Communities of Practice and Career Options

In the field of early childhood education it is essential for both educators and organizations to combine resources in order to best meet the needs of the young children and families we serve. There are several organizations that provide supports and community resources for teachers, these include:

The National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) as well as its local affiliates. NAEYC provides educators with tools, resources, and local forums or communities to discuss, share and exchange ideas and challenges professionals in the field are experiencing. Through online forums, monthly publications, and conferences members of this community of practice can come together to learn from each other and contribute to the overall well-being of the profession.

The Lucile Packard Foundation has support community collaboration efforts called the 5 C's or the California Community Care Coordination Collaboration. The Lucile Packard Foundation is a charitable organization that has provided grants to communities to set up these collaborative communities to support children in California that have a special healthcare need. Bringing together the different stakeholders to better improve services and communication and interaction among agencies that serve  children and families with special medical needs.

In California preschool teachers have many opportunities for supporting their professional development the California Preschool Instructional Network (CPIN), is one such organization. CPIN provides free professional development workshops across the state, as well as valuable resources on their website. The site also has a discussion forum where early childhood educators can share ideas and ask for assistance from one another.

Within the field of early childhood education there are several career paths that I can take, while I would not dream of leaving my current position, I would enjoy adding to my CV by becoming an adjunct faculty member at the local community college. This position requires a Master’s degree in Child development/early childhood education, human development, home economics/family and consumer studies with a specialization in child development/early childhood education, or educational psychology with a specialization in child development/early childhood education, and The ability to demonstrate clear evidence of a sensitivity to and understanding of the diverse academic, socioeconomic, cultural, disability, and ethnic backgrounds of community college students.

Long Term Planning

I have become accustomed to receiving phone calls from parents of three and four-year-old children that have been asked to leave a preschool program for challenging or aggressive behaviors. This week though my heart broke when I received a call from a parent of a two-year old that was unsure what to do, because his child was asked to leave a program because she had a speech and language delay. The parent felt the preschool program only wanted perfect children, and no parent or child can live up to unrealistic and developmentally inappropriate expectations. 

This has led me to really look at providing comprehensive services to children, families, and teachers outside of my own program to support children in their current placements.  

Adourning

There are five stages of team development; forming, storming, norming, performing, and adjourning. Each of these as value to the process of becoming a successful team, this includes adjourning. As I first read about these I did not understand that the the fifth stage adjourning was just as vital as the others.

Once a project/assignment etc. is complete you have to move on to the next one, taking what you learned  from the previous team experience and using it to improve your communication and participation in the next team,

This week I completed a month long commitment as a juror on a civil trial, This was a team and we did go through the five stages of building an effective team, but is was as the judge read our decision and said court is adjourned that I looked around at my fellow jurors and realized that I had learned from the other jurors and gained a lot from the experience I dreaded at first. I celebrated the end of a successful trial with several my fellow jurors after we left the courthouse that day. When I left them that night I though about adjourning and what it actually means. It means to break off, with the intention of resuming later. Teams are adjourned and while they may not have the same make-up when they come back together for a new project there will will always be a new project. I will use the problem solving strategies skills I learned from a few of my fellow jurors as I return to my team at work and begin new projects.

Adjourning does not need to be the end.

Non-Violent Communication

Disagreements and conflicts are a common occurrence in families. How we react and respond to these disagreements or conflicts that affect our relationships with that person and how we will respond to similar conflicts with others. I am learning about non-violent communication which uses the belief that we are all born as compassionate beings and aggression and violence are taught and supported by our culture views and influences.

In reading this week I though about a disagreement that my daughter and I had recently. It was a simple issue that escalated because neither of us were looking at the situation objectively. We both had judged the situation, and allowed our feelings to cloud our interpretation of what was actually occurring. As our conflict continued neither of us could hear what the other was saying or needed.

The minor disagreement could have be quickly resolved if I had looked at what was going on without placing a judgement on her actions, and then asked her what  her she needed and worked with her to meet  her needs. Asking her for her needs at that moment would allow me to compromise with her so that my needs and her needs would have been met.

The other thing that would have diffused the situation was if I had maintained respectful interactions in my body language and words. As her parent I have given her the tools of communication and conflict resolution, I need to change how I interact with her to change our relationship to create on that has respectful and responsive interactions.

My daughter and I have since been able to talk about what happened between us that day and how we both could have handled the situation in a more effective way that would have allowed up both to be gratified and satisfied with the outcome

My Communication Style

I get nervous before speaking before a small of large group, I do not see myself as a confident speaker. As I get ready for a presentation large or small I begin to feel my heart race, my palms get sweaty and my mouth becomes dry. This week I evaluated myself in terms of my communication ability, then had others answer the same questions about how they saw my confidence level. I was really surprised by the difference in the results. Those who I asked saw me as more confident then I saw myself. After the questions were answered, one person asked me how I felt I was. I described how I felt before giving a simple department report and the person who was giving me feedback was really surprised by how nervous I feel inside, because it doesn't show outside.
Over the next few weeks I will be presenting at a few different workshops and to help keep my nerves down I practice and practice. The better I know the material the more relaxed I am on the outside, but I am still nervous on the inside.

The second survey I took and had others evaluate me on was on verbal-aggressiveness in my communication.These were fairly consistent between all three survey's I show a moderate level of aggressiveness when communicating with others, More so on a personal level, then a professional level. Knowing this will allow me to develop my communication skills when I am feeling attacked and not respond on the defensive.

Communication in Different Settings

In each realm of my life I have different personas and in each persona I have a different communication style. People often ask if I alter my communication style depending on culture, and I don't think that I do. I do however alter my communication style to my audience. So at work I speak more formally and in a professional manner. My conversations are often surrounding the field of child development. At home I speak to my family less formally and have more causal conversations. I have an intimate knowledge of my family and this allows a more relaxed communication style. When out in my community I have a balance of the two styles, I am more reserved then I am with my family, but more relaxed then I am at work. I think that the key is knowing who my audience is and tailoring my conversation and communication style to the person or group I am speaking to helps me be a more effective communicator.

In order to communicating effectively it is important to remember:
1. Know your audience: It is important to know who you are speaking to and adjust your communication style to the group to ensure that the information you are sharing is passed on effectively.
2. Ask questions: This is important to knowing your audience and to make sure that you are being understood and to determine if any other changes need to be made.
3. Be clear and concise: It is important to not add too much flowery language that can confuse the listener (or reader), and to make sure your message is fully understood.

Non Verbal Communication

Have you ever watched a television show without the sound on? If you have seen the show and know the characters you may be able to tell what they are feeling and the relationships based on their non-verbal communication styles, but what if you have never seen the television show, do you think you could accurately describe their relationships and what they are feeling without hearing the conversation?

I did that this week, I watched a show I have never even heard of before first without sound and then with sound. The center of the show was a young reporter, there was one scene when where she went into a coffee shop saw the line and went behind the counter and poured her own coffee. She was approached by someone who appeared to work there and it looked like she was upset that the main character had gone behind the counter. The to go the facial expressions and body language seemed that she was saying she had the right to go back there because she needed coffee. The two laughed and then it was clear that they were friends.

Watching with sound, I could tell that they knew each other right away and the bantering was not out of anger, but had a more friendly tone, this was not what their body language and facial expressions were saying.

Not knowing or hearing what the characters were, even when the sound was there the facial expressions and body language were not always conveying the same message. It is important to make sure that our non-verbal communication is sending the same message as our verbal communication.

Communication Skills

Communication is a key aspect of our daily lives and interactions with others, in my immediate circle of people there are several people that I would consider effective and competent communicators both at work ant at home. One of these people is my direct supervisor, he is always clear in his  communication, with everyone he comes in contact with. He is always honest and shares information that is necessary to be effective in my work. When he is speaking he is at ease, and provides an atmosphere of collaboration and free expression of ideas  and perspectives without fear of reproach. All of these things I admire in him, but what I like most his is courage to express himself and share his beliefs and convictions with others. I sometimes struggle with expressing my ideals and convictions to other and shy away from communicating my personal beliefs. This is one area that I would like to grow and become more like him.

Discrimination in the media

Last weekend my sisters and I watched a few movies and as I watched them I was struck by the discrimination that I saw in both movies. The first movie we watched was Mc Farland USA, in this movies there were several incidents of racial bias, stereotyping, and discrimination. As I watched this was struck by the strength in the children in the movie, and of my own children who are half-Mexican and have at times have faced discrimination or been stereotyped based on their ethnicity.

My daughters were on my  mind in the second movie The Duff, in this movie the comments and gender stereotypes that were the basis of this movie. As I watched this movie I felt disgusted about how the guys and girls treated each other, and everything was based on the way the girls look and that their looks were tied to their value and self-worth.

The media portrayal of race, ethnicity, and gender perpetuates the message that thin-beautiful white people and traits that are valued. I see how many young people buy into these beliefs and how much damage they do the younger generation. In order to begin to change the mindset of youth, we need to change the messages we are sending them through the media and our own interactions with each other.

Micro-aggressions

This week I was talking to a co-worker about my mom, who we are looking to move into an assisted living senior building or other such facility. The person I was talking to is of another ethnic group. As we talked about my mom the second I mentioned an assisted living or senior  home her body language shifted slightly and she said "Are you sure you want do do that, My mom would come live with me if she couldn't be on her own anymore". I felt that she was judging me and something was wrong with my family because none of my siblings are offering to take her in and care for her.

Since reading this week about micro-aggressions and biases, I felt more comfortable about telling her that I understood that different families have different cultural values and believes on to best support aging parents, and what is right for my mom, may not be right for hers or for my in-laws.  Since studying Micro-aggressions I have been much more aware of how I treat others and take an additional second before I say something that might be judgemental or biased against someone.