Theories and Frameworks - Listening
I was listening to the radio on Friday. It was St David's day and Iwan Jones was teaching Jeremy Vine how to speak Welsh. Jeremy apologised every time he made a mistake. Iwan told him not to apologise as Mistakes are the Life blood of Learning. It seemed to be a thought provoking statement. On Sunday I attempted to join in the 9am skype session. I must have made a mistake somewhere as my microphone was not working. This meant I could only listen. This was prophetic as this week when looking at my AOL's, one of the soft skills I felt I had learned was listening! This promoted me to research listening theories. Rogers
and Farson (1979) describe active listening as 'an important way to bring about
changes in people.' They recommend three activities:
- Listen for total meaning: Listen both for content and also for the underlying emotions.
- Respond to feelings: Sometimes the real message is in the emotion rather than the surface content.
- Note all the cues: Not all communication is verbal, so watch for the non-verbal messages.
Listening to the discussion on Sunday and hearing my fellow students experiences and thoughts made me think that the teaching profession can be a very verbal profession. In the past teachers stood at the front of their class and instructed and did not particularly encourage questions or argument. Now we teach in a more enquiry mode of teaching. My thoughts are that by listening we build on our existing frameworks.
The picture below helps me to think about theories and frameworks;
The roots are our original framework. The tree grows. This is our knowledge building and growing. It produces off shoots of other ideas and practices (i.e. the leaves and branches) that intertwine and form other frameworks. We might listen to the wind through the leaves (voices bringing in other ideas and changes of direction). However it is always still a solid framework itself.
This picture is probably the most helpful tool I have seen to help make these theories more concrete to me. While I am an excellent listener, my main way of learning is visual. Seeing things, whether in pictures, diagrams, outline form or a piece of writing helps my brain to remember and process different ideas. However, I have learned in teaching that in every class there are students with many different styles of learning, and being able to recognize these helps us as teachers to instruct so that everyone is receiving the same message, albeit in different forms. Thank you for this!
ReplyDeleteThank you missamyrenzoni. Lovely to make contact with you
DeleteWonderful post! (And I will definitely have a look at "Rogers and Farson"). And I also think, that when we talk about teaching, we very often focus on the transmission of knowledge, on how to share, how to present learning material to the students and very little attention is payed to how we listen to our students (this can be their verbal expression, but also their dancing). Through the interview process for module 3, I feel, I have learned a lot about my students (and got food for thought for my practice), and I feel I can relate better to many of them now, just through getting a better understanding on where they are in their process, expectations, by listening to them... So thank you, this blog is one more inspiration to think more about and consider listening in our teaching practice.
ReplyDeleteThank you Agata. Lots of luck with your module 3
DeleteHi Debbie, I love your tree of explaining the framework and theory. Shame about the mic but I like your point of ‘listening’. I often waffle and can forget what the original point was. During the Skype calls I have been recording the sessions so I can go back, listen and rethink. I shall also have a browse into Rogers and Farson x
ReplyDeleteThank you Jade. I should also record the sessions as I sit scribbling away making notes and then loose my thread! x
DeleteHi Debbie,
ReplyDeleteI find the tree analogy of frameworks and theories really interesting!
Reflecting on how I could apply that to myself, I am tempted to add to it and say that my theories are almost like the different soils or fertilizers given to a tree to facilitate its growth at various stages of its life from sapling to mature-tree... or the different ways of tending to the tree in varying seasons or climates. Everything that is added to the tree to change the size and shape of its 'network' over time.
Yes Jesse! I think that's fantastic. I love that analogy. I was also thinking that as a tree adds a ring to its life in its growth, so do we as teachers/dancers/performers. x
ReplyDeleteHi Debbie. I love your tree image it really helped me understand the idea of theories and frameworks. I also enjoyed related to your thoughts on listening as I had the same microphone problem on my first attempt to join a skype session. I am essentially a talker (nervous habit) and I felt that I learnt so much more by just listening. I have been working hard this week to try and encourage my students to talk more and to listen to their thoughts. Thanks, I think this whole process is making me a better teacher as I remember skills I had forgotten and reflect on the way I teach.
ReplyDeleteThank you CatIngebrigtsen. I also like to talk (far too much) and yes, sometimes stepping back and listening makes you realise what you miss by doing so. I am enjoying this contact with other teachers as it can be a lonely job sometimes. x
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