Observing Communication

Provide an account of your observation.

Working in a pre-school setting, I observe adult child interactions on a daily basis, multiple times a day. For this observation I will describe an interaction between a child in my school aged summer camp program and the child’s parent.

Describe what you noticed and learned.

A little girl in my class was getting dropped off by her mother early one morning. The little girl is six years old. The girl had noticed that some of the other children were wearing flip-flops and she was wearing sneakers. She told her mom that she wanted her flip-flops; the mother replied that her flip flops were at home. After a few minutes of going back and forth in conversation the mother says “O.K. I will go home and get them”. The mother returned in about ten minutes with the child’s flip-flops.

Make connections between what you observed and the effective communication strategies presented in this week’s learning resources. What could have been done to make the communication more affirming and effective?

There are four specific functions of teacher language: providing direction or instruction, correcting or redirecting behaviors, developing concepts or skills and discussing classroom or family life. (Sharp 2005) This should apply to parents as well, when they are speaking to young children.

In this situation I think that Mother should have been more explanatory to the child instead of just going back and forth arguing with the child. I think she should have explained that the child chose to wear those shoes today and that going home to get another pair of shoes would not be an option. In the conversation that I heard the mother was just trying to make the child happy by saying “your shoes are pretty, you don’t need to wear lip flops.”

Share your thoughts with regard to how the communication interactions you observed may have affected the child's feelings and/or any influences it may have had on the child's sense of self worth.

The child was very happy when her mother brought back what she asked for, but I feel like this may have given the child a false sense of reality. Giving in to a child’s every demand may give the child the impression that you can always have your way. When this happens children will never learn how to cope with disappointments.

Offer insights on how the adult-child communication you observed this week compares to the ways in which you communicate with the children. What have you learned about yourself this week with respect to how well you talk with and listen to young children? In what ways could you improve?

I try to be as straight forward and simple as I can be when speaking to young children. Through my years of experience I have learned that children are very literal and when speaking to them you have to be very clear and never assume that they understand what you are saying.

When communicating with young children I will keep this quote in mind:

“Teacher talk is encouraging and lets children know that their teacher values their efforts and accomplishments”. (Dangei and Durden 2010)

References

Rainer Dangei, J., & Durden, T. R. (2010). The nature of teacher talk during small group activities. YC: Young Children, 65(1), 74-81. Retrieved from the Walden Library using the Education Research Complete database. http://ezp.waldenulibrary.org/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ehh&AN=47964033&site=ehost-live&scope=site