Thank You!!!

I am saying a huge thank you to every member of Group 2. We worked together as a team and together we 'arrived' at the final week of this course. Thanks to God for His sustenance and guidance.

Wishing every one of us a successful journey as we forge ahead in our endeavour in life. For me, I am taking a two-month summer holiday to resume in September, so, I can spend quality time with my family. Until then, do have a blissful time watching the world cup.

ADJOURNING

I will say adjourning is an essential ingredient of a team because it allows us celebrate our successes, amends our mistakes, form friendships and forge ahead in life.


I had to leave a former school where I was teaching because I was almost due for delivery and my husband preffered I stayed at home with our first child. Initially, it was not easy telling the school management because I thought my husband might have a change of mind. I finally let the cat out of the bag and almost immediately the school management started planning for the send forth ceremony as it was close to the end of a session. The day of the ceremony was filled with emotions and memories. I remembered how I joined the school and how as a new teacher I had to blend with my pupils, teachers and management. And now it was time to leave these same people that took me sometime to understand and flow with. Sincerely, on the other hand I was happy to leave knowing that I will have anough time with our expected daughter. Some of the teachers said they will miss me and some did not express any emotions.


I gained experience while in the school, no doubt, yet I was eager to go share my experience with some other new people. I enjoyed the school especially the pupils I taught. Some of the pupils and teachers came along with me to know my house promising that they will be coming after my delivery. Some of them kept to their words and we were able to establish friendship (O'Hair & Wiemann, 2012).
For my masters program, i am yet to think of any adjourning plans because it is my first on-line course and will want to make enquires if there are any specific ways of doing that. But, I hope to exchange email addresses at least for a start and hope that friendships will be formed from there.






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

Managing conflicts

One of the strategies to manage conflicts I learned this week is respect for others. When I respect people and their cultures, it will help me approach them properly whenever there is a conflict. In doing this, I will express my feelings, observations and request with all sincerity (http://www.cnvc.org/)


Subsequently, I will listen attentively to whatever explanation that would be given.


Conflicts in the home are most times inevitable. I have decided to show my husband and children more respect because we often underrate people who are most familiar to us. Though I keep falling short of my new approach especially with my kids; I look forward to interacting and relating with them in nicer ways. For instance giving my children the allowance to be children when we are outside and to hear their views or opinions when decisions are to be made at home.

A Communicator

It gladdens my heart that I am a people-orientated person, ironically I do not trust people as much as will put me into trouble or alter my judgement for them. I gave the Listening styles profile test to my husband to complete and most of his responses tally with mine. The communication Anxiety Inventory and Verbal Aggressiveness Scale Tests were answered by my husband and two of my friends/colleagues. Of course I told them to be as factual as possible and to avoid sentiments.

Responses I got for the communication Anxiety Inventory are encouraging though I need ti improve. I hope to use my listening skill to serve families and children better. Because people who are in trouble most times just need listening ears and I am willing to do that since it is already a part of me. Aside this, children love being listened to. I will need to improve on my technical information listening ability.

Interesting assignment! I have learned again from this assignment that it is always good to be yourself because if one has two behavioral patterns it will be difficult for others to evaluate you.

Communication

I am not a 'TV Person' so it was difficult thinking and arriving at a show to see. Thanfully, I decided to see Bisi Olatilo Show. The show is owned by a Nigerian and operates in Nigeria, UK and the US. I saw the wedding ceremony of the daughter of the Nigerian President.
As a wedding ceremony, it is obvious the bride and groom are not too familiar with some of the guests.
 When the volume of the TV was turned down, I could see the expressions of fear, suspect and tiredness on the bride's face. One would have thought that the bride should be happy all through the event but she was at one time or the other looking rather scared. And her guests at sometime or the other were either frowning, laughing or dancing. From the looks on the guests faces, I guess the wedding ceremony had lasted for too long
My major observation is that if I didn't turn down the volume of the television, I would have been carried away by the boisterious noise and activities going on that I wouldn't have taken notice of the nonverbal communication. Like O'Hair & Wiemann (2011)said, most times verbal communication contradicts nonverbal communication. Though the atmosphere was supposed to be joyful, people still expressed their frustrations which means communication to an extent is an involuntary action.


With the volume turned on, it was something different; I concentrated on the verbal communication more than the nonverbal communication. I could relate the joyful music with the joyful atmosphere and did observe facial expressions or body movement less than when the volume was turned off.


The expressions on the bride's face could be that of anxiety but I assume she must be tired due to the stress of the day. Due to the security unrest in Nigeria for sometime now, she might be habouring the fear of an attack. My assumptions might be wrong or right. It only shows how people read different meanings to the same circumstance.












Reference


O'Hair, D., Friedrich, G. W., & Dixon, L. D. (2011). Strategic communication in business and the professions. Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon.

Communication skill

I coordinate the children's class in my church and usually I make a duty roster for those involved. But for a particular week, I was so choked up that I could not prepare a roster. Subsequently, I just called someone to teach the children some few hours before the time. The lady I called did not like the fact that the instruction or information came quite late. I like the way she approached the matter, first, she told me she will try her best to meet up  with the class and that let that be the last time I will give her such a short notice. Immediately, I acknowledged my shortcoming and promised her not to do that again. The issue was resolved on a low tone.

I wish issues and misunderstandings could be tackled in a similar way rather than bearing grudge.

Professional Hopes and Goals

First of all I will say a big thank you to Dr. Parrish for her understanding and support through out this course. I appreciate that she took time in responding to everyone's discussion post, which was one of my motivating factors in this class. And to my classmates--you all rock! Your posts and experiences you shared in the discussion board opened my eyes to so many things, and showed how differently we all are, despite we share a common class. I pray God's guidance and support for everyone of us.

Taking this course on diversity and social justice has given me the opportunity to reconsider my thinking and attitude towards people. Now, I long to work with families, colleagues and children who are different from me because I think I have the 'technical know-how'. Above all, I long to see unity in diversity in Early Childhood Field, where teachers look beyond skin colour, class, ableism and give their best to every child concerned.

One of my goals is to improve on my communication skill with people of different culture while still retaining my personal identities.

Welcoming Families From Malta

The name of the country I chose is Malta. Assuming I work in a child care centre; First, I will do a thorough research on my own about the country--its location, population size, cultures, schooling habits, languages, etc.
I will ask people around for any special character traits of people from Malta..
I will send home a detailed questionnaire to know about the family culture
I will invite any of the parents to class to tell the class about Malta
I will suggest the parents come with an item of cultural value.
I will learn to pronounce the child and family name correctly
I will display the country flag and greetings on the classroom wall
At least two toys in the classroom will be associated with Malta
The reading corner will have some books about Malta.
I will make arrange for an interpreter if they are ELL
I will learn some major words in the family's first language

All of these preparations I believe will make a family feel at home and will be easy for such family to blend into the school system. Learning their family culture will give me an access into a child's emotional and cognitive development. For instance, if a family is so concerned about their children's school work, then, learning will be made easy for such children and vice versa.
Learning to pronounce correctly a child's name will give him/her a sense of belonging and may in turn build self-esteem.

Prejudice

 Back home in Nigeria, I remember there are schools for the rich and schools for the poor. If a family is poor, it might be impossible for their children to attend schools with rich children. Most privately owned schools are dominated by rich families.

There is this particular school that is known for affluence because, of the category of people in attendance. During a discussion amongst some mothers, a middle class mother asked what the performance of the school is, in order to enrol her son. In that process, another mother asked, ''are you sure you will be able to pay the school fees?'' This came to mind as I meditated on classism. The woman who asked this question already has prejudice against the other because, she felt her friend will not be able to pay the school fees. The school in question has consciously or unconsciously built a class for herself. It simply means poor children cannot attend such schools as they are not affordable.

If I were given the opportunity to be a policy maker in Nigeria, I will make sure school fees are well-regulated, and scholarships are provided for the very poor children.

Practicing Awareness in Microaggressions

Several times people have told me I don't look or talk like the tribe I come from In Nigeria. Probably because I am fair and speak good English. Though unintended on their part, yet I never saw it as an insult until I listened to Dr. Sue (Laureate, 2014).


Just 2weeks ago, My 4-year-old daughter came back from school to say Julie's mum had a baby girl. I asked who told her and she said, ''Julie told me''. Julie and my daughter are friends. I immediately sent a congratulatory message to Michelle, Julie's mum. I am yet to get a response. Michelle is Hebrew who migrated to the US and we presently live in France


As I dropped off my daughter in her class, I overheard a conversation between one of her taechers and a Parent. The Parent said she was not informed of an event which was to take place the next day. In response to this, the assistant teacher told her the notice has been on the door. And then quickly turned to other parents to say, ''don't mind her she(the parent) doesn't read''. I felt cold but couldn't react in the parent's place. The Parent is Black and the Assistant taeacher is French.


I am begining to be meticulous about people's comments and actions. But, what I have observed is that though Sue (Laureate, 2014) said most microagressions are unintended, the intended microagressions are usually obvious and easy to discern through the voice tone of the 'attacker'.






Reference
Laureate Education. (2014). Microagressions in Everyday Life. [Course Media]. Retrieved from Walden University Early Childhood Studies Portal

Perspectives on Diversity and cuture

I asked my daughter's teacher (who is Scottish) what culture and diversity is and, she hit the nail on its head. She said adults modelling  good examples for children to imitate is one way to teach respect for diversity. Also she noted that children who are ELL may be given opportunities to speak vernacular in class as a way of celebrating their culture.
My French teacher said culture is the opposite of nature. She made an interesting point that we are not born with culture but learn culture. Secondly she said culture is what brings unity amongst a group of people.
My husband rightly said culture is what makes a particular group of people what they are.

All of these definitions tell me there is diversity even in the way culture is defined. Hence, culture might be too broad to give a definition as Taylor said. (Laureate, 2014)
One of the aspects we have discussed in class is that of letting children know and respect differences in culture or diversity
Also, I will agree with my French teacher who said we learn culture. Ngo (2008) also mentioned this, this week.
Emphasis is being made in class on unity in diversity so she is right to have said culture brings unity amongst people. All of these we have discussed in class.
My interviewees all defined diversity as differences amongst people.
I come to see now that culture encompasses everything about human beings since there are various and multiple definitions of culture.

References
Laureate Education. (2014). [Video] "Culture and Diversity". Retrieved from Walden University Early Childhood Studies  Portal

Ngo, B. (2008). Beyond "culture clash": Understanding of immigrant experiences. Theory into Practice, 47(1), 4–11.
Retrieved from the Walden Library using the Education Research Complete database.

My Family Culture

This blog assignment is interesting and thought provoking! First, I will go with my Bible, my ipad, and hair accessories.
I and my husband are Christians and we are trying our best to bring up our kids in the same manner. Although, my ipad could contain various versions of the Bible, the hard-copy Bible symbolizes our religion. I see it that a hard copy Bible will give our kids a true sense/representation of our religion and belief in God.


I will go with my ipad because I am a lover of information and academics. With my ipad, I could gain access to what is happening around me, and continue home-study with my kids.
Going with my hair accessories might sound a bit out of place to someone, but I am learning that the human hair is one of the first factors of identity. As an African, I this our hair defines us more and quicker than our skin color. Hence, to maintain my identity, I will go with materials to tidy my hair and my daughter's.


If I were asked to drop two items, I will drop my ipad and hair accessories and then keep praying for freedom from such a lifestyle.


I better agree now than before that culture indeed is the totality of an individual which involves everything one does. Culture most times are influenced by family upbringing, which places so much importance on the role of a family.

When I think of Research

Sincerely, I did not find this research course easy as I could not spend enough time to read in order to grasp the whole concept. But, it was worth the experience and lessons I learnt from the discussion posts.


I understand better now (than when we started) the processes and procedures involved in research, and I was able to garner that ethics are very important in research studies in Early Childhood Education. Also, that the research methods to use depend on the nature of a research topic and that it is best to use mixed methods so as to understand the depth and breadth of a research study and for reliable results and conclusions. A feasibility test will help to know what risks are obtainable in the course of the study, therefore, it is advised that such test be carried out.


Like I mentioned earlier, this course was quite challenging maybe because it is my first research course and I did not have adequate time to study due to some personal reasons. Arriving at a topic was the first challenge and then in the application of quantitative and qualitative designs to my research topic. Nonetheless, I believe that what I have learnt during this course will come handy for me some day.


Thanks, Dr. Darragh for your patience in explaining and making corrections of my simulation. And to all my Group 2 classmates, thanks for sharing your ideas and insights about research studies.
Wish everyone the best now, and in the future.

Research Around the World

After a search on the European Early Childhood Education Research Association website (www.eecera.org), I noticed a collection of their (special issue) journals-2013 has its overall theme centred around PLAY--Benefits of play in Early childhood; Digital play in EC, Teachers role in play, etc.  An interesting topic I read about is the language use of pre-school teachers during children's dramatic play. Letting children get involved in role-play is not enough to help them develop their cognitive and language skills, but consciously using play-embedded instructional talk by teachers will help children improve on their communication skill and the frequency of their talk. A more detailed study is recommended on this topic so as to help teachers' practice.

With EECERA as one of the EC sites that publishes respected and prestigious journals in the world, I think it will be a good resource for my research simulation and maybe for any research I might want to undertake in the future. This site is informative and educating. I tried subscribing for their newsletter but got an error message, but I will do that during the week.

Benefits of Research

Research indeed has been so beneficial to children and families in the developing countries. I remember vividly the issue of polio, whopping cough, cholera, measles, chickenpox as so tormenting to children some years back. Families were impoverished as many spent so much money in battling these diseases. Malaria in children and adults was a common death factor in Africa, but today, we don't hear so much about malaria killing people because new drugs are being discovered regularly to checkmate the effects on pregnant women, children and families. Thanks to research findings (particularly evidenced-based) that brought about vaccinations for these diseases.
Jonas Salk first discovered a vaccine for polio and then tried it out on people around him- himself, wife, children and friends. It worked when the vaccine produced antigens against polio cells

I will use myself as an example. When I was pregnant for my two kids, I was given anti-malaria drugs as part of my daily medication, in order for me not to get infected with malaria. In recent past most babies were affected by jaundice as result of pregnant women who had malaria. Some babies didn't survive and some are living with the effects till date as grown-ups. Research has changed the face of the story due to the discovery of anti-malaria drugs and vaccinations that are given to pregnant women. Also, as at when I had my two kids, there was a campaign going on about the benefits of breastfeeding. With all the information I had then due to research findings, I decided to do exclusive breastfeeding with my kids, though it was not easy. But I did it with the consciousness of the benefits I and my family would derive as they grow. I remember my daughter didn't have any cough or cold until she was about 9-months-old.

I will always appreciate those that gave, and are giving their time and energy in discovering most of the right information we have today especially in medicine and child healthcare.

Resource

http://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/hslc/tta-system/ehsnrc/Early%20Head%20Start/multimedia/docs/mothers-milk-content-final.pdf

My Personal Research Journey

Doing a research course for the first time is still somewhat intimidating. After reading chapters 1 and 2 of our text, it makes me feel a bit fidgety about doing research because I know it is time, energy and money consuming. Nonetheless, I look forward to giving it a trail.

I have chosen to do a research simulation on children's brain development because I always wonder why some children are smarter than others or why some children develop faster than others. The major reason for choosing this topic is because of the disparities in my children's language development. My daughter could communicate well with an adult when she was just 18-months old but my son who is about 28months old presently has just a few words in his vocabulary. I explained to a Paediatrician who says boys are generally slower in language development. Ironically some boys speak faster than girls. Could it be that the problem is from the brain or a 'gender thing' as the paediatrician explained?

Secondly, I have learnt that experiences are stored in the brain, in other words experiences shape and determine the growth of the brain. I know of several adults who were neglected as children but are successful in their chosen walk of life. Could it be that negative challenges like neglect help build resilience or there are exceptional cases to research findings?

As a parent and EC professional, I know it's every parent and teacher's desire to see their children develop well and fast. I aim at using my research findings to be a better teacher and parent by implementing activities that aid brain development.

So far, I have learnt how to verify the quality of resources. This, I see as a major milestone I have achieved because I am depending so much on information gotten from the internet since I might not be able to carry out a first-hand research. I appreciate the knowledge gotten from this week's discussion and application and  I am still working on mastering more research terms and procedures. Also, I have knowledge on how to read research articles that would safe my time and make my search easier and faster.

To my classmates, lets keep the ball rolling as I am eager to read about our findings, and more importantly to know the procedures and steps taken to achieve our endpoint. Hope to get help and advice from those who are experienced in research procedures.

Hi Dear Classmates,
 Wishing everyone of us a blissful 2014 and a successful career in Walden University as we begin a new term!