My Personal Research Journey

The topic that I chose for my research simulation is resilience in children.  Specifically, I will be focusing on how to foster or promote resilience in children.  I am also interested in the factors or characteristics that lead to resilience.  Even though these are two topics, I think that it will be necessary to discuss the factors that lead to resilience in order to explain how to foster/promote resilience.  I chose this topic because I previously taught disadvantaged students at the elementary level.  The majority of these children were very resilient however, I have always been interested in understanding what makes some children more resilient than others.

So far, I have found a few resources on the topic of resilience in the following areas: previous studies involving high-risk children (children of substance abusers, children of alcoholics, and children living in poverty), a longitudinal study which demonstrated the protective factors that contribute to resilience, and promoting resilience.

Welcoming Families from Around the World

For this assignment, imagine the following scenario:

You are working in an early childhood setting of your choice-a hospital, a child care center, a social service agency.  You receive word that the child of a family who has recently emigrated from a country you know nothing about will join your group soon.  You want to prepare yourself to welcome the child and her family.  Luckily, you are enrolled in a course about diversity and have learned that in order to support families who have immigrated you need to know more than surface facts about their country of origin.

The name of your family's country of origin: Indonesia

Five ways in which you will prepare yourself to be culturally responsive towards this family:

1. I would conduct research on the country of Indonesia, since I know nothing about this country.  This would include the culture, traditions, beliefs, languages, gender roles, values, and religions.
2. If the family does not speak English, I would provide or hire a translator for the family and the child.  The translator would also need to be able to transcribe any materials that need to be sent home, in the family’s home language.
3. Ensure that there are materials in the classroom depicting the child’s culture (posters, photos, books etc.).  If no materials are present purchase them.
4. Teach students about the child’s country of origin based on research previously conducted.
5. Before the child begins attending the program, arrange a meeting or home visit with the child and their family; have translator attend if necessary.

 A brief description describing what ways you hope that these preparations will benefit both you and the family.

I hope that these preparations will help the child and the family feel welcome and comfortable.  I also help that the preparations will enable the child to feel safe and secure in the program.

Derman-Sparks, L., & Edwards, J. O. (2010). Anti-bias education for young children and ourselves. Washington, DC: National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC).

Practicing Awareness of Microaggressions

Describe at least one example of a microaggression which you detected this week or remember from another time. In what context did the microaggression happen? 

This week, I was standing in line at a Starbucks and I overheard the following conversation between the employee and the customer, both females: 

Employee: "Did you want me to fill that up more?"

Customer: "No it's fine"

Employee: "OK, I just didn't want you you to think that I was trying to gyp you."

Later, while sitting at a table studying, at the same Starbucks, a young black man sat down at the table next to me.  I noticed that when the man sat down, the two female customers at the table on the other side of him leaned away from him and looked very uncomfortable.

What did you think and feel when you observed the microaggression or when you found yourself as the target of a microaggression?

Both of these microaggressions surprised me and I felt rather shocked when it happened.  The main reason that it surprised me was because all of the women were young, probably in their early 20's.  Unfortunately, I was exposed to racism and gender bias from a very young age because of my grandfather and great-grandfather.  For this reason, I was not expecting them to be so young.

In what ways did your observation experiences this week affect your perception of the effects of discrimination, prejudice, and/or stereotypes on people.

Before this week, I was not aware of microaggressions.  I have heard many racist and sexist comments in my life but I did not realize that we can unintentionally communicate hidden messages that "reflect a world view that is one of inferiority/superiority, inclusion/exclusion or in some sense reflect an oppressive belief" (Laureate Education, 2011).

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2011). Microaggressions in everyday life [DVD]. Baltimore, MD: Author.

My Family Culture

Imagine the following:

A major catastrophe has almost completely devastated the infrastructure of your country. You are told that your host country’s culture is completely different from your own, and that you might have to stay there permanently. You are further told that, in addition to one change of clothes, you can only take 3 small items with you.  You decide to take three items that you hold dear and that represent your family culture.

The first item that I would choose to take with me would be my great-grandmothers ring.  My mother gave me this ring on my 18^th birthday.  This item is important to me because my mother, my grandmother, and my great-grandmother all wore it before me.  The second item that I would choose to take with me would be my box of family photographs.  I would choose these photographs because they represent my life and because it contains pictures of those that I have loved and lost over the years.  The third item that I would choose to take with me would be my box of Christmas ornaments.  My grandmother began a tradition with her first grandchild in which she would buy a Christmas ornament for each of her grandchildren.  Additionally, my mother also gave an ornament to me and my sister.  Each ornament has the year written on it and I can remember receiving most of them.  Unfortunately, my grandmother passed away suddenly several years ago but my mother continues the tradition to this day.  If, upon arrival, I was told that I could only keep one of these items, I would be devastated because they represent my family.  It would be very difficult to choose to give up any of these items but if I had to choose one item to keep, I would choose my box of photographs because they represent my entire family.

This assignment made me realize how important these particular items are to me.  It also made me realize how fortunate I am to have not experienced such a devastating event.  Finally, it made me realize how devastating this experience must be for refugees.

Week 6: Adjourning

Several years ago, before I finished my undergraduate degree, I worked at an elementary school as an instructional aide.  I worked in the after-school program with four other aides and we all became very close.  We worked very well together and we were a “high performing group” dedicated to helping the students in the program.  I worked there for four years until I finished my degree and I was offered a teaching position at another school. 

 This group was difficult for me to leave because we became “a very close knit group” and there was a “sadness at separating and moving on” (Abudi, 2010).  Additionally, after working together for so long we had developed norms or “recurring patterns of behavior or thinking that come to be accepted as the ‘usual’ way of doing things” (O'- Hair & Wiemann, 2012).  However, adjourning is an essential stage of teamwork, when the team makes it to that stage, because it provides a sense of closure. 

The closing rituals that I have personally experienced after working with a team or on a group project have included: celebrating by going out for lunch or dinner, saying thank-you, and saying goodbye but keeping in touch with my group or team members.  As for my colleagues in this program, they have varied from course to course.  However, I have appreciated their willingness to share their personal experiences and their feedback.

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. (2012). Real communication. New York: Bedford/St. Martin's.

Week 5

Think about any disagreements, or conflicts, you have recently experienced or are currently experiencing at work with a supervisor or colleague, or someone in your personal life.  Share at least 2 strategies you have learned about that might help you manage or resolve the conflict more productively, and why these strategies might be effective.  Could you use some of the principles of nonviolent communication or the 3 R's to better help you resolve this conflict?

For the past few weeks, my husband and I have not been communicating well.  We are not disagreeing or having any major conflicts, just bickering a lot.  After reading about nonviolent communication, I realized that learning to communicate in this way could help us avoid the bickering.  According to the process of nonviolent communication, there are four components that we should use whether we are the speaker or listening: observing, feeling, needs, and requests.  Unfortunately, I think that I have a tendency to make an observation and jump to making a request without communicating my feelings or needs.  For this reason, the strategies that I need to use to improve my communication are expressing my feelings and my needs.  For example, after explaining what I am observing, I should express "how [I am] feeling in relation to what [I am] observing" (Rosenberg, 2003).  The next strategy that I should use is to communicate "the needs, values, desires, ect. that are creating [those] feelings" (Rosenberg, 2003).  

Rosenberg, M. B. (2003). Chapter one: Giving from the heart, the heart of nonviolent communication. In Nonviolent communication: A language of compassion. Retrieved from http://cnvc.org/Training/nvc-chapter-1

Week 4

For our assignment this week, I had to complete three evaluations which assessed my communication skills in the following areas: communication anxiety, verbal aggressiveness, and listening style. Next, I had to choose two people to use the same evaluations to evaluate my communication skills so I chose my husband and a friend and former co-worker, Sandra.  I received the following scores:

Communication Anxiety: 60, 64, 44
Verbal Aggressiveness: 62, 55, 64
Listening Style: Group 1 (all 3)

In the areas of verbal aggressiveness, the results of all three of the evaluations were the same: moderate and people-oriented.  The only thing that surprised me the most was that my listening style "can interfere with proper judgement because you tend to be very trusting of others" (Rubin et al., 2009).  I would not describe myself as a trusting person, at least not in my personal life.  Unfortunately, experience has taught me that very few people are trustworthy.

The first insight that I gained was that my communication anxiety varies depending on the situation.  For example, Sandra evaluated me as "mild" whereas the results for the evaluations conducted by my husband and I resulted in "elevated".  I have noticed that my communication style differs greatly when I am in a professional setting.  I have always had anxiety when I have had to speak publicly in a large group. However, early in my career, I noticed that when I am speaking to children or colleagues, my anxiety is greatly diminished.

The second insight that I gained from the evaluations is that my perception of my communication skills are pretty accurate.  I also found that the perceptions of my communication skills with others are what I expected them to be.

References

Rubin, R. B., Palmgreen, P., & Sypher, H. E. (Eds.) (2009). Communication research measures: A sourcebook. New York: Routledge.

Rubin, R. B., Rubin, A. M., Graham, E. E., Perse, E. M., & Seibold, D. R. (Eds.) (2009). Communication research measures II: A sourcebook. New York: Routledge.