Communication and Collaboration in Early Childhood

     This course has been one of my personal favorites.  I truly feel communication is the key to everything in life.  I always strive, personally and professionally, to be a genuine, clear communicator with everyone I come across.  I truly value all the relationships I have built with my online colleagues and feel blessed by all of  the interactions we share.  There are so many tools we have, as indicated by the clip art I selected above, to aide us in our communicative efforts.  It is my hope that we all continue to utilize each other as resources within the realm of early childhood.  If any of you wish to contact me at anytime, you may do so by email at greeneydgirl24@aol.com, or through this blog, which I intend on keeping.  God bless all of you, and good luck on all future endeavors!

Adjourning

Adjourning from a Team

Adjourning  is the final stage of group development in the teamwork theory. This is the period of time when the team's work is finished and everyone begins to move their separate ways.  "This stage is also known as the mourning stage" (Project-Management-Skills.com, n.d.) because the team members have usually formed close knit relationships and it becomes hard to say goodbye.

This stage is important because the team can congratulate each other on work well done.  Although the current project is complete it is possible some members may work together on future projects, so ending on a positive note is always important.  

Studying this topic makes me think of when we built the new wing on our church for what is currently my preschool.  The church staff and myself worked closely with several professionals, such as the construction crew, the computer people, and the painting crew.  We worked through the project with many ups and downs, often enjoyed lunch together and celebrated each milestone as it was completed.  Once the project was complete it was truly bitter sweet.  The adjourning stage was enjoying the new building and polishing off the odds and ends.  When the building was ready for occupancy we all hugged and said our goodbyes.  I really miss seeing the people I worked with, but I have recommended them for other jobs and talked to them on the phone from time to time.  It was a great experience!

I know adjourning from this program will be similar.  Although we will not be working together directly once we complete our courses, I hope to maintain connections with my colleagues and know that I can turn to them for advice and support if I need to.

References

Project-Management-Skills.com (n.d.). [Website]. Teamwork theory: Stages of group development.  

Conflict Resolution

Conflict is a necessity.  Whenever people are passionate about what they believe in they stand up for it, and these situations result in conflict.  In the early childhood profession, passion for children is the driving force.  There are many times teachers, administration and parents may disagree on what children need for their future.  Since all three parties are advocates for the children agreements must be made in order to provide the child with the best care possible.  Many times discussions must be held, voices must be heard, plans must be developed and agreements must be made.  In order to accomplish these tasks in a productive, peaceful manner, conflict resolution skills are required.

Currently I am in the process of working with one of my students who has anger issues.  She is only four years old and acts out aggressively toward other students and teachers when she cannot be the center of attention or do what she wants to do.  She has been at our school for about 7 months and her behavior has not improved much.  In fact, the older she gets and the more intelligent she becomes, it seems her anger shows up more frequently.  Parents of her classmates and teachers have just about taken all they can and the time has come for a serious change.  We have had a behavioral specialist working with her and the family for about a month.  The last time she was in I informed her it was time to act and the two of us sat down and discussed what we thought would be best.  She shared her ideal plan for the girl explaining she wanted to place her in another room and rearrange her daily schedule.  I knew this would not work because there are already too many behavioral issues in one of the rooms she would be in and the placing this child there would not be a good fit.

Although I knew I would not implement her plan as soon as she told me, I decided to listen to let her explain her reasoning.  Once she was finished I explained why this would not work.  She understood and we discussed several other options.  Finally I came up with some alternatives based on her reasoning and she agreed they were great alternatives to her plan.   According to the three R's, we must be respectful, reciprocal and responsive.  I respected her enough to hear her out, I was then reciprocal by giving her my feedback, and then I responded to her suggestions with a few of my own.  By using these conflict resolution skills we were able to come up with a plan that seems to be working!