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Active Listening for the Classroom

An Important Motivational Strategy

Listening--really listening--to students is critical to the student/teacher relationship, for knowing their teacheris interested in what they are saying, makes students feel cared about and emotionally connected to school.Since research shows that feeling connected is requisite to students' motivation to learn, showing that we listen

is important not only as a matter of kindness, but also as a motivational strategy.

t is easy to perform routine tasks while listening to students. n fact, at times teachers are evaluated for theirmultitasking ability! however, unless you appear to be completely focused on the student speaking to you, he isapt think you care neither about what he is saying or him. Consequently, in addition to really listening tostudents, we must alsoshowwe are really listening.

"n effective way to demonstrate your attentiveness is to use active listening, a technique e#traordinary

for gaining self-understanding,

for improving relationships,

for making people feel understood, for making people feel cared about,

for the ease with which it is learned.

$y using active listening with students, you build the relationship of trust and caring essential to students'motivation to learn. By teaching active listening, you help students overcome poor listening habitssuch as:

%&urning a speaker off and dwelling on the plethora of internal distractions we all have.

Letting an early remark of a speaker, with which one disagrees, develop a preudice which clouds or

puts a stop to any further listening.

"llowing personal characteristics of the speaker or his poor delivery to prevent understanding.%

Since these poor listening habits interfere with classroom learning as well as interpersonal communication,learning active listening, specifically, the feedbackstep, may also improve students' study skills. n thefeedbackstep the listener summari(es or paraphrases the speaker's literal and implied message. )or e#ample,in the following dialog, *ara provides feedback to a student by guessing the student's implied message andthen asking for conformation.

"Student:I don't like this school as much as my old one. People are not very nice.Para:You are unhappy at this school?Student:Yeah. I haven't made any good friends. No one includes me.Para:You feel left out here?Student:Yeah. I wish I knew more people."

"lthough some people recommend giving feedback with a statement rather than a question, the obectiveremains the same--to clarify either the factual and/or emotional content of the message. $y refining the

listener's interpretation of his statements, the speaker gains greater insight about his own feelings, he mayreap benefits of a catharsis, and he knows the listener is really paying attention to him. &he listener improves

his ability to focus on a speaker and to think about implied meanings.

Steps and Instructions

Active Listening Steps

"lthough the feedback step is at the heart of active listening, to be effective, each of the following steps musttaken+

. Look at the person, and suspend other things you are doing.

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. Listen not merely to the words, but the feeling content.. $e sincerely interested in what the other person is talking about.

. 0estate what the person said.1. "sk clarification questions once in a while.

2. $e aware of your own feelings and strong opinions.3. f you have to state your views, say them only after you have listened.

&hese steps, quoted from The Self Transformation Series, Issue no. !, are simple! however, becoming

skilled in active listening requires considerable practice after the purpose and steps are thoroughly e#plainedand e#amples are analy(ed.

*erforming the steps effectively depends on skill in giving appropriate feedback and sending appropriate verbal

and non-verbal signals.

erbal !ignals

''m listening' cues

4isclosures

5alidating Statements

Statements of Support 0eflection/mirroring Statements

Nonerbal !ignals

6ood eye contact

)acial e#pressions

$ody language

Silence

&ouching

$ecause most of us are occasionally guilty of sending messages that interfere with communication it should beespecially helpful to review 6ordon's " #oad$loc%s to Communication.

Active Listening #esource Lin% Li$rary

have given only brief introduction to active listening here since an abundance of related 7eb pages e#plainingactive listening are available. "fter hours of reading, have created a list of those considered the best. n this

list have also included several papers which do not focus active listening but might be useful for developingactive listening lesson plans--one containing numerous e#amples of miscommunication between pilots and

controllers demonstrating the life and death importance of being clearly understood, and two others showinge#amples of unacceptable verbal behaviors which we hear all too often. n addition, you will find a slide show

e#plaining the use of active learning for problem behaviors. hope you will find the sites in the Active

Listening #esource Lin% Li$raryhelpful.

#eferences

1. &he "rt of "ctive Listening

http+//www.selfhelpnetwork.wichita.edu/images/pdf/"ctiveListening.pdf

2. Lesson + *romoting 8ommunication

http+//para.unl.edu/para/8ommunication/lesson.html

3. Lessons in Lifemanship

http+//bbll.com/ch9.html

http://para.unl.edu/para/Communication/lesson2.htmlhttp://712educators.about.com/cs/activelistening/http://www.selfhelpnetwork.wichita.edu/images/pdf/ActiveListening.pdfhttp://para.unl.edu/para/Communication/lesson2.htmlhttp://bbll.com/ch02.htmlhttp://para.unl.edu/para/Communication/lesson2.htmlhttp://712educators.about.com/cs/activelistening/http://www.selfhelpnetwork.wichita.edu/images/pdf/ActiveListening.pdfhttp://para.unl.edu/para/Communication/lesson2.htmlhttp://bbll.com/ch02.html