Communication

The purpose of this essay is to argue whether or not that communication is the most important skill that a primary educator can possess. Communication ‘is’ the most important skill that a teacher can exercise in the classroom, and without communication, a student’s ability to learn will be significantly decreased. The essay will explain in detail, the ways in which a teacher can communicate with students, as well as parents and other educators, and also look at the variations in communication techniques. Teachers are able to communicate with students through the use of linguistic and paralinguistic communication to enhance the learning of all members of the classroom. The role of a teacher is to encourage and enhance the learning of all students, and this can only be achieved by means of communicating with them. Communication and language are a major part of every human’s life and daily routine, and it is the main way in which all humans interact with each other. “Communication is a fundamental human ability and experience” (Chen & Shire, 2011, p.20). People communicate from birth and effective communication is imperative for children’s academic and social development. Communication is an important skill that primary educators need to establish to be able to teach effectively. Teachers must to be able to communicate with the students in their classroom on a daily basis as poor or no communication skills on the part of the teacher will result in an unhealthy learning experience for the student. Without communication from a teacher, students would have no instruction to follow and it would ultimately be impossible to teach. Educators need to be able to communicate with other colleagues and parents, as well as the pupils they teach. Communication has always been the heart of teaching, and always will be (Pollard, 2005, p. 271). The main purpose of communication is to interact with other people. Consequently, communication is possibly the most social of all the types of learning (Fillmore, 1997). The different forms of communication that a teacher can use to communicate with their students combine linguistic (verbal) communication and paralinguistic (nonverbal) communication techniques. Linguistic communication is the process of using words to interact with others. Classrooms are busy environments in which teachers will work with large groups of children and in their role to maximise learning opportunities, whilst maintaining and organising the classroom, teachers will do a majority of the speaking in the classroom (Pollard, 2005, p. 273). A teacher must do more than just simply ‘tell’ a class to do an activity Teacher’s need to engage the students in the classroom through the use of tone of voice, pace, volume and how they can project their voice in the classroom, these are all an important part of the communication process. There are four types of verbal communication which are commonly used in the classroom to assign work for the student to complete; *Expositions- where the teacher can describe, inform, instruct or explain directly. *Question and Answer- used where there is often one correct answer, to encourage thinking and develop understanding. *Discussions- this can involve interpretation and speculation where class members apply a principle to a case, use evidence or develop a theory. *Listening- where the students hear and respond to the speech of the teacher (Pollard, 2005, p. 294). Effective verbal communication also involves writing skills. Teachers are expected to have a sound knowledge of the English language and be able to use the correct grammar, spelling, and punctuation in the classroom. Teachers additionally need to have writing that is legible. If the students cannot read or understand what the teacher has written on the board or on class work sheets, then the students will feel confused and be constantly interrupting the lesson to clarify what the teacher has written. In classrooms where there a student’s that have hearing impairments, the use of sign language is another means of verbally communicating with them. Braille is another form of communication that assists students who have visual impairments. Both these forms of communication aide teachers and ensures these children are not neglected and it allows them to participate in classroom activities. Paralinguistic communication includes facial expressions, gestures, and body language (Jalongo, 2000, p. 52), which accompany what the teacher may say. These can extend the teachers meanings but they can also confuse or contradict what the teacher is saying if not used in the correct manner. Teachers can communicate a message to a student without saying a word. For example, the look that the teacher gives a student can communicate that the student’s behaviour is inappropriate (Bennett & Smilanich, 1994, p. 195). With classrooms covering a wide demographic of nationalities and cultures, teachers need to develop new skills and knowledge to adjust their teaching strategies (Chen & Shire, 2011, p.21). Teachers need to be mindful of children in the class who come from different backgrounds and who might be learning English as a second language. In these cases, the teacher again needs to ensure that all instructions are clear and easy to follow. The role of the primary educator is to encourage learning and develop the social skills of students, which will prepare students for life in high school, university and the work force. This can only be achieved through continual effective communication from teachers. In the teaching process, communication helps a student to attach perceptions to their own lives, and what they learn in the classroom will be applied to the world around them (Weheba & El Kader, 2007, p. 127). In the classroom, communication from the teacher provides instruction for the class and rules to follow. These instructions need to be explained clearly and the expectations of the task made explicit (Killen, 2005, p. 34). The teacher must also ensure that all students can hear and see them before the lesson starts; if some students are out of the teachers view then the arrangement of the furniture would need to be changed (Whitton et al. 2010, p. 225). Communication from a teacher controls the classroom environment and keeps the students on track for finishing their tasks. Classrooms are environments in which one person, namely the teacher, is responsible for preventing and coping with disruptions as well as encouraging and enhancing learning processes (Cazden, 1988, p. 2-3) In classroom situations, teachers and students will both participate in speaking and listening. If classroom communication and learning are to be encouraged, then all the participants need to have knowledge, skills and attitudes which are appropriate for both speaking and listening (Pollard, 2005, p. 273). Primary educators also need to be able to communicate with other employees, participate in staff meetings, and work collaboratively with other teachers on setting curricular. Parent-teacher meetings are the main source of feedback that parents receive about their child’s progress in the classroom. The purposes of parent-teacher meetings are to give teachers the opportunity to talk specifically about the child’s academic progress and behaviour with family members. Writing student reports is another means by which teachers communicate with parents, and again communication skills are needed to achieve this. Teachers are required to work with other teachers in deciding content for classes, and again their use of communication will determine whether the outcomes are successful or not. The successful use of communication in the classroom will determine how much the students can learn. If communication is not used correctly then the learning process is damaged. Teachers who have trouble with the English language will reduce how much a student can learn, as will teachers who do not have the spelling and grammar skills that are required for the classroom. Therefore without communication from a primary educator, a student’s education is nonexistent. Communication is a major part of all human interaction and without it social relationships would cease to exist. The role of communication is vital in the education of children and all educators need to ensure that communication is properly used at all times. To teach effectively, all educators must communicate with their students in one way or another. Whether it be done by verbally speaking to them and giving them instructions for the lesson or by looking at them a certain way, and through body language, to disapprove of their behaviour in the classroom, paralinguistic and linguistic communication plays a major role in all classroom activities. Not only do teachers need to be good communicators in the classroom, they also must be able to communicate with parents and fellow teachers, to conduct parent-teacher meetings and set curricular for future lessons. Ultimately, without communication no education can take place, it is a major part of teaching and learning and always will be.