Roles of the Teacher - Communicating

Aims

The major aims of the communicating role in the classroom are to:

• Initiate and sustain effective communication systems and techniques so as to establish and maintain group cohesion and on-task behavior.
• Develop communication skills of teacher and students to facilitate the management of classroom activities, both behavioral and instructional.
• Maximize the exchange of information within the classroom and with other sections of the school and its community, so as to develop common understandings
• Devise effective communication strategies for overcoming classroom management issues.

Learning and teaching in the classroom predominately take place through interpersonal communication between teachers and students. The context in which this communication occurs and the relationships between teachers and students are neither fixed nor predetermined. Rather they are constructed by the teacher and students, and negotiated by them as they act and react through verbal and non-verbal behavior. The management of communication is one of the central tasks of the classroom teacher.

Effective student learning depends largely upon the strong and positive management of classroom communication in all its forms and situations. In turn, effective classroom management and the roles of planning, organizing, controlling and motivating depend upon the management of effective communication. Communication is at the heart of classroom processes.

Types of Communication

There are numerous types of communications that relate to interactions within the classroom, these include written, verbal and nonverbal, and direct and indirect. Conran (1989) discussed three types of communication that may be found in a typical classroom environment, each type having a different purpose and effect.

The first form is called Proactive Communication.

This type of communication is a closed and direct form, mainly used by the teacher. Its purpose is ordering or directing. It is characteristic of structuring a task and producing instructions.

The second form is Defensive Communication.

This type is employed when someone feels threatened. It is not an open form of communication and is neither constructive nor effective. It has the result of closing off communication.

The third form is Interactive Communication.

This type is indirect and an open form of interaction used to describe and explore. It is characteristic of many teaching/learning situations.

While each of these forms of communication has a place in the classroom, the open and interactive form is probably most effective in facilitating successful learning by students, fostering positive classroom climate, and enhancing relationships between teacher and students. Interactive communication is based on trust and respect and is important in achieving goals of the class agenda. Interactive communication is characterized by the use of humor, which has been found to be an important feature of successful classroom teachers.

Research has shown that teachers are responsible for 60% or more of classroom interactions, and that 60% or more of these interactions are directive and proactive. A more effective management of communication would move towards reducing the directive dominance of classroom communication and emphasize more interactive and open communication.

Types of communication can be classified on the richness of information conveyed, and can be placed on a six step continuum (see below).

Face-to-face, which is the common form of communication, is richest because it provides immediate feedback through verbal and visual cues. Comprehension is generally higher when material is presented in written form, while changes of opinion and belief occur through face-to-face interactions (Hoy & Miskel, 1987)

Three other media should be added to Daft & Lengel's continuum. The first is interactive multimedia, the second is video in all its forms (both probably rate second to face-to-face in terms of their richness of information), and the third is some combination of written and graphic or written and numeric media. The third type of media would probably be placed between the telephone and personal written media.

The appropriate medium depends on the purpose of the message. Generally the most effective communication uses a combination of oral and written media. In addition it employs the principle of redundancy (repetition of the message in different forms). Thus a teacher might convey the same message verbally while using the blackboard or the overhead projector. These are different media and are supported by a third, body and facial expressions. Usually, within reason, the more media used to convey a message, the more likely it is that the message will be transmitted effectively.

At least as important as verbal, graphic, and numeric media are non-verbal signals and paralanguage such as stress, inflection and speed of speech as well as grunts and laughter (Johnson & Johnson, 1987). This emphasis's the importance of nonverbal gestures and the body positions of teachers and students in classroom communication. Tone of voice, however, carries a much greater proportion of verbal messages than words, while sight is a more important receptor of information than ears or body.

There have been many studies that have investigated teacher's communicating behavior. In summary, the following findings can be noted:

• Student achievement is maximized when teachers actively present material, structure it by providing overviews of the task and advance organizers, outline content and signal transitions between lesson parts, Summarise sub-parts during the lesson and review main ideas at the end.
• Student achievement appears to be higher when information is presented clearly, with enthusiasm, and with a degree of redundancy or repetition through various channels.
• Teacher questioning is most effective when questions are pitched at the appropriate conceptual level, are asked clearly, and are followed by a pause to allow students to think before responding.
• Student responses should be acknowledged by providing verbal and constructive feedback, and assisting partially correct respondents to greater success through prompting and rephrasing of questions. * Teachers should encourage student initiations, directing them to other class members for comment and response, and including them within the talk about the topic.

Apart from the importance of managing effective classroom communication, teachers must also coordinate communication with parents and members of the school community. Parents generally wish to be involved in their children's education (Lindle, 1989), and have a right to be informed about their own children's progress and achievement. Generally, findings from research into teacher/parent communication suggests that it is insufficient, irregular, infrequent and based too heavily on symbolic and numeric forms. In addition, it tends to occur when there is a problem rather than emphasizing student success and achievement (Mellor & Hayden,1981).

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