Relationship Reflection

I believe that the relationships and partnerships are important to every living, breathing human being. We are social creatures and need to have human interactions. That is a part of us from the birth. We come to this world with a cry and goes on communicating till we loose our last breath. For me personally, the relationships are precious. Growing up, everyone thought that I can even talk to a wall if I am alone and I believe that I am still the same. I value human interactions. I am not a much of a technological person, I enjoy face time with people. Relationships can be family, professional and personal for me. Especially, as a person who is living in a place where there are no other blood-relatives around, I take my relationships in my neighborhood, community, school district and the work place seriously. All of these relationships are priceless to me.

       Several people with whom I currently have positive relationships and/or partnerships.....

I am going to look at my relationships and partnerships beyond my immediate family or extended family as they all are overseas. I am paying attention to my personal and professional relationships.

My friendships at work are positive relationships as well as partnerships. They are my family away from home. They are always there for me. It is a bond and a trust between us than a workplace relationship. We do not have much time to interact with each other everyday though we are under the same roof. But we all know in our hearts that we are there for each other. We all take a moment to check on each other during our lunch break everyday, as communication among us matters to all of us. This same rule goes for the families. I do my best to greet any family I meet in the hallways of the building. It does not matter whether they are from my classroom or a different classroom. Face to face communication, with all the families of the classroom is not possible as most of the children use the school buses. Still, a note, news letters, and mostly the phone calls are some of my ways to keep the relationships healthy.

 My friendship with few families that I met through my involvement with local school district is an important relationship as well. . We are working together for the benefit of the children of the district. They are always there for my family. The most important part in our relationships is the understanding of the diversity. Accepting the differences and seeing the uniqueness is most important to us. Even though we are working parents, we are always there for our children. The children also know that they can call any of the parents and they are going to be safe with them.

The ways in which each relationship is positive and factors that contributed to developing and maintaining each relationship...

At the work place, we keep open communication lines regarding life, work, children and much more. We have each others back. We remind each other about what is coming, what is due. We cover for each other in case of an emergency. It is the understanding of our strengths, weaknesses and positive interactions that is very important to us. Understanding diversity is an important factor at work as well since we are serving a diverse community and we have a diverse community at work as well. Trusting each other, keeping the priorities in order, understanding and valuing each other are contributing factor as well.   

    Insights regarding challenges to developing and maintaining relationships that I have learned from my experience over time....

Personal biases are a huge challenge when it comes to developing and maintaining relationships. Especially, when it comes to a person from another culture, I have to admit that developing relationships are not always easy. But I do believe I am quick to get the clues regarding whether people are open minded or not and I do move on. Finding time is another barrier. As family, work and school take over my days, it is tough to find time. But most of my friends do understand the circumstances as these issues are very common in most of their lives as well. Keeping up with relationships are hard, sometimes it is better to give space and move on and let the other person watch from the side,. I always try to understand who I am comfortable with and then build the relationship from there on. My personal experiences give me the opportunity to understand the unwillingness or frustrations of the families that I work with. I try my best to get them comfortable with the program and the classroom first, as I know how I felt leaving my child at pre-school for the first time.   

Special characteristics of the relationships... 

  A special characteristic of all the partnerships that I have is a relationship of kindness and willingness to understand. I do look different and speak different but that does not say who I am. They put time and effort to understand who I am and what I stand for. They taught me plenty about the life in America. They have shown me again and again that they care about the well being of my family and me. This is a common factor in my personal and professional relationships.  

     My experiences with relationships/partnerships, including my ability to be an active, reflective contributor, impact my work as an effective early childhood professional..

As I am working in a very diverse community, my own experiences have guided me in so many ways. One of those is the relationship building. I am pleased with the relationships that I have developed with the families that I work with.  I am not saying that it is easy, but it is less complicated when the basic understanding is already there. I do try to make parents understand that their knowledge of the child is important to the teachers and that their contribution to the program and to their child’s education is highly appreciated. Moreover, I try to get the families involved in decision making regarding their child’s education as well as the policies and standards of the program. I truly believe that family’s involvement in their child’s education has an impact on the child and the family. My involvement with my child’s pre-school education is the biggest reason behind me becoming an early childhood educator.