Cultural Communication

Cultural Communication

     On a daily basis, I interact with hundreds of people including parents, children, co-workers, family members, and community members. As a result, I also interact with a variety of race, religions, nationalities, sexual orientation, and abilities. Within the sub-culture of my workplace, I interact with persons of varying levels of employment and management. 

     In these broader areas, I suppose I interact with people differently but not necessarily based on their category. I base my communication and interaction with people on what works best for them, how long we have known each other, their personality, and their communication needs. I try to communicate with people in as friendly and open a manner as possible. 

     My interactions within my organization are something of which I am very aware. I remain professional whether they are the director, a teacher, an assistant teacher, or the janitor. I do my best to communicate to everyone that their ideas matter regardless of their position. However, I am well aware that I am more casual with my own staff than I am with someone else's staff. I am much more formal with my supervisors, board members, and managers than I am with people on the same level as myself. 

     

     When communicating with anyone whether work related or personal, I communicate with respect, an assumption of knowledge, and a tone that conveys concern even if I do not agree with that person. 

First, I do my best to communicate with respect. I avoid name-calling, labels, and accusations. Second, I assume that the person to whom I am speaking is intelligent and has some level of knowledge. There is nothing worse to me than being spoken to a if I am not intelligent, and I would never want to do this to someone else. Third, I try to convey concern even if I do not find the person's view to be valid and founded. Clearly, if they are sharing something with me they have a concern.

    I am well-aware of how negative communication feels especially right now as there is a negative communicator in my life. As I progress through this week, I will actually be tackling this issue head on. There is a very real possibility that this choice could cost me my job, but I can not longer allow someone to use hostile communication towards me, my staff, or my colleagues simply because they are in a position of power. I ask for your support, thoughts, and prayers this week. 

     

Verbal and Nonverbal Communication 

I chose to watch the new show "Black-ish." Not because it is not something I would not normally watch but because it is something that I have never watched before. After watching the first episode, I will most likely continue to watch the show. Even without the sound on, it was really funny and contains pertinent views of culture in the United States.

Without the sound, it is still evident that this family of six practices a great deal of sarcasm in their communication with one another. There is also an air of confidence from the character of the father. The grandfather, played by Laurence Fishburne, displays a really laid back style of communication often seen sitting in a chair drinking a beer. The mother/wife displays facial expressions and body language that convey irritation and disapproval of the father's actions. In one scene in the laundry room, her eyes are bulging out, she leans forwards, waves her arms, contorts her face into an expression of anger and seems to be yelling at the dad as he stands with a confused expression on his own face.

With the sound on, the father's communication is much more clear. He displays confidence at his job but clearly has many conflicts with his role in an all-white upper class neighborhood and job setting. His verbal communication conveys amazement and dismay at the odd dynamics between him and his co-workers, his son's choice of sports and friends, and his family's willingness to let go of their culture.

When I watched the show with the sound off, his sarcasm was abundantly clear and that was proven once the sound was on. My assumptions about the grandfather were wrong. His non-verbal communication was casual, but his verbal communication was really aggressive and grumpy. My assumptions about the wife, were spot-on. However, some of this is rooted in my knowledge of the actress. I have listened to her as a public speaker on a few occasions and am familiar with her verbal communication style. Her character has many of the same mannerisms, speech patterns, and phrasing as the actress. 

Obviously, if I had been watching a show I know well such as Law and Order SVU, I would have had a much more accurate read on the regular character's nonverbal communications. I am quite familiar with their facial expressions, movements, and gestures. A show such as the one I chose to watch was completely unfamiliar to me. The "aha" moment came from wrapping my previous knowledge of the actors into their characters which mislead me on the nature of the grandfather. Professionally, we can often make assumptions about people's character based on their nonverbal communication. For example, I have a reputation as being very aggressive because I walk very quickly and move with purpose and intensity. The truth is, I am not aggressive. I'm actually fairly calm most of the time.  The same can be said for working with children and families. We can not make assumptions about the intentions and character of a parent or a child based solely on nonverbal communication. Parents may appear angry when they are simply tired from a long day of work. We must always look beyond the obvious and ask questions for clarification.

Communication 

     The question for this week's blog asks us to think about someone after which we would want to model our own communication style. I really did not have to think on this one for very long. The Executive Director of my agency  has a communication style that I really admire. She has a strong and commanding personality and presence. I would like to think that I do as well. However, she is far more diplomatic, and therefore more effective, than I am.
     I am not a great nor diplomatic communicator when placed in an unscripted situation. I have no problem with pre-planned or scripted public speaking or even unscripted question and answer situations within my area of expertise. I do not do well in awkward disciplinary situations with staff planned or unplanned. Most of the time, I feel like Bart Simpson in the image below.
 

 

     She, however, is impressive in her command of these situations. Last school year, I had the privilege of participating in a meeting with her and a staff member over a very delicate situation. She made the staff member feel comfortable,valued, and heard while still remaining firm on the company policy. The staff member plead her case and although she did not get what she wanted, she felt as though she had been heard and appreciated. Some of the effective communication styles I noticed from my Executive Director were that she maintained an open posture, kept consistent eye contact, and leaned forward when the staff member was speaking. At no point, did she become defensive about the staff member's questioning of the policy or predicament.

     Recently, she lead an improvement meeting of managers and coordinators. She asked about or challenges, our concerns, and our ideas. She listened and spoke very little except to ask prompting questions. What began as a 30 minute session lasted for an hour. With very little speaking, she drew an incredible amount of honest information out of the administrative team. When I left that meeting, I said to my coworkers "That was by far the most productive and fulfilling meeting I have ever been in." Here, her communication style followed the "less is more" philosophy. She appeared comfortable with our silence while we were thinking. She was also accepting of our ideas and concerns even if she may not have agreed with all of them.
     I have been with our agency for almost 8 years and I have seen tremendous improvement with her at the helm. No doubt, her style of communication has a great deal to do with this progress!