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Reflective Field Study Analysis

Diane Gonzalez

Pacific Oaks College

HD-489 Reflection on Life Experience

Professor Silvia Toscano

November 16, 2016

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Introduction

This paper will reflect more deeply on the issues of communication, leadership, problem

solving, diversity and cultural issues within the workplace. I will talk about how certain

experiences influenced my development and explain how each experience affected me either

emotionally, physically, or cognitively. Then, I will share what I learned about human

development from each experience.

Communication

As I reflect on the incident involving several co-workers and a supervisor during a new

hire process, I think about the responsibilities each person has during the orientation process.

The job of a supervisor is to ensure that job descriptions are clearly set out for each employee.

They set performance standards for tasks, jobs and roles of each employee and provide feedback

about specific job duties as needed. The responsibility of an employee is to receive the

information given by the supervisors and ask questions to ensure the job expectations are clearly

understood. By asking questions during the orientation process, the employee is communicating

to the supervisor that the information is being processed and more clarification is needed about

job expectations. If no questions are asked during this process, then the supervisor assumes the

employee understands all information and no further clarification is needed. The role of co-

workers is to assist the new teacher with the new transition and offer support and guidance if

needed. It is also important for co-workers to create a welcoming environment for new staff.

For me the new hire process was a bit overwhelming and intimidating. I did not know

what to expect from the other teachers. Were they nice? Did I make the right decision to take

this job? Are they going to welcome me in to this workplace? These were questions I asked
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myself during this process. Emotionally, I felt scared, uncertain, and overwhelmed because I had

so many unanswered questions. Physically, I wondered if I was going to be able to perform the

physical job requirements expected from me. There were many feelings of uncertainty during

the new hire orientation, that is why communication is key when starting a new job.

Hope Speak (Speak, 2016), acknowledges communication “as important as

breathing…communication facilitates the spread of knowledge and forms relationships between

people.” This information relates to Erikson’s eight stages of development, he states that

between the ages of 18 through 35 individuals are trying to from positive relationships in their

personal and professional lives. Positive relationships at work are formed by good

communication skills between co-workers and supervisors. That’s why I think Hope Speak says

communication is as important as breathing because when there is good communication in the

workplace, employees perform their job duties effectively and co-workers can thrive in their

classrooms, creating a better workplace overall. When there is a lack of communication,

employers struggle to keep peace between employees and job performance usually lacks.

Leadership

The opportunity that I was given, by my employer to attend the CLASS workshop in San

Diego, California was a valuable learning opportunity for me. The CLASS scoring system is an

observation tool developed by two University of Virginia professors to assess classroom quality

in preschools through third grade. At the training, I gained knowledge about classroom

organization, instructional support and emotional support. This training was valuable

information for me because by learning about this assessment tool, I was automatically able to

put the skills I learned into practice the with the children in our class especially for those students
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at risk, like some of the children we serve at our centers. I was also able to take the information

and share it if the other teachers at our sites.

By being chosen to go the training and trusted with more responsibility was an

empowering feeling for me. It gave me more confidence in my abilities and I trusted in the fact

that my employer felt I was a qualified choice to send to this training. It was a boost in my

confidence and I was happy that he chose me. I learned in Erik Erikson’s eight stages of

development, he concludes in the seventh stage of development career and work are the most

important things at this point in an individuals’ life. He writes it is the time when individuals

take on more responsibilities (www.learning-theories.com). This is significant because if work

and careers are the most important things in an individuals’ life then consequently individuals

will work harder to make a difference at their workplace. As for myself, accepting more

responsibility in one way I can make a difference at my job.

Problem Solving

Problem solving in a classroom full of three and four-year-olds is a daily challenge.

Cognitively, it challenges me every day to be creative with books and materials to engaged them

in learning activities. When it comes to language and literacy activities, some children often

become disengaged and just want to play with their peers, especially during individual reading

activities. As a teacher, I do research to find what other teachers are doing in their classrooms so

that I could try new strategies with the children in my class. I find what interests the children

have and find what popular children’s characters are tending so that I could incorporate them

into our classroom as well.

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At times, this can be physically challenging. Doing research means staying up late at

night to prepare lesson plans and daily activities. But these are the responsibilities I accepted

when I accepted this job and although I enjoy my position as an early childhood educator, at

times it is physically draining. I know I am doing my job when parents share stories of their

children retelling the stories we read in class or them picking up books to read and when parents

and children share story time together as a family. Julie Temple Stan, Editorial Director of Early

Moments (Stan, 2016), highlights ten reasons why reading to young children is so important.

The following are a few she shares. One, a stronger relationship with parents/caregivers. Two,

academic excellence. She states that children who are exposed to reading at an early age, tend to

perform better in all areas of formal education (Stan, 2016). Third and fourth is basic speech

skills and better communication skills. These are particularly important for the children in our

class because we often get children with speech and language delays. So, for us reading is

essential and a vital skill we need to develop in these young children. Language and literacy

activities reach far beyond the classroom. They become avenues for children to master language,

develop critical thinking skills, enhance concentration, and learn that reading can be fun.

In Erikson’s Psychosocial Theory of Development, he points out school age children

between the ages of 5 and 11 are in the Industry verses Inferiority stage. During this stage

children are learning to develop a sense of accomplishment and personal pride. This is

significant because these are the ages that children are in school and relate their personal

accomplishments to school related activities, like tests and school projects. If a child is well read

starting at infancy, then studies have shown that school performance is enhanced. Thus, a

positive sense of pride and accomplished is fostered in a child. Therefore, my job as an educator
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becomes much more important and developing language and literacy activities that children are

excited about becomes much more essential in the classroom.

Diversity

Diversity is defined as the state of being diverse or a variety. This school year our

classroom is a complete diversity of cultures. The example I shared about the Chinese family

who recently moved to the United States from China, is one example of the diverse families were

have in our class this year. Mom shared with us that she and her son moved here from China to

the United States about three months ago. Mom speaks some English but her son speaks no

English. Since my co-teacher and I speak no Chinese, it has been a challenged to communicate

with him daily. My co-teacher and I have learned to be creative and find ways to connect with

him. One example we found to be useful is by using google translate. We use this technology in

our classroom when trying to communicate simple tasks with him. He seems to enjoy this and

gets excited to hear our phones speak Chinese to him. Another example of how we

communicate with him is by inviting his mother to come and volunteer in our class. She

participates during circle time and teaches the other children simple words in Chinese. Her son

enjoys having his mother close by and offers support to translate messages for us as well. We

also have the children’s names and some words written in Chinese posted around our classroom.

Lastly, at our center we have a teacher that speaks Chinese. We take him often to speak with her

and he gets so excited to see her and gets the opportunity to speak Chinese to someone else at

school.

Wells, Fox, and Cordova-Cobo of Teachers College of Columbia (Wells, 2016), stated

that “diversity makes us smarter…(and) exposure to other students who are different from

themselves…leads to improved cognitive skills, including critical thinking and problem solving.”
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I could see how they came this conclusion. I have seen evidence of this in my classroom since

our Chinese student has been with us. I, along with my co-teacher and the other children have

problem solved to find ways to communicate with him, integrate him and his family into our

school system and even learned some words in Chinese. He has also learned some words in

English and Spanish as well. So, I agree with their conclusion that diversity makes us smarter.

In the stages of human development, I have learned that beginning at infancy children

long for a feeling of a safe and secure environment to thrive and successfully move on to the next

stage in their life cycle. In my diversity example with our Chinese student, this is importance

because we needed to create a safe and nurturing environment for him to feel safe enough to

detach from his mother and begin to learn in our classroom.

Cultural Issues

Cultural issues are norms, values and beliefs set by cultures of people to live in families,

groups and communities. These “norms” are not necessarily accepted by all peoples but some

issues or beliefs are shared between various groups of people. For intense, the example I shared

about boys playing with dolls at school. This is one cultural issue I have seen while working as a

school teacher that is common across various cultures or ethnicities. I often hear parents say

“playing with dolls will make boys gay,” or “dolls are for girls not boys,” and parents will

encourage boys to play with any other toy before offering them a doll.

I have learned that allowing boys to play with dolls develops nurturing skills and they

learn to practice empathy by caring for a doll. Both important skills boys need to develop as

they prepare to become husbands and fathers. Society does not make it easy for parents to lose

the misconceptions about dolls being for girls. Toy stores have segregated toy aisles that
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separate “boy toys” and “girl toys” reinforcing unhealthy stereotypes. “Boy toys” are promoted

to encourage aggression while “girl toys” are promoted to encourage nurturing skills. Children

who play with toys as just toys without gender specifications reap significant benefits as they

grow into those important adolescent years.

In conclusion, communication, leadership, problem solving, diversity and cultural issues

in the workplace are vital in making a workplace run efficiently. Each is important and has an

individual role in making the workplace run effectively. Communication is significant because

through communication relationships and trust is formed between employees, co-workers and

supervisors. Everyone has a personal responsibility in how they receive information and respond

to co-workers. Leadership in important because in accepting leadership opportunities more

confidence is formed making an individual a more confident and productive employee. Problem

solving is important because learning to work together with co-workers, children and families is

a vital part in making a center run smoothly. Diversity and cultural issues are imperative

because inclusion and avoiding stereotypes create a safe and welcoming environment for

everyone. Personal responsibility is the key in making all this work together.
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References:

www.learning-theories.com

Speak, Hope. (2014). Why communication important to human life? Retrieved

From www.hopespeak.com

Stan, Julie Temple. (2016). 10 Reasons Why You Should Read to Your Kids. Retrieved
From www.earlymoments.com

Wells, Amy Stuart., & Fox Lauren., & Cordova-Cobo Diana. (2016). How Racially Diverse
Schools And Classrooms Can Benefit All Students. Retrieved from https://tcf.org