Module 2: Communication Skills in the Classroom
Article: Why is it Important for Teachers to Have Good Communication Skills?
§ Teachers who hone their communication skills are prepared to instruct, advise and
mentor students entrusted in their care.
§ Teachers must communicate well to effectively collaborate with colleagues and
update administrators on student progress.
§ Good communication skills are necessary for:
o Teaching Individuals and Groups – Teachers must be skilled at listening to
their students; explaining things clearly; and adapting their methods of
communication according to their ability or learning style.
o Communicating Caring – Good teachers communicate concern and caring
by their tone of voice and use of body language.
o Communicating to Parents – Teachers need to explain the strengths and
weaknesses of their students so that parents will understand the message
and be receptive rather than defensive.
o Interacting with Colleagues and Supervisors – Teachers stay abreast of new
developments in education by reading journals, listening to new ideas from
their administrators, and sharing and discussing these ideas with
colleagues.
Article: Effective Communication: Barriers and Strategies
§ The following are barriers to listening:
o focusing on a personal agenda;
o experiencing information overload;
o criticizing the speaker;
o getting distracted by emotional noise;
o getting distracted by external noise; and
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o experiencing physical difficulty.
§ The following strategies are intended to promote active listening:
o Stop – focus on the other person, their thoughts and feelings.
o Look – pay attention ton non-verbal messages, without letting yourself be
distracted.
o Listen – seek an overall understanding of what the speaker is
communicating.
o Be empathetic – imagine how you would feel in their circumstances.
o Ask questions – use questions to clarify your understanding.
o Paraphrase – repeat in your own words what you understand from the
speaker.
§ Barriers to accurate perception include:
o Stereotyping and generalizing – holding on to preconceptions about people
or things
o Not investing time – making assumptions and ignoring details
o Having a distorted focus – focusing on negative aspects of a conversation
o Assuming similar interpretations – not everyone will draw the same
conclusions
o Experiencing incongruent cues – saying one thing and expressing
something else through your body language
§ The following are strategies for accurate perception:
o analyze your own perceptions;
o work on improving your perception; and
o focus on others;
§ The following are barriers to effective verbal communication:
o Lacking clarity – avoid abstract, overly formal language and jargon
o Using stereotypes and generalizations – try to be sensitive to the
complexities of situations, rather than viewing the world in black and white
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o Jumping to conclusions – avoid confusing facts with inferences
o Dysfunctional responses – avoid interrupting others, ignoring comments or
responding with irrelevant comments
o Lacking confidence – shyness and difficulty being assertive
§ The following are strategies for effective verbal communication:
o focus on the issue, not the person;
o be genuine rather than manipulative;
o empathize rather than remain detached;
o be flexible towards others;
o value yourself and your own experiences; and
o use affirming responses.
Article: Communication and Effective Teaching
§ Communication is a complex process which involves the:
o Sender/source – thinks of the message, puts it into words, and expresses it.
o Message – verbal or non-verbal
o Channel – for example person-person, media, audio-visual
o Receiver – hears, gives attention, understands and accepts the message
§ To be effective, teachers must try to minimize barriers to communication by
making sure the room is quiet and well lit, speaking slowly and clearly, or using
only words that the students can understand.
§ The most effective way to overcome barriers to communication is by two-way
communication, that is, getting regular feedback from the receivers.
§ An important element of communication in teaching is the use of teaching aids
such as pictures, videos and practical demonstrations.
§ A handout is a document that the teacher writes him/herself which may be a
summary of important points to be learnt, a guide to students of work that has to
be done, or references that students have to look up.
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Article: Classroom Communication Tips
§ The following are techniques for delivering communication:
o Verbal techniques – vary speed and tone of voice, project your voice, pause
to gain attention and allow students to digest information
o Non-verbal techniques – maintain eye-contact, smile to communicate value,
use movement to convey enthusiasm, project excitement to capture
audience attention
o Media – chalkboard or dry-erase board, slide presentations, videos and
animations, audio clips, artifacts, handouts.
§ The following are rhetorical techniques for structuring communication:
o Get the students interested by connecting the topic to students’ interests
and provide an engaging example or anecdote that students can connect to.
o Organize the class by showing the relationship of interconnected ideas to
an overarching theme, sharing outlines to help students organize their
learning, making explicit transitions between topics.
o Clarify the purpose or goal of the class by emphasizing the importance of
key ideas, and have students seek additional information in other activities.
§ The following are techniques for getting feedback in your classroom:
o observe the students’ body language;
o use questions to find out what your students know and understand; and
o collect written feedback.
Article: Building Student Engagement: Classroom Interactions
§ Make the class interactive – transform students from passive observers to active
learners.
§ Call on students constantly to answer questions: call on individual students (by
name) to answer questions.
§ Reassure students you will come back to them.
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§ Find a student’s strength – have an expectation for the student to be the ‘expert’.
§ Encourage shy students to speak – don’t allow long-winded or loud students to
dominate the classroom discussion.
§ Listen actively to students during discussions – maintain eye contact and
demonstrate that you are committed to listening and understanding what each
student has to say.
§ Incorporate peer review – get students to teach each other and learn from each
other.
§ Ask early for feedback from students – this will provide valuable information
about what is and is not working allowing for improvement of practice.
Article: Diversity and Communication: Culture and Cultural Identity
§ Understanding the ways in which culture influences educational contexts can
empower teachers to reach all of their students.
§ Teachers must understand not only how culture influences the behavior of
students, but also the way that it influences their own perceptions and behaviors.
§ Teachers should, regardless of their cultural heritage, increase their cultural
competence so they can be better prepared to facilitate student learning.
§ Culture plays a significant role in the education process as it influences what
people know, how they came by that knowledge, what roles they play and how
they should play them, what they value, and how they put their values into action.
§ Cultural identity denotes the ways individuals view themselves and the ways they
wish to be viewed by others.
§ Cultural identity involves learning about and accepting the traditions, heritage,
language, religion, ancestry, aesthetics, thinking patterns, and social structures of
a culture.
§ A person may have different identities depending on the context; for instance,
students may have home, playground, and classroom identities. A student can be
quiet and inattentive in the classroom and loud, boisterous, and aggressive in the
school yard.
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§ One theory holds that whenever people participate in social interaction, they are
engaged in a type of performance. Like actors in a play, they construct an image
they want the audience to accept.
§ These performances are not always positive; for example, some students do not
perceive that being a good student is cool, so they slump in their desks, appear
bored, and seldom participate in class discussion.
§ All individuals want to have their identities supported during social interaction.
Receiving undue recognition, being criticized or corrected, having privacy
violated, and being caused to look foolish are the types of situations causing
individuals to lose face.
§ When individuals are confronted with these predicaments, they are compelled to
invoke a strategy to save their face. Examples of the strategies individuals use to
restore their identity include apology, excuse, justification, humour, avoiding, or
aggression.
§ Teachers criticize students’ dress, taste in music, and academic performance.
Without meaning to, teachers may also threaten students’ cultural identities.
