Blog Assignment: Evaluations and Surprises

What surprised me the most after looking over the evaluations is that I am considered a people person, which is the contrary to those who really know me. I have always disliked being in the spotlight and being around people I do not know, and so when the evaluations concluded that I was people-oriented that took me off guard and got me curious about how I am people oriented. I also learned from the evaluations that communication affects my relationship and allowed my girlfriend and I to see that I shut down quite frequently and at times do it out of habit. I also learned that nonverbal behaviors also influence how others perceived me and influence how effective I am in communicating with those around me. I hope this course will continue to allow me to grow in insight on how to become a better communicator. I hope that the newfound knowledge that I have will allow me to be better equipped to communicate with the different family dynamics and families of the new generations

Blog Assignment: Communication and Cultural Diversity

As a human being I can admit that at times I find confusing things and people I don’t understand. Through my continued education in the education field I have been using those lessons and strategies taught to better understand those around me, children, families, and even colleagues. Before learning different strategies I would only have basic communication exchange, your name, profession, and small talk.  When communicating with people of different cultures, I would myself getting shy and putting up a block because I did not know how to effectively communicate which made those around me look at me as if I was a mean person. I also found it very difficult to effectively communicate because at times even families would have up this wall and I had no clue how to knock that barrier down.

            The three strategies I learned this week that I feel will better help me in communicating with persons of different cultures are as follows:

·         Recognize my own patterns of nonverbal behavior (2010).

·         Learn as I interact and be willing to adjust my behavior as I learn and resist thinking my culture has all the answers (2011).

·         When something about a family’s practices bothers me, try to look at that practice or behavior through their viewpoint rather than my own (2010).

References

Beebe, S. A., Beebe, S. J., & Redmond, M. V. (2011). Interpersonal communication: Relating to others (6th ed.). Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon.  Chapter 4, "Interpersonal Communication and Diversity: Adapting to Others" (pp. 85–114)

Gonzalez-Mena, J. (2010). 50 strategies for communicating and working with diverse families. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc.

 "Understanding and Appreciating Cultural Differences" (pp. 36–38)

"Looking at Nonverbal Communication Across Cultures" (pp. 80–81)

Television & Communication

Sound Off: For this blog assignment I chose to watch the “House of Payne” show by Tyler Perry, an American actor, director, screenwriter, playwright, producer, author, and songwriter. On this particular episode there is an older woman who seems to like at the home with her husband and other possible family members. The individuals seem to love each other and from watching the show I can tell that this particular family is the matriarch of this family. I noticed by watching the program that the family loves to laugh but could be serious when need be.

Sound On: Once the sound was turned on I was able to finally put names to the characters and prove that the family was indeed close and care a lot about each other. The patriarch of the family was very silly and most of the family members tried their best to keep him calm and in line most of the show. I believe that if I would have watched a show I was more familiar with then I would have been more spot on with observations and behaviors.

Communication Blog Assignment

As a child and even today there has always been one person that I could always go to in time of need and whenever I needed advice and that person is my great-grandmother Mary Evans. My great-grandmother embodies strength and love. She taught me at an early age to always treat people with respect and to always fight for what I believe in. My great-grandma used her years growing up during segregation as stepping tools in the running and foundation of our family. I have never once heard her use one bad word or raise her voice, and just by being around her calms me.  My family and I know that although my great- grandmother’s voice is always calm and soft the why she speaks; it just commands us all to listen. I find that my great-grandmother’s overall presence allowed her to be effective when communicating with not only the family but others as well. My great-grandmother was and still is an advocate for respect and has always been honest even when times got rough. Although I am still learning and growing as an individual and professional I hope to one day have all the tools to be an effective communicator. As I continue through life and my education I try to embody some glimpse of my great-grandmother’s calming and caring spirit.

Professional Hopes and Goals

Over the past several weeks I feel my knowledge of diversity, equity, and social justice has changed for the better. It has been a wonderful experience learning and gaining insight on how diversity and social identities and how these factors contribute to the overall balance and relationship of staff and parent, professional and professional, and professionals and children. I am able to see now that how I identify myself and my family’s culture background influences the professional I am today. Although I feel as if I gained so much useful information I do feel that with my continued education here at Walden University and also with the motivation of faculty and peers that I will continue to grow and one day have a magnitude of knowledge to better serve those around me.

It is my hope that one day policy makers and the government will notice and do something about and beneficial to the early childhood education field and the many diverse families we as professionals serve. I hope that they can see the importance of inclusion for all children and families and make sure that early childhood centers, organizations, staff, and families are given the necessary resources to build a strong nation of healthy and bright children, regardless of sex, religion, socioeconomic class, orientation, ability and etc. If I was given the opportunity to set one goal related to early childhood and diversity, equity, and social justice, it would be to educate families and professionals on different ways to promote healthy inclusion for all families  and make sure they are aware of different mechanisms they could do to promote equity and social justice for all, and also make sure all early childhood education organizations have the necessary tools to integrate those diverse families smoothly, efficiently, and most important respectfully.

            I would like to say CONGRATULATIONS, to all of my classmates and group mates for making it this far in their learning and thank you to all for all of your insight, words of encouragement, and weekly responses, I truly appreciate you each and every one of you. I wish you all the best and please remember that the best is yet to come and let’s get out there and impact the world one young learner at a time. Best of luck to you all!!!!

Welcoming Families From Around the World

Earlier this week I learned that I would be receiving a student and her family from Holland and I would like to learn as much as I can about their culture and make the transition to the United States a good one. For the transition I have decided to do the following for new family:

1.      Research helpful information on the country of Holland and various customs

2.      Learn basic sayings in the Dutch language which could help in communicating with the child and family.

3.      Present information to the other students and staff about the family’s country origin to help in transitioning

4.      Plan a small but big welcome ceremony for family

5.      Make the classroom more inclusive to the child and family      

I hope after preparing for the family in the following ways that I am able to lay a strong foundation for a healthy relationship between not only the child and also the family. I hope through preparing I am able to learn more about a country I knew little or nothing about. I hope the preparation can serve as a learning tool for also the current students and see the importance in accepting all diversities and make new friends. It is my hope that family see how far much we care I care as the teacher but also the other students and staff, care about the positive transition for the child and also for them. 

Here are some links containing information about the country of Holland:

http://www.holland.com/us/tourism.htm

http://www.worldatlas.com/aatlas/infopage/holland.htm#.Ub-gs_lQH7U

Personal Side of Bias, Prejudice, and Oppression

When I was in high school I began early on trying to devise a list of colleges and universities that I would be interesting in. I was very lucky to have a counselor and many mentors through tout the school  to help me gather information and other information that not only would be helpful to me but also my mother. One day my aunt took me up to visit and tour a predominately White school and immediately I felt out of place. I was aware in the beginning what kind of school it was but when we arrived on the campus I did not get a rush of warmness from the students or staff. After touring for quite some time they allowed us to have lunch in their dining hall and I can remember my aunt and me hearing snickers as we walked across the dining hall to our table. There was this petite Asian girl and white girl who looked over at me and yelled so everyone could hear them, “What ya’ll doing here, this is not the ghetto”! I was furious and became enraged because the girls did not know me and opted not to get to know me. I was quite shocked at the response the guide and teachers gave, because they did not make known of what the girls had done and addressed the situation properly.

I do not know the thought process of the adults at that time, but I felt as if they made me an outcast and a spectacle for the rest of the group.  I felt again like I did with the little girl that day and the day at the store with my mom and sisters. I knew in my heart and my aunt knew from my facial expressions that I was about to explode, and I did. I told those girls and the tour guide and teachers  off being as nasty nice as I could and even though I did not have to fight fire with fire, I had had enough with the remarks, the jokes, and even laughs at my expense.  I believe the if the teachers and tour guide would have addressed the girls and had shown me some compassion then I would have felt as if that school could have been my home and just because I had had that incident happen to me, that I would have met some interesting and cool people of all diverse communities and built strong lasting friendships with them all.