Cultural Diversity Week 3

I do find myself communicating differently with people from different groups and cultures.  For example, my class is comprised of students who are African American, Hispanic, and Caucasian.  When I am communicating with the Hispanic and Caucasian parents, I find myself speaking more in a formal and direct manner.  However, when I am speaking to the parents of my African American students, I find myself speaking more informally to them.  I adjust my communication based upon who I am talking to, especially when it comes to interacting with people from different cultures and backgrounds, but there are some strategies I could utilize to assist me with communicating with people from various cultural backgrounds.
            Furthermore, some of the strategies I employ is using direct eye contact, using hand gestures to explain what message I am conveying, and using formal language.  This way, it will assist me with being an effective communicator.  According to O’ Hair, Wiemann, Mullin, and Teven (2015), “Just as we learn culture through communication, we also use communication to express our culture” (p.123).  This means that communication can be a reflection of how people display who they are from a cultural background perspective.  Using direct eye contact shows a person that someone is sincere in his or her method of communication.  Hand gestures shows that a person is willing to explain a clear message to the audience.  Using formal language when communicating with parents shows them that someone is trying to relate to them.  However, it is better to relate to students and parents by meeting them at their level.

 References
O'Hair, D., Wiemann, M., Mullin, D. I., & Teven, J. (2015). Real communication (3rd. ed). New
            York: Bedford/St. Martin's.


Comments

  1. BeffaJanuary 28, 2018 at 4:10 AM

    Your post made me realize that I talk to people in a formal and an informal way as well. I found it interesting to examine that from an unfamiliar perspective. When you are having a group conversation with several different of your parents that you work with, do you find yourself speaking formally or informally? Also, sometimes I find that some people are not comfortable with direct eye contact as they haven’t experienced that much before. Have you ever run into that?

    ReplyDelete
  2. UnknownJanuary 28, 2018 at 7:53 PM

    Hello Teresa,
    Marvelous Blog posting this week! I valued your statement "When I am communicating with the Hispanic and Caucasian parents, I find myself speaking more in a formal and direct manner. However, when I am speaking to the parents of my African American students, I find myself speaking more informally to them." Now I found that my family from Africa were well educated. Dad was an engineer and mom was a doctor so my communication with them was formal as I talked through the translator. They were very respectful of me and wanted their child to learn everything he could while going to school in the United States.Direct eye contact is a way we are taught to communicate and show respect however; I have had parents become offended when I look them directly in the eyes. So I have found that it is important to look beyond what I perceive and pause and watch how the parent starts to communicate before I begin. Have a delightful week!
    Tammy

    ReplyDelete
  3. UnknownJanuary 28, 2018 at 10:12 PM

    Hello Teresa,

    I catch myself doing the same thing it just depends on what parent that I am communicating with. That is an indication of diversity and the ability to communicate with a diverse population! It takes a creative person to be flexible and communicate with a wide range of people.

    ReplyDelete

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