Importance of Effectve Communication for Early Childhood Educators
Communication: the essential life skill.
Effective communication, as defined by Courtney (2009) “is a two-way process: sending the right message that is also being correctly received and understood by the other person/s. For communication to be effective, it is important to understand how the people you are interacting with may interpret your message”. Early childhood educators are required to have effective communication skills as they need to communicate on a daily basis with their students, co-workers and the parents of their students, each requiring different styles of communication. Good communication skills are an essential life skill, and a young student beginning to learn this skill would require their educator to be capable of demonstrating effective communication skills in order for the young student to able to develop these skills themselves. An early childhood educator requires effective communication skills when communicating instructions and information to a student in a way that the student will be able to clearly understand. They would also inevitably be required to instruct children with special needs, be they physical, psychological or emotional, and an early childhood educator would need effective communication skills to be able to communicate with these children in a way that is appropriate to their needs. As an effective communicator, an early childhood educator would be aware that their non-verbal communication skills are just as important, if not more important, than their verbal communication skills, especially when dealing with children. Early childhood educators may also require good communication skills when dealing with children from non-English speaking backgrounds who are just beginning to learn the English language.
Every aspect of learning is the most important in early childhood, in this stage of development the brain is developing and retaining new information at a rapid pace (Vinson, 2002, pp107). The early years of a
Effective communication, as defined by Courtney (2009) “is a two-way process: sending the right message that is also being correctly received and understood by the other person/s. For communication to be effective, it is important to understand how the people you are interacting with may interpret your message”. Early childhood educators are required to have effective communication skills as they need to communicate on a daily basis with their students, co-workers and the parents of their students, each requiring different styles of communication. Good communication skills are an essential life skill, and a young student beginning to learn this skill would require their educator to be capable of demonstrating effective communication skills in order for the young student to able to develop these skills themselves. An early childhood educator requires effective communication skills when communicating instructions and information to a student in a way that the student will be able to clearly understand. They would also inevitably be required to instruct children with special needs, be they physical, psychological or emotional, and an early childhood educator would need effective communication skills to be able to communicate with these children in a way that is appropriate to their needs. As an effective communicator, an early childhood educator would be aware that their non-verbal communication skills are just as important, if not more important, than their verbal communication skills, especially when dealing with children. Early childhood educators may also require good communication skills when dealing with children from non-English speaking backgrounds who are just beginning to learn the English language.
Every aspect of learning is the most important in early childhood, in this stage of development the brain is developing and retaining new information at a rapid pace (Vinson, 2002, pp107). The early years of a
References: Berry, D. (2009). High-quality early childcare =Later academic success. Retrieved from http://www.gse.harvard.edu/news-impact/2009/11/high-quality-early-child-care-later-academic-success/ Conderman, G., Johnston-Rodriguez, S., Hartman, P Courtney, M. (2009) Effective Communication. Retrieved from http://effective-communication.net Ebbeck, M Elliot, H. (2006). Encounter with Mrs L. In Schultz, J (Ed). Griffith review: Getting smart. (pp 55-56) Meadowbank, QLD: Griffith University. Schleppegrell, M.J. (2012). Academic language in teaching and learning. The Elementary School Journal, 112, 409-418 Smith, N.(Ed.) Smith-Peirce, P. (2007) Earlychildhood news: Do you communicate clearly? Cosider this. Retrieved from http://www.earlychildhoodnews.com/earlychildhood/article_view.aspx?ArticleID=145. Westwood, P. (2007). Commonsense methods for children with special educational needs (5th ed). Abingdon, OX: Routledge