Culturally Effective Communication
Considering all aspects of culture, including race,
religion, political affiliation, sexual orientation, and varying abilities, I
do believe that I communicate differently with people from different groups and
cultures. I do not think these differences should be viewed negatively, but
rather demonstrate my conscientious attempt to appropriately approach diverse
groups of people. For example, I may hold different religious beliefs than
someone that I work with. I would not dive into a conversation about religion
that may make the other person uncomfortable since they hold different beliefs,
so I would possibly discuss something else or be cautious of how I communicate
my thoughts on the topic so I do not offend anyone. I also may speak
differently with a family that has a diverse cultural background, because they
may hold different values than I do when it comes to raising a child
appropriately. It’s important for me to state that I do not treat people
differently in a disrespectful way, but rather treat the conversations
differently so I do not offend anyone or make them uncomfortable.
To communicate more effectively with people of different groups
or cultures, there are three strategies I think I should implement. First, I
should look at situations through the other group’s perspective (Gonzalez-Mena,
2010). I may not condone what a family is doing, but I should try to understand
it from a cultural perspective and respectfully communicate my thoughts or
opinions. Second, I should understand the difference between collectivistic and
individualistic cultures, which can affect the way a group raises their
children and acts with each other (Vuckovic, 2008). For example, a
collectivistic culture focuses more on relationships and less on independence,
which is why families of collectivistic cultures may treat their children
differently than individualistic families. If I recognize that a family embraces
a collectivistic culture, then I can be more careful of how I approach the idea
of independence in the classroom, since it is not widely presented in that family’s
culture. One last strategy I believe would help me communicate more effectively
with diverse groups is to be conscientious of my nonverbal communication
skills. In American culture, it is appropriate to hug another person when
greeting or saying goodbye, however, that is not appropriate in all cultures.
Some cultures do not appreciate being touched and they find it a breach of
personal space. Some cultures also find eye contact to be rude and “dangerous”
whereas others find it disrespectful to not make eye contact (Gonzalez-Mena,
2010, p. 80). To be an effective communicator with different families, I will
do what I find respectful, but also learn more about each culture so I can
determine what they deem as respectful as well. If I am able to adapt my
communication style to their culture, then there can be a mutual respect
between both parties.
References
Gonzalez-Mena, J. (2010). 50 strategies for communicating and working with diverse families.
Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc.
Vuckovic, A. (2008). Inter-cultural communication: A
foundation of communicative action. Multicultural
Education and Technology Journal, 2(1), 47–59.
Tara, I found many similarities with your post where I find myself communicating differently with different individuals. In your post you talked about not sharing your viewpoints about a topic with someone who may have different views on the same topic. I think this is a great strategy to avoid hurting someone, and I agree it is not disrespectful to communicate differently with different groups of individuals, but like you said it is being conscientious of others feelings. You also included three great strategies, thank you for sharing!
ReplyDeleteBri
Tara,
ReplyDeleteI agree with your statement that not sharing certain viewpoints with others and I feel it is another way to show respect for our differences. Sometimes, it is better to avoid conflict in certain situations. For example, I try not to talk about my religious beliefs, political affiliation, and some current events with co-workers because I know from their comments that we do not have the same views and I do not consider it professional to have these types of conversations while at work. I also do not find it difficult to work with them just because our views are different because we all have the common goal of educating young children and understand our personal views should not be reflected in what we teach them. Instead, we model mutual respect and understanding of our differences.
Trish
Tara,
ReplyDeleteThank you for you post, as usual. I appreciate your statement about not treating people differently but rather treat your approach to a conversation differently. I think it is important that when communicating with families that we learn their perspective and what they value. We do not want to make them uncomfortable or feel like our opinions are more important than theirs. However, has there ever been a time when you have had to have an uncomfortable conversation with a family on behalf of their child? Where the family putting their own beliefs and values ahead of their child's beliefs and values? For example, I had a three year old one year who was nonverbal and I had to talk with his parents about possibly seeking services because being nonverbal at three was not necessarily developmentally appropriate. This was an uncomfortable conversation because the parent did not believe that children need any additional services, but that they develop on their own. I believed this parent was doing his son a disservice but I had to respect his wishes.