What is Communication?

T is a vocational rehabilitation counselor. He works with clients that have a mental health diagnosis. They are in training and client support with him to get back to the work force. T demonstrates competent communication abilities when he trains and has one on one communications with his clients. I took a parent to a meeting with T and I was very impressed by his kindness, empathy and devotion to assisting his clients.

T demonstrates the three primary functions of communication with his client’s affiliation, goal achievement and control. When we went in he expressed affiliation. He was warm and inviting. He got up and greeted us at the door with a hand shake. He used small talk to converse and asked the client how things had been going since he last saw her and her husband? As we were talking another client came to the door and he got up and greeted her. She told him she had just gotten a job and he told her that was great. She asked him if she could give him a hug and he said sure. 

Back to my client, he explained the program and asked the client what were her goals. He then explained the goals of the program, how he trained on certain aspects of how to complete a resume, job application and practice interviews. The training was a 90 day program and then he assisted them in job search or further training. It was specifically their program and up to them on how to complete their goals to get back into the work force. 

The final function of communication T demonstrated was the ability to influence the client or control. T had demonstrated that he was warm, inviting and helpful. He helped the client lay out goals of achievement. The control or influence was shown when T explained to the client the rules of the program and that the clients had certain rules and expectations they had to follow. The control was able to shift to the clients because they could develop their plan and be in control of their choices as long as they complete their goals in a certain time. 

I found that T demonstrated compete communication skills with his clients. He took the time to show them guidance and listened to their concerns. He made good eye contact and made me feel welcome as I assume he did the client. He would repeat her questions or answers to assure he understood what was said and he asked her to repeat certain things to assure she understood. I would follow his communication example because there could be a mutual respect and understanding between two parties because of the clarity throughout the conversation.

Reference 

O'Hair, D., & Wiemann, M. (2012). Real communication: An introduction. New York:

Bedford/St. Martin's.

 

When I Think of Research...

The course Building Research Competencies has been very challenging. I think more so because I did not know what I was doing. The insights from the course have given me a better knowledge of what it takes to go through the research process. I believe the nature of doing research is a very broad process because it takes the researcher a while to determine what they want their focus to be. I know personally I struggled to narrow my question down because I was unable to see the bias in my question.  I would say that was my biggest challenge.  I also think that was the greatest lesson learned: the importance to narrow the study down to a question that is non-biased and gives the researcher the topic they want to research. As a researcher I continued to reword my question but I also continued to research my topic to understand it better and to make sure my personal interest or topic was headed in the right direction.  

I see teachers can be researchers in their classroom.  As I perceive all early childhood professionals I believe there is a common goal to care for children and make quality better.  I hope as a researcher they remember their ethical responsibilities to keep children and families safe and stay personally objective. To always be clear, ethical and give anyone involved in a study informed consent. I would also hope that the true professional knows what is developmentally appropriate for children. They follow the NAEYC Code of Ethics. I know there still can be biases and prejudices.  Some researchers or teachers may have their own agendas or have reasons for making a study/child observation conclude in a certain way.  I believe this is the down side of early childhood professionals in research or in preforming a classroom observation.

Research Around the World

Research around the World

This week the blog assignment is to read and thing about early childhood research internationally. The location I chose to research was the Early Childhood Development Virtual University (ECDVU) Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA).

I found this site to be very informative. The Mission Statement for the organization is to further develop African ECD leadership capacity as a key strategy in support of child, family and community well-being and broader social and economic development. They are committed to improving the quality of life for children and their families in Africa. The organization will accomplish this by working with Early Childhood Development leaders in Africa.

The work completed by the program participants has been published online. Their objective was to increase available information concerning the status of Early Childhood Development in Africa. A requirement was for each countries participant to complete a report that identified the current status of children, families and women's issues. I found the reports were very interesting because of the information provided. Things that we take for granted in our country they definitely lack in theirs. In Zambia only 6% of pre-school children benefit from any form of organized early child care program.  

These are some aspects lacking in their education systems in Zambia.

Key issues in Basic Education:  Basic Survival

 

High prevalence of HIV/AIDS (19-27%)

High poverty index (27-41%) for girls (0-25%)

Double orphans poor (51-88%)

Low Girls enrollment (70-83%)

Repetition rate (2.5-6.8%)

Out of school orphans 45%

Low girls completion rate (48-65%)

Increasing number of child-headed households (130,000 out of 1,905,000) headed by children below 14 years

Low prevention against malaria, inadequate diagnosis and treatment of malaria, including    shortages of drugs and poor referral systems for complex cases

Following the completion of this project the students listed 25 major projects and theses for the countries they lived in and reported on. The topic from Zambia was a Pilot Study of the Adaption of an Established Measure to Assess the Quality of Child Services in a Selected Orphanage in Zambia: The Inclusive Quality Assessment (IQA) Tool. The researcher concluded that the tool was “appropriate for regular evaluation of services in childcare facilities and home settings but would require effective policy formulation and implementation to make it a reality in Zambia.”

The website was informative. The information provided was at times older than 10 years. I would like to see data newer. Overall it gave me a look at countries far behind us and the challenges they have for everyday live, let alone trying to provide quality early childhood programs.

Reference

http://www.ecdvu.org/ssa/index.php