Gender, Gender Identity, and Sexual Orientation

Your response to those who believe that early childhood centers should avoid the inclusion of books depicting gay or lesbian individuals such as same-sex partnered families

I believe that early childhood centers should not avoid the inclusion of books that depict gay or lesbian individuals because now we live in such a diverse world. I believe that families consist of same parents because that is what today's families consist of. I rememeber last year when I had a family that consisted of two mothers and the other children asked why he had two mothers. He stated that one of the women was his mother and the other lady was his mama. I believe that children need to be aware of this diveristy and they need to be prepared to deal with the difference of family unit that exists in our culture now. I believe that teachers and parents should be sensitive towards these issues, but all types of families need to be introduced within the educational setting.


If you have ever used or heard homophobic terms such as "fag," "gay," "homo," "sissy," "tom boy," or "lesbo" as an insult by a child toward another child? Or, by an adult toward a child? Describe what occurred. How might these types of comments influence all children? (Note: if you have not had a personal experience, ask a family member, friend, or colleague)

I have never used these terms before, but I have heard people use these terms in an inappropriate manner. I remember people calling my cousin these words when he was younger. I remember when we was at my grandmothers house and one of my relatives called my cousin a sissy because he was playing with babydolls. This influenced my cousin to become a transgender a few years later. My cousin hid his sexuality from his family and friends for many years. My cousin endure emotional and verbal abuse from his family, as well as his peers from his classmates in school. The abuse and negative remarks that my cousin endured as a child did influence him, but he stated that it was his choice to be with men. I believe that negative influences can impact a child's development and cause them to become what people label them as.

Communication Finalé

Thank you all for your support and feedback as we complete this course. I have checked my next class and I have noticed that many of you are not in my next class. I am sad because I am so used to many of you. However, I would like to wish all of you the best as continue to exit this program. Good Luck to you all!

Adjourning Stage

The hardest good-bye for me is when I graduated from college. The young women that took classes with were so respectful, honest, and passionate about success and providing nurture to the children, families, and the people that they interacted with. The communication between us was awesome, there was no arguing, only real communication. We brainstormed, shared ideas, and took those ideas an turned them into successful projects. We had some very amazing moments and expereinces that allowed us to grow and mature into professionals. We all had strenghts and weaknesses, therefore we always knew what the other person was capable of doing in a project or assignment. We all had equal roles, no one one was better than the other person. We knew the times when each person should step in and become a leader. I trusted these women, because trust was gained. Our environment was built on mutual trust, repect, and motivation. On our last day, we did a lot of number and address changing and there was alot of tears and hugs. When I adjourned from this group of women it was a sad day, but we did reflect on our happy days and we knew our relationships was built on a positive and respectful foundation.









Adjourning lets you know that you have successfully acheived a personal or professional goal. It means that you made it to the end, which is a good thing. Over the past year, I have had the opportunity to communicate with some very intelligent and passionate women and men. These individuals have shared their strenghts and weaknesses in life and in their work experiences. They have empowered and motivated me when I wanted to take a different path. Although we are online colleagues, its going to be hard not interacting with my colleagues, because reading the posts and blogs makes me feel that I know these individuals personally and we are having face-to-face conversations. We only have three classes to go after we exit from this course and its going to be hard because I have dedicated myself to this Master's program, but the adjourning stage will be a happy time for me because I have completed a personal and professional goal, as well as my colleagues completing their courses and obtaining a degree.

Conflict Manangement

I recently had a disagreement with a colleague on a child’s potty training skills. The colleague felt that the child who was three should still be in pull-ups, but the parent was not putting the child in pull-ups at home. I told the colleague that this process was hurting the child and that the child needed consistency in his potty training. Therefore, we came up with a strategy that benefitted the child and caused less tension in the classroom. We sit down with the parent and came up with a solution that allowed the child to wear pull-ups at school and we would take the child to the restroom. We were open and listened to the reasons of how the child was confused from wearing underwear at home and pull-ups at school. In the situation, I could have used the cooperative strategies, but escapist strategy would only have been the second option. We were responsive, respectful, and reciprocal to each other, but more important to the well-being of the child.



I asked my colleague about how she deals with conflict and effective communication; she stated that she listens to the cons and pros of the conflict. She stated that she knows that the parent is always right, but she believes that her job is to provide nurture and safety that meets the developmental needs of the child. She also stated that you have to talk through a problem when a conflict arises. She does not believe in violence, therefore she always believes in respectful means of communication. She stated that when communication is equal, then it will be effective if an issue of conflict arises within an educational setting.

Communication Evaluations

My evaluations were consitent of those of my former co-worker and husband. I was not suprised with any of the outcomes. I was suprised that being to empathetic could lead to being too trust-worthy. This can either be a negative or positive perspective.

On the Listening Skills Profile I was labeled in Group 1. I am empathetic and concerned with the emotions of others. This listening relationship helps you to build relationships, but it can infer with proper judgment because you tend to be very trusting of others.


On the Communication Anxiety Inventory I ranged between 21-33. It reported that Ifeel comfortable communicating in most situations and feel confident in anticipating such encounters.

On the Verbal Awareness Scale I was moderate. 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 the positions.


Reference

Rubin, R. Palmgreen, P. & Sypher, H.E. (Eds) (2009). Communication research measures:

A sourcebook. Communication Anxiety Inventory, Verbal Aggressive Scale. New York:

Routledge.



Rubin, R., Rubin, A.M., Graham, E.E., Perse, E.M., Seibold, D.R. (Eds) (2009).

Communication research measures: A sourcebook. Listening Styles Profile. New York:

Routledge.

Cultural Diversity in Communication

Based on what you have learned this week, share at least three strategies you could use to help you communicate more effectively with the people or groups you have identified

I believe that I can use the strategy of listening. I believe that I can be more attentive and open-minded to learn more about their cultures. I can listen to what the person is saying without interruption. I will try to select all of the important information, so that I can get a better perspective of the person and their culture.

The second strategy that I can use is being of aware of my own emotions and understanding the meaning of other cultures and their emotions. I can be more aware of my own emotions, dispositions, and nonverbal skills, because I do not want to offend someone because of my body gestures. I am very sensitive; therefore I show a lot of eye contact to let the person know that I can relate to them and the diversity of cultures, however in many cultures that would be offensive.

The third strategy is learning. I believe that I can learn more about another culture, even before the conversation or communication process begins. This will help alleviate stress and tension; it will make the communication process more engaging.

COMMUNICATION STYLES

Television Off-
The television show that I normally do not watch is Hollywood Heights. From watching the television show with the sound turned off, I could see that the characters did not get along with each other. I could tell from the show that the characters Adrianna and her dad were had a hard time talking to each other. Her dad appeared to be in her face and she was crying. He was being aggressive and pulling on her arm.
Adrianna seemed to be very sad, and the father seemed to take control of whatever they were talking about.



Television On-
I was on track, but I misrepresented the emotions of the characters. Adrianna was crying, but when I listened to the show with the sound on she was crying because she was pregnant and her dad was telling her he supported whatever decision that she made.
Yes, because I am not familiar with these characters or the plot of the show. I didn’t know that a aggressive touch meant that I am supportive of you and your decisions. I was not familiar with the behaviors of the characters, so this cause me to misjudge or misrepresent what the characters were actually discussing .




I learned that sometimes a person’s nonverbal cues may not match their verbal cues.