Communication is a Life Skill Most Kids Don’t Master
Can your students communicate their ideas clearly and succinctly after raising their hands?
Students often struggle to articulate a complete thought
When students have the opportunity to defend their point of view or articulate their ideas more fully, I often become aware of their inability to communicate. Even with ample “wait time,” they stammer, can’t find the words or don’t express their ideas in full. The listener is left guessing at the meaning and several exchanges are needed to clarify rather simple thoughts.
In my work with students and teachers in a plethora of classes and in different geographical areas, I realize that many of us as adults are in the habit of eliciting one or two-word responses from children. This is not adequate to formulate and communicate ideas in the developing child.
Could it be that the lack of students’ ability to write is because they are not required to articulate their thoughts verbally? When we do a good job developing speaking skills in young students, writing is easier for them. Clear communication and formulating thoughts begin with listening and speaking.
Even when we teach specific listening and speaking skills, our students’ learning does not seem to integrate and transfer to other areas. Let’s take a closer look at why.
States of learning potential
The Learning Potential Scale is a self-assessment tool for teachers to see which state they are in with their class. We can identify four different states of learning potential based on the teacher/student relationship. We will look at connections, goals and intentions for learning, both the teacher’s and the students.
There are distinct symptoms for each state found in Part 2, The Learning Potential Scale of the series, Google Doesn’t Work for Everything! Why the Current School System Doesn’t Serve Us and What we can Do about It?
Basically, in the state of Dysfunction™, you are pulling the class along and there is an atmosphere of emotional distrust. Dysfunction means there is a very low potential for learning.
In the state of Struggle™, work is getting done but your students struggle with academics and relationship issues often leaving you feeling frustrated. Struggle means there is little potential for learning.
In the state of Traction™, most of your students are making progress with a lot of structures in place to keep them on task. Traction means there is some potential for learning.
Most teachers find themselves in one of the first three states. In any of these states students are not learning to potential, often because they do not experience the emotional safety in the class to take risks, e.g. raise their hands, offer a solution or an idea, respond to the ideas of others, work well in groups, etc.
The state of thriving
However, in the state of Thriving™, students are able to reach full learning potential and they behave very differently. They have a high level of participation, nurture their own relationships and seek to make a difference to others while developing a heart to contribute to positive world change. Your students are inspired in their learning and look forward to school every day. Thriving means there is full potential for learning.
Why our kids can’t write
In the first three states, students’ writing skills are dramatically impacted. When we think about the climate inside this class, students spend much of their energy avoiding getting mocked, ridiculed, or somehow looking bad. That means the amygdala is engaged, which means the frontal cortex (thinking part of the brain) cannot be accessed. The climate is emotionally unsafe, so students are preoccupied with their safety.
It is often the case when students are in the first three states of learning potential, their writing skills are poor. Yet, as teachers, we often assess students in other subjects by what they write on tests. What we are really doing is assessing their writing, on a history test, for example.
Emotional safety supports risk-taking which is essential for learning
To boost student writing scores, we need to allow them to develop their listening and speaking skills. In a class full of students, how often is a student given an opportunity to really express their thoughts, feelings and ideas through speaking? How often do we use listening and speaking to train deep learning? At home, parents are rushed, kids are rushed, and many families do not sit down together once a day. Exchanges are often limited to one-word responses or maybe a sentence or two.
Whether at home or at school, students need many opportunities to articulate their ideas and really be heard. They need authentic interactions with others that provide natural, authentic feedback. This can be done in several ways, including but not limited to process drama where students live inside of story and problem-solve collaboratively trying out their ideas.
Imaginary worlds build empathy and communication skills
Examples include:
A class of ten-year-olds solving a community erosion problem in role as world-class scientists.
Seven-year-olds respectfully addressing government officials to cancel plans to build a candy factory in their community to save the environment.
Five-year-olds questioning the monster about why they can’t access their beloved playground.
Six-year-olds debating on a win/win solution to deal with a bully in role as playmates.
Fourteen-year-olds discussing the pros and cons of confederation at a round table in role as leaders from different colonies, the year before confederation.
These problem-solving activities are easily accessed by most children. But, for teachers, they can require a mind shift as we allow ourselves to enter our students’ most powerful ways of learning…through the imagination. In that world, we can guide our students to learn 21st century skills and develop empathy while practicing social and emotional skills through an academic theme. This is gold!
It requires risk-taking, not just for the teacher. The students must feel safe to offer a suggestion, to try out ways of being persuasive or angry or informative; to collaborate, build on ideas and think deeply and critically while learning life lessons, without experiencing real-life consequences.
At school and at home, our students do not have enough opportunities to develop their thoughts and express their ideas and feelings. And when that “muscle” is not developed, we cannot expect them to write their knowledge and ideas about a subject being tested? Listening and speaking come before the ability to read and write, as writing is the most complex of the four skills.
Empathy skills are essential
Communication is multi-layered. We know body language, context, choice of words, tone and eye contact are important skills in communication. Our students need explicit instruction in communication to develop their skills.
Process drama builds empathy. As well, we must teach how to communicate empathy, perspective and an understanding of the unspoken, but definitely present. For example, mirroring back what was said in conversation, such as the speaker’s concern or commitment.
Example 1:
A, has their hat taken by B.
A, “Hey, give me back my hat!”
OR
A, has their hat taken by B.
A, “So you want to play catch, do you?” (reflecting back the commitment of A)
Example 2:
A asks, “Can I be in your group?”
B responds, “I know you want to be in this group. It is full right now, but another time.”
Communicating empathy, perspective and an understanding of the unspoken, results in a much stronger and more positive outcome. We must teach our students to think about the outcome they desire before they are in a situation that can trigger them. Once in the situation, they are in reaction mode (the amygdala centre of the brain is engaged) and it is impossible to access a new idea (which requires the engagement of the frontal cortex).
Practice is critical
Thinking about one’s desired outcome must be done in advance of a real-life situation. So, pro-active, deep teaching of social and emotional skills would allow students to consider their desired outcomes.
Then role-playing their responses in typical scenarios, such as the examples above, would provide rehearsal time. That type of practice, with side-coaching by the teacher, allows students to respond rather than react in a real situation. Practice makes permanent, so rehearsing responses are critical to access what we need to do when triggered or activated.
Practicing social and emotional skills includes self-awareness (recognizing and labelling the emotions), managing emotions, interacting with others in ways that work and decision-making skills. When students are given explicit teaching and rehearsal time with these skills, they will be able to tell stories and experiences expressively and make their points with clarity, which we look for in their writing.
Reading, Writing and Maths, maybe foundational for academic education. But essential abilities include developing quality communication skills in our students. Communication skills go a long way to professional and personal success.
Opportunity to get to a state of thriving
Interested in professional development with Margaret at Creative Education in Action? Email to connect. Or check out the SEL Wisdom program for staff and for parents. And you can get a free children’s video program called Deep Learning at Home. Let’s train our students to be superior communicators so they can succeed in an ever-changing world.
AUTHOR
Margaret Boersma, OCT is an instructional coach, teaching artist, speaker, educational consultant, and trainer. Her varied career in 35 years of teaching, combined with her expertise in social/emotional learning (SEL), allows her to assimilate the affective domain (people skills) with academic curriculum goals. Having trained extensively in the arts, and with Dr. Eric Jensen in brain-compatible pedagogy, Margaret’s heart is to transform classroom practice to enable students and teachers to thrive. Her innovative training programs result in students acquiring leadership and communication skills while becoming compassionate citizens. Her experience in teacher training extends to Canada, the U.S, the Netherlands, India and New Zealand/Australia.