When I communicate with these two cultures mentioned I have to listen closely and ask them to repeat what they are trying to communicate. I ask them to repeat themselves because I cannot understand them, and sometimes they speak so fast, I get confused and ask whoever I am speaking with to slow down.
Communicating with people that are religious I am mindful in regards to what I say and how I say it, "Being sensitive doesn't mean giving up your own beliefs and practices, but it does mean not forcing them blindly on others"(O'Hair, 2015, et., al., p. 143).
Three strategies I could use to help my communication be more effective would be to 1) listen, then repeat back to the person what I believe I heard instead of asking them to repeat themselves repeatedly 2) research the two cultures, "Learning culture-specific information can be a useful starting point in intercultural communication...Knowledge can increase your awareness of other ways of communicating" (O'Hair, 2015, et., al., p. 143). Lastly, 3) I could change my behavior of avoiding people that are always talking about religion. I could practice greeting them with a smile and attempting to listen and have small talk while monitoring my facial expression so that I do not appear annoyed or offensive.
References
O'Hair, D., Weimann, M., Mullin, D.
I., & Teven, J. (2015). Real
communication (3rd. ed.). New
York: Bedford/St. Martin's
Hello Shelita,
ReplyDeleteI like the three strategies you provided and I most specially like the 2nd, since I feel that researching about the culture different from yours is significant to establishing good communication with families in the ECE field. I recently had a Russian student withdraw from my Montessori preschool/kinder program, because the child's mother and grandmother felt she was not yet ready. The child is 4 years old, and according to the grandmother, she still uses her milk bottle. Another one of their biggest concern was that we were unable to speak to her in their language. I asked the mother to provide me with some short phrases in Chechen lanuage, but she never did. I tried to get the phrases myself online through a translator webpage, but the mother did not want to go any further. She did say, however, that she thinks her daughter is not emotionally ready for preschool as she is very attached to the grandmother. I could not resist saying, that maybe, it is you and your mother who are not yet ready to let go. At some point, she also agreed. In the end, the mother said she would like to try again within the next couple of months.
In retrospect, I would like to reiterate the importance of researching other people's culture. I believe it should be one our top priorities as soon as we accept a child in our care.
Best regards,
Paula Mercado
Hello Shelita
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your blog, and it reminded me at the beginning when I started to work I used to tell people that were from a different background than mine to repeat what they were saying. By doing this, I was able to verify if I accurately understood what they said. However, after a few years I improved my intercultural communication. O'Hair, Wiemann, Mullin, and Teven (2015) stated, “You can improve your intercultural communication with effort” (p. 142). To communicate with a person from other generations, ethnicities and faiths, we will need to be mindful, desire to learn and overcome intergroup biases.
Leticia
Reference
O'Hair, D., Wiemann, M., Mullin, D. I., & Teven, J. (2015). Real communication (3rd. ed). New York: Bedford/St. Martin's.