Cultural Differences bridging communication

During these last eight weeks, I feel that I have had to make definite adjustments based on how I communicate. The reason is I moved from Ohio to Arizona. Since I initiated the move, my children and myself had had to adjust to specific variances. The roles I had assumed in Ohio are somewhat different here in Arizona and I am learning to adjust my communication styles accordingly. My son is now attending a high school where he is one of 3600 students. At his school in Ohio we knew all of the teachers, the principal and the school counselors. Here I am much more formal when speaking to the educators at his school. I adjust my communication, as I have to listen carefully and hone into the information that they are sharing. As much of what they are sharing is new to me. With my new position, I am working with individuals from varying cultures. Recently I was in Tucson, where the early childhood professionals I worked with are Native American, The transaction process of listening and responding to people from different cultural backgrounds can be challenging, (Beebe, Beebe & Redmond, 2011). I remind myself how important it is to be culturally responsive, and patient and understanding of others when I am communicating with. The main lesson intercultural communication is to begin to understand their perspectives and when communicating with them I have to be open and try not to stereotype what I think of when I think of a person who is Native American. One of the sites or schools I have just begun to work with is in Gila Bend. It is a small rural community. Many of the children and families are from Mexico. When I am working within this community I try to focus on the commonalities and not my differences. This takes patience on my part. As when I am communicating with individuals within this community I find they speak quickly and many have strong accents. So I try to focus on the information that they provide as well as I try to develop strategies to appreciate the differences and celebrate those commonalities as well.