Observing Communication

I had the time last Monday to volunteer in my son’s new daycare center, since I had a day off from work due to the holiday. My son’s daycare did open so I took the advantage and visited the center. My son has been attending this YMCA center for the last two weeks, so I still had a lot to learn in regards to the way the teachers interacted with the children, parents and other staff from the center. The first thing I was able to see was how the teachers interacted with the children and parents as they arrived and picked up their children. One thing that I observed was that as parents and children were arriving she would greet them in a friendly way, but in several occasions she would stop what she was doing with the children in the circle to speak to the parent about the behavior of the child in the classroom. She would tell the parents in front of their child, as child was taking off his jacket all the bad things he did in the classroom. You could observe the non verbal communication expressed by the parent, child and teacher as this was done.

 In my opinion the way the teacher would approach the parents and the way she would share the information was appropriate, parents would leave upset and the child would start his day feeling bad about himself. By the teacher leaving the circle without informing the children, took away from the activity and purpose of that particular moment, by the time she returned the children were everywhere and had a hard time focusing.

In my opinion, if the teacher had several concerns about the child the teacher should had arranged a meeting with the parents to find ways to help the child succeed in school, and a way that feel less invasive or negative. It’s not just about telling the parents what their child is doing bad, but actually sharing first his strengths and then discuss ways to help him work on his challenges together as a team.

Another thing that I was able to observe was that the teacher would constantly tell the children when they were having a hard time listening that she would tell their parents about how they were behaving, and they would not be very happy. I also did not like her technique to manage classroom behavior the teacher used, instead of focusing on the rules she has in the classroom and the importance of respecting others. The teacher would just would threaten the children about telling their parents whenever they didn’t want to listen she seemed more like a mother than a teacher. I guess many times teachers forget that they are the professionals that need to model and guide children and parents, to be the ones  that can help the parents educate their children and work as a team for the better of their children.

Creating Affirming Environments

If I had the opportunity of creating my own Child Care Program, as Adriana Castillo did and shared with our in her video, I would definitely include many of the tools she used to promote communication between her and the parents. I would take her idea of having a parents board at the entrance were parents would see the menu, lesson plan and any important announcement, in the family’s home language not just in English. There is nothing more valuable to improve communication between parents and teachers then having information in the family’s native language available. I would also include pictures of the children and their families as a way of promoting diversity among our classroom. I also like how she set up her child care to reflect defined play areas and at the same time an atmosphere of an extended home, were children felt welcomed, loved and safe.  I would also include her idea of having a place where the families shared materials from home that represented their culture, values, believes and traditions so all the children could see, learn, appreciate and respect.  It also creates a sense of pride and value to the families, feeling safe to share a little about themselves with us is important. Having representation of the families in the classroom says more than random pictures or posters we could have of diverse families. Families appreciate more if they see themselves as the culture that is being served then what can be more as stereotypes in the common posters we see in the classrooms.

I would also take into consideration the importance of parent involvement, the participation of the parents in the education of their children is crucial. This also gives me the opportunity to learn more about the way they interact with their children, what are the families challenges as well as their strengths. This will also serve as way of opening the doors to communication and team work among the parents and me. I believe that by creating an environment that is welcoming and safe for the children and families, you will be able to provide a better service to all including you as a teacher.