A few years ago BBC World had a trailer for it's audience input show which had the tag line " Everyone's talking and the whole World is listening." Unfortunately too often the reality is that everyone is talking and nobody at all is listening as they are too busy thinking about what they are going to say. This fear seems to be reinforced by numerous news stories about industry complaining that schools aren't giving students the 'soft skills' they need for the workplace.
In our classrooms an over emphasis on the importance of speaking over listening can lead to an over valuing of students who respond quickly with little thought, rather than those who contemplate deeply before responding. Too often we reward the empty vessels making the most noise and in so doing allow them to dominate classroom interactions.
How then do we set up a classroom that values listening and teaches students to be active listeners, reflecting on and responding to the ideas oft heir peers and adults?
One of the key elements to developing effective listening is that teachers need to be explicit in teaching the strategies of group work. Carefully thought out roles need to be assigned (although importantly not the role of reporter since at that point everyone else can tune out!) and ground rules put in place about how participants speak, listen and respond to the ideas of others.
One simple rule that is very effective is to say that no one is able to speak for a set period of time after a provocation has been given. After this time a careful structure should be in place for the sharing of initial ideas.
In paired work this might mean students turning to their partner (NB. Body language is important make sure students do actually turn and face the person they are interacting with) and then:
When a response to a reading is required I have found the 'Final Word' protocol, which I first came across on a workshop run by Bill and Ochan Powell and have used very effectively with both children and adults since, very effective.
To start this activities the group is given a text to read in silence and asked to highlight a sentence of phrase that particularly resonates with them in the context of whatever is being discussed. Then:
It is amazing how hard many adults find the instruction in bold and yet how rewarding they find it when the manage to follow it. As with students they are often amazed at the diversity and depth of the thinking of others and the impact that has on their own thinking.
These are just two examples of the ways activities can be structured to emphasise the importance of listening as well as speaking. De Bono's Thinking Hats, Reciprocal Teaching, Cognitive Coaching etc also provide us with insights that can be adapted into classrooms to ensure more effective listeners and deeper thinkers in our classrooms. The work of Peter Kutnick and Paul Blatchford coming out of the SPRinG Project in the UK provide many examples.
The following check list of questions might help educators to assess the balance between speaking and listening in their own classrooms.
1) Do I give students enough time to think deeply about a provocation before expecting a response?
2) Do I model good listening to my students?
3) Do my students know how to structure group work to ensure that everyone is involved in working towards shared goals and everyone is listened to?
4) Do my students know what good listening looks and sounds like?
5) Do I give the same amount of feedback in regards to listening as I do to speaking?
6) Do I offer a range of speaking and listening situations where students interact with to each other/with the adults in the room/ via technology with adults and peers in other locations?
I really look forward to listening to your comments about how you promote listening in your classrooms. By sharing our ideas we can create a richer learning experience for all our students.
In our classrooms an over emphasis on the importance of speaking over listening can lead to an over valuing of students who respond quickly with little thought, rather than those who contemplate deeply before responding. Too often we reward the empty vessels making the most noise and in so doing allow them to dominate classroom interactions.
How then do we set up a classroom that values listening and teaches students to be active listeners, reflecting on and responding to the ideas oft heir peers and adults?
One of the key elements to developing effective listening is that teachers need to be explicit in teaching the strategies of group work. Carefully thought out roles need to be assigned (although importantly not the role of reporter since at that point everyone else can tune out!) and ground rules put in place about how participants speak, listen and respond to the ideas of others.
One simple rule that is very effective is to say that no one is able to speak for a set period of time after a provocation has been given. After this time a careful structure should be in place for the sharing of initial ideas.
In paired work this might mean students turning to their partner (NB. Body language is important make sure students do actually turn and face the person they are interacting with) and then:
- Partner A has 1 minutes to say what they think about the provocation
- Partner B has 2 minute to ask clarifying questions
- Partner B has 1 minute to paraphrase Partners A's views
- Partner B has 1 minutes to say what they think about the provocation
- Partner A has 2 minute to ask clarifying questions
- Partner B has 1 minute to paraphrase Partners A's views
- A/B have 2 minutes to reach a consensus of what they want to share with another group/ teacher.
When a response to a reading is required I have found the 'Final Word' protocol, which I first came across on a workshop run by Bill and Ochan Powell and have used very effectively with both children and adults since, very effective.
To start this activities the group is given a text to read in silence and asked to highlight a sentence of phrase that particularly resonates with them in the context of whatever is being discussed. Then:
- Each team member is assigned a number
- Team member 1 shares a highlighted item with the group, but makes no further comment.
- Going round robin, each team member comments on the initial person’s selection.
- THERE IS NO CROSS TALK AND NO INTERRUPTIONS.
- The initial person reflects on his or her highlighted item, having the “Final Word” after hearing all the other team members’ comments.Each team member is assigned a number
It is amazing how hard many adults find the instruction in bold and yet how rewarding they find it when the manage to follow it. As with students they are often amazed at the diversity and depth of the thinking of others and the impact that has on their own thinking.
These are just two examples of the ways activities can be structured to emphasise the importance of listening as well as speaking. De Bono's Thinking Hats, Reciprocal Teaching, Cognitive Coaching etc also provide us with insights that can be adapted into classrooms to ensure more effective listeners and deeper thinkers in our classrooms. The work of Peter Kutnick and Paul Blatchford coming out of the SPRinG Project in the UK provide many examples.
The following check list of questions might help educators to assess the balance between speaking and listening in their own classrooms.
1) Do I give students enough time to think deeply about a provocation before expecting a response?
2) Do I model good listening to my students?
3) Do my students know how to structure group work to ensure that everyone is involved in working towards shared goals and everyone is listened to?
4) Do my students know what good listening looks and sounds like?
5) Do I give the same amount of feedback in regards to listening as I do to speaking?
6) Do I offer a range of speaking and listening situations where students interact with to each other/with the adults in the room/ via technology with adults and peers in other locations?
I really look forward to listening to your comments about how you promote listening in your classrooms. By sharing our ideas we can create a richer learning experience for all our students.
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