Communicating Culturally

While I do not like to think that I speak with other people from different cultures any different from one another, having been enrolled in this program for the past year, has opened my eyes to all of the many incidences that might have occurred, even without me realizing it. It can be hard to dissect ourselves and our decisions, especially when it comes to communication, as I tend to communicate without truly thinking about what I am saying. I have become more aware of my communication skills, even within the last three weeks, and have made it a point to self-observe my interactions with others to ensure that I am not treating anyone differently or displaying cultural myopia. I am trying to stray away from cultural myopia so that I do not leave anyone offended nor come off defensive of my own beliefs and opinions.

I believe three strategies to communicate more effectively with people from a wide-range of backgrounds, is all about educating ourselves. Firstly, educating ourselves on our own communication skills will make us more aware of how we communicate and how we come across to others. Secondly, educating ourselves about how other people communicate based on their own schema, will help us better identify with others and understand why they communicate differently. Lastly, educating ourselves about the different issues that arise that may interfere with communicating and collaborating effectively will help us ensure every conversation is free from discrimination, prejudice, cultural myopia, and so on.

Communication Observation

For this week's assignment, we were told to watch a TV show that we are not familiar with. At first, we are supposed to watch the show without sound on and make observations based on the non-verbal communication skills between the characters on the show. Then, we were required to watch the show with the sound on and see what the communication truly showed.

For this assignment, I chose a show called "How I Met Your Mother". During the first half of watching the show without sound, you could tell the show's characters knew one another well and we extremely close to each other as their nonverbal interactions showed a closeness and an ability to communicate without words. Having never seen this show before, I was able to conclude that the tallest male and the redheaded woman were either married or dating as they were in constant physical contact and were frequently seen next to one another. Another male with dark hair, seemed to be a close friend as he was always seen hanging around the other two, yet never in a physical proximity like the proposed couple. In this episode, it seemed like the three were upset over not being able to remember something that happened the night before. There were frequent flashbacks that arose after confused looks on the character's faces which made it seem like they could not remember everything that had happened.

After watching the show with the sound on, my original assumption about the two individuals being a couple were confirmed and the dark-headed male being their friend was also correct. The premise of the show was that the dark-headed male got drunk and did not remember the events from the previous night, just that he had woken up with a pineapple in his bedroom. After continuously communicating and collaborating with other characters, he was able to somewhat piece together the events from the night before, which I will not give away in case there is a fan of the show!

I thought that it would be more difficult trying to understand communication within the show without the sound, however, I realized how easy it actually was. The use of nonverbal clues and cues truly helped me understand what was going on in the show without actual verbal speech. While not all shows are probably this well done in the sense of a bond between the characters that translates without sound, it was an interesting assignment that put me in tune with communication and collaboration without verbal speech.

Communication

My mother was the inspiration for me to become a teacher. Even seeing the long hours and stress she took on, I saw her reap the rewards of seeing her students' faces light up and seeing them celebrate their successes. A huge part of this was her communication and collaboration with her parents and even with her students. She gave out her personal cell phone number for both her parents and her scholars to communicate with her at any given time. There were many nights she spent sitting at the kitchen table, with a copy of the homework she had given in her hand, walking her student through the problem to ensure it was done correctly. When it came to handling diversity within her classroom, she always ensured she had a translator help her with her parent newsletter so that even her Hispanic families could understand what was going on in her class. By making herself available to her families and students, she showed that their success meant everything to her and it paid off through the success of her students as many graduated with academic scholarships. Having watched her through all of this, I realize how important communication is and even something as simple as giving your number out for homework help, pushed her kids into knowing how much a teacher cared for them and how much she believed in their potential. It is my goal to ensure I am this type of educator so that every one of my students feels loved and receives the help they need and for every family to know that I am there to help.