Cultural Communication

When communicating with others, I usually do not let cultural diversity interfere with the conversation or interaction. I keep a professional standpoint and try to respect everyone’s beliefs and comments with regard to the subject, because I feel everyone is entitled to their own opinion.

However when communicating with my family, I tend to be a lot more vocal and won’t back down from my beliefs. Several conversations can turn into arguments because we are all very opinionated. I believe we all communicated like this with each other because my parents have always told us to fight for what we want or feel.  

Three strategies that I could use to communicate more effectively is always keeping an open mind towards others viewpoints, to not let my body language show how I feel about the subject matter and to reflect on what I am told. When using these strategies, I can take more away from the conversations I have with others. 

The Mindy Project

For this assignment I watched the Halloween episode of “The Mindy Project.” With the sound off, I assumed that all of the characters worked together in an office building very much like the show “The Office.” From watching the episode, I inferred that the main character Mindy liked the doctor Tom, who was expecting a baby that she did not know about. The other two doctors at the office went to the DMV and were having trouble like many of us do. As for the other characters in the office, they were not important.

With the sound on, I got to know the characters better. With the sound on, I found out that Mindy and Tom used to date which would be understandable why she was upset about him having a baby that he didn’t tell her about. I also became more aware of the DMV situations that the other doctors were in, the one of was very nervous because he was on his third attempt to get his drivers license. But I was correct about the other people in the office, they are sub characters.  

The difference between the sound on and off, is that you get to understand what is being said behind the body language of the characters. You get to know why they were sad or nervous in the situations. There is a lot to learn from just observing others talk and from actually listening. When you are completely focused on the communication, you understand the entire context of the situation. 

Communication

One of the most impactful communicators I have had the opportunity to observe is Dr. Wilson, a history professor at Vanguard University of Southern California where I earned my bachelors degree. Every time you walked in the classroom he greeted you personally and wanted to get to know you. When he would teach the class he always made the material interesting and wanted our input on the matters we were learning. He wasn’t just lecturing; he was having a conversation about history with the class.

I would like to be like Dr. Wilson by wanting to be on a personal level with every person I communicate with. A personal relationship makes every conversation more meaningful. 

Thank you!

One hope that I have when working with children and their families from diverse backgrounds is that I want to be able to show that I care and respect their family unit and who they are and what their diversity means to me.

One goal I have for the early childhood field related to the issues of diversity, equity and social justice is that we help teach the children we work with that everyone is equal no matter what their gender, race or ethnicity is. We should love and respect every person we encounter for their uniqueness.

I want to thank all of my colleagues for your thoughtful responses to discussion and blogs. I have enjoyed learning along side of all of you and getting to know each of you through your personal stories. I wish you all the best of luck as you continue on your path for a higher education.

Welcoming Families From Around the World

Brazil

Five ways to be culturally responsive:

1.      Look up on the countries familiar language, religious beliefs and family systems.

2.      Understand the cultural heritage of the region.

3.      Learn a few key phrases if the parents do not speak any English.

4.      Create a worksheet for the parents to fill out to better understand their personal family

5.      Share the culture of the family with others in the program to help all be open and responsive towards the family.

These preparations will help me be ready to show an open welcoming to the family. While showing the family that you care, they will feel more comfortable with dropping their child off in a center in a new country. When have more background on the culture of the region in which the family is coming from, you will be better suited to interact with special needs and interests of the family and the child. 

The Personal Side of Bias, Prejudice, and Oppression

Prejudice

An instance when I witnessed a moment of prejudice was when an older gentleman in the grocery store made a racist slur towards a Hispanic women who was in front of him in the checkout line. The lady that the comment was made towards, heard the man and choose not to correct him for his foul language.

In this incident the equity between the two individual was lost when the gentleman thought he knew everything about the women. In order for this situation equity to change the women would have needed to stand up to the gentleman and let him know that he was wrong and the older gentleman would need to recognize that his behavior was unacceptable.

During this incident, I felt awful for the lady. She didn’t do anything to the man and he was saying unnecessary comments to her. When she didn’t say anything back, I wanted to interject for her and let him know that behavior like that is wrong and he is just keeping a cycle of prejudice going. 

Microagression

I work in a child development center room that has four predominate caregivers. On Wednesday of this week on of the ladies I work with asked the only African American caregiver in our room if she had to be so black. This comment was referring to all the stereotypes of African American people.  It seemed as if she was joking and trying to play a game with the other caregiver, but the lady was obviously irritated with her. I felt awful for the lady from the moment the other caregiver made the comment. It is not our place to know her personal business and what she does outside of work. I felt that the other lady needed to apologize promptly when she saw that it upset her and even if it didn’t upset her.

From this observation experience this week, I have come to recognize that some people do not even realize that they are using micoragression towards others. Even if you use a joking comment towards someone, it is inappropriate to belittle them in any circumstance.