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.