That being said, it was the parents, not the kids, who demonstrated their differences. The kids acted as kids would act; making it was difficult to notice differences in them (beyond extrinsic properties). However, there were definite differences in how the parents acted. For example, one parent continuously said their child’s number at the operator, trying to get him to call it, while at the cupcake walk trying to get their child win. They became angry when he ignored her, and continued to draw numbers.
As far as our group’s diversity and communication challenges, we have met the challenges laid before us and overcome a lot of obstacles. We have dealt with varying opinions and participation methods, and as of now, relative to when the group was first formed we have come together with various roles. Although once a role is taken it is difficult to change, a few group members have been able to adapt and have now taken different roles when certain needs arise. Our group has been composed of a very diverse group of individuals with different time commitments and interests, and we feel it has worked to our advantage, even if challenging, to have such varying opinions and viewpoints. Our group’s view of the relationship between communication ethics and diversity changed thus far by seeing how kids interact with one another. Since some of us were not able to be in attendance for the event, we were not able to really see the connection between both. However, we have seen the connection for us on the ability to pull everything off for the night. Having our own ideas and being so very different was an obstacle, but it made for a well-rounded event for the children at Madison Elementary—which is what we wanted in the end.
In consideration of the ideas we have been discussing in class our group has seemingly been affected by a couple of the terms. After reading about the ethnic of care and the doctor/Mr. Tabrizi situation we have learned the ethnic of care is one of the best ways to communicate in diverse societies. Ethics of care can be defined as a response with empathy, narrative, or identification to the other. The ethic of care is a good way to communicate with other people. Because you consider the other, the other feels like you really care, because you do. Another concept such as the second principle of dialogical ethics states that both participants must be fully present in the engagement, meaning that nothing should be occupying your time other than the other person in which you are communicating with. This is very true for our group in that we have a tendency to have laptops open and other things going through our minds when meeting together for this project. In order for us to be more successful as a group and communicate better we need to apply this second principle and focus on the group as a whole.
This picture represents what our group is learning. Diversity is not just numbers of people reported to the census, diversity is everywhere and needs to be embraced.
http://www.helium.com/items/82975-teaching-children-ethics
http://www.slc.edu/cdi/Values_Go_to_School.php
We chose these links because we see them fitting with ethics and values for children in school, and find them to be pertinent to this blog as we just finished our event.
8 comments:
I found that this was a very fun project to work with. As we stated our group is made up of a bunch of students of different ages, sexes, majors, levels of dedication and availability. We had to all come together in a cohesive manner in order to make this even as successful as it was. Whether this was working together within our own group to see when we can meet and what events we wanted to do or cooperating with the other group that worked on this project to make sure that everything was getting done and there were no overlaps. We worked hard to make sure to have activities that would be interesting to a diverse group of students. Some of them were tailored to older children, some could be looked at as more interesting for either a little boy or girl. I viewed this the same way when I went shopping to pick out materials and prizes I knew that we had to have an even amount of boy and girl toys and something that all ages pre-k through 4th grade could use.
I was not present at the actual event but based on what I heard from my fellow group members ethic of care was definitely the best approach to use. They had to try and show each child that they were just as important as the other and that we understood that they all wanted to win and had equal treatment.
In the days leading up to the event for our group we focused a lot on making sure everything was ready for the group who would be working the event itself. Careful planning, checking and double checking everything we had and a genuine concern for the children to make sure they would be provided with all the events we planned on having. I believe that in making sure everything was taken care of and keeping both the other group and children at the event in mind we took an ethics of care standpoint which is defined as a response with empathy, narrative, or identification to the "other". I also see the majority of our communication being mediated through emails in which we figure out schedules and communicate our points to one another. Mediated communication is defined as words electronically mediated and not presented face to face, and while it saved us a lot of time in figuring out scheduling conflicts, the problems of others simply not responding and being part of the group was a major trouble we seemed to encounter quite frequently. Finally, situational ethics, or the fact that no one can predict that factors in every situation that arises and so no one must do what seems right at the time. This applies to our group in that a lot of members had difficulty attending meetings we would set up before the event as well as after the event, and being someone who tries to come prepared to a meeting ready to break up what everyone should do to so that we have an equal workload and everyone contributes, I had a hard time preparing for meetings not knowing who would or would not be there and had to adjust accordingly.
During this election season, I have noticed many things having to do with communication ethics. After reading about communication ethics and politics I have learned many terms that could be used to describes the elections. Machiavellianism is sharp and manipulative practices by politicians or anyone who dissimulates to achieve political gain or power. Politicians are defiantly using this theory to try and persuade voters. Private vs. Public Protestantism has also been considered during this presidential election. Private vs. Public Protestantism can be described, Private Protestants promoted personal salvation and promised that individual morality would be rewarded in the next life and a Public Protestant is a conviction that the way to God required the transformation of society. It has been argued that Barack Obama can be described as a Public Protestant white John McCain a Private Protestant. Depending on how the voter feels about himself or herself, as a private or public protestant, could change the outcome of their votes. These terms could also be compared to our group event. Some people are trying to better themselves (Machiavellianism ). Private and Public Protestant can be seen within students, teachers, and parents during our group event.
When preparing for family fun night, I had thought of some terms that relate to communication ethics and what we have all done to get ready for our project. The fist term I have used is objectivism, which means that people should not sacrifice themselves for others and neither should we expect others to sacrifice themselves. When we were getting ready for the event we all had our certain projects to get done, and everything was divided so that we all could get our hours done and not worry about other peoples. Another term that I feel describes how communication ethics and diversity are related by identity management theory, and how we explain the process by developing rational identity between members that intercultural friendship. This being is how the children cope with social change, since I was not able to attend family fun night, I cannot say how the children were affected by that change, but I can say that from knowing how we act when put in different social cultures it takes us a while to recognize the change and act upon it. When thinking about identity management theory it also reminds me of relational identity which is the concept that might be as a reality or culture that reflects values and the rules of the process of the friendship and also helps to maintain the relationship. This also guides a behavior within a relationship, I find this relating to communication ethics and diversity since children may act differently when they are with their friends or when they are with people they may not know. But since children are all brought up with certain values and what they know as right and wrong is reflected when they go somewhere, like the family fun night. So with knowing all this information, a lot can be seen by just watching children and how they interact with one another and how they interact when their parents are not here.
Since most of the people composing the two groups that were able to attend were from the other group, I experienced a little bit of being the odd man out in a group on the event night. I noticed that if something had gone wrong with the preparation my group did, I felt I had to defend myself as though I represented the group as a whole. To some extent, I feel this is perhaps similar to a minority in a group somehow representing their group. It's necessary when communicating with others to remember that they are one unique person, they don't represent everyone that shares a common trait with them. You must empathize with them, and understand them as a person. It is necessary too to use compassion ethics to, again, help identify with their individuality.
In your blog you state that “The ethic of care is best, when dealing with diverse situations.” I feel as though this was very much a generalized statement. Perhaps the ethic of care was best in this situation but would Buber’s I- Thou relationship also be appropriate, it meets your justification for really connecting with the person. Also dialogical ethics requires the commitment of getting to know the person.
Another reason why I feel as though this certain approach is not the greatest is that it does not seem to be possible. During your event you came into contact with hundreds of kids and parents, is it possible to create a genuine relationship with all those people. I feel as though that is what is required when acting upon an ethic of care. Having such a relationship with someone requires a lot of time and energy. It seems as though using your suggested ethic of care might be counter productive to your event.
After reading your latest group blog post, it seems as though you had fun with the children but the parents may have been another story; all in all it seems you had fun though. It's always interesting to see how adults act when around other adults swarmed by sugar-high children; they're usually frazzled and they themselves get hyped up and competitive, sometimes worse than the children.
When reading about your groups' diversity and communication, it is understandable to me where you are coming from. Our group, too has dealt with varying ideas and trying to come to compromises and having only on male in the group adds to many obstacles. As with our group, it is good to hear that you're group has also taken on certain roles per person.
As far as the second principle of dialogical ethics you portrayed the group to have, it is seemingly possible to me that many groups encounter the same thing. Though our group is usually pretty good at listening to each other and focusing on the person talking at the time, there are times when our minds begin to wander and are not fully "present" in the project and/or conversations.
While evaluating the blog, the terms ethic of care and the second principle of dialogical ethics were used. These were both great examples of describing the group and the groups interact with each other. The group also set a goal for themselves, “In order for us to be more successful as a group and communicate better we need to apply this second principle and focus on the group as a whole.” I think it is great that they are working as a group and looking for ways to improve.
I offer to them a term from the book, not in relation to their group but in relation to the kids at Madison Elementary. The story they told about the parent trying to tell their child all the answers, reminded me of Kohlberg’s Conventional Level. Stage 4 states, “Social duty, behaving well maintains the proper social order and represents your social obligation.” (pg120) We talked in class that this also means, doing what is right, because that is what society says. I think the parent went against the “social order” by telling her child the answers. Most parents are there to teach and help their children on their journey to learn. Also the parent getting angry when the child did not acknowledge them was wrong. It was obvious to the group that there was a violation of social order here. Most parents would not act like this nor would a parent simple not get angry with the child for not listening to the answers. This parent did not demonstrate the Ethic of Care; which was defined in class as, responding with empathy, narrative, or identification. The parent was angry instead of understanding and empathetic to the child wanting to do it on his or her own.
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