Cultural Diversity & Communication

There are several groups of people that I communicate with on a regular basis.  At work, I communicate with groups of parents, students, and coworkers.  In the evenings and on weekends I communicate with family and church family.  Several other groups that I communicate with every so often are friends from Spain, college friends, and a group of moms from my area.

I find that I communicate in a "normal" way with my coworkers, family, and church family.  By normal I mean that we are all from the same area/culture and communicate in the same way.  Our values tend to line up with each other and we share many of the same views and opinions.  When communicating with parents of my students I find myself listening more and talking less which is a great thing that I have been able to get to that point.  I think that I need to transfer that skill to all people that I communicate with!  Of course I communicate with my prek students in a different way.  My language is not complex, I use a lot of questions to get them to think on their own, I talk much more than I do in a normal conversation, and facial expressions & gestures are much more pronounced!  I think that I need to learn to listen a little more to my students, yet find a balance between listening and communicating verbally with them.  I want them to feel important and know that I value what they have to say/think but at the same time they need to be reminded daily of who is in charge.  The last group that I communicate a bit differently with is my friends from Spain.  I find myself using what would probably be considered Spanglish, lots of hand gestures, and speaking much faster and with more expression.  Their communication style rubs off on me immediately and I'm reminded of what it was like to live with them for several summers just outside of Madrid. 

Communication Skills Observed on TV

Since I do not own a television, for this assignment I found an older show to watch on Netflix via a friend's account.  (I don't really try to cut myself off from the outside world... We just don't find that television is a necessity!!!)  Anyway, I found the show Gossip Girl which I heard was full of drama.  Sounded perfect for this assignment.

As I watched the show without sound I found myself paying attention to a lot of body movements and facial expressions.  There were several times a big argument between various people broke out and I could tell by actions who was winning and losing the argument.  I could almost even determine  how loud the people were talking/yelling based on how they looked within the argument.  This was kind of neat as I realized just how much I could pick up without hearing a thing.  Some other things I was able to pick up on were feelings of hurt, uncertainty, scared, excitement, and love/affection.

Watching the show with the sound turned on was almost overwhelming after seeing it without sound!  I hadn't really considered how much music really adds to a scene/show until watching this time.  I found that I made some incorrect assumptions but that most of them were correct.  One character in particular didn't have a variety of facial expressions and I took it that she was either a boring character, had something wrong with her, or was just a bad actor.  Turns out I think it was more of a bad acting thing...

Had I been watching a show that I know well I assume that I would be much more familiar with the characters, their history, and what has been happening in the show/series lately.  I would have had this background knowledge to go off of as I viewed the show in silence.  I also probably would not have picked up so much on communication skills and how important the nonverbals are had I known the show well.

Competence in Communication

A parent of one of my students this year had demonstrated excellent communication skills thus far.  There are many things to discuss with this family regarding their child as some social-emotional issues have surfaced.  We (teacher & parents) have been in contact with at least three other professionals regarding screenings and observations for this particular child.  Each time that the mother hears back from another professional she emails me immediately.  She always follows up the very next time she sees me (at pickup or dropoff each day) to be sure I got her email and to ask for my thoughts, comments, concerns, etc.  This parent has been very diligent in contacting various professionals even when they do not respond in a timely manner.  She understands the importance that good communication can play in her life, my life, and the life of her child.  There is nothing like a motivated mother!!!