Nonviolent Communication and Conflict Management

   One of the most recent conflicts that I have recently had was with one of my colleagues. While the conflict did not result in anger or having a “fight”, I could definitely tell there was some tension because of our two differing viewpoints. During the situation I wanted to change my classroom around and I told my co-teacher my ideas. Since we have to keep a lot of things in mind while rearranging a classroom I decided to ask for some of her input on a few things. She then began to give suggestions that I did not necessarily like but I valued her opinion. It was then time for me to leave for the day and a few hours later my co-teacher called me to inform me that she decided to go ahead and rearrange a few things in the classroom. I became a little annoyed that she went ahead and changed things and we never finalized how the classroom would be rearranged. It was a Friday and since I had no idea as to how she changed the classroom I decided to go ahead and go up on Saturday to change the classroom the way I had intended instead of waiting on Monday. One Monday I explained to her how I just decided to rearrange the entire classroom on Saturday. She did not seem annoyed but I’m sure she felt the same way I did.

   During this conflict it would have been beneficial to use nonviolent communication in this scenario. We should have at some point listened to what each other were saying and try to understand what the other person was saying instead of making decisions without the other person knowing. While we did not have an argument, nonviolent communication would have helped in the tension and bad feelings that we had towards one another. Another strategy that we should have worked through was thinking of solutions to the problem (changing the classroom) instead of saying nothing. Since my co-teacher was giving suggestions that I did not necessarily liked I should have voiced them and she in turn if I suggested something that she was not particularly fond of. I think working through the conflict instead of not truly talking about it has caused tension and annoyance between us at that time. Since this incident I have been trying to be more open to her about what I am trying to say and also respectful to what she is trying to say to me. Learning about better and effective communication skills has helped me to understand how to work through tough conflicts such as this.

Communication Assessment

   During this week's assignment I was asked to rate myself on my communication skills. Then I used two other people, my husband and my mother, to rate my communication skills as well. I then compared the results when they were done. I thought that the results would be vastly different since my husband and my mother would be very honest and know first hand about my communication skills but the results were very similar. Although the numbers did not match exactly they were pretty close and put me into the same categories. I learned that in communication anxiety I am moderate, in verbal aggressiveness I am moderate, and in listening skills I am in group 1.

   One thing I learned through this assignment was that communication is not just about my language or nonverbal language but my listening skills as well. How I listen to others and how I perceive information is just as important as using verbal communication. In my professional work I have to remember that it is important to also listen to others and understand what they are saying in order to effectively communicate with them. I also learned that my own anxiety about certain situations can effect my communication skills. Since I am in group 1 of this category it means that I do get anxious about communicating with others depending on the situation. In my own professional work it is important to recognize which communication situations can make me anxious and it is something that I have to work on to effectively communicate with others.

Communication and Cultural Diversity

   When I see my interactions with others around me, such as my colleagues, families I work with, and my own family, I notice the aspects of cultural diversity and the effects it has on communication. In my own interactions I can notice that I change the way I communicate with different people according to the aspects of their culture. Different groups and cultures determine the way that I interact and communicate. An example would be that I speak with the families at my workplace much differently than my own family. The topics we discuss differ as well as my professionalism. I sometimes have to think about what I am saying and how I respond to the children and their families. In my own family I can speak on any topic and I do not have to communicate professionally. I feel more relaxed and at ease speaking with my own family rather than the professionals that I work with. I understand that I have to consider a person or groups culture when speaking with them.

   Strategies that I would use to effectively communicate with others from differing groups and/or cultures are:

1. I can consciously think of others before myself. I can try to understand more clearly what the other person or group is trying to communicate so that I can effectively respond.
2. Another strategy is to recognize my own nonverbal behaviors. Becoming self aware of how I may be perceived can help with communicating with others that differ from my own culture.
3. I can actively gain more knowledge in another person's culture or how to effectively communicate with others as well. Gaining more knowledge about effective communication can help me become better at my interactions with others.

Communication

                                               

The show that I chose to view was 30 Rock. I have never seen this show before so when browsing my Netflix I decided to choose a random episode.

I first watched some scenes with the sound turned off. The opening scene is of a man and woman talking and from their facial expressions it looks like the conversation is either confusing or uncomfortable. They do not make eye contact and the conversation ends quickly. There is then another scene when a man walks up to a woman at a snack counter. He helps her with coffee and when she faces him she looks away from him while talking. I can assume that she may be blind because of her body language and eye contact. The man seems flustered at what she is saying because he spills the hot coffee on his shoes and his face seems surprised. Another scene was taking place where I gathered that the man and woman were in a relationship or on a date. They were sitting close to each other on the couch and he had his arm around her. She then gets up to go to the other room and when the man opens a window the bathroom door opens to her sitting on the toilet. I can tell in the next scene they both feel uncomfortable about the situation because the woman does not make eye contact with him and he seems to be laughing, maybe trying to lighten the mood. He then receives a phone call and they both seem to have grimaces on their faces after the conversation. I would assume the phone call was an uncomfortable one.

I then viewed the same scenes with the sound turned on. In the opening scene it turns out that Liz plans to meet with Drew and makes plans for Valentine's day. He seems uncomfortable with the idea and that she planned it for that day and when he leaves she can't believe that she made plans to meet with him on Valentine days. Then the next scene I saw a woman, Jennifer, who was trying to grab coffee and Kenneth walks up to help her. She then turns around and thanks him and he notices she is blind. He does not say a word and pours the coffee on his shoe retreating quickly. We then find later out that he indeed has a crush on her. The date scene between Liz and Drew does happen and they are indeed on a first date and Liz has to go to the bathroom. The brownies then begin to burn and he opens the window revealing Liz on the toilet. They then have and uncomfortable conversation and she seems very embarrassed while he tries to make her feel better. Drew then receives a phone call from his ex-wife who is dropping off his daughter at the apartment. He then feels bad about the situation but tells Liz to just move on with the date as planned.

Some of my assumptions between the character relationships were correct but the conversations were off and I could not tell what they characters were talking about just by nonverbal communication. For instance it was hard for me to determine that Liz and Drew were on their first date on Valentine's day. I also did not understand fully the situation between Jennifer and Kenneth until I turned the sound on. I was very confused by what the context of the conversation consisted of. From this assignment I realize the full necessity of all communication skills including verbal and nonverbal to gain the full amount of information.

Competent Communication

   When I think of competent communication there are a few people that come to mind. One person in my life that I feel demonstrates competent communication would be the director of our child development center. She demonstrates this aspect because I have witnessed her interactions with others in our work place. When talking with parents and colleagues she is able to listen to others and provide a positive experience even is the reason for the conversation is not so pleasant. She tries to understand and respect other's ideas and opinions as well as trying to communicate her own. She communicates with others according to their own personal needs (i.e. in person, e-mail, or phone call) and she tries to make sure she is using appropriate language and communication for each person.

   I like to use her as a model at times for my own interactions with parents in my classroom. I try to listen and understand other's ideas and opinions even if it is hard to understand their reasoning at times. She expresses how important communication is in our field and I take that advice and use it as much as I can in my own classroom.

Professional Hopes and Goals

One hope that you have when you think about working with children and families who come from diverse backgrounds.

   One hope that I have from working with children and families from diverse backgrounds is to be more aware and supportive of these children and families. I hope that in the future I am more culturally aware of others. In being more aware I hope to be more supportive of children and families according to their own individual needs. This hope will in turn help me to build relationships and connections with others.

One goal you would like to set for the early childhood field related to issues of diversity, equity, and social justice.

   One goal I would like to set for the early childhood field related to issues of diversity, equity, and social justice is to provide more education and training for professionals. I would love to see professionals in the field receive more educational opportunities related to issues in diversity, equity, and social justice. I believe that this could build a better understanding of the issues and well as better connections with professionals with children and their families.

   I would like to send a special thanks to all of my colleagues. I have enjoyed getting to know all of your opinions and ideas on the issues of diversity, equity, and social justice. I have learned not only from the content presented by Dr. Ferrari but also my colleagues. It has helped me to expand my understanding and ideas of the diversity and equity.

Welcoming Families From Around the World

   This week we are challenged to think about having a family who has recently emigrated from another country that we know nothing about and how we will support this family and be culturally responsive. Since I am in a child care center setting I wanted to choose to keep this setting. I chose to have this family's country of origin be Japan.

   There are many ways that I could help support and be culturally responsive to this family. I chose five ways that will help me be culturally responsive and build a positive relationship with this family:

1. I will research their country of origin which includes the countries culture, economic status, population, history, religion(s), etc.
2. I would then hold a meeting with this family and find out more about their personal background and culture. I would like to know more about what their personal beliefs and values are so that their child can be comfortable in my classroom. I would also like to know what their expectations and opinions of early childhood education.
3. I would attend conferences and trainings on how to support children and families from other country.
4. I would then research more on how to include children from another country especially if their culture is different from the dominant culture in the classroom. This will hopefully give the child a feeling of safety and comfort.
5. Lastly, I would also consult with colleagues and other professionals and their experiences with immigrant children and their families. This can help me to build strategies to better support them.

   These strategies can better prepare me to support the child and his/her family. By using these preparations I can better understand the child and the family. In understanding the child and the family better I can feel better prepared and ready to help the child grow developmentally and ensure his/her well-being. I would hope that using these preparations can build a positive relationship and better connection to not only the family but also their country of origin.