Using Communication Skills to Enact Change

When leading policy change two important communication skills that are important to embody are being clear about what you want and giving concrete information.  

According to Helpguide.org (n.d.), when you are communicating clearly you are minimizing the number of ideas that are in a sentence, which makes it easier for the person that you are communicating with to understand what you are saying. By communicating clearly you are also giving the other person clear information that they can use to continue the conversation or to take action if necessary. They do not have to "read between the lines".

“When your message is concrete, then your audience has a clear picture of what you're telling them” (Helpguide.org, n.d., p. 1). By giving them a clear picture you are providing them with direct knowledge of what you are doing. This can also prove that you are not only knowledgeable but that you also have a clear picture of what needs to be done or said. It can also prove that you know what you are doing in the field and make you more creditable.

            Some of my own communication strengths include being able to communicate coherently and providing a complete message so that whomever I am talking to can have a very clear picture of what I am saying. This only goes towards small groups or when I am talking one-on-one, when I am in a large group I am an introvert. This is based on the Communication Anxiety Inventory. I need to work on talking in front of large groups if I want to work to change the current policies in the early childhood field, to make the field better.

Reference

Helpguide.org. (n.d.). Effective communication. Retrieved October 15, 2013,

fromhttp://www.helpguide.org/mental/effective_communication_skills.htm

Social Media’s Influence on Policy Issues

To communicate my policy issue I would use Facebook and Twitter. 

I would use Facebook because it not only allows me to share pictures, it also allows me to share what they call notes. Notes are any post that are over a certain amount of words. It also allows me to be selective of who sees what. I can also start a private group page that could be just for parents. Parents could use the group page to talk to each other or as a source of support from other parents. They could ask questions about things that they may need more information on or help with. I could also use Facebook to share resources with families with links directly to them. There are also a lot of agencies that provide resources that I found parents to be in need of on Facebook.

Twitter has a maximum of a 160 characters that can be posted at a time, this would be a challenge and limit the information that could be shared. Twitter would be good to update families about things that are happening in the community on any given day. It could also be used to ask questions and answer them. It would also be good to give links to other agencies or websites that could be of help to families.

Out of the two I would use Facebook the most because it gives me the freedom to do more and to post detailed information, pictures and live links to other Facebook pages and websites. For example I could write an article on community resources and within the article I can place live links to the resources website and their Facebook page. So if someone was to click on the link,  the link would take them directly to the resources website/Facebook page. 

Dynamics of Early Childhood Policies and Systems Goals

I have worked in the early education field for over 15 years and most of that time has been for a state funded program. Recently I had the pleasure of working on a grant that was for expanding access to full day preschool. I am proud to say that the agency that I work for scored very high on the grant application and we have just received all of the additional funding that was proposed. Working on this grant showed me that even though I help my supervisor out a lot with things she has to do, I really do not know much about how to go about getting funding or how the many different systems of our funded programs work.

One goal that will assist me in becoming more effective and to qualify as a program manager is to learn more about how the systems of funding work from the administration point of view. This will give me the knowledge that I will need to understand what funding sources look for in programs before and after giving them funding. It also will allow me to learn more of the operational system of a non-profit agency which will help me understand when and if I decide to start a non-profit.

Goal number two is to learn how teacher trainings can be geared more towards the need of not only he staff but of families that are served by non-profit agencies. This would include how teachers interact with families that are from different cultures than their own and how they can increase parental involvement in the program.

Goal number three is to gain experience as a program manager so that one day I can run a complete program and not just one child care center. My current course Dynamics of Early Childhood Policies and Systems will help me to develop my understand of all of the complex systems that make up a child development program, this includes not only the children but also their families and their teachers.

 

Final Thoughts EDUC - 7853

My overall experience in this course has been eye opening. I have learned so much about dealing with families from different cultures and how difficult it can be. The course textbook Anti-Bias Education for Young Children and Ourselves, was not only a big help in this course but also has been the most applicable to my work as an early childhood professional. It has given me new insights into families from different cultures and how I can include these cultures in my classroom without it looking like a display just to please families. The book Spirit Catches You And You Fall Down touched me in a way no other book has. It was hard to read about the child being taken away from her parents because they were presumed to be unfit when it was a lack of understanding and communication between the hospital staff and the parents. This story reinforced the need to make sure that there is a staff member that speaks the parents that I serve home language and that all information that is given to families be in their home language so that they can understand it. I also learned from this book and other course readings that if parents or primary caregivers cannot read then we must find other ways of ensuring that they understand the materials that they are given. This could be having someone that speaks their home language explain to them verbally or have a visual drawing of instructions detailing each step that is to be taken. Yes these methods can take more time and cost more money but in the end it is worth it. This will also show families that they are valued and respected, which will help them to build trusting relationships with center staff.  

The Interview Process

The Interview Process

The assignment is to interview two people that work or has experience in the area of my Course Project. I have chosen to interview a program manager for a city funded Family Source Center and a single father that has been off and on homeless since the death of his wife, almost 7 years ago.

      My interview with the program manager has been rescheduled two times already, the second time was during the interview. The center had a family come in that was Spanish speaking only and they needed emergency service and he was the only one there at the time that spoke Spanish. I have to admit that it is kind of fustrating that the interview keeps getting rescheduled but I understand that the families that this program service comes first. I respect him for taking care of the needs of that family before anything else. I have another appointment with him on Monday he is aware that I have to have this interview done this upcoming week so hopefully everything goes as plan.

      I have conducted the interview with the father and I will be finishing up with him Monday evening. This interview has been very hard for me to do. It breaks my heart to hear how this father lost his wife to cancer and how he has tried to provide for his daughter and how people would look at him strange when he would try to get help. His daughter seems to be well adjusted and happy. She is very protective of her father. She wanted to know who I was and why I was talking to her dad and she stayed right next to her father. This made it difficult to ask some of the questions that I wanted to ask him because I did not want to bring up what might be unpleasant memories for her. That is why we will continue on Monday, when she is supposed to be with one of her aunties.

So far in these interviews they have made me thank God that even though I went through a lot growing up that I had the strength to fight to be different than what I knew growing up.

EDUC – 7853: Influences of Family, Culture, and Society in Early Childhood: Course Project Challenge

The challenge that I have selected for my course project is:

Challenge: I would like to research how providing early childhood education services to homeless families can help the development of their children.

Sub-Topic: Providing these services to immigrant and minority families. 

I have selected this topic because recently one of the families that I work with lost their home due to a fire that started in the apartment below them. They lost everything and the mom is also pregnant. They were staying with extended family members but the living situation was not comfortable for them or their children. They were told they had to find somewhere else to go. The mom came to me as the site supervisor and asked for help and I really did not know what to do to help her but send her to our agencies family source center.

Learning what was going on with this family explained the sudden withdrawal of their child, not from the program, but in her interaction with staff and peers. It gave us a better understanding of why she seemed afraid to let her mom go and other changes that had happen. It made me want to learn more about how being homeless can affect the education of young children.

My initial values and beliefs about the development of homeless children is that they need more high quality childcare services than a regular childcare center can offer. They need one that can provide the support that not only the children need but also their whole family and special trained teachers that understand how hard it is for these children.

One question that I have is does being homeless really harm the development of young children? Another question is, how can we as teachers help these young children development in a positive manner?