Quality Programs For All Children

I believe the current public opinion in the United States regarding the value and importance of providing quality services, including early care and education, is increasing.  Developments in brain research have increased awareness of the importance of the early years regarding young children's growth and development. Researchers agree it is the earliest years that are the most crucial for healthy growth and development for all children. Early intervention programs, Head Start / Early Head Start, and Special Education programs help provide high-quality, safe, and healthy experiences to young children and their families.  The history of these types of programs demonstrates the increased awareness and focus on quality childcare and education.  The long term benefits have social, economical, and political impacts on our society. 

My hope is that continued research, community based programs, and family involvement continues to raise awareness and increase the focus on the importance of quality early care and education for all children.  It is my hope that funding will continue to increase and that as a nation we will be able to create more and more programs to ensure that all children have access to high-quality care and education programs.  I hope to be a part of this continued movement and hope that I will be a part of implementing new programs, bringing awareness to my local area, and will have a positive influence on families and young children. 

I believe that when we can provide services to all children we will see long term benefits not only for our children but for our Nation as well.  Studies have shown that investing in the care and education of our young children is beneficial to our economy.   The economic benefits include lowering the cost of remedial, special education, and grade repetition, higher income for graduates, better job preparation, and fewer welfare payments to name just a few (MIT Workplace Center, 2005).  The social impact includes higher rate of graduation, lower crime rates, and individuals become better citizens (MIT Workplace Center, 2005). 

In the words of Maria Montessori:

"Free the child's potential and you will transform the world!"

References

MIT Workplace Center. 2005. Early childhood education for all:  A wise investment.  Retrieved from

http://web.mit.edu/workplacecenter/docs/Full%20Report.pdf



What resonates with me about early childhood public policy and advocacy?

When asked why I chose this specialization many things come to mind.  The first is the children.

The children and their families are the most important aspect of why I chose to go into Advocacy.  I want to be a voice for young children and their families. 

Advocates are essential in the early childhood field.  Advocates educate their local communities, society, and legislators on the benefits and importance of early learning and high-quality care for our most precious asset.....our children.  Advocates help empower young children and their families by giving them a voice. 



By specializing in Public Policy and Advocacy I hope I learn more about how I can make a difference in my area and call to action our local communities to improve the quality of care and education for our young children and their families.

"In every conceivable manner, the family is the link to our past and the bridge to our future!" 

~ Alex Haley  



Communicating and Collaborating in the Early Childhood Field

In closing our final core course in this Master's Program in Early Childhood Studies I would like to say, I hope we meet again in the future and best of luck to everyone as we enter our Specializations!  It has been a privilege and a pleasure to work and learn with each of you.  Your insights and feedback have been invaluable. 

I have enjoyed reading your blogs and sharing this experience with each of you!  I wish you all the best!

Adjourning

Most of the groups I have been a part of have closure or adjournment.  The business groups I have been a part of have always closed with a celebration of our successes and a review of our accomplishments.  It feels good to celebrate what you have accomplished with a group of your colleagues.  All groups must experience some type of closure, even those groups that have not been a positive experience will experience some type of closure. 

For me it is harder to say good-bye and see a successful high-performing group say good-bye and come to an end.  Most of the groups that were not positive experiences were a relief to see come to an end.  Some of the types of closure I have experienced include celebrating our accomplishments with a luncheon.  It was very nice to feel appreciated and to celebrate as a group the accomplishments we made together.  When I was a part of the Employee Task Force it was nice to be able to close the group on such a positive note, I met several other employees that I had not previously known and to this day enjoy getting together with them. 

When I imagine the group of colleagues I am working with in my Master's Degree Program I imagine it will be bittersweet.  It will be a great accomplishment for all of us but many of us have been together in undergraduate courses as well as throughout the Master's Degree program.  I hope that we can all stay connected through Alumni groups. 

Adjourning is an essential stage in teamwork and groups because it allows us to say good-bye, celebrate together, and to let others know what an impact they have had on our lives.  Each of my colleagues in the Master's Program has enriched my learning and I hope that we will also have the opportunity to celebrate our accomplishment together.

Recent Conflict

In my office we recently hired a new home visitor.  There are now three of us in the county that provide home base services to Early Head Start.  In the process of trying to train the new person I noticed that the other girl (Christina) in the office was beginning to sound very bossy.  I also noticed that the new girl (Roberta) was beginning to take offense.  Because the new person found my co-worker to be bossy and pushy (her words) there was a dispute over lesson planning and training.  The new girl refused to be told what to do by Christina and Christina was becoming increasingly frustrated with Roberta.  We were not getting a lot of training done and soon Roberta would be taking over her own caseload.  Therefore, instead of taking my usual stance of avoiding the conflict or trying to 'fix' the conflict I decided to practice a couple of strategies from the Nonviolent Communication (NVC) and the Third Side material that we have been studying. 

I was actually very proud that I was able to utilize some of the strategies and skills that I have been studying recently.  When the new girl came to me and said that she felt my co-worker was being "rude, pushy, and bossy" and that she did not appreciate it I took a moment to consider how she might be feeling.  I imagined it must be confusing to have two people trying to train you as well as very scary to start an entire new position.  She has the added stress of having all of the Spanish speaking families on her case load and must also practice her Spanish speaking skills in order to communicate well with her families.   I then explained that this is not the normal personality for my coworker and suggested that maybe she was just trying to make sure that Roberta had all the information.  I also suggested that we all sit down and talk about it.  I told the Roberta that she should express honestly how she is feeling and let my coworker now how she is being perceived.  When I asked Christina to come down and speak with us she said she knew Roberta was upset but that she didn't know what she did to make her that way. 

When we all sat down to talk I suggested that we just talk about what had actually occurred and that we try explaining our actions.  After talking and redirecting the conversation a couple of times and pointing out the reasons behind a few of the actions made by myself and my coworker Roberta understood that we were not being bossy but rather we were just trying to ensure that she had all the information that she would need.  Christina also stated that she did not realize that she was sounding so demanding and bossy and stated she would make a bigger effort to make requests rather than demands.

Overall, I thought it was a very productive meeting.  Prior to studying Nonviolent Communication (NVC) and the Third Side I would have dreaded the conflict and bad feelings between everyone.  The challenge to any conflict is being able to understand and relate to different perspectives (www.thirdside.org).  I also agree with NVC that "having the intention to connect with ourselves and others is one of the most important goals of practicing and living nonviolent communication" (www.cnvc.org). 

I believe in this instance I took on the role of "The Bridge Builder" and allowed my coworkers to build a relationship across the lines of conflict (www.thirdside.org).  If we had not been able to 'mend fences' and build a bridge together then I believe the hard feelings would have continued and escalated.

In looking back at past conflicts between coworkers I noticed that I rarely spoke up and would usually just try to "keep the peace".  I have learned that you can "fix" everything for everyone and that people must take ownership of their own actions and feelings. 

Who am I as a communicator?

This week we took several surveys which gave some insights into what type of communicator we are and how well we communicate with others.  We also asked two other people to take the surveys for us.  What I found between my own results and their results did surprise me.  Both people who took the surveys, a co-worker and my fiance, scored me higher than I scored myself.  I was really surprised that both of them assumed that I was and even enjoy speaking in front of others.  Personally, this is something I really struggle with because I do not like speaking before a group.  My co-worker was surprised to hear that I actually don't like it and that I get as nervous as I do when I have to speak.  So I guess I apparently keep it well hidden.  

The first insight I gained is that others definitely perceive us differently than we may think.  Our tone of voice, body language, and the language we use also affects others perceptions of us.  While we may think we are not communicating well, others may feel that the communication was successful.  In the same sense, sometimes we think we communicated our message clearly when in reality others may not have received the message or understood what we were trying to communicate.

The second insight I gained is that I am definitely more critical of myself than others.  I am sure this is the case with most people, I just didn't realize how harshly I was judging myself until I took the surveys. 

I enjoyed this type of self-reflection and the opportunity to see where I need to improve my communications skills.

Ways In Which We Communicate With Others

Do you find yourself communicating differently with people from different groups and cultures? If yes, in what ways do you communicate differently?

In answer to this question, yes of course you communicate differently with different groups of people and cultures.  For instance when speaking to my immediate family I am much more informal, open, self-disclosing, and affectionate.  However, when communicating with fellow colleagues I am a little more formal, less self-disclosing, and will use professional jargon when discussing child development and early childhood issues and challenges.  When I speak to my clients I would not use professional jargon and would adapt to their communication style to put them at ease.  Then again when I am with my girlfriends I would be again more open, informal, and affectionate. 
We all want others to feel comfortable when communicating with them so we adapt our body language, verbal language, tone, and communication style to ensure that others are at ease.  When individuals are at ease with each other you are more likely to gain a shared understanding when communicating.

Based on what you have learned this week share at least 3 strategies you could use to communicate more effectively with the identified groups.

Three strategies I could use to communicate more effectively with different groups and cultures are:

1. Engage in self-reflection:  By this I mean examining my communication style, my body language, tone of voice, and how I communicate in general with others.
2. Avoid Cultural Myopia:  It is important to avoid the trap that "our way is the only way" or the "correct way".  When we allow ourselves to examine and see other perspectives we can gain a better understanding when communicating with others.
3. Learn more about other cultures, their beliefs, and traditions.  When we learn about the "why" behind behaviors we expand our knowledge of other cultures as well as gain a better understanding of beliefs, traditions, and behaviors that conflict with our own.

I recently came across a quote by Anthony Robbins that I found to be very fitting with this weeks learning.

"To effectively communicate, we must realize that we are all different in the way we perceive the world and use this understanding as a guide to our communication with others!"