Communication and Culture

I do find myself communicating differently depending on the individual or group of people I am communicating with.  When communicating with friends and family, I tend to be more informal.  I am more comfortable and not as concerned with the conversation formalities.  When communicating as a professional, I tend to be more formal and precise.  When communicating I am more focused on the message I am trying to convey, as well as listening to others. 

One strategy I would use to effectively communicate with others is to verify my perceptions.  When communicating with others, I tend to jump to conclusions before fully assessing the situation.  It is important to take time to consider the other perspective before making and judgements.  A second strategy I would use is to look beyond first impressions.  It is very easy to make assumptions based strictly on your first impression of someone.  I need to make sure to take time and get to know someone before making any judgements.  Another strategy I would use is to be mindful when communicating.  It is important to be mindful when communicating with others.  There are so many ways that people can be diverse, we need to be open minded because we can't understand the way they are different. 

Communication Skills

I chose to watch sitcom called "Up All Night."  This was the first time this show was aired.  After watching the show with the sound off I was able to make many assumptions regarding the couple's relationship.  Based on the pictures I was aware that the couple was happily married and just had a baby.  As the show went on I noticed tension and stress between the couple.  I could make assumptions regarding their mood based on their body language and facial expressions.  I could tell that they were upset when they were arguing because of how animated they were when they spoke.  I could see that the couple was exhausted and tired.  I also noticed how loving the couple was to their baby by their facial expressions and the way they looked at her.

Watching the show with the sound on, confirmed my assumptions.  However, being able to hear what they were saying, I was able to have a better understanding of why the couple was stressed and feeling the way they were.  With the sound off, the communication between the couple was very animated and tense.  After listening to the conversations between the couple, I became aware of the resentment between the couple, due to the husband choosing to stay home with the baby, and the wife going back to work.  In the end, the wife showed her love and commitment to her husband and baby by choosing them over her boss.  I feel that I would have made better assumptions with a show that I already knew.  Because this was a new show, I did not know the history between the couple and their personalities. 

Competent Communicator

In my everyday life, I am surrounded by many strong and influential communicators.  When looking at strong and competent communicators, my husband stands out in comparison to anyone else in my life.  When communicating in his professional field or with family and friends, he is well spoken and is understood.  He maintains focus on the conversation and is able to clearly state his point and opinion.  When communicating, he does not dominate the conversation and allows others to participate in the conversation.  When adding to a conversation, his comments and opinions are relevant and people listen to him. Most importantly, he listens to others and respects their thoughts and opinions.  When communicating, I would like to model patience and focus as my husband does in his conversations. It is important to show all these qualities to make the conversation effective. 

Professional Hopes and Goals

When working with children and families with diverse backgrounds, I hope that I make each individual feel comfortable with me and program in which they are enrolled in.  By creating a safe environment with these families, I hope the family and I create a relationship where they are able to come to me with questions or concerns.  Working with each family gives professionals the opportunity to eliminate gaps that occur because of different cultures. 

My goal for the early childhood field would be to create equity and social justice by educating all professionals in the field about multicultural issues in order to eliminate bias.

Thank you to all my colleagues for supporting me in this class.  Your thoughts and responses were beneficial to my learning and understanding of this course. 

Welcoming Families From Around the World

When a new child enrolls into a school or program, it is important to have a good understanding of where that child is from and what makes this child who he/she is.  I will be getting a new family in my preschool program.  The family's country of orgin is Algeria.  There are numerous things that need to be done to better my understanding of this child and where they are from.  The first thing I would do is basic research about Algeria.  This would include everything from population, household sizes, education, and health care.  I would next make contact with another individual from Algeria.  Speaking to someone from this country would give me a new perspective on life in Algeria that I would not be able to get by doing basic research.  I would connect with one or more professionals from other preschool or school programs.  By speaking to other school professionals, I would understand the make up of their schools and their expectations in place for each child and family.  Researching various programs and services that are available in Algeria would give me a better understanding of what was available to this family and ways to transition them from what they know to what is available to them here.  Learning this families basic language is key to my relationship with this family and to help make this child successful.  I would also learn more about this families culture including their values and traditions. 

By doing these things I would be more prepared when this child enters my preschool program.  I would have a better understanding of this child and his/her to family to help make a smoother transition.  By having this background information I would be able to incorporate this families culture into my preschool program, which when then narrow the gap between his culture and the main culture.

The Personal Side of Bias, Prejudice, and Oppression

An incident that comes to mind is a past experience while working at a family fun center.  A group of Amish families came to ride go-karts and bumper boats.  I could hear many customers making rude comments about their beliefs that were offensive to the Amish families.  These comments consisted of being able to drive go-karts but unwilling to drive cars.  There were also comments made regarding their personal appearance and hygiene.  Due to the comments being made by several customers, these families were unable to enjoy their time at this family fun center.  Due to their background and beliefs they did not have the same experience as other families did in this given situation.  At the time I was employed at this job I was a recent high school graduate.  Even for being young I still recognized the comments to be offensive and rude.  I felt so bad for these families and spoke to a manager about the situation.  The manager was then able to remove the rude customers so these families could enjoy their time there.  In order for this to be a more equitable situation, the customers who were being rude would need to have a better understanding of the culture and beliefs of the Amish families. 

Practicing Awareness of Microaggressions

Microaggressions happen to people everyday regardless if there intentional or unintentional.  When communicating with other's we need to be aware of and sensitive to other's feelings and background.  Recently I witnessed a microaggression occur between a husband and wife.  My husband and I were invited over to another couple's house for dinner with other couples.  Before dinner the couple who was hosting the dinner was showing us a room they recently painted.  Knowing the wife painted the room herself, a comment was made by one of the other couples stating "You did a nice job painting this room."  The husband replied. "Yeah it turned out pretty good, considering a girl did it."  This is an example of a microaggression against a girl because of her gender.  Although it was a harmless comment made by her husband, it still suggested that a woman is inferior to a man when it comes to painting.  Normally I would take this type of comment simply as a bad joke however, after learning about microaggressions I recognize this situation as such.

Things that I noticed this week when looking for microaggressions, was that there seemed to be a lot of settle occurrences.  All of the microaggressions that I noticed were based on typical stereotypes that many people have.  Many of these times I would not have noticed, but when simply looking for them it was obvious.  While people are not intentionally trying to hurt other's feelings, it is important that we all think about consequences of our comments.