Communication is the means by which a person is able to pass information in a manner that it is easily understood by the receiver and a feedback is sent to the original sender. It can be verbal with the use of words, signs and symbols or non-verbal with the use of body language, cues et cetera (O'Hair, Wiemann, Mullin and Teven, 2018).
For this observation, I visited a neighbourhood park that is usually frequented by young children. I saw a young lady come in with 2 children and she appears to be their nanny. I would assume the older child is 4 years old, while the little girl is about 2 years old. The boy went away to climb on the one of the structures while the little girl stayed back in the stroller. I noticed that the nanny asked the girl if she wanted to get off the stroller and she nodded to the affirmative. After 3 minutes, the nanny began eating the snack she came with, she offered the little girl some of it and the child nodded in the affirmative once more.
The nanny took time to ask the little girl direct questions on what she wanted rather than make presumptions on what she would want. This respected the little girl as she was acknowledged and her opinions mattered. This was a sign of good communication between the both of them (Kovach and Da Ros-Voselos, 2011). However, I did not see much interaction between the nanny and the older boy which was a little disappointing.
In the course of the 30 minutes I observed them, I noticed that she was on her phone for the last 15 minutes. I feel that this was not beneficial to the children because she was not able to pay attention to what the boy was doing, and maybe could have praised him for any new skill he may have mastered.
Although she made connections with the girl earlier in the observation, I do not think she tried her best with the boy. He may have felt alone and not motivated to keep trying new things because he knew that his nanny was not paying enough attention to notice them.
When I am with children, I always keep my mind focused on whatever we are engaged in. I try to make the children know that I am interested in whatever they are saying or doing. This gives them room to explore their imaginations and creativity because they know that I am there to support and also participate (Stephenson, 2009). I also engage in teacher talk because it is beneficial in supporting the language skills of children in whatever context they are being used. An insight to this week's resources is that children express themselves more with when they initiate the conversation rather than when responding to teachers (Dangel and Durden, 2010). Henceforth, I plan to allow children lead the conversation on things that interest them and then I'll join in and offer support when necessary.
Reference
Dangel, J. R., & Durden, T. R. (2010). The Nature of Teacher Talk during Small Group Activities. YC: Young Children, 65(1), 74–81.
Kovach, B., & Da Ros-Voseles, D. (2011). Communicating with Babies. YC: Young Children, 66(2), 48–50.
O'Hair, D., Wiemann, M., Mullin, D. I., & Teven, J. (2018). Real communication: An introduction (4th. ed). New York: Bedford/St. Martin's
Stephenson, A. (2009). Stepping Back to Listen to Jeff: Conversations with a 2-Year-Old. YC: Young Children, 64(2), 90–95.
Hello Adiele, Very good observation of the lady and children.I agree it doesn't appear to me that the lady was engaging or paying any attention to the boy. When I am with small children a phone conversation has to be real important and short. Talking on the phone can take away your attention and anything can happen.You did a good job observing
ReplyDeleteAdiele,
ReplyDeleteThe nanny should have spent time with both of the children. It is important to give children attention. When the nanny gave the little girl choices, it have the child an opportunity to feel like the nanny was interested in what she wanted. This helps children to feel free to express him or herself. The observations you made can be similar to those that occur in the classroom. Sometimes the attention a teacher gives to a child can let the child know he or she can freely express him or herself.
I like your post. and I notice you said they had communication skill? Have you ever experience someone have bad communication skill with a child if so how did it make you feel? and what did you do?
ReplyDelete