I do believe that I communicate differently with people from
different groups and cultures. When talking with my family I am more relaxed.
We often use nicknames or invented words that are inside jokes when we communicate.
Our humor is often sarcastic.
When I talk with my students or their parents I refrain from
using sarcasm. The children do not understand it and I would not want to offend
a parent. My students get to hear many silly voices that I use throughout the
day. It always gets their attention when I sing the clean-up song using an
opera voice. Stories are much more interesting when the characters sound
different.
I am outgoing with close friends who I know well. Sharing,
laughing and hugging as we greet each other. I am reserved when meeting new
people. I observe the situation to see which forms of communication will be the
most effective and acceptable. I am cautious with people from other cultures
because I do not what to offend. I will listen more and speak less in these
situations in order to gather information.
I have a strong faith and have developed a deeper
understanding of my religion through a women’s group at my church. This has
actually allowed me to be more comfortable discussing religion with others. I
respect other believes, but can now clearly communicate my own without feeling defensive.
I have found that
having a deeper understanding of what I wish to communicate has allowed me to
be a more effective communicator. Active listening can improve communication in
any group, it allows for clarification of message (O’Hair & Wiemann, 2009).
Even within my immediate family, conflict usually occurs when the intended
message is not the message received. I tend to be an action-oriented listener,
I believe that when working with the children and families in my class,
becoming a more people-oriented listener would be valuable in some situations (O’Hair
& Wiemann, 2009). Also, if I am more attentive to nonverbal cues in
communication, particularly when communicating with people from a different
culture it will allow me to improve my communication skills. I will be able to
interpret nonverbal messages and improve my ability to give others what they
need and therefore improve our level of communication (Beebe, Beebe, &
Redmond, 2011).
References
Beebe, S. A., Beebe, S. J., & Redmond, M. V.
(2011). Interpersonal communication: Relating to others (6th
ed.). Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon.
O’Hair, D., & Wiemann, M.
(2009). Real communication: An introduction. New York: Bedford/St.
Martin’s.
Hi, Michele! I liked how you focused on active listening and being attentive to non-verbal cues as strategies. I did not think of writing those down in my own post. Great ideas!
ReplyDeleteHi Michele, i liked how you discussed active listening, this area of communication is imperative to how listeners are able to respond to others effectively.
ReplyDeleteWonderful post! I agree that it is important that we are attentive to the non verbal cues. I can see how that would improve my communication skills as well. I like how you mentioned the way you communicate with your students versus family and friends. So many times I will come home and John will have to remind me that I am not with the students anymore because of the way I am talking. I don't even realize it sometimes.
ReplyDeleteDear Michele,
ReplyDeleteI too am reserved when I first meet people. After reading our colleagues blog posting, I see we have something in common, which is when we meet new people; we tend to listen first before speaking. We allow them to speak more, so we can get a clear understanding of how we are going to communicate with them. Listening to each other and trying to take each other’s perspective is usually the key to effective communication (O’H air & Wiemann, 2009).
Reference
O’Hair, D., & Wiemann, M. (2009). Real communication: An introduction. New York: Bedford/St. Martin’s.
I find it interesting that yiou said that you refrain from sarcasm with your parents at school. i was told the other day that I was very sarcastic, and at that point in time I had no intentions of being that way. I know that I use sarcasm with certain parents at school but not with all and it seems to be the only way to communicate with them and get the point across.
ReplyDeleteI really liked how you said you avoid sarcasm in the school environment. I think that is a great thing to do and I am sure that many people don't even think about it but they can harm and insult people when they use sarcasm. Although sarcasm can be an effective tool for communication with friends, I agree that in school there really isn't any place for it. There can be to many ways that the receiver can get the message wrong and if that happens in the school environment it could very well hurt the student, teacher, parents, school and overall community.
ReplyDelete