Week 3

This week in our studies we were asked did we find ourselves communicating differently with people from different groups and cultures?
At times I do find myself communicating differently with different groups and cultures. I communicate differently with my family then I do with my coworkers. I communicate differently with my church family then I do with those I work with, and I also communicate differently with those who can not speak english.
 We were then asked If yes, in what ways do you communicate differently?  I believe that I am more comfortable communicating with family then those I have to work with, things are not so formal. Family doesn't care if you make a error or are politically correct but your coworkers do. My church family I don't let my hair down around them like I do with my family.
The three strategies that I could use to help me communicate more effectively with the people or groups that I  have identified are that I can 1) make use of the Platinum rule, Do unto others as they themselves would like to be treated.  2) I would also watch out for sterotyping, and 3) I would need to deconstruct my own schemas which means I would need to examine my own perceptions to see how I came to create schemas about different groups (O'Hair &Weimann, 2009).

What is Communication?

I believe the person that displays competent communication within a particular context is my Bishop! Bishop Weldon M. Johnson. The behaviors that he exhibits that make him an effective communicator are that he gives eye contact when speaking and listening to someone, and he is a great listener. He also is someone that you can talk to about things and you will never hear what you have told him again, from anyone else. You can trust him! Our book states that competent communicators adjust their behavior to suit particular individuals and situations. To communicate well , we must ensure that our communication is both appropriate and effective and I have seen this in our Bishop through his preaching and one on one consultation.  I would like to model some of his communication behaviors because he is very clear in what he says. You are never left feeling like you still have not understood what he has said. You also feel like you have been listened to, and what you have talked about is held in confidence. These are behaviors that I want to emulate.

Thank You!!

I hope that as I continue to work with children and families from diverse backgrounds that I can learn to respect all of their differences. I hope that learning more about their culture and backgrounds becomes a priority, and that I continue to help them feel apart of our program by making our documents in their language and helping them to feel comfortable at all our activities.

One goal that I would like to set for the early childhood field related to issues of diversity, equity and social justice would be that every teacher learn about the issues and come to an understanding of how we make others feel when we have not had proper training.

I want to thank all my colleagues. This class has truly stretched us, we were able to open up about how we feel about issues without conflict or backlash and that shows that we are mature Walden Students. Thank you everyone, and hope to see you again in forthcoming classes.

The Personal Side of Bias, and Prejudice

One memory that I have of an incident of prejudice was at work. A co worker who is a well to do caucasion female  made the statement that she did not want to make a home visit to an African American family because of the area that they lived in. She believed that either her car would be stolen, or vandalized because of being in a black neighborhood.

I believe that it diminished equity because those parents that lived in areas that she felt were not of her standard, those parents were cheated out of their home visits because of her bias, and prejudice. These parents did not recieve the same amount of service as families she felt lived in better neighborhoods.

I felt, here we go another well to do caucasion not wanting to work with blacks because they are afraid of us!! They think(caucasions) all blacks are alike. All of us are violent, all of us live in terrible neighborhoods. I felt like she was just being ridiculous and if she did not want to work with different races of parents then why take the job.
The co worker would have to change her attitude and get over her fears in order for this incident to become an opportunity for greater equity.

Practicing Awareness of Microaggressions

One example of a microaggression which happened this week was a microinsult. I had a parent come into our center to enroll their child and the parent happened to be a Spanish speaking parent. I assumed because he did not speak English that he would have a hard time filling out the forms which were in all English. We do not have our forms in Spanish yet. I asked him if he would have trouble filling out the form because it was in English and because of our studies this week I automatically felt like it was a microinsult. I really did not know at the time another way to ask him if he needed help with the forms. I am sure he felt that I thought just because he was Hispanic and spoke Spanish that right away he would not be able to fill out the forms. He told me that he would be okay and I told him that if he needed any help to please call and we would have one of our teachers who speaks Spanish help him.
I felt really bad, but did not know another way to find out if he needed help.
Not being on the receiving end of discrimination was a different feeling. I feel now how easy it is  being ignorant in certain situation when you just don't know how to come across.

Perspectives on Diversity and Culture

I have found that when you ask people the definition of culture and then you ask the definition of diversity all have paused and took some seconds to really think about what it means. The first person I asked was my husband he stated that culture was your race, your ethnicity and the certain things that a culture does referring to activities and events that take place within the culture. He stated that diversity is when different people come together of all different cultures. The second person I asked was my mom and she stated that culture was who you are. She stated it was not only your race but everything that makes you who you are from the way you were raised to the traditional things that you do. Diversity she stated was all different ethnicity's coming together. The third person I asked was one of our teachers. She is from Puerto Rico and when she talked about culture she talked about the different things that they do as a culture the traditional things that they do at Christmas together, how her culture feels about babies. She stated that babies are everything in Puerto Rico. She talked about family and the importance of family, and she also spoke about the language and the importance of keep their language even though they have had to learn English. We talked about diversity and she said like me and you. I am African American and she is Puerto Rican she said that is diversity. The different cultures make up diversity.
Some of the aspects of culture and diversity that I have studied in this course that were included in their answers were that culture includes your race and ethnicity and that diversity is the differences amongst people.
I think what was omitted or not talked about was that culture is the characteristic of the person and that it is everything from our eye contact, to our gestures, to how we hold our body and how we perceive the world is related to culture (Laureate, 2011).
When I talked to the teacher from Puerto Rico about her definition of culture and diversity it was so rich and she was so excited to talk about who they were as a people. When I asked my family members they had the definitions but no excitement. I wonder if because our culture had such a struggle do we make the struggle bigger then who we are as a people?
Are the trials and tribulations overriding the excellence of the culture in some of us?

My Family Culture

In the event that there was a major catastrophe and I was told that I could only take 3 small items with me I would chose my bible, my Ipod with all my favorite music on it, and my family picture album. I would chose the bible because in reading the word I can make it through any storm. The word will encourage, uplift,  and show you ways to make it through some of the toughest times during a major catastrophe. I also would chose my favorite music because music makes you happy and takes you to different times and places in your life. Music brings about great memories. I also stated that I would take my family picture album. I would take the album to be able to look back on happy times. Remembering good times will help you get through.

I would explain to others how important the word of God is to me and how it can help you weather any storm and give you answers that you need in times of trouble. I would let them listen to my music explain the meanings of the songs and see how it makes them feel.  I would let them look at pictures of my family and explain the events that were taking place at the time the picutres were taken and why they were so important to hold on to.

If I was told that I had to keep one item I would feel kind of upset but I would chose the bible and sneak a couple of family pictures in the back of it to hold on to.

I realized through this assignment that faith, family, and music are really important in my culture. These are three elements that will help you through anything in life.