Coomunication and Culture

I can safely say that diversity is present were ever we go, in our neighborhood, work and even within our families. I can say that because of this I have learned to observed and ask as much questions as possible in order to have a better pictures of what the needs, interest, believes and values are in order to avoid any possible misunderstanding that can create a barrio in our communication. Currently I hold a position of a Family Service Specials in the Head Start I work in, what gives me the opportunity to learn more about each families needs, by actually coming into their homes and observing as well as listening to what their struggles as needs are before  they actually come to our center. Then the information I’m able to obtain I share with the rest of the staff that will be working with the family so we can all be prepared to work not only with the child but with the whole family. I have learned with this that there is no set way to communicate with each child or family, and what may work with one or two may not work with the rest. I have also learned that we all come with our own sets of gifts and we have to try and communicate with each and a way we can be heard and respected, so it can be an exchange of mutual respect in order to better express our feelings and wants for the better of the families and children we serve.

A clear example is when we are conducting parent teacher conferences, not all children’s parents come from the same culture, race, religion, sexual orientation, economic status or have the same abilities. So we need to be able to know this in order to express our ideas in a way that the parents can understand what we are trying to say, and at the same time that we express to them how much we value the dedication and hard work they do with their children.

Communication Skills

I choose to watch one of my older daughters' favorite shows that I have not had the opportunity to watch before called, "Bizarre Foods, with Andrew Zimmern who is a chef and foodie. His job is to find the world's most unique tastes traveling all around the world. I have always found food as something you can really enjoy and share with others, the more diverse the tastier. As I was watching the program without any sound, I came to like the personality of the presenter as his facial expressions were very friendly and expressive. It looks like he was visiting India, as I was able to observe in the scenes they were showing of the city and its people. As he arrived to the city a person was waiting for him, I imagine it was his guide there was a lot of talking smiling among them as they walked among the city. The guide would point to the different scenes and Andrew's facial expressions demonstrated admiration as well as interest to learn and see more, the guide's face also showed expressions of pride as we should his pointed to the different places.  I enjoyed seeing how they would actually seem to listen to each other as they spoke by making constant eye contact as well as smiling and shaking their heads.

Then I saw the program once again but now with sound and I was surprise to see that most of my interpretations and assumptions were actually correct as I was actually able to connect their non-verbal communication with the words they were saying. There was actually a lot of good communication being done, as well as mutual respect to both cultures what made it even richer for those that were watching the program. I am a strong believer that communication can exist among all cultures, as long as we are open to learn, respect and value the believes traditions and points of view of all people, even if they differ from our own. If we are able to do this then we are capable to communicating with others in a productive and effective way.

What is Communication

I would like to share some of the qualities I have observed from my current supervisor, which is the center director of the Head Start program that I work in. When it comes to communicating with the parents or staff she is very proactive to finding various ways to communication such as notes, emails, phone calls as well as person conversations. Despite the fact that a75% of our parents do not speak English she always welcomes the children and families with a smile  in her  face and one or two words she knows how to speak in Spanish every morning. Her doors are always open for any concerns or questions parents might  have , and they know that even if she can't understand most of what they say she always has somebody that translates for them and does her best to help them in any way she can. I also admire the way she can easily influence others for the improvement of the services we offer to the families, she is very  clear and assertive at what she says as well as her expectations . Her vision and goals are very clear  and she does not  get  intimidated  when it comes to  speaking up  when there is injustice  or discrimination  towards  the  services the families receive in our program.  She is  a strong believer  that  we need to empower the parents so they can  speak up when  things to  not seem right, and not get  intimidated if  they do  not speak the language .

I have also observed the way she is able to influence all staff to work together as a team  and not just doing what is their part , but actually helping others once completed their tasks. Her phases are always we are a team, it's not just about what is our job,  we are not alone  in this.   I  have learned  several techniques  that have improved my communication over all with  my students as well as my parents,  I have also  learned to  speak up and empower my parents  with the  various resources and contacts  I have  obtained over the  years. By improving  my communication  skills  I  have influence and created  a relationship of trust, team work and  respect between other staff , parents and  children  which are crucial  elements when it comes to  providing quality  service.