In week 4 of this course, we had to personally evaluate our communication styles based upon three surveys of three different areas of communication: communication anxiety, verbal aggressiveness, and listening skills. In addition, we had to ask at least two individuals to complete the three surveys about our communication skills, as well. The individuals could be family, friends, colleagues, etc. To complete this exercise, I completed all three surveys first, followed by having my boyfriend of eight years, Michael, complete it. Next, I asked my mother to complete it and a colleague and friend of mine, Jen, whom I work with in my school building and at summer camp this summer.
Upon completing the surveys myself, I learned that I have Mild Communication Anxiety based upon my score of 42. In other words, this score and label reports that I have unease and discomfort with some communicative situations, while feeling completely confident and at ease in others. On the second survey for Verbal Aggressiveness, I scored 61 which meant that I scored "Moderate" on the scale and have a good balance between respecting others and holding my ground for something I feel strongly about. Lastly, on the Listening Skills survey, I scored in Group 1, which means I was in the "People Oriented" grouping. Therefore, I exhibit empathy and understanding to help foster good relationships through communication, yet can have difficulty in judging others when necessary due to this. After discussing the survey scores with Mike, my mom, and Jen, I found that their scores were either the same or closely similar in range to my own scores overall. Mike scored 42 as I had on the Anxiety survey; 60 on the Verbal Aggressiveness survey compared to my score of 61; and Group 1 as I had on the Listening Styles survey. My mom scored 35 on Anxiety survey, close to my score of 42 and still within the range of the same description I received of Mild Anxiety; 64 on Verbal Aggressiveness, which was again close to my score of 61 and in the Moderate range; and Group 1 as both Mike and I had on the Listening Styles survey, meaning I am considered People Oriented. Lastly, my colleague and friend, Jen, who teaches first grade in my building, completed the three surveys about my communication skills based upon what she knows of me in the workplace and personally. She scored 36 on the Communication Anxiety survey, which is also in the Mild Anxiety category; 56 on the Verbal Aggressiveness survey, which is also in the Moderate range; and Group 1 on the Listening Styles survey, which is the People Oriented grouping.
It was not surprising to me that Mike, my mom, and I all scored either the same or closely similar scores on this survey as I believe they are the two people in the world who know me the best. They are the two individuals with whom I speak to daily and guide me through the ups and downs of life. I was pleased to know that we all scored similarly, proving what I had already thought about our relationships and understandings and respect for one another. On the other hand, something I was surprised by was the fact that ALL FOUR of us scored in the same categories and score ranges. While I would expect that from my mother or from Mike, I was pleasantly surprised to see the consistency of scoring from a colleague of my workplace. This was reassuring that I am making strides to communicate effectively in all aspects of my life as I had hoped I was doing, yet at the same time provides me with insights on what to improve as I continue on my journey towards competent communication and anti-bias education.
After completing the work revolving around the concept of communication this week, I have continued to have my eyes opened to the reality of the matter at hand. Completing the surveys about my own communication skills was a great opportunity for me to truly examine, analyze, and understand how I am communicating with others in all aspects of my life. One of the greatest insights I gained this week comes from having the opportunity to recognize my owns strengths and weaknesses in terms of communication, especially within the field of education. I realized that I have always been uncomfortable with public speaking but I am slowly overcoming the fear and anxiety I have had in some forms. Based upon the surveys, I realized that I am slowly taking steps into leadership roles, as in this past school year when I created my own PLC for the third and fourth grade teachers with approval from the principal in which we completed a book study and compiled resources and practices for Reading and Language in our classrooms. Additioanlly, another insight I had gained this week was concretely recognizing the impact communication has on an individual's relationships. Based upon the feedback and scores I received from the three individuals who completed the surveys about my communication patterns and skills, I have noticed that we have a true respect and understanding of one another on a deep level, to which it should be acknowledged that the effectiveness of my communication helped to form such strong bonds and relationships. This is a truly important piece to recognize within ourselves - the impact we have on the relationships in our lives (whether it be with a boyfriend/girlfriend/husband/wife, family member, friend, colleague, student, etc.) based upon the effectiveness of our communication skills - verbal, nonverbal, and listening.
Sunday, July 27, 2014
Monday, July 14, 2014
Cultural Diversity & Communication
Week 3 is upon us already! This week we began to examine the idea of culture in relation to communication. We discussed the meaning of being inter culturally competent in communication, cultural myopia, and the importance of "The Platinum Rule" in regards to being an effective and competent communicator. Each of the aforementioned concepts relate to producing effective communication in many ways. In order to better understand the concepts discussed this week, we had to take time to examine our own communication skills in regards to interacting with various culturally diverse groups. The groups can be culturally diverse in many ways, such as by race, religion, political affiliation, sexual orientation, gender, varying abilities, age, and more. After considering and discussing our personal communication strengths and weaknesses in this area, we need to create at least three strategies for improving our communication skills in relation to interacting with culturally diverse groups of individuals.
Considering the assignment at hand, I reflected upon my own interactions with individuals from culturally diverse groups and populations and the communication skills in which I have utilized in such interactions. I have realized that when communicating with individuals of a different religion, I tend to be more cautious in the wording I choose when speaking on such a topic. Due to the fact that I am trying to be more cautious, I may end up over thinking and not actively listening to the conversation enough. Another example would be when speaking about politics. While I believe I am a Democrat, I tend to avoid all political conversation as it can become a very charged and heated debate in conversation. I may venture into the topic with another individual only to find they are extremely set on their opinion or defensive of their affiliation's beliefs to which I attempt to change the subject as avoidance of the conflict. This is a flaw in my communication skills as I should incorporate the meanings of "The Platinum Rule" in this instance, empathize with the individual and attempt to utilize effective communication skills to complete the debate civilly and appropriately. Lastly, I tend to wear my heart on my sleeve. In other words, you can read my emotions, thoughts, feelings, etc. all over my face or through my body language very easily. Therefore, I have to be very conscious of the nonverbal signals and cues I am utilizing when communicating with others, particularly when communicating with children and families, in order to avoid detrimental impact or tension.
In light of the aforementioned revelations, I have come up with three strategies to begin communicating more effectively with other culturally diverse individuals. First of all, I need to become more culturally competent and aware of other beliefs, cultures, etc. By doing so, I will gain knowledge to better understand and communicate appropriately with children, families, colleagues, and community members of that specific cultural background. Secondly, I need to work on conflict resolution skills, which would be to become a more empathic listener. To do so, I must focus on the speaker and begin to "put myself in their shoes" to better grasp their feelings and thoughts on the matter. This could help to resolve dilemmas and disagreements, as well. Lastly, I need to analyze my own nonverbal cues to become more aware of how they are used, how often, the reasoning for them, etc. This will be helpful to prevent misunderstandings while communicating with others, as well as to better understand the meaning of nonverbal cues of other individuals with whom I am communicating.
Communication skills are more important than many individuals realize, including myself. It is something we tend to take for granted and treat as "common sense"; however, it is quite the opposite and such skills must be acquired and learned over time. We always have room for improvement and I understand that in my journey to anti-bias education I must become an effective inter culturally competent communicator, as well.
Until next week...
Considering the assignment at hand, I reflected upon my own interactions with individuals from culturally diverse groups and populations and the communication skills in which I have utilized in such interactions. I have realized that when communicating with individuals of a different religion, I tend to be more cautious in the wording I choose when speaking on such a topic. Due to the fact that I am trying to be more cautious, I may end up over thinking and not actively listening to the conversation enough. Another example would be when speaking about politics. While I believe I am a Democrat, I tend to avoid all political conversation as it can become a very charged and heated debate in conversation. I may venture into the topic with another individual only to find they are extremely set on their opinion or defensive of their affiliation's beliefs to which I attempt to change the subject as avoidance of the conflict. This is a flaw in my communication skills as I should incorporate the meanings of "The Platinum Rule" in this instance, empathize with the individual and attempt to utilize effective communication skills to complete the debate civilly and appropriately. Lastly, I tend to wear my heart on my sleeve. In other words, you can read my emotions, thoughts, feelings, etc. all over my face or through my body language very easily. Therefore, I have to be very conscious of the nonverbal signals and cues I am utilizing when communicating with others, particularly when communicating with children and families, in order to avoid detrimental impact or tension.
In light of the aforementioned revelations, I have come up with three strategies to begin communicating more effectively with other culturally diverse individuals. First of all, I need to become more culturally competent and aware of other beliefs, cultures, etc. By doing so, I will gain knowledge to better understand and communicate appropriately with children, families, colleagues, and community members of that specific cultural background. Secondly, I need to work on conflict resolution skills, which would be to become a more empathic listener. To do so, I must focus on the speaker and begin to "put myself in their shoes" to better grasp their feelings and thoughts on the matter. This could help to resolve dilemmas and disagreements, as well. Lastly, I need to analyze my own nonverbal cues to become more aware of how they are used, how often, the reasoning for them, etc. This will be helpful to prevent misunderstandings while communicating with others, as well as to better understand the meaning of nonverbal cues of other individuals with whom I am communicating.
Communication skills are more important than many individuals realize, including myself. It is something we tend to take for granted and treat as "common sense"; however, it is quite the opposite and such skills must be acquired and learned over time. We always have room for improvement and I understand that in my journey to anti-bias education I must become an effective inter culturally competent communicator, as well.
Until next week...
Friday, July 11, 2014
Observing Communication Through Television
Week 2 is upon us and we continue to learn about the importance of effective, appropriate, and ethical communication, especially within the Early Childhood field. This week, we took a closer look at types of communication: verbal communication, nonverbal communication, and listening skills. Each of these types of communication are equally important to being a competent and effective communicator. For the assignment this week, we needed to view an episode of a television show that we do not normally watch and observe the nonverbal communication exhibited when the show is on mute and with volume on. While on mute we need to decipher what the characters' relationships are based on their nonverbal communication, as well as what they are feeling and expressing. With the sound turned on, we need to state what assumptions we made about the characters and plot based on what was observed with sound on and off and whether or not our assumptions would have been more accurate if we were watching a familiar show instead.
For this assignment, I decided to watch an episode of Modern Family as it is not a television show I normally watch on TV yet have heard from many friends it is great. After watching the episode, I ended up watching the rest of the marathon on TV that night as I found it very funny and entertaining! In this episode, there are several characters interacting in different houses but all seem interconnected. The main focus of this episode was one particular family. While watching with the sound turned on mute, you can pick up on the tension between the young characters in the show who seem to be disagreeing about entering a bedroom when the door is closed. From the eye rolling, crossed arms, stomping feet, red faces, and waving hands, you can see there is frustration and annoyance taking place in an argument between what seems to be siblings. Two adults enter (seem to be the parents) and the mom is yelling to fix the problem while dad is acting sincere using sign language and body language to signal behind mom's back that she is overreacting and he loves them all. Mom and Dad leave the room and there seems to be a disagreement, mom makes a decision, and leaves. Dad seems uncomfortable handling a situation with the daughters at first then becomes much like a drill sergeant ensuring they complete chores. The girls look scared and exhausted. Mom takes the boys out for fun to go on go carts, eat junk food, and more. Mom looks as though she is trying to force herself to be "the fun parent" and crosses the line, scaring the boys and making them eat too much. The boys look freaked out and then later sick as they get sick from too much junk food. Their body language shows that they were a family with mom and dad and four children, two boys and two girls, teenage years. The nonverbal communication shows a lot of emotion and feeling throughout, such as frustration, annoyance, worry, anger, fright, exhaustion, humor, and more. After turning the volume on to rematch the episode, I learned that the two adults were in fact the parents, but only three of the teens were their children - the two girls and one boy, the other boy was a cousin. The disagreement in the beginning took place because the boys entered into the sisters shared room when the door was closed without knocking first and the girls were in the process of changing. Therefore, an argument commenced in the hallway about privacy and sibling rivalry and the cousin chiming in as he is from a different culture that it is normal in his culture and it shouldn't be a problem here. The parents depart to another room as the mom shows her frustration through body language that she is tired of being the "bad cop" parent and the dad being the "good cop" parent and decides they should switch roles. Dad takes this seriously after a moment of being unsure because he discovers his daughters have lied and goes seriously bad cop becoming borderline drill sergeant like ordering them around all day. It is a comical twist.
This episode of the show encompassed a great deal on communication as well as concepts from prior courses on diversity and culture. The families in the show are all part of the same extended family. There is one family, as described from the episode, with a mother, father, son, and two daughters; another family with two gay males and an adopted baby daughter; and lastly the father (of the mother from the original family) and his second wife and son. This is, in fact, a modern family, as the title shares. I thought this assignment was enlightening in what we can pick up on from nonverbal communication in terms of relationships and emotions without verbal communication involved. In addition, I think it would have been a little easier to truly follow the episode if I had been more familiar with the show but the nonverbal communication from a realistic family interaction was evident and easily readable.
Until next time...
For this assignment, I decided to watch an episode of Modern Family as it is not a television show I normally watch on TV yet have heard from many friends it is great. After watching the episode, I ended up watching the rest of the marathon on TV that night as I found it very funny and entertaining! In this episode, there are several characters interacting in different houses but all seem interconnected. The main focus of this episode was one particular family. While watching with the sound turned on mute, you can pick up on the tension between the young characters in the show who seem to be disagreeing about entering a bedroom when the door is closed. From the eye rolling, crossed arms, stomping feet, red faces, and waving hands, you can see there is frustration and annoyance taking place in an argument between what seems to be siblings. Two adults enter (seem to be the parents) and the mom is yelling to fix the problem while dad is acting sincere using sign language and body language to signal behind mom's back that she is overreacting and he loves them all. Mom and Dad leave the room and there seems to be a disagreement, mom makes a decision, and leaves. Dad seems uncomfortable handling a situation with the daughters at first then becomes much like a drill sergeant ensuring they complete chores. The girls look scared and exhausted. Mom takes the boys out for fun to go on go carts, eat junk food, and more. Mom looks as though she is trying to force herself to be "the fun parent" and crosses the line, scaring the boys and making them eat too much. The boys look freaked out and then later sick as they get sick from too much junk food. Their body language shows that they were a family with mom and dad and four children, two boys and two girls, teenage years. The nonverbal communication shows a lot of emotion and feeling throughout, such as frustration, annoyance, worry, anger, fright, exhaustion, humor, and more. After turning the volume on to rematch the episode, I learned that the two adults were in fact the parents, but only three of the teens were their children - the two girls and one boy, the other boy was a cousin. The disagreement in the beginning took place because the boys entered into the sisters shared room when the door was closed without knocking first and the girls were in the process of changing. Therefore, an argument commenced in the hallway about privacy and sibling rivalry and the cousin chiming in as he is from a different culture that it is normal in his culture and it shouldn't be a problem here. The parents depart to another room as the mom shows her frustration through body language that she is tired of being the "bad cop" parent and the dad being the "good cop" parent and decides they should switch roles. Dad takes this seriously after a moment of being unsure because he discovers his daughters have lied and goes seriously bad cop becoming borderline drill sergeant like ordering them around all day. It is a comical twist.
This episode of the show encompassed a great deal on communication as well as concepts from prior courses on diversity and culture. The families in the show are all part of the same extended family. There is one family, as described from the episode, with a mother, father, son, and two daughters; another family with two gay males and an adopted baby daughter; and lastly the father (of the mother from the original family) and his second wife and son. This is, in fact, a modern family, as the title shares. I thought this assignment was enlightening in what we can pick up on from nonverbal communication in terms of relationships and emotions without verbal communication involved. In addition, I think it would have been a little easier to truly follow the episode if I had been more familiar with the show but the nonverbal communication from a realistic family interaction was evident and easily readable.
Until next time...
Tuesday, July 1, 2014
Competent Communication
Welcome one and all to the seventh of ten courses in my journeys towards my Master's Degree in Early Childhood Studies. This week I began my seventh course at Walden, Communicating and Collaborating in the Early Childhood Field. For our first blog assignment, we are to ponder the learning about communication from this week and consider someone we know in our lives who is a competent communicator. It can be a colleague, friend, family member, celebrity, teacher, etc. Once we think of an individual to use as an example, we must share the following: who is the person that you perceive to be a competent communicator, behaviors this person exhibits to make them effective, and whether or not you would model your own communication behaviors after this person and why. Instantly, two people came to mind when I thought about this assignment so I will briefly discuss both individuals below.
Upon considering this topic, the first person that came to mind was my mother. My mom is an Assistant Manager for the Payroll Department of a company in Center City, Philadelphia. She has worked for the company for 28 years and takes on much more responsibility than an assistant manager should or normally would because she is great at her job and is dedicated to doing what is right. She lives by the code of ethics and morals and communicates very effectively with colleagues, employees, employers, and clients all over the country and world. Even though it can be extremely frustrating, she always finds the right way to communicate with the individual to help them resolve their issues or answer their questions appropriately and effectively. She maintains professionalism in all conversations and endeavors in the work place, even when she wants to deep down lose her cool. She makes everyone she works with feel at ease and helps anyone as much as she possibly can. I learned so much about my mother in her workplace as I worked with her for a few years when I first started my job experiences from age 16-21 as a file clerk in her office. I admire my mother for a variety of reasons, but her work ethic, dedication, demeanor, and attitude are behaviors I attempt to utilize in my own career endeavors. Despite the fact that our fields of work are different, there are still ways to implement the same traits and behaviors into my own communications with others in my work place. The rapport my mother has with her colleagues, employers, and clients is something I truly admire and aspire to have in my own career.
The second person who came to mind was my first grade teacher and recent fourth grade colleague who retired this year. Carol B. is a remarkable individual and educator with a dedication and passion for educating children that cannot be compared. I am lucky to share that she was not only my first grade teacher and inspiration for becoming a teacher, but also my colleague in the fourth grade for three wonderful years. I consider her to be one of my mentors, without officially having that title. In terms of communication, she always has the most professional and eloquent ways of speaking to others, whether it be the children, colleagues, administrators, or parents and families. Whenever faced with a difficult situation involving a parent, I would seek her for advice or ask her to review my response before sending as I respected her competency in terms of ethical conduct and ethical communication. Similar to my mom, she developed an instant rapport with the children and families, as well as administration. She entered a room and instantly earned respect of those around her for simply being effective in her communication skills and doing her job well. She spoke on behalf of educators and staff in our district as a Union representative on the Negotiations team and was very well versed in her speaking abilities. I admire Carol more than words can express and would be honored if I could be an ounce like her in terms of my communication skills in education and overall as an educator in this field in general.
That's all for now…until next week! :)
Upon considering this topic, the first person that came to mind was my mother. My mom is an Assistant Manager for the Payroll Department of a company in Center City, Philadelphia. She has worked for the company for 28 years and takes on much more responsibility than an assistant manager should or normally would because she is great at her job and is dedicated to doing what is right. She lives by the code of ethics and morals and communicates very effectively with colleagues, employees, employers, and clients all over the country and world. Even though it can be extremely frustrating, she always finds the right way to communicate with the individual to help them resolve their issues or answer their questions appropriately and effectively. She maintains professionalism in all conversations and endeavors in the work place, even when she wants to deep down lose her cool. She makes everyone she works with feel at ease and helps anyone as much as she possibly can. I learned so much about my mother in her workplace as I worked with her for a few years when I first started my job experiences from age 16-21 as a file clerk in her office. I admire my mother for a variety of reasons, but her work ethic, dedication, demeanor, and attitude are behaviors I attempt to utilize in my own career endeavors. Despite the fact that our fields of work are different, there are still ways to implement the same traits and behaviors into my own communications with others in my work place. The rapport my mother has with her colleagues, employers, and clients is something I truly admire and aspire to have in my own career.
The second person who came to mind was my first grade teacher and recent fourth grade colleague who retired this year. Carol B. is a remarkable individual and educator with a dedication and passion for educating children that cannot be compared. I am lucky to share that she was not only my first grade teacher and inspiration for becoming a teacher, but also my colleague in the fourth grade for three wonderful years. I consider her to be one of my mentors, without officially having that title. In terms of communication, she always has the most professional and eloquent ways of speaking to others, whether it be the children, colleagues, administrators, or parents and families. Whenever faced with a difficult situation involving a parent, I would seek her for advice or ask her to review my response before sending as I respected her competency in terms of ethical conduct and ethical communication. Similar to my mom, she developed an instant rapport with the children and families, as well as administration. She entered a room and instantly earned respect of those around her for simply being effective in her communication skills and doing her job well. She spoke on behalf of educators and staff in our district as a Union representative on the Negotiations team and was very well versed in her speaking abilities. I admire Carol more than words can express and would be honored if I could be an ounce like her in terms of my communication skills in education and overall as an educator in this field in general.
That's all for now…until next week! :)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)