Title: Listening Skills for Teachers, How to Listen, How to Communicate
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Content: Anxiety and Distraction
Listening, like learning, is difficult in an atmosphere of anxiety, tension or boredom. At some stage, all students will feel some degree of anxiety, and for some it can be a disabling experience, preventing them from listening, learning and participating in the classroom. The student’s anxiety may be social, caused by fear of other students or of the teacher or it may be caused by a fear of academic failure. It is important to identify the cause/s of the anxiety which will help the student to relax and listen. Teachers should also be aware that all students learn in different ways, some being extroverted and outgoing while others choose not to participate actively in group discussions or role plays. Both learning styles indicate that students learn in their own preferable unique way. Boredom and the need to seek distraction are also typical impediments affecting good listening in the classroom. It is easy to blame the student for their lack of interest, but you should also evaluate your teaching strategies, classroom environment, size of the group, cultural mix of the participants, age of the students, life experiences of individual people, and goals of each person when asking yourself questions about why listening is not naturally occurring. Bias
As a direct result of our own life stories and experiences, we all have basic convictions, attitudes and beliefs, and are prejudiced in various ways, which can cause the listening process to break down. Empathy and presenting facts in a fair and unbiased way will help to regain your students’ interest and keep the lesson focussed in the right direction.