Who I Am as a Communicator

One of the most significant differences that others seem to perceive about me, that I do not for myself, is confidence.  The co-workers that completed the survey for me all seemed to view me as someone who truly enjoys speaking in public and is confident in dealing with difficult conversations.  I, however, lack that confidence in myself.
I would have thought that others would be able to see me in the nervous light that I often see myself in.  Perhaps, it is good that see confidence where I do not feel it however, I sure wish that I could feel as confident as they see me.
Another think that was interesting for me was asking co-workers to complete a survey on me.  It was difficult to get them to understand that it was going to be anonymous and I would not know who actually made which comments about me in the survey.  Therefore, I of course wonder about the validity of this small scale assignment and if they truly view me in such a positive light?

Communication and Culture

I do find myself communicating differently with other groups of people - I communicate differently with everyone from work vs. the way that I communicate with friends and family.  I personally have a culture very different from those with which I work, to include; religion, music and family views.  As a result of my experiences, I find that I must keep my personal opinions (that I would share with my family and friends) to myself with my co-workers simply to reduce tension and conflict as a result of my different view points.

It is unfortunate that I must do this however; I feel that it is better for myself to reduce the conflict that could potentially arise at work.

Communicative Role Model

The first person I think of when I reflect on a good communicator is a previous, and best boss, that I had had.  She was the director of a large child development center and her excellent communication style created a respectful and welcoming environment that had an amazingly small employee turnover rate.

One of the biggest things that made her effective was her ability to listen and provide supportive advice that required all of us to find our own answers.  In other words, she trusted us enough to uncover our own truths - she could have just given answers but she choose to empower us with supportive questions and 'I statements' that allowed us to know we could discover the best way to handle situations.  I am always reflecting on her mediating skills as well.  She could alleviate any difficult situation by handling it promptly and democratically.

I think of her and her techniques often in particular when handling difficult situations or times of conflict.  I attempt to emulate her ease and truthfulness in her demeanor, verbal and non verbal communication skills.

Professional Hopes and Goals

I have a hope that I can convey to the children and families with which I work that my classroom environment is one that is safe, secure, nurturing, fair and just for all those who enter.  This is a hope that in creating such an environment, I will also be creating lifelong advocates with the same attitudes and beliefs of fairness, justice and equality.

One goal I would like to see for the early childhood field is that of a goal to promote greater equity in economic status for young children.

I would like to thank all of my collegues for their willingness to share what were, often times, very personal stories and experiences.  It was with this interaction and sharing of personal experiences that I was able to learn the most in this course.  THANK YOU!
I hope to see all of you in the next course!!

Welcoming Families From Around the World

The country of origin for the family that will be joining me in my early childhood classroom are from Ladonia a tiny country on the edge of the Scandinavian Peninsula.
The five ways that I will prepare for this families arrival is to first: research their country of origin as much as possible on the Internet.  A good example of a website on Ladonia is http://www.ladonia.net/docs/about.html.

I will also set up a family orientation with this new family.  This will be a great way to introduce this family to my school and our work with all of our families.  Additionally, this will be an initial time for me to initiate information from them that is important to their specific family.

Thirdly, I will suggest that the family create and bring in a picture book of all that is important to their child.  This will not only offer the child comfort and security in their new classroom on this day but also allow me a snap shot into discussion with the family and their child.

Then, I will also invite the family to our upcoming classroom picnic geared toward all family diversity.  At this picnic, all families are asked if they would like to participate in a food exchange in which they bring in a food dish that is important and part of their family culture.  This new family would be invited to bring in a dish as well.

Lastly, I would invite the family to share any information with me that they would choose.  I would be very open and honest with them and let them know that I want to know about them and I am willing to accept and share any information that they would want to share.  This would allow them to feel comfortable to share with me if they would choose.

The Personal Side of Bias, Prejudice and Oppression

There is one particular incident for me that I will never forget...
I was a Junior in high school, I was in American History class and we had just finished taking a test so we all had a few minutes to just sit and chat quietly until our next class.  I was at the front of the class and I was turned around to talk to the girl behind me; we will call her 'J'.  I did not normally associate with her and our circle's of friends rarely mixed but we were having a nice conversation.

Somehow, we reached the topic of religion.  Now, J, as I knew was catholic and so was her whole family.  She asked me "What religion are you?"  I responded honestly; "I believe in a hire power but I do not believe in church."  She looked me right in the eye and said "You are on crack!" and turned around and did not speak to me for the rest of your high school lives.

J's physical reaction of turning away from me, yelling at me diminished equality literally, physically; she did not allow me a chance to respond, to explain, or to justify or further clarify my beliefs.  My beliefs were not hers and therefore I was not equal to her nor, apparently, worth any more of who she was, our potential friendship or myself.

My initial feeling was that of shock!  I couldn't believe what had just transpired and her immediate, outburst of a reaction to my answer.  However, J's response only confirmed my religious beliefs.

If J would have continued the conversation rather than just cutting me off we could have actually had a conversation about why, who, what etc. that, even though she may have disagreed with me, we could have created equity and understanding.

Awareness of Microagressions

I chatted with my sister of the Holiday this week and told her how my class was going and what our current discussion was.  I explained to her what microagressions were and we soon were having a serious conversation about a very sensitive situation that my sister experienced in which she, essentially, experienced able-ism.

As many of you will recall, my beautiful younger sister has a prosthetic leg.  She was born with a birth defect and my parents choose to amputate part of her leg at a very young age which would afford her greater mobility and less medical problems in life.  As a result, of a prosthetic leg my sister's leg is inside of the prosthetic and does not receive much air or ventilation, if you will.  Therefore, she often receives (and must be careful of) rashes.  As a result of this, she recently went to a dermatologist for one of the rashes.

My sister said that the doctor looked her leg over and the rash as my sister explained to him why she had the prosthetic and why she felt this persistent rash was occurring and that she needed something to help get rid of this one.  In addition, she needed advice on this rash as well to keep it from reoccurring.  She said the doctor looked at her with very little concern for the actual reason my sister was there - the rash - and said to her "Are your parents sure they had no other option than to amputate?"

Now, my sister and I are some strong girls!  You can  insult us all day long, you can attack us as much as you like and we can handle ourselves and can brush things off.  In fact, I am not even really upset at this comment for my sister as I know she can handle herself.  But, you hurt our parents, you talk bad about our parents....that is another story!

My sister was so shocked and hurt she explained that it was all she could do not to just walk out and tell this doctor exactly what she thought of him.  The expression on her face and the tone in her voice (while he was holding her amputated leg) when she responded by redirecting him back to the rash let the doctor know he had been inappropriate.  She responded to him by saying "No, they didn't!  What about the rash!?"

I was furious when my sister told me this story!  It upset me deeply that this person had verbally harmed my sister and my family!  This doctor made an assumption about the situation my parents were faced with twenty eight years ago and quickly decided they were wrong.

This situation made me reflect that it is ESSENTIAL to never assume you know what it is like in someone else's shoes.  It is okay to ask questions to receive a greater understanding of other cultures, religions, ideas, beliefs, etc. but you must be sensitive, polite and un-assuming in doing so.