Using Communication Skills to Enact Change

Speaking in public is not always a comfortable or smooth process; however it is important to be confident and comprehensible when communicating leading policy change. I think one part of being confident when communicating policy change comes from being knowledgeable about the topic you are presenting to your audience, which is legislator. Once educators demonstrate their knowledge about children and families and use their power of advocacy regarding early childhood education, they are able to provide a clear explanation to representatives who do not have a background in education on the matter at hand. Representatives or senators are the only ones that can guide a policy through the process, so in order to influence legislators, your message must be clear and establishing a relationship through face-to-face meetings becomes a more effective way of communicating.

My communication strengths consist of being comfortable and knowledgeable of a subject; therefore, I have no problem talking to small or large groups. In most cases my comfort level on topics like early childhood education, becomes a natural process whether I am speaking or advocating for early childhood education. According to the “communication anxiety questionnaire”, which measures my communication level, it stated that I feel comfortable in most situations and feel confident in anticipating such encounters. I have to be honest, there have been times when I am nervous speaking to different size groups of people, but I make sure to be prepared with an agenda, therefore, I won’t forget to say something that could be of major importance. In contrast to my strengths, according to the “communication anxiety questionnaire”, one of the results stated that I feel somewhat concerned about a number of communication contexts, but probably not all. This mid-point level of communication anxiety is what they call “situational”. I believe the passion of the speaker is what makes the communication effective.

Reference

Laureate Education (Producer). (2011). Communication anxiety [Interactive media]. Retrieved

from https://class.waldenu.edu

Pillow-Price, K. L. (2009). Influencing legislation—Advocacy basics. Dimensions of Early

Childhood, 37(3), 18–23.

Social Media's Influence on Policy Issues

The age of technology has provided us with the World Wide Web (www), that became the information system on things we were in search of and we also have the convenience of communicating quickly through blogs, emails, and phone texts. Now social media has become the wave of communication. With social media, opinions can be expressed, braking news can be shared, and information on social issues becomes public. The generation of social media evolved into many names, such as MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Tumblr. There are so many options to choose from; however choosing a social media that would generate the information needed to the desired population is important.    

A policy that I am interested in, involves “Recognizing Qualified Family Childcare Programs to Implement Universal Pre-K Programs”. Social media could be a route that would generate multiple attention and support to my policy. The use of Facebook and LinkedIn would be the two social media that I would connect to in order to communicate my policy issues. My Facebook audience would consist of colleagues and parents that are in the shared arena of early childcare education and has the same views. These colleagues and parents may share information on my policy to their associated colleagues; therefore adding more supporters of my policy. My LinkedIn audience would be professionals in education and the political field. By linking with those audiences it may also increase addition support to my policy.

The reason I would use those two social media is to exchange opinions that would bring new insight than officials and for government to adopt citizens’ ideas in the policy proposal making and decision stages. One challenge in using both social medium is making sure that the information provided about the reasons for the policy is correct. According to June, Hong, and Sung-Min (2011), it is important that what is said on social media is truthful and carefully stated because once information is posted into social media there is no turning back. Another challenge for using social media is getting additional audience to support your policy, for example, your audience may be the same people you communicate with often. In a case study, “The Advance Michigan Project”, there was an attempt to use social media to engage with stakeholders; however, one of many challenges they encountered was not attracting a wide group of stakeholders in Michigan, but the same audiences they already had (Lampe, LaRose, Steinfield, & DeMaagd, 2011).

In my opinion, social media may have its benefits and challenges; however it is a major source of communication and it all depends on how it is used.

Reference

June, P., Hong, C., & Sung-Min, P. (2011). Social media's impact on policy making. SERI

Quarterly, 4(4), 125–129.

Kagan, S. L., & Kauerz, K. (Eds.). (2012). Early childhood systems: Transforming early

learning. New York, NY: Teachers College Press.

Lampe, C., LaRose, R., Steinfield, C., & DeMaagd, K. (2011). Inherent barriers to the use of

social media for public policy informatics, Innovation Journal, 16(1), 1-17.

Reflecting on Early Childhood Systems

When I reflect on what I knew about early childhood systems and public policies, it all seems from rules and regulations, because of my past experience as a family childcare provider. My major concern was making sure I was in compliance with what was required by my state licensing agency, which was Bright from the Start (BFTS). When I was a family childcare provider in the 1990s' there were not any early childhood systems and public policies that provided financial assistance to family childcare providers that I knew of.

After I stopped family childcare and proceeded into the position of an Early Care and Education Specialist at a resource and referral (R & R) agency, I learned that the R&R agency were granted federal funding to assist family child care providers with accreditation, developmental appropriate materials, and professional development training classes; however the agency would recruit family childcare providers by telephone in order to reach their quota. With that type of procedure in place, if a family childcare provider was not contacted they were basically not in the pool for the benefits. In some instances funding would be offered to the same set of family childcare providers due to past experience. Personally, I did not think it was fair to give the benefits to the same family childcare providers over and over again. I took it upon myself to advocate by making sure to recruit different family childcare providers regardless of their status. My reason for doing so was to give family childcare providers an opportunity of creating their childcare program into a quality childcare program.

Presently in one of my roles as an independent state approved early childcare instructor for my nonprofit company, I have the pleasure of meeting and interacting with family childcare providers and childcare center staff. Three goals that might assist me in becoming more effective in my professional role consist of connecting with state agencies that would grant federal funding to my company, so I could offer free professional development training to family childcare providers and center staff. To accomplish this goal, I would have to navigate The Early Care and Education Systems that embraces the full scope of early childhood care and education setting such as family childcare. The goal of including technical assistance to family childcare providers into my services would give me the opportunity to assist them in creating a quality program by applying what they learned from their professional development training classes. Since Quality Rating is evident in the State of Georgia, by navigating the Quality Rating and Improvement Systems, I am able to assist family childcare providers with developing high quality childcare services and environments that parents are able see. Another goal that would not only benefit the early childcare educators that are seeking services from my company; are the benefits, which involves myself seeking professional development in order to provide quality services to my participants. Professional Development in Early Childhood Systems would be navigated for the trainee and the trainer as well. As instructors we too have to seek knowledge in order to teach knowledge. Being current with rule, regulations, and policies allow me to guide family childcare providers in the path that is required by the state in order to provide quality services to children and their families.

Build Initiative. (2013). Early childhood systems building. Retrieved

fromhttp://www.buildinitiative.org/TheIssues/SystemsBuilding.aspx 

Kagan, S. L., & Kauerz, K. (Eds.). (2012). Early childhood systems: Transforming early

 learning. New York, NY: Teachers College Press.

Final Thoughts

I had the opportunity to complete the course titled, “Influences of Family, Culture, and Society in Early Childhood”, at Walden University. The course focused on creating an anti-bias environment for young children. According to Derman and Edwards (2010), the learning of stereotypes and misconceptions about various aspects of human diversity “begin when we are very young, taught initially and most powerfully by our family and then by the larger world around us” (pg. 23). Because biases can develop at a young age, teachers have to become the buffer of biases by incorporating an anti-bias environment for the children. When children are only exposed to negative, relating to a certain ethnic/cultural group, they are likely to carry out bias behaviors among other children in that ethnic/cultural group (Derman & Edwards, 2010).

I enjoyed reading “The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down” by Anne Fadiman (2012). This book kept me in amazement to how human beings can be so court up into their own world and microsystems, which influences our values and beliefs, that we become stuck into a box in which we place everyone else in. There was such a separation of culture that the bridge of communication never connected until it was too late. In the book, the perception of both the Hmong family and the United States doctors about each other created barriers that affected a child’s health, Lia’s health. Although neither one of the ethnic groups were going to be converted to each other’s beliefs, communication and respect would have depleted microaggressions.

In the course, I was able to select a course project that I was concerned about and wanted to learn more about. The topic I choose was “Same-sex Families in Early Childhood Education Programs”. While researching this topic, I was very surprise of how much the state and federal policies and laws affected children from same-sex families. Some laws and policies deny children of same-sex couple’s equal access to legal rights and benefits that contribute to children facing significant social barriers and threats to their well-being, although it is stated that the state provides all adults who are raising children with the material resources and support necessary to be good parents and encourage and support individuals who want to care for children that is capable of child-rearing (Garrett & Lantos, 2013).

As a teacher educator the course motivated me to encourage upcoming early childcare teachers to provide children and their families that enter into their program with an anti-bias curriculum and inclusive environment. I am able to provide teachers with strategies consist of considering whether your language consistently includes all children, if it excludes any child, it is not the right choice of words, discuss similarities and differences, and choose children’s books that portray many different types of families (Burt, Gelnaw, & Lesser, 2010).

Reference:

Bronfenbrenner, U. (1994). Ecological models of human development. International

Encyclopedia of Education, 3(2), 1643–1647. Retrieved from

http://www.psy.cmu.edu/~siegler/35bronfebrenner94.pdf

Burt, T., Gelnaw, A., & Lesser, L. (2010). Creating welcoming and inclusive environments for

lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) families in early childhood

settings. Young Children, 65(1), 97–102.

Derman-Sparks, L., & Edwards, J. O. (2010). Anti-bias education for young children

 and ourselves. Washington, DC: National Association for the Education of Young

 Children.

Fadiman, A. (2012). The spirit catches you and you fall down: A Hmong child, her American

doctors, and the collision of two cultures. New York, NY: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux.

Garrett, R. J. & Lantos, D. J. (February 25, 2013), Marriage and the well-being of children.

Journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics, 131(3), 559-563. doi: 10.1542/peds.2012-2665

The Interview Process-"Same-sex Families in Early Childcare Programs"

 I had the opportunity to interview two colleagues regarding "Same-sex families in early childcare programs". My interview process was successful even with one early childhood colleague relocated in the Middle East. I believe my course project/subject matter "Same-sex families in early childcare programs,"was surprising to the colleague that is relocated in the Middle East; however, she stated that the same concerns and desires for same-sex families' children are the same as everyone else and that wanting the best situation for children are the ultimate goal for early childhood educators.
My second interviewee lived locally, therefore, I was able to get more detailed answers for my questions. My colleague explained that although same-sex families were not as popular in her time, she was taught multiculturalism, diversity, and tolerance; and that she was neutral when it came to her own assumptions or biases about gays and lesbians. However overtime, she moved from neutrality to advocacy. This colleague also states that early childhood educators can figure out what is the best way to provide the optimal experience for the child and their family regardless of their dynamics.
The ideas that were expressed by both interviewees that I most connected with is that our beliefs were influential in our lives; however charity/love is a powerful influential part of our beliefs, which provides us with the understanding that in our field ALL children deserves high quality education and ALL families need to feel safe and welcome in early childcare programs. We are here to teach and not judge! 

QUESTION:

How can early childcare educators teach resiliency to young children from same-sex families? 

Reference 

Lee, G. (2010). Gay mothers and early childhood education: Standing tall. Australasian Journal

of Early Childhood, 25(1), 16-23.

Pizzolongo, P. J., & Hunter, A. (2011). I am safe and secure: Promoting resilience in young children. Young Children 66(2), 67–69. Retrieved from the Walden Library databases.

Same Sex Families in Early Childcare Education Programs

As I researched about different childcare facilities and why they were established, it was mainly for your typical families that consisted of a mother/female and father/male. Although the mention of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) families were not popular during the age of early childhood education facilities, those types of families are very evident today in childcare programs. The topic of LGBT families can be a sensitive issue to some educators and as an educator educating some adult teachers that are Lesbians, Gays, Bisexual, and Transgender, I have to be aware of any biases presented in my classroom and teach about anti-bias education. Although my religion is a strong since of who I am today and plays an important part in my life, I believe my role as an educator is to show love and respect to my students and their families. My religion is never pushed aside in order to please the masses, however my focus is to make sure early childhood education (ECE) teachers are open-minded to the changes in family structures, raise awareness, and be proactive in developing an inclusive classroom.
   
As educators, we have to understand that The NAEYC Code of Ethical Conduct (2012) explained that “above all, we shall not harm children”. Educators have to be careful not to harm children and families through personal assumptions or biases and institutionalized silence.The relationship children develop with their families provide them with self-awareness and acknowledgement of identity. Early childhood educators need to acknowledge and respect all family structures that are real in children’s world. By creating a welcoming environment for all families, children develop trust and belonging among their teachers and school environment.

QUESTIONS:

1. What ways can early childhood educators approach implementing same sex families in early childcare programs?
2. How do you feel about Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender early childhood educators teaching young children?

  

References

Burt, T., Gelnaw, A., & Lesser, L. (2010). Creating welcoming and inclusive environments for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) families in early childhood 

settings. Young Children, 65(1), 97–102. 

Derman-Sparks, L., & Edwards, J. O. (2010). Anti-bias education for young children

and ourselves. Washington, DC: National Association for the Education of Young Children.

Feeney, S., Freeman, N., & Pizzolongo, J. P. (2012). Ethics and the early childhood educator. Washington, DC: National Association for the Education of Young Children.

What are we practicing?

Developmentally Appropriate Practice (DAP)

What are we really practicing?
As an instructor, I teach a child abuse class to child care providers and teachers and during my session on emotional abuse, we discuss the unreasonable demands that are placed on children, however everyone always think of the parents as the abuser. As we talk about what is emotional abuse and how it frequently occurs as verbal abuse, but can also include the following: rejection, terrorizing, shameful forms of punishment withholding physical and emotional contact; developmentally inappropriate expectations. Emotional abuse is usually not an isolated incident, but instead it is a pattern of behavior that occurs over a period of time.

My "aha" moment reflects on how many educators demonstrates developmentally inappropriate expectations on young children and call it advancement. I encountered early child care educators putting inappropriate demands on children as young as two to write their names, color in the lines, count to 100, and know their alphabets and bragged about it. I am aware that there are some children that could develop a high intellectual level of knowledge, however all children are not alike. When educators tell me that their newly turned two year all could do those things, I can't help to ask the question "what did it take for them to do or know those things"?

Children are being forced to advance into learning levels that are not within their age or capability. I do believe that educators need to provide children opportunities to scaffold into the different learning domains, of physical, cognitive, language, social, and emotional skills only if the child was assists and observed. To some educators, developmentally appropriate practice (DAP) means academics and less play time, on the contrary DAP promotes play into children's daily learning. Educators need to stop using children as their bragging rights and concentrate on the children's emotional well being.

In my blog you will see some early childcare associations and resources that reflects on the importance of implementing developmentally appropriate practice in children's daily learning and developmentally appropriate materials in the childcare environment to provide children with open-ended play. 

*What are you practicing in early childhood education and why?

Bredekamp, S. & Copple, C. (2009). Development appropriate practice in early childhood programs serving children from birth through age 8. Washington, DC: National Association for the Education of Young Children