Science JunctionProfessional Development


Listening: An Overlooked Teaching Skill?

Listening skills are important because it is essential for the teacher to understand, as much as possible, the ideas of the student. Students master course material by building on their own ideas, not those of the teacher. The teacher must listen carefully to learn whether the student's ideas are appropriate to be used as those critical building blocks. If the building blocks are faulty, they must be repaired before moving on to the larger concept. The first part of the listening task is simply to get the student to speak. By using appropriate levels of positive reinforcement, a good teacher encourages student participation.

Waiting

Students need time to put their ideas into words. This seemingly simple technique of waiting is all too often neglected by teachers. A general rule of thumb is to wait at least 5 seconds after asking a question before rephrasing the question or giving a hint. But depending on the question asked and the background of the students, good teachers often wait even longer. Also, frequent pauses during teacher explanations will allow students time to ask important questions.

Patience

Good listening requires patience. Students need time to explain their ideas, and teachers need time to respond. There's no need for the teacher to hurry a response to a student's question. A good answer--one which may be able to bridge the conceptual understandings of teacher and student--will often take some time to formulate. Sometimes, while the teacher is in the process of forming such a response, students will elaborate on their thinking and give the teacher more information about the nature of their ideas, including any misconceptions they may have.

Yielding

Remember that in a discussion, the student's ideas should always take priority over the teacher's. The teacher can always save the remark for later, but if interrupted, the student's idea may never surface. The teacher then will have lost an opportunity to understand the thinking of the student. When good teachers find themselves interrupting their students, they simply stop talking and ask the student to continue.

Practice

Listening, like all skills, improves with practice. Want to begin improving your listening habits today? Try counting after asking questions. Instead of rephrasing questions that are not answered immediately, observe your students and try to imagine what they are thinking. Are they focused on the lesson? Did they do their reading assignment? Think about the question you asked. Was it clearly phrased? Too abstract? You'll find that there is plenty to consider in deciding a way to rephrase the question, if it becomes necessary. In the meantime, one of your students may surprise you with a very thoughtful response!

Books and articles:

  1. Blosser, Patricia E. (1991). How to Ask the Right Questions. Washington, D.C.: National Science Teachers Association.
  2. Burley-Allen, Madelyn (1995). Listening: The forgotten skill. New York: John Wiley &Sons.
  3. Dodson, Joseph (Fall 1978). Teacher, give me time to think. Centroid, 4.
  4. Geddes, Doreen S. (1995). Keys to communication: A handbook for school success. Thousands Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.
  5. Rowe, Mary Budd (1986). Wait time: Slowing down may be a way of speeding up. Journal of Teacher Education, 37, 736-741.
  6. Rowe, Mary Budd (1996). Science, silence, and sanctions. Science and Children, 34, 1.

On the web: