Communication Competencies in Early Childhood Environments
"Communication competency" is a well-known and fundamental term in the field and study of Organizational Communication, and refers to the skills necessary to communicate effectively within an organization across a variety of spectrums.
Among the most complex organizations in terms of communication competency are educational environments, and the early childhood environment is no exception. Communication in the early childhood environment includes parent-to-teacher, parent-to-parent, teacher-to-parent, teacher-to-administration, administration-to-teacher, parent-to-administration, and administration=to=parent, not to mention the special communication skills involved in reaching very young children.
Two communication competency components that are particularly crucial to the early childhood environment are "knowledge competency" and "sensitivity competency". Knowledge competency refers to the ability to understand the issues, concerns, and information involved in the organization (in this case early childhood education) and to communicate this knowledge effectively. This requires us to have as full a grasp as possible on the most pressing issues in our educational environment and then to make sure those issues are related to all the parties involved. It works hand-in-hand with "sensitivity competency", the ability to sense the most appropriate and effective ways to communicate information to individuals and groups with different agendas and goals. Knowing how to effectively reach out to that bilingual family to find out what their needs are, and then knowing how to communicate that to a teacher or administrator who may not have much understanding of those needs is a good example of how important sensitivity competency is in an early childhood environment. These are the skills that will particularly be needed going forward in my Multicultural Media Lab project in order to involve the various important parties including parents, teachers, and administrators in its creation.
Hi Harry,
ReplyDeleteIn reading your post, I found a similar aspect that we both touched on, which is sensitivity competency. Knowing how to reach a targeted audience is the key to getting through to a group of people, regardless of the variety within the audience. This reminds me of differentiation in the classroom; differentiation is a must if one hopes to reach each and every student. As a teacher, one has to incorporate a range of and have a repertoire of many techniques in order to be successful in his/her role as teacher. Effective communication also requires a range of techniques to connect with each person within a larger audience.
Hi Harry,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your post. I agree with Cassondra about the sensitivity competency. Knowing your audience and how to communicate with them is a large part of teaching, because we communicate with so many different people. We speak to our administrators differently than we do parents and we speak to parents differently than we do to other teachers. I have had difficulty communicating with Hispanic parents that do not speak English. They have inspired my policy change to begin a volunteer interpreter program.
There is no one-size-fits-all presentation. Every audience is different and every audience needs to feel respected and valued by the speaker or the whole thing falls flat. I agree with you, Harry, that one has to first know what one's talking about - but then that one also must talk about that with THIS audience, not some generic one. Thanks!
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