In this module you will:
- Analyze strategies to use to create partnerships with families
- Identify strategies to use when faced with differences and tensions with families
- Explore what to do when tensions with families become conflicts
After reading Gillespie (2006), answer the following questions:
- Summarize the main idea, key details, and what you learned from the readings in 4 – 6 sentences in your own words. Use key terms and vocabulary from the text.
- What quote(s) was most meaningful to you? (identify the page number) Why?
- How does this reading connect to your personal experience?
- Which of the strategies teachers find useful to creating respectful and productive partnerships with families do you feel is most important? Why?
- Based on the strategies teachers find useful to creating respectful and productive partnerships with families how would you work with Pilar? Jason’s family
- How will this reading help you become a better infant/ toddler professional?
Respond to 2 other posts!
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I reviewed this module
Summary: The article addressed different ways teachers can support infants and families when it comes to conflict. It encourages teacher to actively listen to parents to show them that you care about what they are saying. Empathy should be used when deciding how to respond to parents. Teachers should ask questions and never assume to avoid further conflict with parents. Not knowing an answer to a question a parent is fine and teachers can let parents know that they will get back to them.
What quote(s) was most meaningful to you? (identify the page number) Why? “Asking questions acknowledge that the parents are the experts on their own children, which communicates respect”. (page 1) This quote is the most meaningful to me because in general I believe people should ask questions before they make their own personal observations which may come off as an attack.
How does this reading connect to your personal experience? On my youngest son’s first day of school I asked the teacher how did his day go. In that moment she told me that he actually bit one of the teachers. I looked at her puzzled because this was a new behavior for him. Obviously I left and felt terrible. Nonetheless on his second day trial I followed up with the teacher and asked well what was happening when he bit her. I was told she was blocking the door and put her hand on the door where he bit her. Long story short I came to my own conclusion that he did this because he was in an unfamiliar territory and was probably looking for me lol. Happy to say he didn’t bite anyone the second day and adjusted. It would have been nice to come together as a partnership and see why the incident happened rather than leaving and feeling like my child did something wrong.
Which of the strategies teachers find useful to creating respectful and productive partnerships with families do you feel is most important? Why? I believe asking questions is the most important strategy parents should never feel as if they are being attacked. By asking questions teachers are letting them know that they are the experts on their children.
Based on the strategies teachers find useful to creating respectful and productive partnerships with families how would you work with Pilar? Jason’s family : For Pilar I would use empathy to understand where she is coming from. Then I would ask the mom well why do you think this is happening in the daycare? and what is her eating schedule like at home? I would also offer to maybe give Pilar her favorite toy so she could maybe stop crying so I could give her mom my full undivided attention.
For Jason: I would immediately ask questions such as how does he react when he’s nervous or scared? I would then ask if they ever observed him biting anyone. Then I would reassure them that biting may be a sign that he hasn’t fully adapt to the daycare. I would use my own personal experience and explain how my child went through the same thing. Ultimately I would show empathy for the parent and figure out together how to get Jason to feel more comfortable and not bite anyone.
How will this reading help you become a better infant/ toddler professional? This will help me become a better infant teacher because it has given me useful tools on how to deal with potential conflict with families.
Hey Deborah, I like how you were able to make a great connection on with your personal life and you son that’s a great connection. Good Job :).
I liked the quote you chose because parents should not feel like anyone knows their child better than them but they should feel like they know their child’s needs better than anyone else and they feel proud of it.
1). Summarize the main idea, key details, and what you learned from the readings in 4 – 6 sentences in your own words. Use key terms and vocabulary from the text. The article focuses on the importance of educators being able to support families when conflicts do occur. The reading talks about how educators/caregivers should stop, look, look, listen and respond. This shows different ways of understanding other people’s point of views, because sometimes us humans don’t agree with others and we don’t always have to agree however we do need to respect others points of views and at least give them a chance to express themselves so conflicts don’t occur. And so active listening is the best way to do this.
2). What quote(s) was most meaningful to you? (identify the page number) Why?
The quote that was most meaningful to me is “Asking questions to get additional information and wondering aloud are two of the easiest ways to give ourselves a moment to stop before or responding(Page 2)”. This quote stood out to me because this is a very good strategy to use even if you don’t work with parents it’s a good strategy to use in everyday life. We should stop and think before we speak and possibly say the wrong thing. Especially working with families, it is always good to hear their opinion and respect it because at the end of the day we are only doing our best for the child and their families is the best way to get information and understand each child’s backgrounds so we can better fulfill their needs and wants.
3). How does this reading connect to your personal experience? I don’t have any children on my own. However I can still connect this to a time when my cousin was in kindergarten and a caregiver screamed at my cousin for not eating and when my cousin came home the next day she was terrified and didn’t want to go to school, so her mother asked her what was wrong and she responded and told her what had happened and how she was scared of the teacher. Her mother went to school and spoke to the teacher and conflict occurred because the teacher told her mother I just wanted her to eat and my aunt responded with okay I understand however it is not your place to scream at her and terrified her. This is why it is very important for teachers and caregivers to be careful of what we say and how they respond to certain situations because children learn and observe us at all times.
4). Which of the strategies teachers find useful to creating respectful and productive partnerships with families do you feel is most important? Why? I believe is the most strategy is the active listening because you give everyone the opportunity to speak out their opinion and by listening sometimes you might come to a mutual understanding and you see someone else’s point of view and where they are coming from, instead of just continuing the argument and making it much more larger than it has to be.
5). Based on the strategies teachers find useful to creating respectful and productive partnerships with families how would you work with Pilar? Jason’s family. For Pilar I would use communication because communication can help build positive relationships with parents and provide confidence to both the caregiver and the parents.
6). How will this reading help you become a better infant/ toddler professional?
This reading will definitely help me become a better infant and toddler professional and this will help me in the future if I face this situation where conflicts are arising. This reading taught me how to face conflict and respect everyone’s points of views in order to have a healthy bond and build a relationship with the families of the children you work with.
I agree with your answer to #4, I said something similar and I also feel like when we listen we give the family the chance to speak and say their concerns.
Edisa — Thanks for sharing the story of your aunt & cousin. I am sorry that happened. There are 3 things we can NEVER control/ force babies or young children to do:
Eat
Sleep
Eliminate/ go to the bathroom
Hey Edisa I like how you were still able to make a connection based on your cousin’s experience. Glad you were able to realize the importance of communication between, teachers, families, and more importantly children.
1. Summarize the main idea, key details, and what you learned from the readings in 4 – 6 sentences in your own words. Use key terms and vocabulary from the text.
The article talked about how ZERO TO THREE was created to help the caregivers build strong relationships with the families they are working with. This includes asking questions and wondering caregivers can learn about the infant but it also shows respect towards the parent. Additionally by being an active listener when a parent talks to us, meaning we stop what we do and listen to what they are telling us, look at them to show we care, listen to what they tell us and this can come in either verbal or nonverbal communication and lastly respond to the parents and repeat what they have said to show that we listened to their concerns. Furthermore, to create strong bonds we must have empathy for the family but also point out things that are working well, whether this is small or big. lastly, when a parent asks us something that we don’t know and we acknowledge this shows that as a caregiver we realize that we have limits to what we know.
2. What quote(s) was most meaningful to you? (identify the page number) Why?
A quote that was meaningful to me is found on page 3 where it states, “Clearly, communication isn’t easy, but it is necessary. If, as early childhood professionals, we can strengthen parent-child relationships by strengthening our relationships with the parent, we will have influenced that child’s future for much longer than the time he or she is in our care.”- this helped me see the importance of communication between parent and caregiver, and also showing that the parent knows his/her child better than anyone.
3. How does this reading connect to your personal experience?
This reading connects to me personally, when my mother would take care of her friend’s children, she would always call their mother when something concerned the child and she was unsure of how their mother would usually do it, she would ask. And this always stayed with me and help me see that to always ask questions and to not be afraid of asking them’ because every child is different and their needs will differ.
4. Which of the strategies teachers find useful to creating respectful and productive partnerships with families do you feel is most important? Why?
I believe being an active listener that involves stop, look, listen, and respond. Because each one shows how the caregiver genuinely cares for the families and want the family to know that they care and what they say is important.
5. Based on the strategies teachers find useful for creating respectful and productive partnerships with families how would you work with Pilar? Jason’s family?
With Pilar family, I would empathize with the mother and point out to the mother that she worries about her daughter’s needs and I would give myself some time to consider how I would respond but also to the mother since her daughter is crying and ask if there is anything she would like to help soothe her daughter.
In Jason’s family, I would be an active listener and listen closely to what the father has to say. Respectfully I would ask why he thinks like that and what concerns he has of his son being in the program.
6. How will this reading help you become a better infant/ toddler professional?
This reading will help me become a better infant/toddler professional because developing communication between parent and caregiver is not easy but if I put into practice of how to show respect and listen to their concerns, I can learn from them and give the best quality of care for their child.
Hey Daisy, I love your quote sometimes communication with others can be hard for some people however for education majors/teachers it is important that we communicate with parents of children who we work with and build a bond in order to fulfill the child needs and wants at all times and keep everyone happy.
Daisy — communication is the foundation of our work with families. Without communication, we cannot have trust, engage families, develop strong partnerships, etc.
Hey Daisy, I really like how your mom handle situation. Seems like you learned from the best. I too believe that most of the time mothers knows best!
I reviewed this module
The article talked about zero to three was created to help the teachers build stronger relationships with the families they are going to be working with. This includes asking questions so the teachers can learn about the infant but it also shows that the teacher cares about getting to know the child. As a teacher we create bonds and take in whatever comments and concerns the family might have and also your point in respectfully like things that are going well small or big.
My personal experience my mom always made sure to listen to the teachers and put her opion respectfully after or she was involved in the PTA to make sure things were going right.
This reading will help me become a better teacher because developing a bond/communication with the familes will help the transition be smoother not only for the family but for the child because children pick up tension.
Module closed