Reflecting on Communication in the Early Childhood Field

Dear Colleagues,

Another course is coming to end.

Another eight week session is coming to the end.

We learnt together, shared our wisdom, struggled with our time,

But we are moving on to the next course.

We worked together from far away places,

We connected through the discussion and blog,

It seems we all know each other and are much closer,

We all have one goal and that is to make the early childhood arena a better one for the children of the world.

Even though we are getting closer to the end of this journey

I hope that we all will keep in touch with each other

So we can still share ideas, thoughts and wisdom

I personally would love to keep in touch with everyone

If you would like to, here is my e-mail address    

I wish everyone the best of luck for the next course

I hope everyone would keep in touch

May your vision and goals be successful

May the early childhood arena be the best in the world

Much love and thanks to all the wonderful educators


 venuri.bodara-gamage@waldenu.edu

          This is my Walden e-mail and if you would like to be in touch with me please write to this address and I will share my personal e-mail address with you. Thank you!!!

Happy holidays take care enjoy this wonderful time of the year!!!

TEAM BUILDING AND COLLABORATION- PART 1

“This week you read about the five stages of team development: forming, storming, norming, performing, and adjourning. Consider the adjourning phase for several of the groups in which you have been involved”.

·     Think about which aspects of the groups made for the hardest good-bye.

For me personally it is hard to leave a group after familiarized with each and every individual for who they are. There is a personal bond/relationship already created among the members. The connection makes the members closer to each other as of a family.
It is hard to leave a group in the middle of accomplishing the vision and goals that the group agreed upon.

·         Are high-performing groups hardest to leave?

For me it would be hard to leave a high-performing group because I would enjoy the success of the group. When I see the success of the hard work I have put in as a team/group member it could motivate me to work harder for the better results for the team. As a person who is influenced by strong work ethics, I would have a hard time leaving a high-performing group.

       Groups with the clearest established norms? Which of the groups that you participated in was hardest to leave?

I do not have much experience in participating and leaving groups or teams. But one group that I was involved and had clearest established norms was my previous employment.

·         Why?

It was owned by a former educator. She had all the good intentions, vision, and a great plan. She is a very organized person herself, and she managed a very organized program with very up-to-date rules, routines, protocols and procedures. She was a great leader. Just as Dr .Wolfe explained, the role of a leader also is that they’re the ones who have to represent hope (Laureate Education, 2011). She always represented hope and appreciation of the hard work was never underestimated. The group was a very diverse one and so did the children and families of the program. Everyone respected the differences and valued the opinions. Unfortunately, she had to down size her program. So she decided to move it back to her own home, where she first started. For me it was a long drive and I did not want to work that far away from my kindergartner. So I had to make the unfortunate decision of saying good bye.

·     What sorts of closing rituals have you experienced or wish you had experienced?

I am not a good candidate for any kind closing rituals. I have the tendency of having emotional attachments and at the end I feel sad. But saying proper goodbye is important to me because I believe that the opportunity to meet with the same individuals is possible. When we were leaving the program our director/owner had a get together at her home. She took care of every little detail of the event. It was recognition of service, appreciation of hard work, as well as a saying goodbye. I think it is important to have proper goodbyes because it brings closure to everyone. 

·         How do you imagine that you will adjourn from the group of colleagues you have formed while working on your master’s degree in this program?

I hope that there will be a way for us to keep in touch and share wisdom, knowledge, visions for the best of the early childhood arena. I personally believe that we have an understanding among us and a strong relationship. At the beginning of every course, I look for the names that I am familiar with because of the connection and understanding that I have with my online colleagues. Nothing against the new colleagues, but most of us are working together from the very first course. So we learnt together and learnt from each other so far and this will continue, I hope there will be ways for us to keep in touch.

·         Why is adjourning an essential stage of teamwork?

In the adjourning stage the project is coming to an end and the team members are moving off into different directions (Abudi G, 2011). During adjourning stage group/team members get the opportunity to analyze their success and failures. This is an essential part of the adjourning and very helpful procedure for the individuals regarding the success of their next project. Members may also opt to maintain friendships even if they will no longer be working together (O'Hair, & Wiemann, 2009). I personally believe that adjourning is an essential stage of teamwork.

References:

 Abudi, G. (2010). The five stages of team development: A case study. Retrieved from http://www.projectsmart.co.uk/the-five-stages-of-team-development-a-case-study.html

O’Hair, D., & Wiemann, M. (2009). Real communication: An introduction. New York: Bedford/St. Martin’s.

Blog Assignment 05

When I was reading this assignment there is one situation that came to my mind. My friend who is a part of an early childhood program is really frustrated and saddened by this particular situation. She is working towards success one small step at a time. Everyday we brainstorm and try to come up with new strategies to help the child as well as the mother. It is a new family to the program as well as to the state of Michigan. The child is four years old and has never been away from the mother. He is also an English language leaner. Mother is not comfortable in speaking English much but she understands more than she believes. So the communications occur mostly through the translator. He does not let mother leave the room. As soon as he realizes that mother is not in the room anymore, he starts crying laying flat on the floor. Mother does not feel comfortable leaving her son as well. Even though mother is welcomed to stay, she could not stay in the room during the length of the session because she has another child who is a toddler. She cannot keep the baby from running around the room and getting into toys and putting them in her mouth. Mother speaks to the son in their mother tongue and tries to get him to calm down at the arrival, but he wants her to stay, so he cries.

After discussing strategies for days, we decided to have a discussion with the mother, explaining the liability situation of having a toddler in the classroom. The mother did not agree with it much. Then the teacher had a few more meetings with the mother explaining that it is normal for a child to feel sad and scared at a new place but he will get used to the routine, will get comfortable and will make new friends. After two weeks or so the teacher encouraged the mother to watch the classroom from the teachers office through the two way mirror, so she could see her son getting calmed down after few minutes of her departure. Now she is comfortable enough to leave the son in the room. The child is getting better with understanding that the mother is going to come back to pick him up later. It is still hard on both of them on Mondays. I consider this as a win-win solution. The mother is ready to leave the child in the classroom and leave with the toddler. Through such “win-win” solutions, both parties can meet their own goals (O’Hair & Wiemann, 2009).

It has been a month now. He is showing great interest in riding the school bus. Everyday he joins the line to go the bus and tries to get on a bus. There is an opportunity for the child to ride the bus but the mother is not ready to let him ride the bus. She prefers him to eat vegetarian food when he wants to eat meat products just as his peers. When the teacher explains to him that he has his own food to eat, he replies that he eats the meat products at home so he wants them (communication occurs in his mother tongue).

 Teachers want to respect the mother’s wishes, her culture, and her beliefs, but at the same time what about the child? How do you help him to understand that it is his mother’s wish to eat the vegetarian food and his mother does not want him to ride the bus yet? How do you encourage a parent to let the child spread his wings?

Reference:

 O’Hair, D., & Wiemann, M. (2009). Real communication. New York: Bedford/St. Martin’s.