than I do.  Some people are Atheist and I am a Christian.

When I communicate with them I try not to discuss religion in respect that their belief is different from mine. 

            The first strategy that can help me to become a more effective communicator when I am dealing with people from different groups or cultures is to develop better listening skills.  Also I must be able to pick up silent messages sent with or without words from people of different groups or cultures (Gonzalez-Mena, 2010 ).  I must be able to expand my ability to pick up silent messages in ways that they are intended (Gonzalez-Mena, 2010).  The second strategy that I can use to assist me in becoming a more effective communicator is to learn more about nonverbal behaviors when dealing with people from different cultures.  The final strategy that I can use to assist me in becoming a more effective communicator when dealing with people of different groups or cultures is to practice not to judge people from other cultures long enough to gain a deeper understanding that first impressions allow us to (Gonzalez-Mena, 2010).  As educators we all must be willing to accept differences in people who are different than we are.  Our children model after us.  So if they see that we are doing everything we can to help others they will do the same.

                                                                           Reference

Gonzalez-Mena, J. (2010). Looking at nonverbal communication across cultures. River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc.

Communication Activity for Week 2

            The movie that I watched that I had not previously viewed was Love and Basketball.  This movie show cased several characters and they all had various relationships which were from happy to sad, excited to not so excited, and from being in love as teens to breaking up and getting back together as adults.  From the way they communicated you could tell that the characters relationships were based on love and trust in one instance.  The two that I will discuss are the two children that grew up as friends and then become a couple before they left high school. 

 
            I believe that they felt and expressed love for each other based on their nonverbal behavior.  At first they showed that they did not like each other.  This was evident by the frowning that they did to each other.  They did not say this verbally but they did fight and look at each other while talking with their eyes to one another.  After watching the movie with the sound on my interpretations to my surprise was correct.  The two children actually loved each other even though they never said it verbally.  They actually showed friendship and unity in nonverbal ways. 
 

            I believe that my assumptions could be more correct if it was a movie that I had previously viewed.  Even though my interpretations were basically correct for this movie, I believe that with each movie or real situation that were either watch or encounter we can communicate without using verbal cues.  When the sound was turned down, I depended on the facial expressions to assist me with determining what was going on in the movie.
           This exercise was very helpful to me because t gave me the opportunity to look at the verbal and nonverbal side of communication.

Week 1 Blog Assignment 6165

            The person that I have observed demonstrating competent communication is the Director of a child care facility that cares for children from 2 to 5 years of age.  I have seen her interconnecting with other parents and their children to form relationships.  Having the help of parents can always help you achieve the goals that have been set.  She exemplifies what the authors call affiliation.  She shows that she loves the students that attend her center. 

            She also shows competent communication in the way that she communicates with the different diverse families and their children that attend the center.  Her actions give them a sense of belonging which makes the parents trust their children to her care.  She works really good with her staff and she influences them to work hard to achieve the goals that has been set for the center.  She makes certain that the goals for the child care facility are known throughout the center.  She has complete control of her staff and have formed great relationships with all of them.  She has truly shown me that communicating competently creates trust, accuracy, honesty, and accuracy (O'Hair & Wiemann, 2012). 

            I would model all of my communication behaviors after this person.  She is clearly a competent communicator and she enjoys communicating effectively with everyone that she touches.  I would model myself at Dr. Minor because she is clearly a great effective and competent communicator.

 

Reference

 

O'Hair, D., & Wiemann, M. (2012). Real communication: An introduction. New York:      Bedford/St. Martin's.

 

Professional Hopes and Goals

           One hope that I have when I think about working with children and families who come from diverse backgrounds is to make certain that I make them feel comfortable in every way.  I will make certain that I plan my activities in my classroom to meet the needs of all of my students.  I will make sure that my classroom displays diverse families' cultures as well as non diverse families.  I will create partnerships with my diverse families so that I can learn more about their cultures and their goals for their children.

            The one goal that I would like to set for the early childhood field related to issues of diversity, equity, and social justice is to incorporate workshops that brings awareness on equity, diversity, and social justice in my school that will branch out to surrounding school districts.  I would like to use these workshops to teach parents and other educators how to advocate for equity and social justice.  These workshops will also be a learning tool of how to better serve our diverse students and their families. 
            I would like to take this opportunity to personally thank all of my colleagues for your helpful discussions and blogs throughout this eight week course.  I have learned a variety of new things that will assist me in meeting the needs of all of my students.  I sincerely hope that you have learned the importance of social justice, diversity, and equity.  As educators remember that we can make a difference in the lives of the students that we comes in contact with.  Good luck on all of your future endeavors.  I would also like to thank Dr. Rosalie Parrish for her support, feedback, and professionalism.  It is because of instructors like you that Walden University has such a great early childhood program.

Welcoming Families From Around the World

              My families' country of origin is China.  The five ways in which I will prepare myself to be culturally responsive to my family is by first learning all I can about their native language.  They will be more comfortable if I am knowledgeable about their language and I understand how they communicate.  Second I will make certain that my classroom's atmosphere has a touch of families in different countries, the various foods that they eat, and their cultural beliefs.  This will give the families a sense of belonging.   The third way in which I will prepare myself to be culturally responsive to my family is to create a partnership with the family.  Parents will become more closer to you and they may even share some of the family traditions as to how they raise their children, what their goals are for their children and what they can and can't eat.  All of these practices are very important.  Fourth, I will make sure that there are classroom’s activities to meet the needs of all of my students.  Some students may not be able to participate in certain activities because of their religious beliefs.  I will make sure that I have other planned activities for these students so that they don't feel left out.  The last way that I will prepare myself to be culturally responsive to my family is by taking the time out to communicate with the parents about what is appropriate and acceptable with regards to adult child interactions.  In some countries children are not allowed to speak unless they are recognized first.  These types of practices are also important.

                I believe that these preparations will benefit me and the family that I have chosen.  These preparations will definitely give the family a sense of belonging because they will know that you have gone out of your way to learn more about their traditions, and cultures.  The students will feel more comfortable and accepted in the classroom because they will see pictures of different cultures posted in the classroom.  Because of these preparations the family, the school, and the educator will benefit is ways that will make the families' transition to a new country much easier.

The Personal Side of Bias, Prejudice, and Oppression

           At five years old I became a target of prejudice.  I was in line at a McDonald's restaurant and there was a Caucasian boy in line with his family.  I proceeded to play with him and he responded to me by saying leave me alone nigger.  At that age I hardly knew what the word meant but I knew it was nice by the look on my parent’s faces.  My mother put me in line next to my father and I asked why I couldn't play with the boy.  My mother then told me that some people were not as friendly as we were and that I could not play.  The parents of the young boy never acknowledged that what he did was wrong.  Everyone was looking really funny at the family.  Now that I am older I am really proud of my parents for not acting out of their character. 

            When we received our food and sat to eat my mother explained to me what the word nigger meant and where it came from.  She explained to me that some people are still prejudice and they teach their children to be prejudice as well.  This was the day that she also told me that I should never treat anyone different because of the color of their skin, their religion, or because they don't speak English well.  Being subjected to this kind of prejudice does diminish equity because we are all created equal.  But even today this has proven to not be a true statement.  I was judged because of the color of my skin and not the content of my character. 

            After my mother explained to me what the word nigger meant I was very hurt and disappointed that someone would actually teach their child to be a racist at an early age.  The only way that I see this type of behavior changing is that the dominant culture realizes that slavery is over and that we live in a totally different world now.  Our communities are better and for the most part there is no reason for racism and prejudice to still be a part of this world that has become so full of all type races.  In order for this situation to become an opportunity for greater equity we must learn to respect each other's differences and do away with being prejudice because we all are the world.