Reflecting on Communication in the Early Childhood Field

This course has been tremendously enlightening in gaining understanding in methods and perceptions of communicating, as well as collaborative strategies in setting andreaching goals.  I would like to thank each of my colleagues that I have had the pleasure to correspond with during these past 8 weeks and through out this Master's program.  I am looking forward to the next transition and wish everyone much luck and success in the future. 

Adjourning

I have only experienced difficulty adjourning from a group which I was involved on one occasion.  Growing up and through undergrad I played sports year round.  The main sport that I excelled in was fast pitch softball.  Adjourning from my team at the end of each season was a bit tough.  When I was younger, the emotions related to adjourning were not as intense as when I grew older.  This is likely because when I played sports at a young age I had other sports to look forward to, and often I had the same teammates from one sport to the next. 

At an older age playing in college, the last game of my senior year was challenging.  This is because I was aware of the end of my athletic journey as well as the camaraderie that I had formed with my teammates over the previous four years of my experience.  Each season our team set out to accomplish the same goals, to win our division and our conference.  We all had sight of this goal and learned to work together in attempt to achieve it.  Along the way there was much adversity to overcome such as injuries, competition within the team, or individual conflicts amongst teammates, but we depended on each other for success.  So ultimately if we wanted to achieve our goals we had to work out our struggles to the best of our ability.  

Despite the internal challenges that my teammates and I faced, it was difficult to let go of the relationships that I had built as well as the feeling of belonging that I had with particular group of people.  We all shared the same passion for this particular sport and worked equally as hard to reach a desired outcome.  I do believe high performance groups in this sense are not easy to walk away from.

What I did appreciate about the adjournment period was the acknowledgement of each participant of the team at the end of their senior year.  This along with the memorabilia left us with something to hold on to from the group and share with others. 

It is important to have closure to finalize an experience, including in this master’s program.  I believe that we have come to know each other through discussion and blog pots and hopefully can attend the graduation ceremony together at the end of the program.

Communication Conflicts

Currently I am not experiencing any conflicts within my work place but can remember alt least one occasion when I have. There was a particular intern, who is no longer at the agency, who I struggled with when it came to communicating. This intern was designated a small caseload of clients, however I was the assigned clinician. I found that the intern would not communicate pertinent information involving the case. At first I thought that somehow she did not understand what information should be communicated or perhaps she was not used to working as a team. I discussed with her why we work as a team within the agency and how we must communicate with each other regarding the clients we serve. Following this conversation, there was a major incident where particular protocol was to be followed. However, once again she withheld information that needed to be made aware within our team. Since she was an intern, it was not as difficult to solve this challenge. She was given less responsibility and eventually the internship ended.

One communication conflict strategy that I learned is to share knowledge of education so that people can meet needs and expectations. I could have put more effort in to teaching this intern about the importance of communication and collaboration when working with others who also serve as supports for the clients. As well, I could have done more by helping her understand what types of information needs to be shared and documented accordingly.

Another strategy that I could have used is creating a more balanced atmosphere which would lead to open communication on an equal level. As an intern she may have felt less power in the situation and perhaps unsure of how to communicate within that role.

I believe that these strategies from the 3 R's could be applied to this conflict. Learning about conflict resolution in communication has helped me understand mistakes I have made in the past that led to negative outcomes. I will apply the skills I have learned in the future in attempt to avoid conflicts in communication.