Our insightful Language input with Anna Robb really brought into perspective the importance of talking and listening within a class environment. Following up with some Tdt reading it became evident that a big problem in terms of talking and listening within schools is that teachers often do most of the former with the pupils left to do all of the latter.
Anna also pointed out the importance of planning for class discussions so that you can insure you are creating a genuine ‘discussion.’ It is often a problem that teachers ask closed questions and questions which they have already determined a correct answer for. As teachers we must ask open questions
which allow pupils to effectively think out loud, exploring ideas and possibilities together.
In order to achieve this it is also vital that children feel comfortable voicing their opinions. One way to begin to create a safe environment for talking and listening is by setting clear rules that all the children respect and adhere to. This removes the prospect of ridicule and rejection by forming a group consensus as to what is expected and why.
Here are some rules that I have created for talking and listening:
- We take turns to talk
- We listen carefully to and make eye contact with the person who is talking
- We never interrupt
- We always value everyone’s comments and opinions.
When creating rules like this in a classroom its a great idea to involve the children by asking them what rules they think should be in place. This way the children are more likely to follow the rules as they mean something to them and are not just simply enforced upon them.
Great to see you thinking further about T&L in the primary classroom! Next step is to think about how you can create these rules with the children so that they have ownership.
The placement school I am going to mention within their handbook that their school rules were chosen and written up by their primary 5’s, 6’s and 7’s. Perhaps my placement teacher will have some advice on how best to go about this.
In schools I have previously visited most classes have addressed the idea of talking and listening rules as well as classroom rules all together at the beginning of the new school year. I think this creates a sense of community within the classroom and a mutual respect that wasn’t so much the norm ‘back in the day.’
I think if I were to create these rules with the children I would ask them how they would want their classmates to behave whilst they were talking and write up their answers as a mind map. From there the children could work together to structure these ideas into rules.
Thank you for replying and getting me to think a little harder about this.
Hannah.