Using Communication Skills to Enact Change

In order to get the word out about any new policy issues and ideas one has, they must have a good level of communication skills in order to be effective.

Two skills I believe are very important to embody when leading policy change would be to be sure your communication is concise and correct.  Many times you may only have a short period of time to explain your issues and you want them to be brief and to the point.  This briefness can also come in handy in the case of sending information on Twitter.  Being correct is also very important.  If your audience are the professionals you want to appeal to then you would want there to be a high level of accuracy to the information you want to give to the public.  Both of these communication skills are vital in presenting both verbal and written communication.

Mind Tools. (n.d.). The 7 Cs of communication: A checklist for clear communication. Retrieved October 15, 2013, from http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newCS_85.htm

Social Media’s Influence on Policy Issues

Two forms of social media I believe would be effective to communicate a new policy are Twitter and Facebook.  Both of these have the potential to reach a wide range as well as variety of the public and do it quickly.  They also have a large number of active users which would allow the opportunity to reach a good number of the population.

A policy could have the potential to reach national, state and local contacts in a short amount of time.  In the case of Twitter, for those that are interested in the topic, by giving the policy information an appropriate Hashtag, the word can get out even faster.  Facebook can not only send the information through personal accounts to people you are friends with and you think that they may be interested in the policy but the policy can also be an account in itself.  This can be targeted to educators as well as politicians and/or other stakeholders that hold the funds.  Both of these also appeal to younger populations, which could make them better informed about issues that are currently taking place in the political arena.  This population is very passionate about their causes and eager to share their passions.

Benefits for these two forms of social media are the time and vast numbers of people that can be reached almost immediately.  One major challenge that could arise from using this type of social media could be that although the numbers you can reach could be massive, there is still a good number of the population who do not partake in these forms or any other forms of social media and would be missed.  Since many of these could be some of your more conservative types, you would want to consider what audience you need to support your policy and think of another way to reach that population.

Module 1 Assignment

The first thing that came to mind while reading there would be a policy course is that I would learn more about policies related to advocacy.  This is an area I am really weak in because politics are not something I know a lot about.  I generally am aware of the latest policies that come up in the news as well as in the early childhood community, but not so much the numerous initiatives out there to support education.  I wasn’t really intimidated but rather ready to master a new area of early childhood I had not focused on in the past.  I understand that to better do my job I need to have a better handle on policies and procedures.  It also is part of my job because we are creating the policies for how QRIS takes place in Nevada.  As I seem to be in the middle of this system here in Southern Nevada I can think of a few goals that would be attainable. 

One of my goals will be to continue to become more familiar with QRIS of other states that have been doing them longer in order to assist me in developing procedures.  We have a barebones procedure manual but as we are going through the steps we continue to tweak them to see what is best and realistic.

The second goal I have is to learn more about the various systems around the early childhood community.  Nationally, there are many organizations that are influencing young children through their services.  Because there are so many different streams of early childhood professionals we tend to overlap in services where we could collaborate and become stronger and better equipped to assist families.  By clearly understanding the role some of these organizations play I will be able to better adapt it to my current work in the field.  The BUILD Initiative, NIEER, Administration for Children and Families and NAEYC are a few for me to begin with.

My third goal is to closely examine the public policies that address young children in my community and state.  This would help me be a better advocate and share the information with the many practitioners I work with daily.  I have attended the local early childhood advisory council meetings but would like to become more involved with the real policy work.

Final thoughts on Influences of Family, Culture, and Society in Early Childhood

Wow, is one word I can say about this course.  It seems like we started this course so long ago and the book, The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down really connected with me.  As I read it I was really touched because not only was I living in Fresno county where the story took place I was also a teacher of an entire class of Hmong preschoolers.  The story was very familiar to me from my experiences, especially much of the ignorance about the culture.

I was surprised to see that diversity wasn't just about the multicultural aspects of individuals but covered so much more.  As an early care educator it is important to be open and teach acceptance when it comes to race as well as ability, gender, single parent families and all types of diversity.  I think if we are successful at a young age teaching children acceptance it will be easier for them to be appreciative of all.

I am interested in continuing to learn more about adopted children and their psyche.  This is always of interest to me as my own children get older and are experiencing so many challenges that I believe stem from their conditions before adoption.  I will continue to strive to learn more about them.

The interviews that I conducted contributed some new knowledge to me from the director's point of view.  It was interesting to see how they saw the entire situation from registering the children to working with individual teachers to ensure success of the children.

The entire course has allowed me to provide my clients I coach with valuable resources.  I hope that they are shared with the actual practitioners and that they make a difference in how they interact with children and families as well as teach acceptance to their children.

The whole idea of teaching diversity among the teachers I work with is very motivating to me in the community that I live in.  Las Vegas, like many other places in the country, is a transient town and encompasses so many different types of people that raising a generation of accepting individuals would be very motivating for me.

As far as challenges, I am still not satisfied that I was unable to conquer the Kaltura.  My presentation I was so proud of once I figured out how to do it and I am still trying to figure out how to get it uploaded.

Other than that, this was an informative course.

Module 6 Assignment

        The interview process that I have gone through for this assignment has been pretty uneventful up until this point.  Once I read the assignment I began to think of who would be candidates for me to interview that were knowledgeable about the topic of foster and adoptive children and their experiences around stress, risk and trauma.  I had a small point of confusion after doing our organization assignment and wasn’t sure if my interviews would be the people I had considered originally or if had to choose one from the organizations I reviewed.  Once I clarified this with Professor Bossier, I was able to get back on track. 

        The two individuals I have chosen to interview are both center directors that work with the population I am studying.  As I came up with the questions I thought of things I have previously spoken with them about and what new information I will want to get.  Scheduling wasn’t much of a problem.  However, I will have to understand that we will meet while they are in their centers and there could be various interruptions.  Both of the interviews are scheduled for this upcoming week.

        My course project is on children from foster and adoptive homes.  I have been doing research from different aspects of this topic, like how the community sees it and how they are affected by stress.  One large challenge I have had while completing the research is that the term “adoption” and other versions of the term result in many forms of the word that have nothing to do with children once I search the word.  I have had to be creative while doing my searches.

Discussing the adoption project

For this semester I will be challenging myself to learn more about the family constellation, children who have been adopted.  The reason I am interested in this topic is because this is such a diverse group and each adoption can be so different.   I myself became an adoptive single parent and as I was going through the process I continually was surprised the state would give me two young children (they were two and four) all by myself.

As far as my beliefs, I always felt that children should have two parents and since I had chosen to do this, I must be selfish.  I had to keep telling myself that one parent was better than no parents.  I think there are so many children who need a home that if you are able you should help in some way.

In many of the centers I have been in, I have seen children adopted as infants and older, across race lines, relative, same-sex parents and international adoptions.  I think if they keep the children's best interest first it is a good head start to combat some of the challenges they may face in the future.

On the darker side of adoption,  are the emotional and behavioral concerns so many of these children exhibit.

I look forward to learning more about this topic and seeing what is new in the research.

Reflecting

During this course, I have further explored the topic of early childhood professionalism but on a much larger scale because it went beyond my own community and the United States where I typically was doing my research.  I found that due to the lack of technology in some countries there are not many studies done resulting in so much of what we read coming only from the point of view of those who have the means to publish.  Definitely, not something I had ever thought about.  Child development and learning looks different all around the world.

In this course we had two texts to read.  One was NAEYC’s, Developmentally Appropriate Practices and the other one was titled, Culture and child development in early childhood programs written by Carollee Howes.  The first I am very familiar with and some in this profession would say they live by it.  The second one was eye-opening to me because it gave me a different perspective about DAP and why it may not always be appropriate.  This was different for me because those who use DAP may feel that it can work in all settings and that may not always be the case.  This said a lot to me about culture and how it is not a one size fits all fix. 

Something I read during this course mentioned contacting authors of articles to discuss things in relation to the articles and most of the authors are interested in discussing their work.  I encourage anyone to do this.  I reached out to a few authors and they not only were able to give me more insight but they have also become a valuable individual in my research.

My biggest challenge has been to find opposition to ideas we believe are best for children.  As I have had many discussions with my colleagues in this class, they also have had a hard time with this aspect of researching their issues.  It is something that I will have to continue to improve on.

New Approaches for Early Learning

As I begun to search for resources fostering early learning I found something that I also have been noticing in the classrooms I work with.  I like when I am able to read something and theorize what it would look like and then see it applied.  It is the CLASS Tool that is widely being used in Head Start classrooms.  I think that is a new approach to learning for early childhood and because of its focus on interactions the outcomes for children are very beneficial.

The CLASS Tool is an observation by reliably trained observers of teachers and it analyzes how they are working with the children.  Through the process of training teachers in this manner they are taught to be more efficient and intentional which results in improving their teaching methods.  This is something that we all know benefits the children greatly.

One reason I was interested in this program is because Head Start programs are putting it into place and they will be and are improving quality for some of our neediest children.  Head Start has put in quite a few mandates over the years increasing educational requirements for teachers and now with this program being implemented in the classrooms the teachers will have more support in their day to day interactions with their children.

To find out more about this program you can go to www.teachstone.org .

Discipline or Logical Consequences

One of the issues I find to be a little controversial is childrearing/discipline.  This topic can be seen in so many different ways and ones views are based on things such as upbringing, parenting and education.  There are many of us that were raised with corporal punishment as a norm.  Those of us who were submitted to harsh discipline either believe in it, (spare the rod, spoil the child syndrome) or feel the opposite and would never subject our children to a harsh punishment.  Once one starts parenting, sometimes they may have a change in their mindset one way or the other.  Then there are those of us in the education field who want to believe and practice what we preach under the idea of what is best for the child. 

Hitting children unable to defend themselves teaches them it is okay for bigger people to hit on them and does little for their self-esteem. 

Last week while speaking with a group of early childhood teachers we discussed appropriate discipline in the classroom as opposed to guidance.  There was a lot of discussion about being appropriate with the children, not threatening them and using logical consequences.  It can be a very hard job for teachers who don’t fully believe that respecting the children and talking with them will work when it comes to guiding them to the right choices.  Not only is it hard to apply, they must also encourage it with their grandparent volunteers to practice while interacting with the children.  Also, they must educate their parents and actively let them know they are mandated reporters and there can be better ways of handling situations than harsh discipline.

So, I wonder which type of adult disciplinarian you are.  Do you believe in punishment, logical consequences, discipline or spankings?  Do you totally think harsh discipline is the worse act to guide a child?  Does your thinking flip-flop depending on who you are dealing with?  Some educators may know all the right things to say, do and teach in an educational setting but do not practice what they preach at home.

I know my work is not over with the center I am working with but I now know they are having second thoughts when it comes to classroom discipline.

About Tracy Lewis

As long as I can remember I have been interested in working with children.  During grade school, I volunteered to spend my lunch periods in the special needs classroom to help out.  When I attended church I helped out in the nursery.  So once I hit college it was refreshing to learn that I would now be able to go to school to learn more about working with children. 

It has been an experience-filled journey to get to where I am today.  All of my experiences weren't wonderful but they all helped me learn what I know today.  One of which is nothing works the way the books say they will, application is whole different animal. When working with children, families and staff you are working with people and this means unpredictability because they are capable of a wide range of reactions to daily plans. 

As a scholar-practioner, as I am able to assist others, provide support and help people find resources in regards to the children they are working with I am constantly learning.  I have to stay up to date on new research and findings so I am able to impart the newest knowledge I am aware of to those I work with.  I want to be thought of as a resource to those I work with.  I find it so rewarding to be able to offer the teacher or director who is becoming burned out a solution to a problem.  I love to see the changes take place in the classroom and with the children as they apply new techniques in the classroom.  I love to help them make their supervision stronger and safer for children. 

One of my overall concerns is that all early childhood professionals are not getting enough support and do not have equal opportunities in education and trainings.  This is very critical when it comes to them recognizing typical development in children and planning for it.  Many early childhood educators are reactionary because they don't have the support to use developmentally appropriate approaches.

In the future, I plan to complete my current degree and continue to be a great resource for those I work with.  I would like to begin educating at the college level so I can share the knowledge I am acquiring with others.

Family is very important to me and has always been.  I have a very close-knit family and we do many activities together.  I believe it is important to expose children to as many experiences as possible for them to learn.  This hands-on experience is one of the best methods for learning.  Play has been a big part of my life as I grew up as well as now providing those experiences for my own children.  My own parents gave us many experiences through travel and allowing us to explore our surroundings.  These are valuable experiences I wouldn't have learned in a classroom or through a book.  This is the type of learning I am trying to share with those I work with so they will offer authentic learning to children.

http://tlewisblogdoc.blogspot.com/2013/03/about-tracy-lewis.html