WK 3: Observing Communication

            My observation of adult/young child communication took place in a preschool setting.  I observed the communication between a mother and young child during the arrival to school.  They were talking about an event that happened the night before and what the child was going to tell his teacher.  The mother demonstrated listening to the child by repeating and responding in a purposeful manner.  They demonstrated the purpose of the communication to be informational and extending thoughts of the child.  The mother was very respectful in her communication with her son.  The mother and son were walking so there was not much eye contact or observing body language or gestures.

            After reading Kovach and Da Ross-Voseles (2011) article Communicating with Babies, Stephenson (2009) article Conversations with a 2-year-old, and listening to Laureate Education, Inc.’s (2011) media segment Communicating with Young Children I came up with three guiding principles to communicate with young children.  Theses principle can be tied to this observation.  The first principle that I thought was important was active listening and observing body language and gestures.  This mother actively listened to her son; however, observing body language and gestures did not occur because they were walking down the hall.  The second principle that I came up with was to be mindful in your communication.  This mother was talking to her son not to someone else about her son.  She was being respectful in how she communicated and was deliberate in her style.  The third principle is to understand the purpose of your communication.  It was clear that the purpose was to extend her son’s critical thinking and to give information and feedback in a respectful manner.

            This communication would be beneficial to this child’s self-worth.  The mother was very encouraging as the child spoke and feedback was done so that the conversation could continue.  The child was motivated by his mother to continue with this conversation.  The only thing that I would change would be the amount of observing of gestures and body language though this did not affect this communication process.  I feel that I communicate effectively though I need to work on my observational skills so that I actively listen with my whole body and acquire the communication that children do through body language and gestures.

References

Kovach, B., & Da Ross-Voseles, D. (2011). Communicating with babies. YC; Young Children, 66(2), 48-50.

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2011a). EDUC 6357-6 Diversity, Development, and Learning [Webcast]. Communicating with Young Children. Baltimore, MD: Author. Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_tab_group_id=_2_1&url=%2Fwebapps%2Fblackboard%2Fexecute%2Flauncher%3Ftype%3DCourse%26id%3D_2819834_1%26url%3D

Stephenson, A. (2009). Conversations with a 2-year-old. YC: Young Children, 64(2), 90-95.