Communication and Collaboration in Early Childhood

                                                       
Dear Colleagues,

I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for sharing your professional knowledge and personal experiences that contributed to the expansion my knowledge and perceptions of early childhood. Reading your discussions and blogs enhanced my knowledge in what it means to effectively communication and collaboration. This has been an extraordinary learning experience that will be significant my life throughout my personal and professional life.  As we venture off in different directions, I would love to stay in touch with you.  Please feel free to contact me at audreymoye1@yahoo.com

Thank you Dr. D. for your assignments feedback and discussion posts that prompted me to think deeper about the issue of communication and collaboration.

God Bless you all!

 

Meeting Adjourned!

This assignment reminded me when I was asked to head the project at our church while we were in the process of opening a license center. I was chosen because I was more familiar with state childcare regulations, health and safety regulations and other aspects of the division of childcare and the rating scale.  I think we moved through the stages quickly because the three of us knew each other well, attended the church and had the same agenda. We were all committed to the project and experienced an honest, positive, supportive working relationship (Abudi, 2009). Initially, we functioned at the clearest established standards through our strong commitment in making this happen for our church. The team quickly turned to a high-performing group because the project of getting our family life center in compliance was organized and executed fairly rapidly. It was hard leave the team because of a deeper connection formed by working closely on something we were passionate about, and I had no doubts of its success when I stepped away.  The closing ritual experienced was having dinner at a local restaurant to commemorate and celebrate our outcome.

When adjourning from the master’s degree program, I imagine a feeling of sadness at the prospect of not having future opportunities to learn and share different prospective from my colleagues that I have grown accustomed to; from some the entire cohort. At the same time, I imagine a sense of connection and empowerment through knowledge obtained from them that I will carry that has broadened my understanding of aspects of early childhood in improving my professional development. The adjourning process is essential for a team because it allows evaluation of goals and reflection on skills learned or those that might need enhancing for future projects.

Abudi, G. (2010). The five stages of team development: A case study. Retrieved from http://www.projectsmart.co.uk/the-five-stages-of-team-development-a-case-study.html

Resolving Conflict

Strategies that might have helped me manage or resolve the conflict with my husband concerning the sale of our daughter’s car more productively are:

1.       If I would have displayed empathetic emotions as oppose to anger and actively listened to his opinion in addressing the problem, which was the decision to sell car and the price when resolving conflict, not him personally.

2.       Instead of becoming offensive because of my misgivings with the sale itself and the price, I could have put forth more of an effort to offer a solution to reach a compromise; although we disagreed.

These strategies might be effective because it would have likely diminished my feelings of apprehension and there would be a supportive communication climate, which would allowed us a chance to empathetically explore the issues involved in the conflict (O’Hair & Wiemann, 2012). For example, we would have shared information and both of us would have been empowered in offering a solution to arrive at a compatible goal which was the price.

A broader range of solution to my disagreement is that we could have been more receptive to one another’s ideas and feelings about the decision to sale the car and what the price would be.  I could have stated my desires precisely and not so loudly to avoid misunderstanding which was the reason for the conflict that took a day to resolve because neither of us was willing to give up our position. 

Yes, the principles of nonviolent communication could have helped such as differentiating feeling from thinking to be able to identify and express internal feeling in a way that does not imply judgment, criticism, or blame (The Center for Nonviolent Communication, n. d.).

 

 

 

Who am I as a Communicator?

There were small differences in score of myself and score of adult daughter and coworker. My verbal aggressiveness score was 61 and that placed me at the moderate level that contends that I maintain a good balance between respect and consideration for others’ viewpoints, and the ability to argue fairly by attacking the facts of a position rather than the person holding that position. I feel this is an accurate description of me. The other scores in this area were 53 and 57. My listening profile group was one and listening style is people-oriented.

  Insights about communication gain this week were the amount of uneasiness and anxiety that I have for public speaking situations with a mild level score that also stated that communication does not seem to be something that I worry about. I’m not sure if that is a good position to be in or not. Although I do it, I get very nervous at the prospect of speaking in front of a large group of people and avoid it whenever possible. There was nothing in this assessment results that really surprised me and I see a need to look at my perception, self-concept and self-efficacy (O’Hair & Wiemann, 2012).

Stratergies for Effective Communication

•Do you find yourself communicating differently with people from different groups and cultures?

In communication with diversity within my family occurs with my precious bi-racial niece and nephew whose mother is Caucasian. Over time I have learned to understand, respect our differences as I have learned to adapt my behavior and we communicate well each other. We have developed interpersonal relationships.  However, there remain issues within some family members in communication effectively particularly, when dialogue becomes heated and communication shuts down between her family and mine when is the subject of prejudice comes up.  The children are left with much confusion.

Strategies to help me communicate more effectively with the Caucasian people in my family:  

1.       Develop motivation to learn and improve our acceptance of others who are different from us (Beebe, Beebe, & Redmond, 2011).

2.       Develop knowledge to break barriers of having different communication codes to improve our and communication with the Caucasian member of our family to become (Beebe, Beebe, & Redmond, 2011).

3.       Develop skills to adjust to others to overcome cultural barriers and individual differences to become other oriented in order to communicate effectively (Beebe, Beebe, & Redmond, 2011).

Beebe, S. A., Beebe, S. J., & Redmond, M. V. (2011). Interpersonal communication: Relating to others (6th ed.). Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon.

 

 

 

 

Nonverbal Communication

The title of the show chosen was “Martin” and watching it with the sound off forced me to focus solely on the body movements and facial expressions of the characters. Based on the body language that consisted of eye contact and movements, facial expressions, smile, hugs, and touches I believe that the man and woman was a couple. They seemed to display feelings of affection and intimacy with each other by the way they hugged, leaned in close and glanced at each other across the room. The man and woman sat on the sofa next to each other, and the man put his arms around the woman’s shoulder and she laid her head on his chest and watched television. Throughout the show the same two men used key came into the house, got food, watched television, etc. I assumed they were relatives that lived there. The woman in the room walked to the door and opened it, threw both hands up and rolled her eyes at the man who was standing at the door. Based on her facial expression and hand gestures, I assumed that she was not happy to see the man.  

With the sound on the assumptions about the characters’ communication was fairly accurate. The man and woman was a couple and with the sound on they talked about daily events of their lives, work, dinner, etc. and how they loved each other. My assumption concerning the two men was incorrect because they were not relatives nor did they live there. I gained no insight of the plot by watching nonverbal behaviors.

My assumptions likely would have been more correct if I had watched the show because the plot and character would be familiar and I would have certain knowledge and expectations.

Insight gained from this experience is that nonverbal communication is convincing and tells a lot about what people are really saying through their verbal communication. I am realizing how influential nonverbal communication is as reinforcement to verbal communication (O’Hair & Wiemann, 2012), which would be beneficial to understanding as I engage in forms of communication with my colleagues.

 

Competent Communication

My paternal Grandmother demonstrated competent communication within the framework of our extended family. In the midst of everything that went on amongst my four siblings, cousins, granddaddy, uncle, my parents and me; Grandmother communicated through a variety of ways of outside of verbal. Behaviors she exhibited that made her effective were her calm soft spoken voice, and loving direct demeanor that left no doubt of the message being conveyed. Her communication was representative of something and the majority of the time I was able to receive and interpret what was meant whether verbal or non-verbal communication was taking place. For example, by reading the message from her eyes when she gave certain looks or a hand gesture, I knew precisely what it meant and in return she knew what I meant through my responses. My grandmother seemed to be in sync with me when she communicated and I would like to model that behavior through my personal and professional communication. In my opinion, she matched the definition of the “competent communication model” which takes in account those sending and receiving the messages, the nature of communication and role of communicators and context in which they operate (O’Hair & Wiemann, 2012).

 

Hopes and Goals

Hope

·         I hope that children and families know that attitudes of bias and discrimination are not acceptable from anyone and they should be valued regardless of their race/ethnicity and language. It is also my hope that we in the early childhood field make assertive efforts to fight to be the voice for diversity, equity and fairness for children and families that we are blessed to have in our programs.

Goal

·         Early childhood field will educate itself concerning the importance of respecting individual and cultural differences in children and families in order to establish and promote equity and social justice for all children and families.

Note of thanks

·         Colleagues, I would like to take this opportunity to thank each of you for your perspectives and insights concerning cultural diversity, equity, social justice, and sharing your stories through your discussions and blogs. I wish you goodness and blessings as you go forward in your future endeavors at Walden and beyond. I would also like to thank Dr. Tuthill for her quick responses and feedback.  Again, thank you! Hopefully we will meet again!  

Welcoming Families From Around the World

My family migrated from Vietnam.

 

 

 

 

 Ways to prepare myself to be culturally responsive in order to serve this family effectively in my early childhood setting would consist of:

1.    Becoming knowledgeable concerning the Vietnam’s history and cultural traditions.

2.       Being aware of my social identities and acquainting myself with the ecological systems that are a part of the child’s life.

3.       Respecting and validating cultural values and traditions in the program to include language.

4.       Establishing relationships with families and provide resources to provide lifelong success for both children and their families.

5.       Arranging environment and providing material and activities that reflect Vietnam’s culture and language.

      These preparations will enhance my abilities in providing high quality educational learning experiences for children and families. It is also my hope that these provisions will allow me to assist families in making necessary connections with the dominant culture to enhance their quality of life.

 

The Personal Side of Bias, Prejudice, and Oppression

My memory of an incident occurred in my professional career at my workplace when I was denied a position that I was more than qualified for to a Caucasian colleague who was less qualified educationally and experience wise. It came down overtly from our Caucasian administrator that my Caucasian colleague would be the better fit for the position. She offered no clear explanation; however, it was obvious that it was an issue of race and privilege and I understood very well the hidden message. The incident created neither feelings of anger, hurt and resentment for being overlooked for what should have been my position without question if it was done on merits, but I did not possess the look nor culture of the dominant culture, and thus was disqualified.

In order to turn this incident into an opportunity for greater equity institutionalized discrimination and oppression in hiring and promotions practices in the work place has to be eradicated.  Internalized privilege and internalized oppression diminished the fairness in the incidence and robbed me of a promotion that was due based on education and years of experience.  So, instead of competitiveness there has to be a spirit of cooperation to work toward equally shared goals of promoting social justice.

Practicing Awareness of Microaggressions

My nephew was diagnosed as having autism spectrum disorder when he was five years old. This year he entered high school and is studying all day in the classroom with typical developing children. This week he was departing the bus after school at the bus stop when he experienced microassult by a couple of the bus riders. He was deliberately called retarded and mocked by them imitating how he flapped hands. I was surprised that it had happened in the presence of his mother and me as though we were not there. I was angry to discover that it happened previously and his mother was not informed by the bus driver. It was upsetting seeing him emotional and treated like that because of his differences.

The observation helped me realize how often and how easy people are hurt and harmed intentional or unintentional on a daily basis by comments. Individuals, leaderships, and communities at large have a lot of work to do resolve discrimination, prejudice, and stereotyping. Will it really every rate as an issue of importance to seriously address in society?

Perspectives on Diversity and Culture

Aspects of culture and diversity that I have studied were “dominant” in one of the responses. It was shared that if you are born rich you see things from rich perspective and gives no consideration to the less privileged. Also, an element of “deep culture” was addressed in the response of community connection and prospects for having equal opportunities.

A relative defined culture as a lifestyle created by our background and race in our environment, and diversity as including other people from different countries to advance their goals in spite of beliefs or what they look like.

 A co-worker who is Hispanic defined culture as a connection with community and family history that involve customs of language, foods, music, and history. She defined diversity as respecting other people’s traditions and their right to have a good life of education for children and work in America.

A friend defined cultural as family roots and heritage, and defined diversity as understanding other races of people and letting everybody in to share in the hope of equal opportunity.

Reflecting on these definitions of culture and diversity reaffirmed the fact that we have to move beyond “surface culture” and go deep into it.  Also, we have to embrace diversity in our society because it is here to stay.  We have to really understand all components diversity and culture in order to promote social justice for children in the classroom.

Family Culture

If a major catastrophe devastated my country and I had to leave I would bring my bible, family photo album, and music. The bible would be important because it is a source of inspiration and strength for building my faith. Family photo would be essential because of the connection and memories it holds for the important people in my close knit immediate and extended family that have always been a major part of my life. Growing up music and singing was a huge part of our interactional pastime and it remains significant part of me today. It is very stimulating; moves and evokes various emotions from me.

I am sure feelings of hurt and sadness would be present at the prospect of leaving the other items behind that were dear to me. I would see this as unjust and disregarding a part of my life.

Insights about myself

My Christian faith and looking out for each other is and has been important to our family culture. My grandmother took us to Sunday school and church every Sunday and shared family history. As an adult I found myself doing the same with my daughters.

Insights about family culture

It was interesting reflecting on the impact of family culture during my childhood remaining equally as important as an adult. All of the chosen items were major components of my life as a child. It gave a deeper understanding concerning how cultures of children and their families go deep and is extremely critical in making them who they are. Therefore we have to go beyond “surface culture” in our working with children and families.

When I think of research

Before taking this course, I knew very little about research. I always thought it was for other people.  Initially, I felt overwhelmed at contemplating doing early childhood research. It was difficult and took a lot of focus.  My knowledge has broadened through learning new terminology and how research is conducted.  I learned the difference between quantitative and qualitative research design and their purposes in research and variables roles in the process.  I sincerely believe that the knowledge gained from learning the research process will be a great asset to me going forward in my professional career in my Head Start program. When I read or hear these terms at work I will have a better understanding of their meaning.

A challenge that I encountered for several weeks was being too broad when formulating my hypothesis and research question; however, I was able to narrow my thinking and get it together.

I would like to thank you all for sharing your ideas and knowledge throughout this Building Research Competencies course.

Research Around the World

The Early Childhood Development Virtual University (ECDVU) is an innovative and multifaceted approach to addressing ECD capacity building and leadership development in Africa. It is supported by international, regional and local organizations. The purpose of ECDVU is to improve the quality of life for children and their families in Africa. It also focuses on the importance of leadership and local engagement in support of diversity and social equity in the early years. The program seeks to accomplish this through working, on a sustained basis, with ECD leaders from across the continent.

 http://www.ecdvu.org/ssa/about.php

Some research topics are:

addiction

cultural and contextual diversity

child development

early learning initiatives

innovation in practices

 professional development

 higher education and scholarly productivity

It was interesting and noteworthy reading about “Generative curriculum" that encompasses the following characteristics:

·          learner-focused approach - drawing as much as possible on the learner's experiences in their personal and professional lives;

·         ecological approach - placing individuals, programs and policies into an interactive and dynamic context and seeking to plan activities and interventions to maximize resonating impact throughout the larger ecology;

·         capacity building approach - aiming to strategically strengthen the capacities of participants to effectively fulfill their mandates in their professional position to be accountable to their constituents and the broader ECD community.

·         co-constructive approach - encouraging each learner to draw upon provided curriculum material as well as their own in-country experience and data to derive their own perspectives  

·         multicultural approach - considering ideas, research, and goals pertaining to child care and development from different cultural sources.

·         cohort driven approach - encouraging collaboration, reciprocal learning among peers, and consolidation of networks within and between learners representing each participating country

http://www.ecdvu.org/ssa/generative.php

It is great to see so much effort and collaboration among countries in place to help children and families across poor nations to have a better quality of life.

Research that benefit children and families

A couple of years ago I attended a tri-county cluster meeting of Head Start teachers and Kindergarten teachers who shared results of a collaborative study concerning inappropriate behaviors of current children who had attended Head Start to determine possible link between the two. The study was conducted in a number of kindergarten classrooms. Parents, head start mental health and education specialist, teachers, and children who distributed behaviors were participants in the study.  Children were talked with in informal setting with question, “why do you feel sad or angry while at school.” Data was collected and analyzed with results overwhelmingly stating, “I can’t play in centers, or I can’t play with toys” or responses that were similar. In the study parents addressed frustration of being called by the teachers repeatedly. The approach expanded to include additional kindergarten classrooms within the three counties and similar behaviors and results were found that there was a link. I'm not sure what if any changes occurred as a result of the study. I thought about the story when reading blog assignment.

It must be difficult for some children to transition from play environments to very structural direct instruction.

 

My Personal Research Journey

The topic I chose for the simulation was evidenced-based science on how children grow and develop.  I understand that this topic encompass many variables. It was chosen because I want to increase my knowledge in this area that is profoundly impacting the direction of early childhood education.  As a Head Start teacher, it is always my endeavor to do the best for the children and their families that I have the opportunity to serve every year.  It is important to prepare my four year olds for school and hopefully life success.

Personally, having the ability to share knowledge that might benefit my community will be rewarding. Also, the work and commitment entailed in understanding how to research will be valuable to me. Reading the articles that show how to analyze research information has been a learning experience. Also, creating the research chart and learning new terms is opening a different avenue to learn how to Of course, reading discussion post is always helpful.

I welcome any insights and resources from colleagues that might assist me in navigating and learning from this course and research simulation.  Likewise, I will share information and resources with you.

Web Resource

http://www.unesco.org/new/en/education/themes/strengthening-education-systems/early-childhood/access-and-equity/

The World Education Forum of governments, development agencies, civil society and private sector working together to achieve educational goals by 2015. The objective of the goals was to meet the learning needs of all children, youth and adults and they are:

1.       Expanding and improving comprehensive early childhood care and education for vulnerable and disadvantaged children.

2.       Ensuring all children, particularly girls in difficult circumstances and ethnic minorities, have access to quality education. 

3.       Ensuring the learning needs of all young people and adults are met through equitable access to appropriate learning and life-skills programs

4.       Achieving a 50 per cent improvement in levels of adult literacy for women, and equitable access to basic and continuing education for all adults.

5.       Eliminating gender disparities and equality in education, with a focus on girls’ full and equal access to and achievement in basic education of good quality.

6.       Improving all aspects of the quality of education and ensuring excellence to recognize measurable learning outcomes are achieved by all, in literacy, numeracy and essential life skills.

 

It is good to see strong advocacy going on worldwide for girls and women to set measurable obtainable goals. In other countries girls are so often over looked when it comes to education.

 

 

Sharing Web Resources

http://worldforumfoundation.org/wf/wp/initiatives/men-in-ece/

The Working Group on Men in Early Childhood Education (MECE) provides a global meeting place for male and female early childhood professionals to reflect on the value of gender balance in early childhood education and the benefits and barriers to men’s full participation, and to identify actions to promote these important issues worldwide (http://worldforumfoundation.org/wf/wp/initiatives/men-in-ece/).

Twelve nations met in Honolulu to discuss the issues and trend of men in early childhood to explore myths and stereotypes on men in early childhood and strategies for increasing male involvement on a global level.

The forum allowed delegates to learn play activities within the context of cultural and natural environment of children and families, and its impact on education through nature education, outdoor play, games, and the varied roles of men and women in early childhood education.

This link led to the full report of the forum https://ccie-media.s3.amazonaws.com/wfwp/in04-mece/WF_games_report.pdf

I was glad to learn of this initiative that advocates for men‘s participation in early childhood education. Male involvement is needed in the field for many reasons in making positive differences in the lives of children.

Part 2

 (http://developingchild.harvard.edu/initiatives/global_initiative/)

Three insights gain from Developing Child:

1.       Zambian Early Childhood Development implemented comprehensive assessment tool was used to determine the effects of ongoing anti-malaria on children’s development (developing child, 2012). The initiative measured anti-malaria's impact. The children were assessed in all areas of development.

2.       It also had positive effects on children’s health. The mortality rate for children under age 5 declined. The percentage of children under age 5 with fever caused by malaria dropped.

3.        Due to language barriers across Zambian, the assessment presented challenges of fairness in being culturally appropriate and addressing the academic gap appropriately.

Sharing Web Resources

I found the information in the newsletter controversial in the notion that standardized playgrounds with approved equipment is dangerous.  The argument is there is not enough risk taking for children. I believe that children benefit through outdoor exploration.  I do not view standardized playground as dangerous to the children growth.  A standardized playground with equipment provides opportunity to explore elements of nature such as digging and planting seeds, plants, etc...  Also the way playgrounds are arranged and its space contributes more to how much children move around and explore.  I believe that art, blocks, literacy, water, music and types of inside play can be enjoyed by the children outside.  We implement our outdoor classroom frequently on the playground when weather permits and the children freely explore and create. The children love it! However, in certain demographics hiking and rope climbing would be difficult and not an option.

The World Forum Foundation is involved in many initiatives to support early childhood field to deepen professional connections globally through:

Conversations on teacher education for advocacy and leadership.

Conversations on teacher education in bicultural and multicultural contexts. 

Conversations on teacher education and relationships.

Conversations on teacher education and adult learning strategies
Conversations on teacher education and curriculum.
Conversations on teacher education and the role of technology in program delivery.

http://worldforumfoundation.org/wf/wp/

A new trend around the globe is extending play beyond the playground and giving children more access to natural world.  

 

 

 

Getting to know your International Contact

My international contact this week comes from India by way of Swati Popat Vats.  She is an educator, author, educational entrepreneurs, parenting expert and nature advocate. She understands learning as something not restricted to schools but part of everyday living. She is president of the Early Childhood Association. She emailed this week. This is the website:  www.eca-india.org  that tells about the organization. 

She sent me a PDF document about the “War and Peace Project.” I thought there might be a way to insert into the blog to share, but my technology skills need much prayer. It explains War and Peace as being both abstract concepts for young children. Social development at this age is still a work in progress.  Ideas like war or fighting and making peace, and solving problems are difficult for some 5 to 6 year olds who participated in the project. 

It was interesting that none of the children who participated knew about war.  They were able to explain it to fighting, swords, bombs, and army.  But when asked about peace, they only knew about piece, pieces and peas.  Their drawings illustrated pizza piece, pieces of chocolate, green peas, and glass pieces.

Feel free to check out her blog: http://www.swatipopatvatskiducation.blogspot.in

Sharing Web Resurces

Early Childhood Australia: The Australian Early Childhood Advocacy Organization@ http://www.earlychildhoodaustralia.org.au/

Early Childhood Australia is the peak early childhood advocacy organization, acting in the interests of young children, their families and those in the early childhood field. The mission of Early Child Australia is to advocate to ensure quality, social justice and equity in all issues relating to the education and care of children from birth to eight years. I liked this organization’s mission statement and principles on social inclusion and diversity.
Principles

1. Our position is also based on principles that are particularly relevant to the inclusion of young children with a disability in ECEC. They provide a framework for assessing policies, services and actions.
2. Importance of families: children’s growth and learning occurs mainly in the context of their primary relationships in their families and partnerships between ECEC, support professionals and families are essential.
3. Social inclusion: every child has the capacity to make a unique contribution and to participate in a wide range of activities and contexts as a full member of a family, communities and our society.
4. Diversity and difference are valuable in their own right, as are the commonalities among people. Understanding the practices, values, beliefs and cultures of families and acknowledging difference is fundamental.
5. Equity requires that each child receives the support and resources needed to participate, engage and succeed.

 I learned that successfully navigating diversity and differences is a time of celebration for children, their families, teachers, and programs. Professionally, this is an important issue to me because of the increasing diversity of children and families that are served in all 15 of our Head Start classrooms. Every year the number multiplies.  We all come with deeply felt cultural traditions, and viewpoints, and more often than not they are not the same. That is the beauty of diversity because it provides an avenue for learning a whole different world.  

 Educators who are committed to creating culturally diverse classroom settings understand our differences and view them as an asset that allows children full participation to obtain success. When educators connect with children and families in ways that recognize cultural identity with honesty and respect, it is an experience that benefits everyone involved.

Expanding Professional Resources

Newsletter | World Forum Foundation

The mission is to promote an on-going exchange of ideas of quality services for young children in diverse settings. Through the World Forum Foundation you able to subscribe to NACC Newsletter. Its intent is to keep children connected to and appreciate the natural world. 

Establishing Professional Contacts

The international contact occurred in Soweto Johannesburg, South Africa. The contact occurred through a church member’s sister name Connie who lives in Maryland.  She has traveled to South Africa several times with her church performing mission work. In her travels to a school she met and befriended a teacher who teaches in a little town/village. It was an elementary school consisting of one room. Each time that she goes there they get together.  My contact was very brief, but I am very excited and look forward to sharing pictures and more information in the coming weeks.

As of today I only have one international contact, but thanks to my Head Start director who is in the process of retrieving contact information from associates in other community action agencies more are coming. Therefore, to fulfill assignment of having two sources I researched the World Forum Foundation and was able to subscribe to free newsletter.