Reflecting on Communication in the Early Childhood Field

To all my colleagues:

I am sure you are ready for a break as I sure am! But the information I have learned from this class is priceless. As we enter into our different specialties, I want to encourage each of you by saying that there is no turning around now! Just imagine in 6 months we will be graduating with the skills and knowledge to bring about positive change. Hopefully we are all undergoing  positive change within ourselves as well. In all honesty, I am still not where I should be in regards to managing conflict and communication, but my thinking is not where it used to be. I am thankful for this class as my awareness about the subject has been elevated to another level, challenging me everyday to apply what I have learned.And I love it!

Team Building and Collaboration, Part 1

I have to admit, it took me a minute to think of a time when I adjourned from a group that fit the context of this assignment. So, I will have to go back about 8 years when I volunteered to work a huge church event called “Megafest” for the Potter’s House, under the leadership of Bishop T.D. Jakes. In this modern day and time, because this church has such a large congregation, it is referred to as a “mega church”. However there were many systems in place to acclimate individuals who wanted to get involved as volunteers. After prayerfully deciding that I wanted to volunteer in the children’s ministry, I also volunteered to work in “Megafest”, a huge family oriented festival that runs over the course of several days. The event took place in Atlanta, GA. 

The success of this event included, all five stages of group development, forming, storming, norming, performing, and adjourning (O’Hair & Weimann, 2009) and (Abudi, 2010).The team I was on was the arts and crafts team. Our goal was to set up over 20 – 25 biblical arts and craft stations in a huge conference room. After each session we had to restock the stations all over again. Then at night, we were assigned to chaperone “Megaland” where the children engaged in lots of gross motor activities including the giant blow up slides, jumping houses and more. There were kids everywhere in this huge arena.  We worked long hours starting our days off by attending a general session and prayer in the morning and concluding the day with a meeting to get announcements, new developments, and to address concerns. 

During the performing stage I began to recall the names of my team mates and I got to know some team mates better by going to lunch together. I remember three of us wanting seconds on a piece of apple pie. So, we decided we would order a second piece and split it among us. 

Adjourning: When the event was over and it was time to go back to Dallas, I sat with one of the ladies on the team whom I had not had a relationship with before. We talked on the bus and exchanged phone numbers. And although I live in Nashville, TN now, to this day she and I periodically call each other just to see how the other is doing. Another lady who I already had a relationship with stated that she really enjoyed working with me and I felt the same way. This was a pleasant experience because it was well organized and the leadership was awesome. The leadership allowed us the autonomy to make decisions about the various arts and craft projects we would present. We all agreed that we had a lot of fun, but we knew we had to get back to our lives. When we all got back to Texas, a few weeks later the Children’s department had a dinner for all of the volunteers. Disbanding was not hard because we still attended the same church, but now we knew each other’s names and we were more comfortable with each other. 

To answer the questions was this group hard to leave? I would have to say no because we still had access to each other. Also I think because of my age, I understand that life is constantly changing. 

The closing ritual I experienced was the wonderful dinner the church had for us. We ate good food, played games and had a really good time. Also everyone received a certificate in appreciation for a job well done. 

How do you imagine that you will adjourn from the group of colleagues you have formed while working on your master’s degree in this program?

I imagine that I will wish the best for each colleague, but I am sure we will continue on with my lives because of the absence of face to face interaction. Also according to O’Hair and Weimann, (2009) there are different kinds of groups (e.g.) primary groups (a family), support groups (Alcohol Anonymous), social groups (a sorority), problem solving groups, and study groups which best describes my relationship with my colleagues. Although we are not studying together to pass an exam, we are all contributing our insights to prepare for our dissertations.

Adjourning is an important stage because it brings closure, provides time to reflect, and to show appreciation (Abudi, 2010).

References

Abudi, G. (2010). The five stages of team development: A case study. Retrieved from http://www.projectsmart.co.uk/the-five-stages-of-team-development-a-case-study.html

O’Hair, D. & Wiemann, M. (2009). Real communication. New York: Bedford/St. Martin’s.