OBSERVING COMMUNICATION

Observation is a powerful way of learning. I believe this is the reason behind schools organizing peer observation for teachers as being done in my school. The idea is to pick good practices and look for information that can be of use and help to both the observed and the one observing. Through this practice new behavior and practices are noticed and learned. However, observation does not mean imitation per se as the behavior seen exhibited does not necessarily have to be duplicated.

As part of the requirements for this week’s assignment, I spent some hours observing a child, her parents and health workers communicating at a hospital I visited yesterday.

Children are powerful communicators and depend a lot on communication for expressing their needs and for learning. I realized as soon as the little girl and her mom entered into the waiting room where I was already seated that the girl was calm, careful and conscious of the environment. Her response to my greetings was by nodding her head and signaling to me that I should be quiet. Her response to the nurse’s attempt at getting some needed information from her was in the same way, the mother had to answer the enquiries of the nurse herself even in some instances that the little girl’s answer could have been more appropriate and highly essential.

It was apparent that the little girl must have told that ‘you do not make a noise at the hospital and that the hospital is a special place’ which explains her strange behavior and her unusual quietness (as I learned from the mum later). Communicating with children needs to be detailed, clear and positive. It is better more time is spent telling them what to do and less time telling them what not to do. Like in this scenario instead of telling the girl “No talking in the hospital” a statement such as “It is expected that one talks softly in the hospital so as not to disturb other patients” could have been well understood by any child and serve the intended purpose.

Communication is unarguably fundamental to human interaction and relationship. It is a two-way process that involves sending, receiving and decoding messages. For children, just as the message been sent is important and must be the right one it is equally important that effort is made especially by adults that the message is been sent in a way that the child correctly understand, receive, and interpret the message sent for it to be effective.

CREATING AN AFFIRMING ENVIRONMENT

My church is starting a children’s church next month, the idea of the church is that the center should be run like a family care home and I have been given the responsibility to lead the committee for the planning and running of this center. This is indeed the right assignment at the right time for me as it will give me a golden opportunity to put into practice some of the things I am learning in this course. The first consideration and priority therefore is the environment of the children’s church.

For effectiveness in setting up any early childhood education program the learning environment is very important and should be seriously considered. It should be such that is learning friendly for children by allowing them space, time and appropriate materials to move, interact and use for their learning. It is a known fact that children learn best when all areas of an integrated, carefully planned, curriculum are implemented formally and informally in learning environments that are interactive, practical and enjoyable. Children should have opportunities to experience much of their learning through a well-planned and challenging environment (CCEA, 2003).

The environment will be such that reflect diversity as we have in my church and in our immediate environment. My church has members from more 30 countries and is located at the part of the city populated by foreigners as well as the citizens of the country. Research has shown that prejudice is curtailed and reduced when educational environments foster critical thinking, empathy development and self-esteem in children. 

The following will be considered:

·        *A general environment that is welcoming to all children and families irrespective of where they are from, belief and culture. The core value of anti-bias education is that all children, irrespective of their differences should be valued, respected and flourish.

·        *A welcoming/nap room similar to that of Adriana (Laureate Education, Inc., 2011).

·       * Materials on display and bulletin board will be such that are inclusive of all people.

·       *Furniture, play materials and other classroom equipment will be the type and arranged in such a way that it will aid children’s exploration, curiosity and interactions so as to reflect and promote diversity.

·        *Artwork, books, toys and other learning materials in the center will be such that reflect the cultural and linguistic diversity of children in the church and our community.

According to Derman-Sparks & Edwards (2010), creating and assessing an effective anti-bias learning environment is an ongoing process that is subject to changes, addition and improvement in order to accommodate and reflect each new group of children and families. The above considerations and plans will be subjected to review as such.

References:

CCEA. (2003). The revised Northern Ireland primary curriculum foundation stage. Belfast: Author

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

Laureate Education, Inc. (2011). Strategies for working with diverse children. Baltimore, MD: Author