“We are only
useful where we understand how we are understood.”
Zen
Priest, Hilda Ryumond Gutierrez Baldoquin
From
this week’s reading, we are reminded to keep in mind our audience. What that
really means to me is that if we cannot identify on some level with the people
that we are attempting to communicate with, we will definitely not be heard,
let alone be understood. If our objective is persuasion this is even more important.
Commonality, a place where we can relate and experience common ground is essential.
When
you think of all of the issues that begin to divide us in our society,
something has to be there to go beyond these constructs and boundaries. We are
put into little boxes; gender boxes, race boxes, age boxes, socioeconomic boxes
and they create barriers that must be breached. As I am beginning my Child
Welfare Service Internship, doing home visits, encountering clients, the power
dynamic which is present makes this even more important.
It
seems critical in that position of power, which is yielded over people, people who
are sometimes in crisis, that the way in which we are perceived is understood.
How we are received and how we are understood has to continually be examined. Sometimes
it is easier, or somehow safer to distance ourselves from others through a
professional title or concept of “other.”
In reality though, when we relate and find commonality, we can then be
heard. We have to find the common language, the common experiences and the
common ground and that is when we understand how we are understood.
Focusing on commonalities instead of differences is certainly a wonderful strategy for bridging differences. Since the reality is at least I feel there are way more similarties between any two humans then there are differences. I agree that language is huge and knowing your audience is huge. I have heard a lot of parents speak out about their experiences with CPS and they overall seem to feel disgruntled and as if they are beneath the workers. I feel it is important to bridge that gap that we all have something to teach each other no matter what side of the fence we are standing on. It is equally important to come from a genuine place when dealing with various clients as well as alter your speech if your speech is going to create a wall instead of a bridge.
ReplyDeleteThis is really a great tie in to CWS and communication styles. I know as I began doing group facilitation recently, the lead facilitator gave me the 'task' to form relationships with each of the clients in the group. It is a challenge. There are some that are easy to start conversations with, and others for various reasons, it is more difficult to find that commonality to pick up on and establish a relationship around. However as with everything else in life, once you do that initial work of establishing the relationship, normally other aspects of the working relationship continue more smoothly.
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