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IMPORTANCE OF LISTENING AND CONVERSATION IN THE LEARNING EXPERIENCE.
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Discusses the relation of communication to effective classroom experience.... More...
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Paper Abstract:
Discusses the relation of communication to effective classroom experience. Need for teacher to be an effective listener; formal & informal learning process. Teaching as a complex process. Teacher-student relationship. Dynamic function of teacher conversation with students. Ethical issues & teaching. Responsibilities of teachers.
Paper Introduction:
This paper is a discussion of the importance of listening and using conversations as part of the learning experience. It uses Mary McCaslin and Thomas L. Good's text, Listening in Classrooms, as the primary reference and considers their principal thesis: that listening helps facilitate both the formal and the informal learning process and that the student-teacher relationship, built and enhanced through conversation and interchange, is the key to an effective classroom experience. The book attempts to provide specific techniques to build these relationships through listening, rather than simply suggesting that teachers hear what their students are saying. This exchange of communications, while apparently simple, is actually quite complex and requires a sophisticated degree of skill in order to be used well. Effective listening requires
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Or should it be to prepare its students to fit in well intocontemporary society, understanding the limits of expected behavior andcapable of helping to maintain public order in ways that benefit society asa whole? These include the group's ability to form itself into a trueteam, "people with a common purpose, with each person contributing skillsor knowledge that support that purpose."[21] While a number of educationaltheorists have outlined the use of work groups within the classroom,McCaslin and Good place particular emphasis on the necessity of continuallymonitoring their effectiveness through "conversations and interviews withstudents [that] are one important way to enhance students' and teachers'understanding of the learning - about subject matter, personal mediation,and interpersonal dynamics - that occurs in small groups."[22] Only byhearing what students are saying about their work in groups can teachersevaluate both the formal and informal lessons that are actually beingabsorbed as participants in the small work group process. Evaluation is a complex and subjective process. McCaslin and Good write, "Relationships, in our view, are the stuffof classrooms; relationships bond the aspirations with the realizations ofschooling."[1] While learning is certainly possible outside of theclassroom setting, the one-to-one connection between teacher and student,as well as the interactions among students, is a critical aspect oflearning within classroom walls. . Dickson define the structure at hand:"A 'work group' is made up of individuals who see themselves and who areseen by others as a social entity, who are interdependent because of thetasks they perform as members of a group, who are embedded in one or morelarger social systems,. Indeed, the ability to work well withothers, control emotions, and behave in ways that help the individual toachieve personal goals may be significantly more important than the masteryof some of the more esoteric academic facts that are considered significantparts of the traditional mainstream curriculum. [29] Athanasios Papaioannou, "Students' Perceptions of the PhysicalEducation Class Environment for Boys and Girls and the PerceivedMotivational Climate," Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport 69: 3(September 1998): 267. [27] Ibid., 169. [3 ] McCaslin, 41. McCaslin and Good write, "We believe thatteachers can do much to create a supportive environment within whichstudents thrive and their families feel welcomed."[17] Teachers do not deal only with students in one-on-one situations.More often, students are one member of the larger classroom group or partof a work group within the classroom. McCaslin and Good advocate a variety of types of conversations asuseful to the educational process. . It uses Mary McCaslinand Thomas L. Effective listening requires theteacher to become actively involved in the process, as a co-regulator and acoparticipant, consciously influencing both the curricular content and thesocial and psychological lessons being administered, while also learningand continuing to grow as well. Axelrod, "Inclusionof Students with Learning Disabilities: An Examination of Data fromReports to Congress," Exceptional Children 66: 1 (Fall 1999): 62. [13] Ibid., 79. The Code of Ethics of theEducation Profession adopted by the 1975 NEA Representative Assembly,quoted by McCaslin and Good, begins with a powerful statement of thisresponsibility: "The educator, believing in the worth and dignity of eachhuman being, recognizes the supreme importance of the pursuit if truth,devotion to excellence, and the nurture of democratic principles.Essential to these goals is the protection of freedom to learn and to teachand the guarantee of equal educational opportunity for all."[32] Teaching carries with it awesome responsibilities, maybe greaterresponsibilities than those inherent in any other profession. . Good, Listening in Classrooms (NewYork: HarperCollins, 1996), xv. These, more than many of the specific subject-matter lessons, are thekinds of things that are likely to provide them with long-term benefitsthroughout their lives. [6] Ellie Lago-Delello, "Classroom Dynamics and the Development ofSerious Emotional Disturbance," Exceptional Children 64: 4 (Summer 1998):48 . Should its goal be primarily toproduce an educated populace whose members are all equipped to participateequally in the democratic process? , and how teachers might thinkabout their own role in students' lives."[3 ] Theorists and philosophers have spent much time contemplating therole of education in modern society. [26] Ibid., 152. They emphasize, "We encourage all teachers to communicate tostudents early in the semester exactly the type of information that theteacher cannot keep confidential."[25] This requires the teacher toconsider the kinds of scenarios that might arise in dealing with theparticular student population at hand; an inner-city high school teacher islikely to be faced with quite different potential kinds of information thanis an elementary school teacher in a rural setting. an honest student? Nutt. Teachers need toguard against hearing too optimistic a report of students' progress as theylisten to their discussions regarding classroom learning at all levels.Many students are likely to want to please the teacher or to avoidconflict, and so their stated reports may present too rosy a picture ofwhat they are actually learning. Theyobserve, "If students are to cope in a complex world, they must be able tomerge cognitive and affective problem-solving dimensions so that theirtalents do not develop independent of their values."[24] The teacher whounderstands the ways in which the classroom experience communicatesinformal and often unconscious issues will be better equipped to focus onthe development of solid, positive values in the course of learninggeometry, reading, and science. Epstein, Madhavi Jayanthi, and Jan McConeghy. Teachershave the ability to change individual lives and to affect the largersociety through those changes. [3] Orna D. Accordingly, teachers have an enormous responsibility to considertheir influence on their students and on society as a whole. [11] McCaslin, 48. Not only shouldevery teacher think about the impact he or she has on students, whetherconsciously administered or not, but he or she must also pay carefulattention to the values, prejudices, and perceptions that are beingcommunicated. As Lago-Delello observes, "Teachers viewdiscipline problems as major impediments to the learning process and feelthat behavioral problems have a contagion, or ripple effect, on otherstudents . . "Classroom Dynamics and the Development of Serious Emotional Disturbance." Exceptional Children 64: 4 (Summer 1998): 479-495.McCaslin, Mary and Thomas L. They caution, "Although an intellectual focusis important and knowledge of the subject matter basic, teachers must havethe ability to care about students in ways that demonstrate theircare."[31] This carries with it an awesome responsibility. [7] Ibid., 489. Listening in Classrooms. [16] Ibid., 182. Conversations can also provide excellent opportunities for studentsto learn how to handle strong emotions, especially those that arise duringthe course of classroom activities. Interms of conversations, this means that teachers can ask more detailedquestions and receive more complex responses, but emerging adolescence mayactually make the situation too complex. McCaslin and Good do address fairly thoroughly a number of importantethical issues that are at the heart of teaching in all settings incontemporary society. [14]Ibid., 81. Dickson, "Teams in Organizations:Recent Research on Performance and Effectiveness," Annual Review ofPsychology 47 (Annual 1996): 3 8. The classroom is no place for small minds, especially in itsteachers. The classroom contains the responsibility for wielding a powerfulinfluence, not only on the individual students who pass through its doorsbut also on the society into which they emerge when they have completedtheir education. [12] Ibid., 2. Axelrod. Len McMillan suggests that teaching studentshow to argue effectively can be extremely beneficial: "The goal of a goodargument is to communicate honest feelings of anger, frustration, andconfusion in such a way that the problem is resolved and the relationshippreserved."[1 ] Teachers who have become good listeners can take advantageof the emotion of the moment to communicate valuable lessons that willbenefit the entire class. [Therefore,] increased use ofsmall-group models makes interviews and conversations with students evenmore necessary and valuable for understanding the dynamics associated withstudent subject matter learning in a small peer-group context."[18] Richard A. Guzzo and Marcus W. [1 ] Len McMillan, "Dealing with Life's Angry Moments," Vibrant Life13: 6 (November-December 1997): 3 . They also navigate the often unintended (and unattended) informal curriculum of "things that matter" other than mastery of assigned subjects: Am I a good friend? [23] William Bursuck, Edward A. McCaslin and Good label the relationshipbetween teacher and student "'co-regulation' to emphasize the supportive,scaffolding role that teachers engage with students, who are themselvesactively mediating their experiences."[2] While much research has been devoted to investigating the impact ofother relationships on classroom performance (especially studies of theimportance of parental involvement in their children's ability to do well),Orna D. "Teams in Organizations: Recent Research on Performance and Effectiveness." Annual Review of Psychology 47 (Annual 1996): 3 7-333.Lago-Delello, Ellie. As McCaslin and Good note: Students negotiate more than the intended, formal curriculum of subject-matter expectations when they learn in classrooms. "Teachers' and Students' Work- Culture Variables Associated with Positive School Outcome." Adolescence 34: 136 (Winter 1999): 653-361.Grensing-Pophal, Lin. "Avoiding 6 Pitfalls." Nursing 3 : 5 (May 2 ): 71-72.Guzzo, Richard A. . Throughout their text, McCaslin and Good emphasize the context inwhich learning takes place, the social/instructional environment (SIE).This includes the developmental context of the individual student. It is also what being a student is all about; the task itselfchanges with development and changes in SIE expectations."[11] One of the significant concepts that McCaslin and Good put forward isthe idea of co-regulation, the idea that, while the teacher is ultimatelyin charge, the relationship between teacher and student is interactive.They write, "Coregulation is the process by which teachers, through theirrelationships with students and the opportunities they provide them,support and 'scaffold' adaptive student learning."[12] Co-regulation is animportant idea for McCaslin and Good, since it serves as a reminder thatteachers have the potential to learn and grow from the classroomenvironment just as much as do their students. For example, a teacher might use an interview to determine astudent's relative level of educational achievement, to discuss aparticular personal problem, or to prepare a student for a new experience. Just as the academic goals should include expanding theintellect and broadening the curiosity of students about the world in whichthey live, so too should the informal curriculum be focused on expandingthe ways that students think about themselves and others. and much needs to belearned about the way it may affect developmental and academic outcomes fornormal and at-risk children."[3] Teaching is not merely the act ofimparting specific knowledge. The NationalEducational Association has also adopted guidelines that could proveuseful, which are excerpted in an appendix to the book. [4] Ibid. McCaslin and Good argue, "The teacher is not a detective looking forthreatening or actual misbehavior [outside the classroom], but teachersshould respond if students initiate conversations that involve home,intensive feelings about peers, and/or criminal issues."[26] On thispoint, they may err on the side of caution; while a teacher may not berequired to play detective, such professional curiosity may be warrantedwhen the unspoken messages or the in-class behavior suggest a deeperproblem about which the student is not readily forthcoming. Frustration and anger, for example,are common reactions among some students to the challenges of learning, andteachers can help students whose strong reactions are part of the unspokenmessages of their conversations by then allowing individuals to learn howto mediate their emotions. In a system that focuses on listening to both the spokenand the unspoken messages of students, the need to preserve trust iscrucial. One of these, to which they devote afull chapter, is the interview, which they define in the words of Binghamand Moore as a "conversation directed to a definite purpose other thansatisfaction in the conversation itself."[13] In this usage, an interviewis a fairly formal process, designed to elicit or impart information orinfluence behavior, usually in a limited context or for very specificpurposes. [24] McCaslin, 149. Shewrites, "Children with behavioral problems generally engage in classroominteractions that seem to offend teachers and peers to such an extent thatthese interactions motivate referral for general education placement."[6]A student who does not learn how to conform to accepted behavior isunlikely to be able to learn other things; therefore, mastery of theinformal curriculum is often a necessary precursor to mastery of thesubject matter being taught. Teachers cannot avoid their impact and thereforeneed to think about how they can do the greatest good with the power thattheir position gives them. . One of the ongoing challenges of teaching is to continue tounderstand and communicate the relevance of what is being taught. and who perform tasks that affect others."[19] Effective functioningin a small-group setting is a sophisticated skill, and teachers need tomaster it themselves before then showing students how to achieve theirgoals within the group. Dickson. Goldwater and Roberta L. Of course,such exploration "must be sensitive to developmental issues; for example,what constitutes invasion of privacy (physical vs psychological) will varyby age and experience of the student."[27] The ability to listen effectively to students in the classroom canprovide an additional benefit, beyond offering the opportunity to evaluatethe impact and progress of formal subject-matter learning and of theacquisition of informal social, psychological, and values skills. The student may not evenbe aware of these messages, yet they can provide some of the most importantinformation of the exchange. Thiscan include the chance to identify learning disabilities, especially thosedisabilities that do not present themselves in more obvious ways and maytherefore not be easily detectable. [21] Lin Grensing-Pophal, "Avoiding 6 Pitfalls," Nursing 3 : 5 (May2 ): 71. McCaslin and Good provide insightsinto conducting interviews, holding conversations, and learning to listento students within these kinds of groups, as well. As Goldwaterand Nutt write, "Teachers' family background and interpersonal skills playa part in the academic success of their students."[4] Teachers are trained professionals - who also happen to be humanbeings, with individual ranges of experience, backgrounds, andpersonalities. McCaslin and Good observe,"Negotiating multiple influences and goals, within evolving contexts andone's own changing body, understanding, expertise, and needs is a difficulttask. Providing an objective grade that reflects the student's actualprogress can also prove challenging. Guzzo and Dickson define effectiveness in groupsas the accomplishment of one or more criteria: "(a) group-producedoutputs, . Should it be principally to produce aneducated, motivated workforce, capable of meeting the economic demands ofsociety? Instead, just as each student should be treated asan individual, at a particular stage of development and with particularneeds and abilities, so too should teachers look at their individualstrengths and humanity as assets in the educational process, rather thanobstacles to be overcome. Pilloway, Lisa Plante, Michael H. Well-behaved students are perceived as brighter."[7] Understanding this, the effective teacher needs to consider ways inwhich to communicate the informal curriculum more efficiently. McCaslin andGood argue, "Even if the interviewer has had experience in conductinginterviews, it is advantageous to write down goals, list possible problemsand issues that may arise, and select possible 'back-up' strategies toaddress them."[14] Whatever the specific goals, the general goal is tolearn from the exchange, and this requires the interviewer to listen morethan to talk. McCaslin and Good write, "Extant theoretical andempirical work with children . . Athanasios Papaioannouargues, "When a task or learning goal is salient, success is defined aspersonal improvement; youngsters ascribe high value to effort and skilldevelopment and are highly motivated without external rewards, because theyperceive accomplishment as an end in itself."[29] In fact, studentsworking in an environment in which their teachers understand activelistening and are able to make effective use of this powerful learning toolmay derive their greatest satisfaction from the benefits it provides ininformal ways. groups perform poorly, it isdifficult to understand their problem . BibliographyBursuck, William, Edward A. . While Guzzo and Dickson are primarilyaddressing the literature on work groups and work teams in the corporateworld, their findings are equally applicable to the classroom. . [17] Ibid., 217. "Report Card Grading and Adaptations: A National Survey of Classroom Practices." Exceptional Children 62: 4 (February 1996): 3 1-314.Goldwater, Orna D. and 2) the structure that undergirds student mediation processes . Guzzo and Marcus W. This paper is a discussion of the importance of listening and usingconversations as part of the learning experience. They may come to attribute the greatest value from theirclassroom experience to the hidden lessons they have learned. [22] McCaslin, 142. Students do not learn alone; they arenot solely responsible for their learning, nor should they be required to'self-regulate' or 'self-motivate' to compensate for or overcome inadequateinstruction, materials, or opportunity," xv. . In the interview process, the goals should be clear. Teachers should befamiliar with these guidelines; they represent considerable thought aboutthe kinds of communication that might present a teacher using activelistening with an ethical dilemma. and Roberta L. (b) the consequences a group has for its members, or (c) theenhancement of a team's capability to perform effectively in thefuture."[2 ] Teachers need to be able to listen to the group workingtogether and to the individual members of the group in order to be able todetermine whether or not at least one of these goals is being met. James McLeskey and his colleagues urge"that professional development be provided so that teachers can attain thenew skills required to meet student needs," both in identifying potentialdisabilities at the earliest possible stage and in including learningdisabled students in the mainstream classroom in ways that benefit allmembers of the class, whether they are disabled or not.[28] Incidentally, inclusion provides one of the best possibleopportunities in contemporary education for the communication of powerfulpositive informal lessons. The authors also devote a chapter to listening to and understandingfamilies, since they are one of the most important contexts for students.They caution, "Educators tend to unidimensionalize families; they alsounidimensionalize what they want from them."[15] Listening to andinvolving families in the classroom process is more a question ofunderstanding the influences that home life have on the individual studentthan being able to change that environment: "Teachers cannot 'fix' thefamily or the conditions that encompass it."[16] Nevertheless, the abilityto establish effective conversations with families, especiallyconversations that focus on actively listening to the spoken and unspokenmessages being communicated, is essential to building a useful relationshipwith the individual student. [19] Richard A. [5] McCaslin, 2. McCaslin and Good consider some of these issues and acknowledgethe power of organized education, and especially individual teachers, toinfluence far more than the communication of specific subject-matterstudies. McCaslin and Good also discuss the critical importance of studentconfidentiality. "Students' Perceptions of the Physical Education Class Environment for Boys and Girls and the Perceived Motivational Climate." Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport 69: 3 (September 1998): 3-14.----------------------- [1] Mary McCaslin and Thomas L. Instead ofsimply focusing on better methods for teaching reading to students who arestruggling academically, teachers must also consider lessons that are beingcommunicated by context and example and look for other methods to teachthese, as well. EllieLago-Delello points out, for instance, that children who do not learn tobehave in socially acceptable ways in classrooms tend to get less from theacademic environment; they may be shunned by their peers, given lessattention by teachers, do worse on tests, and receive lower grades. Lin Grensing-Pophal outlines six common pitfalls of working ingroups, most of which are related to effective communications and all ofwhich can be avoided or lessened through skilled listening on the part ofthe teacher. Good's text, Listening in Classrooms, as the primaryreference and considers their principal thesis: that listening helpsfacilitate both the formal and the informal learning process and that thestudent-teacher relationship, built and enhanced through conversation andinterchange, is the key to an effective classroom experience. [and] teachers should expect their conversations with students to evolve as students confront and cope with new challenges to their developing mediational and regulatory abilities, within the supportive context of the classroom.[9]The student's own level of conversational skill will affect the informationexchange and the complexity of the conversation. They suggest that,while work groups can be an effective structure for learning, they cancause problems, as well: "E.g., when . Teachers, even trained, experienced teachers, are stillhuman beings; the more optimistic individuals are likely to detect signs ofprogress from the simplest clues, while those more negatively inclined maytake the same clues as indications of failure. Theinformal curriculum that active listening makes possible provides some ofthe most relevant learning available, dealing as it does with thechallenges of day-to-day living. [18] Ibid., 11 . They further note: "The ultimate goal of co-regulation maywell be student self-regulation; however, it is our position that studentsand teachers learn in classrooms together and, together, shareresponsibility for that learning. . Negotiating the informal curriculum affects not only academic performance (and, thus, attainment of formal curriculum goals) but also students' general disposition and coping strategies.[5]In fact, mastering many of these aspects of informal curriculum can be atleast as important as understanding the formal subject matter that, atfirst glance, appears to be the primary goal of classroom learning. The single most vital tool that McCaslin and Good advocatefor this purpose is conversation, "versus monologues, sermons, orlectures."[8] Conversation is a dynamic interchange between teacher and studentthat focuses more than anything on the teacher's ability to listen to boththe specific content and the underlying messages. . As William Bursuck and his colleaguesobserve, "Perhaps the heart of the problem lies in expecting one grade tocommunicate multiple messages (e.g., progress, peer comparison, effort) tomultiple audiences (e.g., parents, teachers, administrators,employers)."[23] McCaslin and Good do not address this problem specifically, nor dothey directly confront the subjectivity inherent in the whole concept ofactive listening. The bookattempts to provide specific techniques to build these relationshipsthrough listening, rather than simply suggesting that teachers hear whattheir students are saying. Part of the challengeinherent in learning to listen well is to try to hear what is said and whatis suggested in as objective and clear a way as possible and to allowevaluations at all levels to reflect a clear-minded consideration of whathas been accomplished. This is possibleonly when the teacher in charge is willing to be broad minded and open to adiversity of opinions and perspectives. [2 ] Ibid. can do much to increase teacher facilitywith thinking about how students might change throughout the school years,how students might differ from one another, what kinds of experiences areapt to be part of their schooling . The other pitfalls include having the wrong number of peoplein a group, having too many members with similar backgrounds, excluding keypeople from the mix, having no clear goals, and having a lack of experienceamong group members, all of which can be avoided by assembling work groupsthat the teacher knows well through interviews and conversations, and whoprovide ongoing feedback to the teacher who has learned to listen tostudents. [2] Ibid. . Nutt point out, "Few studies have examinedthe quality of the teacher-child relationship . This is not to say that teachers should revel intheir idiosyncrasies but instead that they should begin by acknowledgingtheir individuality and then seeking ways to capitalize on these personalstrengths. [32] Ibid., 177.----------------------- 1 and Marcus W. This exchange of communications, whileapparently simple, is actually quite complex and requires a sophisticateddegree of skill in order to be used well. . This is why the ability to hear theunspoken messages is so vitally important. It is a complex process that also includescommunicating values, sharing ideas, and molding responses. [28] James McLeskey, Daniel Henry, and Michael I. "Dealing with Life's Angry Moments." Vibrant Life 13: 6 (November-December 1997): 28-31.Papaioannou, Athanasios. Students more or less learn this informal curriculum; the nature of their learning has important consequences for students themselves and those with whom they interact. . [25] Ibid., 151. "Inclusion of Students with Learning Disabilities: An Examination of Data from Reports to Congress." Exceptional Children 66: 1 (Fall 1999): 55-64.McMillan, Len. Good. [9] Ibid., 31. . It canalso allow the teacher the chance to pinpoint the presence of individualproblems and concerns that require assistance outside the classroom. . . McCaslin and Good write: Conversations with students function on two levels: 1) the apparent topic or surface feature of the conversation . Nutt, "Teachers' and Students'Work-Culture Variables Associated with Positive School Outcome,"Adolescence 34: 136 (Winter 1999): 657. The ability to listen actively, hearingboth the spoken and the unspoken and influencing the communication of boththe formal and the informal curriculum, is essential to discharging thisresponsibility in an ethical, effective, and professionally excellent way. This might include information about criminalactivity, including abuse, as well as serious health issues or situationsin which individuals could be at risk if the teacher were to maintainsilence. Goldwater and Roberta L. [31] Ibid., xv. Olderstudents are more able to express themselves and to evaluate their thoughtsand feelings in more sophisticated ways than when they were younger. Mainstream classroom teachers who have masteredthe ability to effectively include disabled students of all kinds inregular classroom activities help to teach tolerance for diversity and thebenefits of being able to work well with people of all levels of talent,physical proficiency, and emotional range, extraordinarily useful skills inmodern society. New York: HarperCollins, 1996.McLeskey, James, Daniel Henry, and Michael I. [8] McCaslin, 6. McCaslin andGood advocate a serious, conscious, ongoing consideration of what theseeffects are likely to be. . Trying to ignore this humanity, rather than embracing it,can result in disaster. [15] Ibid., 183. . Pilloway, Lisa Plante, Michael H.Epstein, Madhavi Jayanthi, and Jan McConeghy, "Report Card Grading andAdaptations: A National Survey of Classroom Practices," ExceptionalChildren 62: 4 (February 1996): 31 . The basic methods they advocate are well-suited todealing with some of the more problematic issues in American education,such as violence in the schools and ethnic and racial confrontations.
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