Factors That Might Hinder Active Listening in Class and Theory of Empathy Listening - Coursework Example

International Human Relations By Name Course Instructor Institution Location Date Table of Contents Table of Contents 2 Abstract/Executive summary 3 Introduction 3 Listening skills 4 The nature of listening in class 5 Issues/factors that might hinder active listening in class 5 The theory of empathy listening 7 Non-Verbal communication 8 Conclusion 9 Bibliography 11 My relationship with my teacher looked at the perspective of improving both my listening and non-verbal communication skills both in class. Abstract/Executive summary The problem stated here is on how to improve my relationship with the teacher through active listening and showing strong non-verbal communication skills. It was found out that teacher-student relationships can be improved through active listening as well as through the use of non-verbal communication tools by both the teacher and the student. The teacher can make use of non-verbal listening through various ways which include smiling, movements within the class, vocal expressiveness, and relaxed body positions whereas the student can indicate that he or she is actively listening through the use of non-verbal communications aspects such as the use of facial expressions, gestures, eye contact, and postures. The paper focused much on how to improve both listening and non-verbal communication skills so as to help improve my relationship with my teacher. Introduction Improved relationship with my teacher has very crucial positive and long term implications for my not only my academic but also for my social development (Roberts & Smith 2002 p 291). It becomes of high importance to have close and supportive relations with the teacher so as to ensure that all aspects of positive development are well taken care of, including having strong listening skills in class as well as developing strong non-verbal communication skills. Listening refers to the ability to receive messages accurately as well as interpret them within the communication process. Improved listening skills, obtained for positive relationship with the teacher helps not in class but also across other perspectives of life, for instance in the job market once someone gets out of school. Listening is key to effective communication and this means that without the ability to listen effectively, then the message being passed can easily be misunderstood and this in most cases frustrates the person communication or the sender of the message (Snyder, 2011 p. 38). This paper highlights how good relationships with my teacher can be created and enhanced through improved listening skills in class through active listening as well as through the use of non-verbal communication skills. Santrock (2001 p. 45) claims that a student who feels that there is a strong personal connection to the teacher, talks and shares concerns with the teacher frequently and receives guidance and praise more often than just criticism from the teacher tend to have strong communications skills which develop as a result of the close relationship created. This is because there is a likelihood that the student will trust her teacher more, show much engagement in learning, and at the end achieve higher in academics. Listening skills This section highlights how a good student-teacher relationship is created through both the student and the teacher having strong listening skills. An effective teacher in class is not only a skilled teacher, but also a good active listener. The problem being tackled here is that poor listening skills on either side can lead to a poor teacher-student relationship. For example, the teacher will always expect the student to listen and understand what he or she teaches in class, on the other hand, the student expects the teacher to listen to his or concerns at any time, thus, active listening is a two –way process. Good listening skills are required so as to develop empathy and understanding between the teacher and the student and this allows the teacher to access whether the students understand what they are being taught in class. Listening skills also help in solving conflicts among students as well as between students and teachers (Snyder, 2011 p. 39). The nature of listening in class Listening is a two-way process and this means that despite the fact that the teacher does most of talking, he or she must also learn to listening to the student, otherwise, there will be no good student-teacher relationship. It can thus be stated that active listening by both parties creates a perfect relationship between the teacher and the student. The student spends a lot of time listening to the teacher, and thus he or she benefits form improved listening skills. Both the teacher and the student ought to respect one another and through this, each will be ready and willing to listen to each other, and this will help improve teacher-student relationship. Issues/factors that might hinder active listening in class There are various obstacles that hinder active listening in class for both the student and the teacher and this leads to poor listening skills, a condition that will just alleviate the problem of poor student-teacher relationship. It is important to note that there are various attitudes, values, past experiences, judgements and feelings that assist both the parties in listening and can as well act as obstacles to active listening. Some of the factors that might hinder active listening include: anxiety and distraction, biasness, language problems, attitude, tone and words. Anxiety and distraction Listening is difficult in the atmosphere of tension and boredom. However, it becomes imperative that at some stage, a student can feel some degree of anxiety that might prevent him or her from listening and participating in class, and this definitely creates conflicts with the teacher and this may lead to a poor student-teacher relationship. Such anxiety on the student may be caused by fear of other students or of the teacher or even fear of failure in an exam. In most cases, it is expected of the teacher to be aware that all students learn in different ways and that others are extroverts and outgoing while other do not like to participate much in class. However, in most cases, teachers do not understand this and thus, they force the students to talk and this may worsen off the relationship between the student and the teacher. The aspect of boredom also affects god listening in the class. In most cases, the teacher blames the student for not actively listening and also for lack of interest, without even evaluating his or her strategies of teaching, the environment, cultural mix, as well as goals of each student. In such cases, the teacher is expected to ask themselves questions as to why the student is not actively listening and try as much as possible to help and this will help create a good relationship with the student, otherwise, the relationship worsens off (Adler et al 2007, p. 129). Biasness Each person has their own personal stories and life experiences as well as attitudes and beliefs which tend to be prejudiced in various ways which can lead to the breakdown of the listening process. There are various ways that can help regain interest on the side of the student and this may include empathy as well as the presentation of facts in a fair and unbiased manner by the teacher. On the side of the teacher, he or she needs to evaluate his or her own bias and possible prejudice towards certain students and try as possible to accept these students. Nevertheless, if real bias occurs, active listening will be hindered and this will adversely affect the student-teacher relationship in class (Deresky 2010 p. 77). Language problems In other cases, the language used by the teacher in class may not be the native language used by a the student, and this creates difficulties in comprehending various aspects of learning, which leads to poor listening and hence hinder the possibility of good teacher-student relationships. Attitude, tone and words In some cases, student’s concentration may fade during the day as a result of being tired, thirsty, and distracted by various conditions such as noise, heat or cold or even some personal matter. In such conditions, concentration may be lost and this leads to poor listening on the part of the student. In such circumstances, the teacher needs to examine his or her learning program and include aspects like group games and relaxations exercises so as to help regain the student’s concentration. Otherwise, this may adversely affect the relationship between the teacher and the student as a result of poor listening (Adler et al 2007, p. 132). The theory of empathy listening Empathy is the ability of an individual to understand the feelings as well as the emotions of another individual. In other words, it is the same as “putting yourself in the shoes of the other person”. The theory of empathy listening helps provide a theoretical solution to the creating and maintaining a positive student-teacher relationship (Roberts & Smith 2002 p 290). This means that the teacher should understand the student and vice versa in that at times, one party may not be in a good position to actively listen to the other party, and thus in such cases, the concept of empathy listening comes in. Non-Verbal communication This section highlights how skills in non-verbal communication by both the teacher and the student in a classroom setting can help improve teacher-student relationship (Miller 2005 p. 29). Non-verbal communication includes the use of body languages in class such as facial expressions, gestures, eye contact, and postures.(Ledbury et al., 2004 p. 93).The use of non-verbal communication can be related to active listening, discussed above, in that it is believed that a person who is indeed listening actively tends to respond through the use of body languages. For instance, the concept of maintaining eye contact is believed to be a major factor that shows that indeed the student is listening actively to the teacher. Previous research work indicates that non-verbal behaviors by the teacher such as smiling, movements within the class, vocal expressiveness, and relaxed body positions among other aspects results into increased cognitive and effective learning, which translates to effective listening since the student is well engaged. As a result, the integration of both active listening with the use if non-verbal communication aspects helps in improving student-teacher relationships (Deresky2010 p. 78). Active listening is enhanced by the use of non-verbal skills in the classroom setting. Listening does not just mean the normal hearing, rather it calls for the understanding of what the other person is trying to put across. Just as the listening, the use of non-verbal communications is also a two-way process (McCann 2007, p. 98). As indicated, the teacher can make use of non-verbal listening through various ways which include smiling, movements within the class, vocal expressiveness, and relaxed body positions. On the other hand, the student can indicate that he or she is actively listening through the use of non-verbal communications aspects such as the use of facial expressions, gestures, eye contact, and postures (Ledbury et al., 2004 p. 95). Teachers often complain about cases of inactive listening as well as failure of students not to make use of non-verbal communication and this may lead to a breakdown in communication between the teacher and the student, a condition that can adversely affect the relationship entire relationship between the teacher and the student. It is thus imperative for the teacher to ensure that these two aspects of communication are enhanced together where by each aspect is a prerequisite of the other (Breed &Colaiuta 2006 p 78). This means that both listening and the use of non-verbal communication occur concurrently and help in creating a strong and effective student-teacher relationship. Communications experts assert that most interpersonal communication is non-verbal and thus, it is the responsibility of teacher to ensure that non-verbal communication is enhanced in the class. The use of non-verbal communication tools such as the use of body parts such as hands and eyes in communication as well as facial expressions form a powerful theory of converging messages (Miller 2005 p. 30). Conclusion This topic is about how student-teacher relationships can be improved through the integration of improved listening skills and non-verbal skills. The paper has discussed two aspects: the use of listening skills and non-verbal communications skills so as to enhance effective and friendly student-teacher relationship. The problem here is on how to improve this relationship by the use of active listening and non-verbal communication (Breed &Colaiuta 2006 p 80). It can be stated that these two aspects can help improve interpersonal strengths and also help enhance my relationship with my teacher. The paper has indicated that the integration of both active listening and effective non-verbal communication can help improve my communication with the teacher. Active listening goes hand in hand with the use of non-verbal communication tools such as the use of facial expressions, gestures, eye contact, and postures (Miller 2005 p. 28). On the other hand, the teacher is expected to make use of non-verbal communication in terms of smiling, movements within the class, vocal expressiveness, and relaxed body positions so as to enhance listening. It can this be concluded that these two aspects helps in resolving issue to do with student-teacher relationships. Bibliography Adler, RB, Rosenfeld, LB & Towne, M 2007 Interplay: The Process of Interpersonal Communication, 10thedn, Oxford University Press, Oxford. Breed, G., &Colaiuta, V. (2006). “Looking, blinking, and sitting: nonverbal dynamics in the classroom” Journal of Communication, Vol. 24, No. 2, pp. 75‐81. Deresky, HH, 2010 International Management: Managing Across Borders and Cultures, Text and Cases: International Version, 7thedn, Pearson Higher Education, New Jersey. Ledbury, RL. et al., 2004, “The Importance of Eye Contact in the Classroom,”The Internet TESL Journal, VOL. X, No. 8. McCann, HV. 2007, Human Relations: the Art and Science of Building effective Relationships. Pearson Prentice Hall, New Jersey. Miller, PW 2005 “Body language in the classroom” Techniques, Vol. 80, No. 8, pp. 28‐30. Roberts, AR & Smith KI 2002, “Managing Emotions in the College Classroom: The Cultural Diversity Course as an Example” Teaching Sociology, Vol. 30, No. 3, pp. 291-301 Santrock, J 2001, Educational Psychology. McGraw Hill, New York. Snyder, DS 2011,“Classroom Management for Student Teachers” Music Educators Journals, pp. 37–40 Read More