The Strategies of Successful Interactions in Public - Essay Example

?Communication and practice within early the early year’s environment Communication in a group or an organization is the transfer of meaning among its members. It’s only through transmitting of meaning from one person to another that information and ideas can be conveyed. However, Communication is more than merely imparting new meanings. It’s something that has to be understood. Therefore, communication is the transference and understanding of meanings. Sage (2006) defined communication as a complicated process that demands putting together information from many sources, and expressing thoughts with clarity and relevant content, according to established conventions, and an awareness of our conduct through the reactions of others to what we say and do. By the exhaustive definition, we can say that it’s a process that can be termed as complex because it’s not a just a one way sending of message but also, receiving it and understanding its exact intent. It also requires the receiver to send a feedback to the sender of the message stating that he has understood the message. Wilbur Schramm (1954) said that the feedback is very important, because it justifies the extent to which the receiver has grasped the message, and if there is any mistake in the understanding of the meaning, it can be corrected there and then itself. It involves information from many sources, therefore the sender has to refine the raw data that he comes across and put it together in a more comprehendible manner so that it becomes easier for him to send the message as well as the receiver to understand it. The content of the message should be relevant to the situation the sender is in and it should also be clear and precise. This was also illustrated by the model given by Shannon and Weaver (1949) namely The Information Processing Theory. Wherein he said that a full loop of communication has a source, source’s message, a transmitter, a signal and a receiver. The receiver again sends a message which has to be sent to a particular destination. After this model Wilbur Schramm (1954) said that the sender encodes the message and the receiver decodes it to make sense of what has been imparted through the medium of a transmitter (a phone, a letter, face to face interaction, gestures etc.). According to him, the individual’s knowledge and experience play a vital role in the communication. The importance of feedback was also reinforced through his work. Next came the Berlo’s Model of communication in 1960. He argued that the source and receiver should communicate at the same level. With respect to children, Bandura (1977) devised a theory of imitation. According to him, children learn to communicate by observing and imitating the parents and teachers. They try to make role models out of them. Seeing them behave them in particular manner, they act in the same way. When these associations happen over a period of time, these behaviors get reinforced and get deep seated. Interpersonal communication is a selective, systemic, unique, processual (is an ongoing process) transactions that allow people to reflect and build knowledge of one another and create shared meaning (wood, 2010). Dainton (2011) also argued that interpersonal communication as a process occurring between two individuals, when they are close in proximity, able to provide immediate feedback and utilize multiple senses. If we ponder over the former definition, we come to segregate the definition into its various subparts. Interpersonal communication has a selective nature, which means that we select people with whom we want to communicate. We meet a plethora of people every day, but we don’t quite have any associations with these people. Secondly, we can describe the aforementioned phenomena as systemic, which means that it takes place within and around before stated systems that are valid as well as reliable. Thirdly, the process of interpersonal communication is unique in its own right because like it’s mentioned above, every human is different and therefore the way they process information and use it is also subjective. Lastly, it’s an ongoing process. It never stops. Interpersonal communication is transactional in nature. Everyone involved in it communicates within the flow continuously and thereby it comes out be a spontaneous and a simultaneous reaction. It’s a shared responsibility of the inherent individuals, to make a simple process of sending a message take a form of a good communication. Emotional intelligence and barriers to effective communication are some important concepts that need to be taken into consideration. Emotional Intelligence is defined as an individual’s ability to accurately perceive reality and that they are able to regulate their own emotional responses that are adapted to others. (Mayer, Salovey, 1997; Pellitteri, 2002). Hughes (2009) conducted an empirical research showing that emotions are constructive and can contribute to enhanced performance and better decision making within work and in private life. Goleman (1998) said that Emotional Intelligence helps children both academically and socially. Duma (1998) held up the argument by saying that children who learn to guide their emotions are much more liable to manage their problems and deal with others. This allows the child to become sensitive to others and thereby improving communication skills by employing active listening skills. There are a lot of barriers to an effectual communication. Physical barriers crop up because of the nature of the environment such as noise, poor lighting, poor health, and unbearable temperature. These can affect an individual’s capacity to process information and use it in a better way. Language comes out to be huge barrier when the target population is not aware of the accent used by the sender. Lack of motivation, disinterest in a particular activity may prove detrimental to the communication. When people feel happy, they readily listen and register the incoming information, but when they experience the lows in their moods, their capacity to make sense of the message lowers down to a very large extent. These come under the purview of psychological barriers. Also, the individual’s own ability to gather meaning and the level of awareness he has also affects the kind of processing happens. Presentation of stimulus should also be taken into account because we are dealing with children; hence the information imparted should be colorful and bright, so that it’s able to catch the eye of the child. Dry and formal presentation might just not work with them. According to Hergie (2006), interpersonal communication includes a number of aspects. It’s not just a verbal contact between individuals but it also takes into account the non- verbal part. The gestures, body language, intonations, and eye contact are some of the determinants of the non verbal communication that takes place. It involves reinforcement of the message sent across in the form of an appropriate feedback that the receiver sends back to the sender stating that he has understood the message. Questioning forms an important part of the process at stake. It clears the doubts which crop up in the mind of the individuals involved and also lends parsimony to the contract (Hargie, Saunders and Dickson, 1994). This leads to reflection of our own understanding that whether the process of communication is able to justify the reason for which it was started at the first place. Without the explanation of the vital components of the message and the feedback, the process of communication between two individuals comes to a standstill. Effective understanding lends the process its due comprehension and also helps in accomplishment of the shared goal. Hargie, Saunders and Dickson (1994) also argued that listening is as important as speaking to make the process effectual and meaningful. Listening helps to identify the exact intended meaning in the message and hence helps in understanding the basic utility it’s meant to have. Everything set aside, a communication which is interpersonal in nature should never have facts coming from one side. It should be a two way process. It should involve self disclosure from both the sides so that both the parties are well aware of the intent with which the process was started and the goal it has to accomplish (Hartley, 1999). A child’s life is full of invigorating stimuli which he needs to take into account successfully to make sense of the world around him. Every child has its own way of perceiving things which depends on the kind of communication he has with his environment and what good is the environment doing to the child’s life. It again is an ongoing process. Families play a vital role in this scenario. Rendezvous with children helps them to integrate the inherent values of the families they reside in and in turn educating themselves about the stated norms given by the culture they have to commemorate in themselves. The careers of the parents play a huge role in the kind of relationship they have with their child. Hectic schedules mar the child to integrate the feeling of togetherness with the family, and hence, the child fails to recognize the duties he has towards the family in general. This is why some children grow to be non-abiding to parental authority. This basically stems from the dire need of attention and affection which the child did not receive when he needed it the most. It has a very calamitous effect on the child’s psyche (Miller, 1978). The basic purposes to be solved by the process of interpersonal communication are to effectively practice the give and take of information. When a child is not able to communicate with the parents, it leads to a formation of a void which further stops him to participate in conversations that might require the aforementioned task. Without the understanding of the fact that communication is not just speaking, it’s also about taking in information from the other side and assimilating and adjusting the two counterparts in a way that leads to an edifice that sums up the whole idea of the communique (Berger, Roloff, and Roskos-Ewoldsen, 2009). If the child is not able to learn good communication skills, he might be handicapped in a lot of ways. Some of which are, that his attitude may become way too rigid to take into account the viewpoint of the other person involved. Or on the contrary, he might become way too flexible to just take into account the viewpoint of others and not give the due importance to what he feels about the situation at hand. He might not be able to form contacts and maintain relationships because they involve an alliance which survives on the basis of the give and take of the information. A mere one sided approach may prove detrimental to the relationships they might be in (Dainton and Zelley, 2003). The world as he sees from his own eye may be different from the view the other people have. If this important fact is not understood by the individual, he may not be able to make sense of the world and the subjective experiences people have in it. Communication serves a very important purpose of understanding the needs of not just our own selves but also of the others in our vicinity. The child will not be equipped to give and receive the emotional support because he himself is not aware of how it feels like to have a communion which understands his mental processes and makes him aware about them for his own good. Instead, due to the lack of the communication in his childhood, the whole idea of the transactional nature of the emotional support becomes awry and incomprehensible. Effective communication equips us to make accurate decisions, taking into account all the facts and details one takes in from the environment he resides in. If a child is not equipped to do the same, this might prove to be a hindrance for him in life to take correct decisions according the situation he is in and may also lead to lopsided problem solving actualities which may not take into account the pros and the cons of the situation at hand. Communication involves direct interaction between two people who are absolutely different and unique in their own right. Engaging in such interactions helps us to educate ourselves about the various intricacies involved when people come in contact with each other. Over a period of time, these conversations help imbibe in us an ability to anticipate and predict the trends of the behavior people might subject to. A child who has not undergone much interaction may not be able to develop this ability in him and this might prove to be a huge impediment in public dealing. Another very important use is the ability to regulate power. If a child is not able to appreciate the alliance, he will never be able to commemorate the effective ways to control the level of power exercised according to the circumstances he is subjected to (Greene and Burleson, 2003). Reflective journals illustrate all that is mentioned above. Like in the activities I took up in my field work, using tricks such as painting with the help of warm colors, making different shapes and drawing them in 2D and 3D pattern, and that too doing it in a group made the children realize the importance of working in a team and the nuances it involves in doing so. Also, in one of my journals I have also mentioned an act where the child injured himself and I took care of the child really well. This sufficed for two things. Firstly, the child got his first aid done properly and he knew that someone was there to take care of him. Secondly, I found my own learning capabilities to be developing as I was able to handle the situation well. Through the reflective journals, I came to know that the nuances of ineffective communication can be ameliorated. The method that was used was coaching and mentoring. It’s a process to help people to manage their own learning in order to maximize their potential, develop their skills, improve their performance and become the person they want to be (Parsloe, 1999). Mentoring is a non judgmental relationship in which an individual voluntarily gives time to support and encourage another. This relationship is typically developed at a time of transition in the mentee’s life, and lasts for a significant and sustained period of time (Parsloe, 1999). The children were taught ways through which they could communicate to accomplish an understated purpose. I helped the children by removing of all the obstacles in the communication process, which in turn led to fruitful problem solving and effective decision making (like in the coloring and drawing tasks). I understood the fact that the mentors make a significant effect on the child’s behavior and self esteem. The children start valuing the importance of themselves and that of others to make up a beneficial communication. By working with children, I came to know that discovering the root causes or the predicaments a child is experiencing to get in touch with its full potential is very important. Helping the students to study skillfully that is making them understand the importance of smart study, rather than studying hard, by giving them tips to revise the topics covered in class and also by employing assessments on them to identify whether the child is able to learn were really helpful. One of key responsibility was to make the child self reliant by inculcating self confidence and resilience. Offering emotional support to the child in the times when the child is feeling demotivated to perform any further and thus helping and supporting them through the harsh periods of personal catastrophe came out to be really handy. I came to know that if the child is not able to communicate effectively, this must have some basis in the immediate environment the child lives in. These include family, teachers and friends that the children have. I also monitored the child’s progress and gave him an appropriate feedback so that the child knows where exactly he stands and how much more he has to accomplish. On the whole interpersonal communication is a process that touches all the spheres of the human phenomena and helps create a rewarding existence. The impediments are many, if the ability to communicate properly is not inculcated in a child. But there is nothing in this world that can’t be accomplished. Coaching and mentoring involves the child to effectively learn the strategies of successful interactions in public dealings so that the child is more aptly abled to make sense of the world and the culture he resides in. References 1. Sage, R. (2006). Supporting Language and Communication: A Guide for school Support Staff. Paul Chapman Publishing: London. 2. Goleman, D. (1998). Working With Emotional Intelligence. Bantam Books: United Kingdom. 3. Wood, J.T. (2010). Interpersonal Communication: Everyday Encounters (6th Ed.). Wadsworth, Cengage Learning: USA. 4. Miller, G.R. (1978). The Current State of Theory and Research in Interpersonal Communication. Human Communication Research, 4, 164-177. 5. Berger, C.R. Roloff, M.E. Roskos-Ewoldsen, D.R. (2009). The Handbook of Communication Science (2nd Ed.). Sage Publications limited: London, United Kingdom. 6. Dainton, M. Zelley, E.D. (2011). Applying Communication Theory for Professional Life: A Practical Introduction (2nd Ed.). Sage Publications limited: London, United Kingdom. 7. Dainton, M. Canary, D.J. (2003). Maintaining Relationships through Communication: Relational, Contextual, and Cultural Variations. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates: United Kingdom. 8. Greene, J.D. Burleson, B.R. (2003). Handbook of Communication and Social Interaction Skills. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates: United Kingdom. 9. Hargie, O. (2006). The Handbook of Communication Skills (3rd Ed.). Taylor and Francis, Routledge: USA. 10. Hargie, O. Saunders, C. Dickson, D. (1994). Social Skills in Interpersonal Communication (3rd, Ed.). Routledge: USA. 11. Hartley, P. (1999). Interpersonal Communication (2nd Ed.). Routledge: USA. 12. Parsloe, E. (1999). The Manager as Coach and Mentor (2nd Ed.). Institute of Personnel and Development: London. Read More