Gender, Gender Identity, and Sexual Orientation

Homophobia and heterosexism have permeated the world of young children in several ways. In our culture it is implanted that the traditional family that consists of a man and female has the norm. In the early childhood centers and schools you have many books on families in which have a mother and father that live in a happy home usually with a pet. When it comes to toys of families it is the same way.  When watching movies in the classroom you never see one where the couples are of the same sex.

I believe that has an educator childhood center should not exclude books that depict gay or lesbian individuals especially since we live in a world that allows them to be a married couple. In our world there are many same sex couples that are raising children and they will be going to these schools so it means we need to teach the other children this can be counted has a family too.

If I were in a situation where a parent didn’t want their child in a classroom with a homosexual or transgender person I would tell them that we have a curriculum that we follow and that the sexual orientation of the others should not be a problem when it comes to their child’s education. But after explaining all this and they still feel that way I would tell them maybe they should look elsewhere.

I cannot ever remember using any of these terms but have heard people use them. My nephew called his uncle gay along with friends even singing a song. This made him horrible because he is gay and he thought that his nephew cared about him. When children hear this from an adult or parent they will do the same and more than likely they do not know what the word means they are just repeating what they hear. This can lead the child to being prejudice to others. This can have a negative effect on a child and make a child feel bad. I have a boy in my class that is being raise by his gay grandmother and her partner and a child ask her if she was a man or woman. This was because he had heard someone else made that comment.

 

 

 

 

THANK YOU AND GOOD-BYE

I would like to say thank you and good-bye to my colleagues and Dr. Williams, you all have taught me so much on communication and the strategies needed to improve them. When it came to our discussions and blogs you all gave me so many things to think about what I was doing right and what I was doing wrong. I knew some of you from all classes and enjoyed meeting the new ones.  I hope has we continue in our future classes that I will once again get to see you all again. If I don’t I wish you all the luck in your profession and in your continuing education. Thank You for being a small part of my learning process.  If any of you would like to keep in touch my blog will be up and look me up on Facebook Mary Cowles.  Good luck and may God continue giving you blessings.

Adjourning and Saying Good-bye

Once a group has meant its goal and objective it moves to the adjourning stage. This stage is vital in teamwork because at some point the team splints up and we can share with others what we have learned and can adjourn with a positive ending. The closing rituals that we had was we had a farewell get together we gave each other hugs, high fives and set a date for a time to get together after the carnival.

The hardest group that I had to leave was when I transferred to a new school to work at. The first job that I had working at a school my co-workers and I had to play the school carnival and we all came in with a positive attitude and great ideals. Even though we all worked in different grade levels we still had a great time and grew together both personally and professionally. Those are the times I will remember even though I left we still get together at least 2 or 3 times a year. When my husband died I got the greatest support from the group that I worked together with and we have an everlasting bond.

 As our time is getting close to leave with our Master’s degree I feel that has I adjourn from all of my colleagues at Walden I will feel sad but happy at the same time. I will feel sad because I will miss my classmates and professors that I learned so much from. I will be happy because I would have fulfilled my dream of getting my degree that I have always wanted. Even though we are saying good-bye to each other but hopefully stay in contact through e-mails and Facebook.

Coflicts

One personal conflict that I have had is with my daughter-in-law this is something that happens a lot. If anyone could give me some advice that would help it would be great. This conflict happened last weekend when I took my grandsons home. I have them every weekend so she can get things done around the house. Well what happen was I was sick and told her that I would not have them all weekend, well her reaction was so I will not get a break from the boys, not caring one bit how I was feeling and a good chance they would get sick. Well has usual I took them and my special needs grandson’s behavior was worse than usual and with me not feeling well it really got to me. I called her when I was bringing them home (if I don’t she gets mad) and was telling her about what happened and she started yelling at me. What she said was that every time I take the boys I always complain about his behavior. I try to explain that I am not complaining I just want her to know so she can let his therapist know. I know that having a child with special need can cause someone to feel stressed and I try to feel empathetic but she makes it so hard with her attitude. She knows I work with children with special needs every day and I try to help her with my grandson by giving her books and information that I gather for her. The two strategies that I learned and used was respect and honesty which did not seem to matter because she just yelled and put me down about not wanting to spend time with my grandsons. I talked to my co-worker about this and she said that I should just ignore and to stop telling her when a meltdown happens with him. I think that both nonviolent communication and the 3 R’s could both be helpful in this situation because it teaches us the best way to express ourselves but also to be compassionate to the needs of the one we are talking with.

Communications Eval

Verbal Aggressiveness Scale 67 moderate

Communication Anxiety Inventory 53 moderate

When I assessed myself as a communicator I obtained a 67 on the verbal aggressiveness scale assessment in which I maintain a good balance between respect and consideration for others’ viewpoints, and the ability to argue fairly by attacking the facts of a position rather than the person holding that position. On the communication anxiety inventory assessment I got a 53, in which it reported that I feel concerned about a number of communication contexts, but probably not all. This is known has mid-point anxiety is called “situational.”

After I finished evaluating myself I had my son and a colleague of mine to evaluate. On the verbal aggressiveness scale my son scored me at 55 and my colleague scored me at a 53 which is still in the range that I scored myself. When it came to the communication anxiety inventory my son scored me at a 35 while my colleague scored me at a 47, so my son puts me in a different category than what I put myself in. So my son put in the mild which states that I feel uneasy in some communication and confident in other situations but to him communication is something that I worry about.

One insight about communication that I gained this week are to be aware about how we labeled individuals because as negative labels can lead to bias, which are negative feelings toward another group. The second one is to recognize my own self-concept and how it may affect my communication. We need to be able to evaluate ourselves to genuinely understand ourselves and what may impact us. By us recognizing these two insights they can help us in our professional work and in our personal life as we encounter new people and gain more opportunities.

Communicating Differently

 

 

When it comes to communicating with different groups and cultures I communicate with them like I do with everyone. I would like to believe that I am a sociable person. When diversity is present I believe you should treat and talk to everyone in the same way. Though when it comes to children I feel you need to get down to their level and talk in a language that is appropriate for their age whatever it may be. One thing is that I believe that we all can still learn more when it comes to ways of communicating with others. I want to talk and treat people the way I would want someone to treat me or my family. When talking to others I want to make sure that any non- verbal gestures are shown in a positive message and most important is to listen than answer.

Some strategies that I learned this week and would use are make sure to keep eye contact and make sure it is positive and friendly. Make sure that I talk slowly and clearly so that they can understand what I am saying and keep it simple. I would want to make sure that I show respect and empathy  for those who do not speak English.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Dr. Phil show

The show I picked to watch was one that I always wanted to watch but never have and that was Dr. Phil. When watching it with the sound off I could see many non –verbal communications.  Communication was stern and there was hardly any eye between the guest and Dr. Phil. There were many times that they were looking down at the floor instead of each other. Dr. Phil was sitting on the edge of his seat leaning towards the person that he was speaking to. He seemed to be trying to get the guest to make eye contact with him. One thing I was that Dr. Phil talks with his hands countless times during his show.  Than it seem that the guest started following his lead also and started to make a lot of hand gestures though his seem to be done more intentional as he spoke each word with a hand gesture accompanied with it.

When I turned on the sound for the rest of the show I was surprise at the voice tones made by Dr. Phil and the guest.  They were all defensive and most of the time they wanted to be heard and not listen well to each other.  There facial expressions were stiff and sarcastic at times with words and gestures.
Dr. Phil was trying to take implications from every side then tried to give his best educated guess about what he deduces about the situation. Both parties used non-verbal messages or gestures.
I thought this because there was no doubt when something was said, "smiled, frown, or gestured as you speak or when you use a particular tone or volume while talking"(Giles & LePoire, 2006/ O'Hair, Weimann, Mullin, & Teven, 2015, pp.94).
There were times while being crossed examined by Dr. Phil that he caught them saying one thing and writing or sending in something totally different.  Then they began to stamper, stutter, and give many nonverbal gestures communicating their hatred and displeasure of the way he was responding and his verbal way of communicating when he discovered they were wrong. 

Giles & LePoire, 2006/ O'Hair, Weimann, Mullin, & Teven, 2015, pp.94