Communication Evaluations

For this assignment I asked my coworker and my sister to evaluate my communication. I was most shocked by how low my verbal aggressiveness scored by my sister. I guess I would have assumed that it might have been closer to the score when I did the evaluation myself. I would have thought that being my sister; she would have thought my verbal aggressiveness to be higher considering there are times that I can be brutally honest with her. My coworker actually placed the score for verbal aggressiveness into an even higher group which was also shocking. This insight makes me wonder if my tone in the office is offensive to others since I often joke and use humor to get through the day. I must be more conscious about my communication and find other ways to relive stress through the day.  Another insight I gained was that my listening style is consistent across all evaluations. This makes me feel more confident since this tends to one area that I take seriously. I hope to continue this communication skill considering my career is working with people and using empathy to support the families I work with as well as my colleagues and my own family.

Communication with Various Cultures

                When I am working with families from other cultures I believe I use various communication styles based on their personalities. For example, if a family is older than me and has more than one child, I typically use more formal language based on their displayed knowledge of child development. If the family is younger in age, I use more humor and informal language. The best use of communication that I have been able to use with families with various cultures is to ask questions and learn about what cultural practices are special to them. In the past, I have said that I wear a different hat depending on the family. Every family has their own unique culture so I try to find a way to fit into the family in the best way possible that will benefit them. I think I have a fairly flexible communication style which enables me to transition from one family’s home to another. By wearing the different hats, I am able to build a relationship with the family and support them in any way I can.

One of the strategies that could help to communicate more effectively with families is to use reflective listening. It is also helpful to apply the Platinum Rule in order to ensure that the thoughts and feelings of the family are reflected and appropriately responded to. The third strategy would be to ask questions to engage the family and gain a better understanding of their culture.
 

TV Without Sound

For this assignment, I chose to watch the show “30 Rock”. Based on the setting, it is clear that the characters have a working relationship with each other. The main character, Liz, seems to be caring toward others as demonstrated by her smiling, giving hugs, and handing out food to others. The other character, Jack, is clearly the boss given the business suit he wears and seems to be directing others. His facial expressions remain the same and he is sitting behind a desk with others across from him. Jack and Liz don’t seem to get along as she shakes her head at him and they never smile at each other.  One character, Tracy, showed he was upset by using exaggerated hand movements and his mouth opened wide showing he was yelling. I noticed that Liz seemed interested in working with Tracy since she appeared nervous with her smiles and her body appeared tense. Later she appears to be more relaxed as she is talking to Tracy and trying to find to make eye contact by moving around as he does.

After watching the show with the sound playing, it was much easier to observe the interactions between characters. The boss, Jack, is a blatantly honest character that is new to the company and does not seem well-liked. Liz did not seem as quiet and nervous as she did when I watched the show with the sound off. She makes more remarks that are straight-forward. While talking with Tracy, Liz seems more relaxed than I thought before and she is more open and honest. Tracy does not appear as upset but rather he seems confident in himself. The relationships I noticed are the same as when I watched without sound yet now I have a better understanding of the dynamics within their working relationships. 

If I had watched a show I am more familiar with, I would have predicted what the characters would do and how they would react between each other. It also would have been easier to understand the plot of the show without trying to decipher the relationships between the characters. I often watch TV shows while completing other projects at the same time. I often only look at the TV when they say something that catches my attention or I am trying to gain more insight into the show. If I didn’t have sound playing or had only sound (like a radio show), it would take a lot more of my attention to grasp the plot and the relationships of each character.

Effective Communication

My sister is the person that demonstrates the most effective communication as I can see. She is a Childcare Center Director and has a staff of about twenty teachers and around one hundred families that attend her center. To be able to handle all of the varying personalities, beliefs, and desires for children she must put on a different "hat" each time she is communicating with others. She also has to report to administrators in a successful hospital which oversees the center. When I ask her how she does it, she responds stating that it is what she was made to do and it is her passion to help others. But the reason she is successful is because she is open and honest with everyone she interacts with and she maintains the policies and ethical standards of her center. When issues arise, she does not hide the truth but rather faces it head on and reports how the issue will be resolved. Even in her personal life, she is able to effectively communicate with those around her. She again faces issues head on. She researches issues that need facing and she brings the new knowledge with her as best as she can when communicating with her children's teachers and principals. She stands up for what she believes in and communciates her role as a professional, mother, and friend. She is the most effective communicator I have witnessed and I look up to her commendable abilities.

Professional Hopes and Goals

My hope for working with children and families is that I help them to feel at ease with their own culture. I hope to teach them to stand up for themselves and what they believe. By supporting their own cultural diversity I hope that this will transcend into the ways they interact with others. Perhaps if families feel empowered with their own culture, they will understand that others may have the same feeling. This then can help create a better sense of awareness for diversity.

My hope for the early childhood field is to provide more trainings and information regarding cultural awareness. I feel that I have been fortunate to be given numerous trainings on diverse groups. This has helped me tremendously in my field. By learning about the ways to ease communication with diverse groups, we can better assist in finding ways to promote equity and social justice within community agencies.  

I am very thankful for the stories and experiences that have been shared throughout this course. It is clear after reading all of the posts that we are all in this field for the right reason and have much the same passion to work with children and their families. This is motivating since it helps me feel supported in my own vision for the early childhood field.