Communication Evaluations

For this week, we were to evaluate how we communicate and how people we interact with evaluate us. I decided to choose my husband and a friend. After the evaluation, the listening styles profile was the only one we all shared the same results. For my communication anxiety inventory my friend and I had the same result which was that I fell into the ‘low category’, which means I feel comfortable communicating in most situations and feel confident in anticipating such encounters’ while my husband’s result I fell into the ‘mild category’ which indicate that I might feel a bit uneasy in some communication situations and somewhat more confident in other contexts. Communication does not seem to be something that worry a great deal about .I guess my husband’s result or evaluation could be based on his view that I sometimes get intimidated by authority figure when communicating in such context  which to certain extent I  could agree with him

The second evaluation result which evaluates verbal aggressiveness; my husband and my result were similar while my friend was different. My husband and my evaluations gave me a ‘moderate scale’ as result which indicates that I maintain a good balance between respect and consideration for others viewpoints, and the ability to argue fairly by attacking the facts rather than the person holding that position. I believe this really resonates with me, unlike my friend’s result which falls into the ‘significant scale’ which indicates with little provocation I might cross the line from “argumentativeness’ which attacks a person’s position or statements and verbal aggression; which involves personal attacks and can be hurtful to the listener. This I do not agree with because I believe I have always being very cautious in getting into argument that  involve verbal abuses; I personally do not like to be a victim so I do not perpetrate it; it’s a principle I have upheld for years.

 For the third evaluation on my listening styles profile; the result came out the same for the three of us. i fell into the ‘group -1’ category which shows I am people- oriented .This category indicates that I am empathetic and concerned with the emotions of others .This listening styles helps me build relationship but it can interfere with proper judgment because I tend to be very trusting of others. I feel this most likely resonates with me in a large way because I trust and tend to think of the best about people; but sometimes I am surprised when people tend to be the opposites, even with such experiences, I still continue to give people the benefit of the doubt.

One thing that surprised me the most was the result from my friend on the verbal aggressiveness, which shows that with little provocation; I might exhibit verbal aggressive behaviors; I do not really agree with that because I find it very difficult to utters verbally aggressive words rather I usually avoid such situations by changing the topic or walking away from it.

The insight I gained from about communication from this evaluation is that to be effective in communication one needs to understand how one communicate with others and also take note of our others perceive us in order to fully understand if we are communicating appropriately with others. When we realize our lapses, our ability to make changes makes us better communicators.

As an early childhood educator, I therefore believe that I need to evaluate myself based on how I communicate with others and be committed to making adjustment. The impression others have about us plays an important role in developing our self concept; therefore evaluating our communication from time to time helps us maintain an appropriate balance when we communicating and interact with others.

Communicating with diversity

Culture plays a strong role  in determining who we are and our interaction with others. Just as we learn through culture through communication, we also use communication to express our culture. Our world view affects which topic we will discuss in personal and professional settings, as well as the way we communicate non verbally, it also affect the way we perceive the communication of others( O'Hair & Wiemann, 2012). Communication with my family, colleagues and my community varies; I believe this is greatly influence by my cultural upbringing. My culture has greatly influenced how I communicate with people. Differences in people such as age, religion, marital status, values, personality too mention a few has greatly influenced how I communicate with people

 In terms of age ,I have being taught to be more respectful when talking with an adult ,being conscious of the words I use so as not to sound rude or insensitive of the persons  age. I am expected to refer to the person with certain words that represent the title that would be sued to show respect, for example.”SIR”,”MA”. The way I talk with my father is different from my mother; my culture accords more respect to the father than the mother since he is the decision maker, so you are groom to talk using certain worlds as an indication of respect when having a conversation with him. For mothers it could be subtle, talking to my in-laws as well is quite different from the way I talk with my parents. The way I talk with my friends not married with kids is quite different form those married with kids. The status must be recognized and acknowledge during the course of communication. I could remember a friend complaining that a friend of hers from university still talks to her the same way as their schools days and she didn't feel comfortable with it that she felt, he should acknowledge her status change in any conversation with her. It is required that a married woman with child demands to be spoken to differently compared to when she was not.

Religion also influence my communication and makes it different. Different in terms of certain communication rituals that are part of my religion; so when I am communicating with someone of the same faith with me, those rituals would be part of our conversation; such as greetings, eye contact, gestures and verbal phrases  for condolences, when a person sneezes or to congratulate which is mostly communicated in Arabic irrespective of our mother tongue .Whereas if it I need to communicate with someone of a different faith I do not need to utter those verbal and non-verbal cues  in our conversation

When I communicate we someone that is my close friend, its more casual; probably using codes, symbols and contradictory behavior in my non-verbal communication when joking around and when It is with members of my community that speak different languages, then take my time to speak the few word I know, I would have to use signs, non-verbal codes in order to get buy. If I have to communicate with an authority figure such as lecturer, professor or my employer; I may be more formal than casual; maintaining a consistent eye contact to show that I am seriously involved in the conversation and avoid using informal words like” slang  or “codes” that would probably use with my friends

Since it is apparent that our society is fast becoming more diverse and if we want to avoid conflicts we must be able to put those factors that make us different into consideration when communicating. So in order to communicate competently as  member of such diverse society, you need to be able to communicate appropriately and effectively with a wide variety of individuals (O'Hair & Wiemann (2012). 

Reference

O'Hair, D., & Wiemann, M. (2012). Real communication. New York: Bedford/St. Martin's

Communication

 This week I had the opportunity to understand communication through an episode on a television. I watched the TV series “Cougar town”. The main character there caught my interest; COURTNEY COX. Watching without sound left me with questions and uncertainty; I did not really know the relationship between the characters. Although I could give certain assumptions based the context and the non-verbal cues expressed by the characters but they might not be correct. The communication skills used included verbal, non-verbal (facial expressions, gestures) writing and listening. I could not really tell what the episode was about without the volume. In the first scene, I noticed Jules (Courtney Cox) talking with friends in a kitchen, it seems like they are friends with her, I guessed because their facial expressions and gestures reflected a more casual relationship. Also Courtney is seeing a therapist, but I do not know for what purpose. I did not know if she had any other relationship with the therapist outside her visitations. I also guessed she is married because I saw her with a man on a bed talking. The scene when they showed three men in place like a bar. I do not know who they were and their relationship or what they were discussing, although their facial expression seems casual, expressing lots of smiles. I noticed a particular female character that her facial expressions and gestures shows a lot of anger, but I do not know why or how serious. I noticed a scene where a lady came into what seems like a departmental store and spoke to two men. The man that looked older gave the younger one a sign by bending his head, indicating to be excused. I guess he wanted to interact with the lady; which he did in another scene. I could go on with assumptions from different scenes but that does not really tell what the episode was all about.

When I watched the volume on, I did not really enjoy it as I would have with TV shows/series that I normally watch. Some of my assumptions were somehow correct. The three ladies at the first scene seemed like friends with their conversations, and the lady expressing so much non verbal anger as well as verbal which I now heard, was angry because she had feelings for Travis a character who is probably the son of Jules (COURNEY COX) so she takes it out of everyone. I assumed the female therapist was more of a friend when there was no sound I realized, she just made the proposal for friendship during the sessions, which the therapist loved the idea. I was right about the man I called her husband and I got to know her reason for therapy which was because of her obsession with monitoring people. I was confused with Travis being her son yet he calls some man his dad, I guess because I did not have any previous information about the characters .After watching the whole episode, I realize I would have enjoyed it better and not be doubtful, if I had being watching it before.

I believe that with this experience I have come to the understanding that for communication to be effective and serve its purpose; all necessary factors must be in place. We need to consider the individuals involved in the conversations, relationships, communication skills used, contexts, and our schema on them as well as the   purpose  and goals of the communication in order to avoid confusions, assumptions, misunderstanding  and complete communication failure . When we don’t apply the right requirement then our communication would not serve its purpose. We need to use the right skill, for the right situation and for the right purpose and people then  it would be effective.

Competent communicator

Effective communication is important in any form of interaction. I have being opportune to have experienced some great competent communicators in my life; but the particular one I chose to talk about as contributed to my desire to aspire towards a leadership role in my chosen, I desire to be able to coordinate an effective program and I know being able to communicate effectively with your staff, children and their families is very crucial. The person I knew that demonstrated competent communication was a friend of mine during my university days. She currently runs a school in Lagos; I am not surprised she is doing very well with her staff. They all love her. The last time I visited, the teachers and staff organized a special end of the year celebration and gave her an award. When I knew her back in the university, she always had a way with words, like she knew what you wanted to hear; more of an inspirational and motivational speaker. She has a good listening ears. I guess that is her strongest point. I could remember when I told her I was a bit nervous about my first day of teaching practice. She let me express all my fears and anxiety; she then looked into my eyes convincingly and  told me to relax that I would do just fine. All I needed was confidence in what I had to offer, a pleasant face and everything would be fine. When I saw her speaking on the day she was awarded I was impressed because she still had that confident with her choice of words.

  

Leadership is executed through communications, I would therefore like to emulate her confident, use words and gestures that shows honesty in her messages which tend to make people believe in themselves and therefore bring out the best in them.  

Week 8

                            Professional Hopes and Goals

My eight weeks experience with the course perspective diversity and equity has brought about a lot of changes for in me; changes in terms of knowledge, insights, hopes and dreams as well as goals I hope to attain as a professional in the field

The hope I have when I think about working with children and families who come from diverse backgrounds is that every child and family’s culture is respected and is actively reflected in the school setting, structures,activities and curriculum

The goal I would like to set for the early childhood field related to issues of diversity, equity, and social justice is that the early childhood field should promote and reflect an inclusive environment where all differences and challenges are acknowledge and always visible  in the learning process. This I believe would develop in children and families positive self esteem, respect and appreciation of other cultures, as well as compassion towards those with challenges.

This journey would not have being possible without supports. I would therefore like to thank my instructor and colleagues for making this experience and journey a fruitful one. The ideas, insights and experiences shared have had tremendous impact on my personality .As we continue in our journey to become better as professionals; I wish everyone the best of luck.