Thank You!

I just want to thank everyone one for sharing your experiences, insights, thoughts, and questions. You have helped me become a better communicator and listener. I hope to see some of you in the next class and for the rest, I wish you well throughout your EC adventures. Dr. Parrish, a special thanks to you, you challenged me in all the right areas. I have learned and I am ready to implement what I have learned in the workplace. Continue in the blessing everyone.

Adjourning

I have participated in many group meetings and projects; and we processed through them pretty much according to the stages of team development. The adjourning process mainly consisted of lingering goodbyes and God bless you’s. On certain occasions the group leader of the youth ministry completes the adjourning process with refreshments and a heads up on the next event or program. Until now I had not thought about the adjourning process here at WU. There are several colleagues I would like to stay in contact with and possibly visit someday. Adjourning is essential to teamwork because of the many variables that can form from teamwork outcomes and you never know when you might need someone’s expert opinion on something concerning the early childhood field. I personally hope to hear from everyone occasionally in the future.

Conflict Strategies

            In addition to running a childcare facility, I work evenings as a home healthcare specialist. Six months ago, the program coordinator (pc) resigned and another was hired 5 months later. Under the previous pc, if a day off was needed, it was our responsibility to find someone to cover the shift; if no one was available then we would call the pc. Well, recently I needed a day off, got my shift covered, notified the mother of my client of the change and thought everything was okay.
           Later, I got word that the new pc came to the house that night and was upset that I was not there. I was told he was upset because he was not aware of the switch for that day.
          The conflict from his perspective is that I should have made him aware of the change; from my perspective I was not aware of the change in protocol so I did it the way it was previously accepted. Although, I was told he was going to have a conversation with me, it has not happened yet (It’s been over a week now). So, I would have to say the conflict is unresolved.
         However, even though he has not contacted me; because I know it caused a problem, I will notify the program coordinator next time. I would label this action as cooperative strategy because it benefits our working relationship and serve mutual rather than individual goals (O’Hair & Wiemann, 2013).

 Reference

O'Hair, D., & Wiemann, M. (2012). Real communication: An introduction. 

NewYork:Bedford/St. Martin's.

 

Nonverbal Communication

            For the assignment this week, I watched Supernatural, one of my daughter’s favorites. She loved that I allowed her to pick a show and she knows Supernatural is not my “cup of tea”. The silent episode began with a family of three: dad, daughter, and son; this became obvious when the daughter passed by the dad and gave him a kiss on the cheek while he was reading the newspaper. Then she passed the younger guy, who I assumed to be the brother; they looked at one another sarcastically and made verbal remarks. The daughter goes for a swim, and then disappears in the water; it is obvious something is not right, by the look on her face even though her surroundings seem calm.

The next scene shows two men in a café, circling the missing girl’s picture in the newspaper and in a serious discussion with each other; the eye contact was there and they were both fully engaged in dialogue. I labeled them as detectives or investigators. They were interrupted by a flirty waitress, who made her intentions obvious by the super huge smile and the way she leaned over to talk to the guys; one guy seemed appalled, the other responded with an equally huge smile and lustful gaze as she walked away.

 In other scenes, nonverbal communication was demonstrated when one investigator discretely nudges the other to look at something in the house, during an interrogation. There was also a little boy with a sixth sense, who with a frightful look on his face and frantically pulling on the arm of one of the investigators, lead me to believe he was very fearful about something.

            Watching the episode with sound went a lot faster than without sound. The previous assumptions were pretty much on point; except 1) the guys were not investigators, but spirit hunters; 2) the guy who seemed to be appalled at the waitress was actually anxious to get on with the case and 3) the little boy was not fearful but trying to tell the spirit hunter something.

In silence it looked like the movie was out of order, people who I thought were nice and helpful were manipulative and selfish. It is so easy to take things out of context but for the most part reading their body language was more precise than trying to read their lips. In reference to contradicting verbal messages-people tend to say whatever is necessary to gain pleasure or avoid pain; however, what a person believes is many times, shown through their actions. So, when people are not honest, it is easier to tell by their behavior than their words.

Competent Communication

I would like to recognize Dr. Creflo A. Dollar, pastor of World Changers Church International as one who demonstrates competent communication. He teaches the word of God in a practical and simplistic manner. Pastor Dollar informs his audience of what he will talk about, he talks about it, and then review what he said. He presents background/foundational information to bring greater clarity to the main point; breaks down and defines terms for greater understanding; and uses illustrations and practical examples as a means of putting it all together. He teaches it, so we can hear it; he explains it, so we can understand it; and he demonstrates it, so we can live it out.

Dr. Dollar’s methods of communication are effective because through his teachings, my life has changed for the better in areas of finance, health, and relationships. Rather than model his communication behavior, I would like to become confident in what I believe to be true and in what I believe will bring results; when that happens, I communicate well with others because my caring is genuine and the topic is heart-felt.

Professional Hopes and Goals

            When it comes to working with children and families from diverse backgrounds, the hope that I have is that we are able to communicate and understand one another. A goal I would like to set for the early childhood field relating to issues of diversity, equity, and social justice is to 1) show families from diverse backgrounds that they are welcome by displaying flags and the word welcome in the language each flag represents as well as through our actions. 2) Demonstrate equity by honoring diverse families represented in the facility with a given week to share and answer questions about their culture. 3) Create strategies to increase awareness of the harmful effects of microaggressions. I am truly inspired by all of the insights and questions from the discussion. I listened to  the hearts of each of you and I learned a lot from all of you; you all have played a tremendous part in shaping my professionalism for the better. Thank you!

Welcoming Families From Around the World

            This week I will interview with a family who recently immigrated to Oklahoma from Chile. They are seeking a facility to care for their two year old while they look for work and get established. I am not familiar with culture of this country, so what I will do first is research the family dynamics and makes their visit as comfortable as possible. Secondly, I will ask them about their culture and how can I best serve them. Thirdly, I will share with them the vision and mission of the facility. I will listen to the family; there may be unspoken rules related to gender, power, and how we interact with each other and make adjustments where possible (Christen, 2006). I will ask about their needs and expectations for the child and allow them to ask questions about me, the facility, and staff.

            This increases the family’s knowledge about the facility and personnel; it assures them that they have a voice and their voice is heard; and that their culture is accepted. We benefit by learning about another culture and experiencing new and different ways of doing things.

 

Reference

Christian, L. G. (2006). Understanding families: Applying family systems theory to early childhood practice. Young Children, 61(1), 12–20. Retrieved from http://ezp.waldenulibrary.org/login?url=http://proquest.umi.com.ezp.waldenulibrary.org/pqdweb?did=1042679491&sid=1&Fmt=4&clientId=70192&RQT=309&VName=PQD

 

 

The Personal Side of Bias, Prejudice, and Oppression

            Sometime ago, I read a book entitled A Time to Kill, written by John Grisham. It was about a little girl of color, living in the south at a time when racism was at its peak. The little girl was around 7/8 years old and while walking home from the store was struck in the head with an unopened beer, thrown at her by two white men who had passed her in a truck. They beat her, raped her, urinated and defecated on her, then dropped her from a 10 foot bridge.

            The dad of this little girl knew that justice for his daughter was not an option, given the era and geographical location in which he lived. So he took matters into his own hands and killed the two men. Now the trial is centered on a man of color, who killed two white men in cold blood; none of the people-except those of color-was interested in ‘why’ they were killed, only that they were killed by a man of color.

            While reading this novel, I had feelings of hurt, anger, sadness, sorrow and relief. I kept thinking how could this community of people be so cruel and heartless? I wanted justice so much for this family that I thought about writing a sequel to the book myself. Needless to say, due to the cunningness of the defense attorney, I was spared that task.

            The family’s attorney cleverly got the jurors to imagine every horrid detail of the abuse, rape, and attempted murder of the child and won the case with these three words-imagine her white! In this incident, had the attorney not challenged the juror to see the child white, the father would have received the death penalty. Sometimes, all it takes to avoid prejudices/oppression, or unintentional micro aggressions, is to put yourself in their shoes.

 

Practicing Awareness of Microaggressions

            Guadalupe and I were friends for quite some time, we met on the job. I was a security dispatcher and she with her husband cleaned the building. As I was leaving work, she politely asked me, “Why do Black women have large hips? I retorted, “Why do Hispanics have squinty eyes?” She just looked at me and walked away, we never had that conversation again. I was offended and did not feel bad for snapping back at her. Having large hips is no more a Black thing than having squinty eyes is a Hispanic thing.

             I was offended and really wanted to know why she would ask me something like that; I felt at first that she was being sarcastic but now after learning about microaggressions, I do not think her actions were intentional.
            This week’s lesson opened my eyes to the many different ways people offend one another. Microaggression happens frequently and because it is unintentional it is either numbing-you get so use to it until you do not feel the pain of it anymore, or you become desensitized- you no longer recognize it when it happens or you address it with the understanding that the perpetrator may not be aware of the hidden message received by their words. As a result, from what I learned, I choose to be mindful of candid remarks and think about how certain remarks may be perceive by others before I speak, as best I can.

           

 

Perspectives on Diversity and Culture

I thought this would be an easy assignment; instead it challenged me to look in to the heart of diversity and culture. I asked three of my co-workers, how they define diversity and culture. The first response came from a female of native descent:

“I really don’t have a culture because I was adopted.”

 Linda was adopted as a child, her adopted parents failed to keep her connected with her culture. As an adult, she continues to experience discontinuity and invisibility. The dominant culture in her life was the culture of her adoptive parents. The second response is from a female born and raised in West Africa:

“In my country, in the place where I grew up, we help one another. I am not there now but I still help out my family and friends there; and we love to praise and worship God. Where I am from, we raise our children to respect their elders. American children do not respect their elders, so me and my husband work together to raise our children like we were raised back home.”

 Kumbi left her country after she graduated college; her husband is from the same country. They have three children all born in the United States. Kumbi says diversity is God’s way of using people to show how much He loves colors. The last response is from a female who lives in Oklahoma City:

“Diversity is when you have too many people in your business trying to define you when they don’t even know you. White people, black people, Hispanics, Asian, everybody writing books about people they never met but think they know and predict how they will behave. We all might look different, but we all want the same thing to be happy and enjoy life.”

Lashawn is a LPN, single with no children. She defines culture as being a lifestyle that follows you to the grave; the part of a person that never changes.

Linda, Kumbi, and Lashawn, all gave answers that were unique to what was discussed in class and I appreciate all of them. Their responses were straight forward and to the point. What I have learned this week is that a person’s or a peoples’ culture should not be taken for granted as if it doesn’t matter-it all matters.

 

My Family Culture

            If I had to leave the country abruptly, I would take with me, my Bible, a dictionary, and my portfolio case. I would take my Bible because I believe that there is a higher power greater than man’s will, and that power is love which is God. The Bible helps me to understand who God is and how to live in faith and obedience to Him; and in unity with people near and far. I would take a dictionary because it is important for me to understand and be understood; so when I hear words that I do not know, I look them up. In my portfolio case, I have everything I would need if I had to relocate without prior notice. In it I store important documents, pictures, credit cards, cash, jewelry, additional keys, etc.  I call it the ‘get away’ case; if something were to happen I would grab it and go. Of the three, I would take the portfolio case and stuff my bible and dictionary in it.

When I think of Research...

When I think of research, I think of being a part of doing something worthwhile for the betterment of someone else. Through this course Building Research Competencies, my knowledge of how to conduct research has been greatly enriched. I understand the importance of selecting a topic and the need to include a literary review. I have learned how to narrow a topic to formulate a research issue/question and then select a research design that will enable me to collect data specific to the topic.

The process of sampling populations was a bit intimidating at first, now I understand that selecting representative samples is quite complex and entails decision-making around not only the characteristics of the participants, but also how many of them should be included ((MacNaughton, G., Rolfe, S.A. & Sarij-Blatchford, I., 2010).

My perspective of research is no longer just about finding solutions to problems or causes to effects but about getting to know and understand what moves people to do what they do, their interests, motivations, and passions. The lesson I learned about planning, designing, and conducting research in early childhood is to do everything intentionally; meaning be clear about what I want to discover, who will participate, when, and where.

I was introduced to a vast amount of information concerning research, the challenges I encountered are not being able to digest it all and make it workable in real life setting. The way I deal with overwhelming situations is to read and re-read until I can explain what I read to someone else-then I can implement it.

As a result of this course, I have a new found respect for research. In the beginning it was something I would shy away from; but now, I feel like it is part of my duty to learn more, find out more, and share more of what I learn with those I interact with daily. I want children to benefit from childhood in the most meaningful way possible. So from this course, I have learned to embrace research and use it as a tool to understand people better.

 Reference

MacNaughtion, G., Rolfe, S.A. & Sarij-Blatchford, I. (2010). Doing early childhood research: International perspectives on theory and practices. (2^nd ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill. P. 177-78.

Research around the World

Equivalent to the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), Early Childhood Australia (ECA) advocates for young children in early childhood education and care. ECA is the national umbrella for the organization of children services and works with

 

·     Government, Opposition parties, and departments

• early childhood professionals
• parents and grandparents
• other carers of young children
• various peak organizations and lobby groups.

 

Early Childhood Australia engages in a plethora of research topics, such as: learning and teaching through play, young children as active learners, and learning positive behavior through educator-child relationship. Australia’s vision and focus for the education and care for young children is very similar to the US. This means to me that people everywhere are concerned about the healthy development and success of all children.
Noteworthy information; membership within this organization (which is tax-deductible) enables individuals to

1. be a voice for young children
2. receive discounted access to our quality assured publications and conferences
3. be kept abreast of early childhood news and happenings
4. network with others in the field through your local branch
5. identify issues and influence policies concerning the care and education of young children

Early Childhood Australia has branches in each state and territory; branches are a great source of professional support for Early Childhood Australia members, with great networking opportunities.

References
Early Childhood Australia. (n.d.). Retrieved from: http://www.earlychildhoodaustralia.org.au/

Research that Benefits Children and Families—Uplifting Stories

Option 2. If I were to conduct a research study, it would be on-the positive outcomes of play in the development of young children. Play is my focus of study because I believe children are teachable at birth (Zero to Three, 2012). Positive contributions from this study are the social emotional skills and abilities that help preschoolers prepare for kindergarten (NAEYC, 2006), such as:

·         Confidence

·         The ability to develop good relationships with peers

·         Concentrating on and persisting with challenging tasks

·         Attending and listening to instructions

·         Being able to solve social problems, and

·         Effectively communicate emotions

Participants in this study would include three groups of 25 children, parents, and childcare providers. Group 1-actively enrolled in a childcare center that utililitizes play-based curriculum. Group 2-actively enrolled in a home daycare where children are guided by caregiver’s weekly activities log. Group 3-remains home with babysitters. The length of this study is 12 months.

 

Reference

Ostrosky, M.M. & Meadan, H. (2010). Helping children play and learn together. NAEYC: Young Children. p. 104. Retrieved from: http://www.naeyc.org/files/yc/file/201001/OstroskyWeb0110.pdf

Zero to Three: National Center for Infants, Toddlers, and Families. (2012). School Readiness: Birth to Three. Retrieved from:

            http://main.zerotothree.org/site/PageServer?pagename=ter_par_012_think

My Personal Research Journey

For this course simulation, I chose how is play effective in young children’s ability to learn? The answer to this question is important to me because it is my desire that preschoolers connect learning with fun and to see early learners enjoy their years of childhood as they develop social skills that will prepare them for school and life. I believe children will engage in anything that is fun to them without much persuasion from adults. In the classroom, I encourage children to support, praise, and correct one another. In every situation, I look for opportunities to teach through play. This leaves me wondering, if children retain more information through play than curriculum-centered learning?

As I progress through this course, my level of confidence has increase. I am discovering a lot through the assignments and the discussions. There is so much variety in the discussions; I make it a point to read everyone’s thoughts, from doing that I glean ideas that had not crossed my mind. Thanks to all of you, your thoughts and perspectives are very valuable to me.

I surprisingly enjoy doing the research charts; they push me to think deeper into the purpose of research. Recently, I was asked about what I am working on in school and I was able to articulate with confidence specific details about this course – that was a huge thing for me! I understand more about narrowing the research topic to pinpoint an exact issue. As I continue to do that, the search for information in that area is becoming more specific and to the point. I am interested in any sites that discuss the effects of play and learning, so if any of you run across links in connection with this topic, please send them to me and let me know how I can be of help to you. Thanks.