What Resonates with Me about Early Childhood Public Policy and Advocacy?

When Justin was eight or nine months old, his pediatrician noticed he had low muscle tone and recommended I become involved with the infants and toddlers program.  I thought once Justin learned how to walk, he would no longer need their services.  I did not want my baby labeled due to the fact I felt the teachers would automatically judge him.  The team working with Justin did not explain to me the level of need Justin would require once he made it to school.  They used the term "global delay" which I did not understand as delayed in all areas meaning he would require special education services in order to reach his full potential.  After going through this experience with my son, I became very passionate about helping families with young children understand special education does not mean the end of the world, just requires a unique way of looking at the world.

 

 

Unfortunately, the government can take the beauty out of education.  Advocates can bring the beauty back into education.  Sometimes education can forget our mission to help all children reach their full potential while helping their families.  When the government makes it difficult for us to fulfill our mission by enforcing challenging policies, advocates can be there to remind educators of the beautiful gift we possess with the great responsibility we, as educators, have to encourage children to become productive members of society to ensure our future.

 

I hope to learn how to become a responsible risk taker to provide better opportunities for children and families.  I would like to establish techniques in order to communicate effectively with individuals from various backgrounds and cultures.  I need to learn how to set goals which are realistic.  I would like to also build stamina in order to overcome obstacles which seem impossible to tackle (Kieff, 2009).

 

Reference

 

Kieff, J. (2009).  Informed advocacy in early childhood care and education:  Making a difference for young children and families.  Upper Saddle River, NJ:  Pearson Education, Inc.

"It takes a village to raise a child." -African Proverb-

Continuing Our Communication

 

I have really enjoyed learning more about how to become a more effective communicator.  In my efforts to continue building upon my skills, I would like to continue to keep in contact with you.  Please feel free to email me at

 

rojackson1976@gmail.com

 

 

I would like to give a great big thank you to my colleagues and Dr. Dartt for a wonderful class!

 

 

Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

"It takes a village to raise a child." -African Proverb-

Saying "Good-bye" or "See you soon"!

Adjourning put the word "teamwork" into a new light.  I did not think about the time I would have to participate in the adjourning process when it came to the completion of my master's degree program.  It is important to reflect on our accomplishments in order to stay encouraged.  We will endeavor on different projects where we will need to remember our accomplishments while working on our master's degree.  Our failures needed to be reflected on also.  Our ultimate goal is to meet the needs of our young children and their families in order to sustain our future.  We need to analyze our failures to try new techniques and ideas.  I hope to maintain the relationships developed with my colleagues through the duration of our program.  I would like to use my blog as a contact source to keep in contact with my colleagues in my program.  As we grow professionally, we will need encouragement and someone on the outside of the situation to collaborate with in order to receive additional ideas. 

I think high performing groups are difficult to leave due to the fact of feeling productive and useful.  I would see results.  Groups, where the norms are clear, are also hard to leave due to the fact everyone feels essential on the team and their strengths are appreciated to meet the overall goal.  The hardest group I had to leave was the group with the norms which were clear.  I enjoyed having my talents used to enhance the team to meet the goal. 

"It takes a village to raise a child." -African Proverb-

Conflict Resolution

I have a colleague which is very defensive.  Unfortunately, my supervisor does not support me wen the colleague attacks me.  I have learned to watch what is going on in my work environment and how the colleague is behaving without being judgmental.  As I am observing the situation, I need to be thinking about words to communicate my ideas without coming across being crutical.  My colleagues need to feel they can trust the fact that I am not trying to do anything intentional to hurt then or mislead them. 

 

I need to focus on the outcome I want instead of what I do not want.  When colleagues try to demand something form me, I can change the negative tone to a positive tone by making it a request.  Adults do not want to be treated like children.  Children want to be seen as humans.  Ultimately, humans want to know they are heard and their point of view is valuble.  I have learned that a major way to resolve conflict is to listen.

 

 

www.cnvc.org/training/NVC-concepts

"It takes a villiage to raise a child." -African Proverb-

Perception

I was surprised to find out that self-denigration can prevent the needed improvement.  It is one thing to recognize your weakness though it is unhealthy to attack yourself or self-denigration.  It can be very overwhelming making sure all families feel comfortable at our facilities and it may not come together the way we expect.  We still do not want to commit self-denigration.  In order to escape self-denigration, we need to redirect our energy to positive experiences to promote positive communication (O'Hair & Weimann, 2012).

 

 

Self-concept is very powerful when communicating with others.  The way we view ourselves through examining our strengths and weakness effects when or how we communicate with others.  Our perception of ourselves causes us to think about others through the way we view ourselves.  Social comparison also plays a large role in how we view others next to ourselves.  We may view ourselves as more of an expert on children than the families we work with in our facilities.  As a member of the infants and toddlers program, I see myself as an asset to the team due to the fact that my child went through the program and understand what many of the families are going through.  Currently, I am not a highly qualified teacher and I am unable to assess or provide services to the children in the program (O'Hair & Weimann, 2012).

 

Individuals with high self-esteem typically demonstrates more confidence in their interpersonal relationships.  They feel they have the necessary skills to make others smile when they smile.  I learned that individuals with low self-esteem will flaunt that fact they are in a relationship by showing an abundance of affection in public to show they are loved.  Those individuals which are confident in who they are tend not to flaunt their abilities or look for others to tell them they are doing good work.  The service providers who are good at their jobs do not boast about their skills and are team players.  The service providers which has low self-esteem are not team players and think the team is out to get them when helpful information is shared (O'Hair & Weimann, 2012).

 

When it comes to self-efficacy, it is not good for the individuals to be overconfident in their ability.  We model techniques to assist parents in their children reaching their full potential.  There needs to be a confidence of knowing we can teach children with various abilities while incorporating the unique attributes of their cultures.  As an early childhood professional, it would be beneficial to understand that even though we are responsible for educating society about the importance of early learning, we still have to realize there is so much to learn from or families (O'Hair & Weimann, 2012).

 

Reference

 

O’Hair, D. & Wiemann, M. (2012).  Real Communication:  An introduction.  New York:  Bedford/St. Martin’s.





"It takes a village to raise a child." -African Proverb-

Communicating Differently

 

I do communicate differently with colleagues at work than my family.  When I communicate with my colleagues, I do not speak about personal concerns in my life.  I keep the conversation about assisting the families we work with and meeting their needs.  I discuss the bare minimum about my personal life and usually only if it is an issue which will cause me not to be in the office.  I avoid having a personal conversation with my colleagues at work.

 

I am more comfortable being myself with my sister.  I do not feel the need to watch how I say things due to the fact she understands who I am.  We have a similar point of view politically where we can celebrate when certain people are elected into office.  We also value the principles of Christianity and support each other accordingly.  I have know my sister since I was two and half years old and we have a history which can not be forgotten.  My sister is a part of who I am and love.

 

Unlike my colleagues at work, my sister appreciates me for who I am.  I can trust that she will not lie to me and will communicate ideas to help me instead of hurt me.  Since this is the case, I feel more comfortable communicating with my sister than my colleagues at work.  I am also confident that she will not use what I say against me and truly consider my point of view.  My sister communicates her love for me and concern for my overall well-being.  In knowing my sister genuinely cares for me, I am more inclined to communicate with her about my personal and professional life.

"It takes a village to raise a child." -African Proverb-

Communication with Archer

Archer is the main character in the show.  In the episode I watched, a solider in uniform shocked Archer with jumper cables.  A distinguished lady with a suit seems to be Archer's boss.  She tells others to do things to him.  The lady with the tall boots and brown hair is his partner.  They became intimate.  After that, their relationship became more childish in nature, by knocking items out of Archer's hands.  Many of the women Archer comes in contact with have intimate relationships with him.  The relationships turn into relationships without trust and/or disgust.  Archer seems to manipulate his relationships and in turn, people find it difficult to trust or understand why he does certain things.

 

I feel the characters in the show do not like Archer.  The body language expressed that people do not believe what Archer tells them after they learn he will manipulate the situation.  The characters expressed nonverbally their dislike for the way Archer presents himself both professionally and personally.  Archer seemed to ignore their non-verbal cures.

 

The assumptions I made was the woman in the suit was Archer's boss and the woman with the tall boots and brown hair was his partner.  I assumed the man in the uniform was trying to harm Archer by getting him to tell secrets.  The assumptions I did make were correct about the relationships.  The assumptions about the details about how the relationships came to be was inaccurate.

 

The lady I thought was Archer's boss is his mother.  The lady with the tall boots and brown hair was Archer girlfriend for several months.  The man in the uniform worked with Archer and his mother told the man in uniform to simulate a very uncomfortable situation to test if he would revel the secrets.  The man in the uniform was found later in the episode that he was a spy.

 

I feel I would have been more accurate with a show I have seen before.  I would understand the details of the characters.  I would have a better understanding about why they make certain decision and how they feel about different ideas.  I would also have a better idea of the inner working of the show.  I feel I have developed a relationship with the characters in the show I enjoyed watching.



"It takes a village to raise a child." -African Proverb-