Listening
Good points about listening, being active listeners. Listening is a fine art, as it requires really hearing, and processing what is said. We listen to wait to give our opinion, which goes against the grain of listening at all.
There is a wonderful movie called "K-PAX", starring Jeff Bridges playing a psychiatrist who doesn't listen. He doesn't listen to his patients, his wife, his children...until one patient, played by Kevin Spacey, arrives to help Mark begin to listen.
One of the key scenes has Prot telling Mark, "Mark, Mark, Mark...you're not really listening are you?"
The non-verbal communication that goes on in the opening scenes is so classically the passive listener. I have used these scenes often in my human communication class when we talk about verbal and non-verbal communication.
By the end of the movie, the doctor is listening, and in ways he can't believe is possible.
Great movie, and a great movie to use in class to bring in this very topic, if it works into your course.
Back to listening, it is so important to look behind the words sometimes, and get what your students are really saying. Listening... and really hearing.
Hi Vallorie,
Thanks for sharing! Listening is key! Our students want to be heard. We need to begin to listen to our students without interruption. This movie is great for the courses it is a good fit to use in. Students like different tactics other than just the same old lecture.
Patricia Scales
Listening can be very hard to do, it takes practice and a willingness to do. I have to remind my self to be quiet and just listen. Often this is all a student wants.
Hi Alexander,
You are right! As society, we are so use to just butting in. We need to learn how to sit back and let the student fully explain without any interruption.
Patricia Scales
Listening is very important when it comes to giving a student a good education. They may be telling you something wihtout really coming out and saying it, so you have to be able to read between the lines. Like you stated that as an instructor you must look behind the words.
Toni
Hi Toni,
Instrucotors really do have to look beyond what appears on the surface. Students do hold things back from you.
Patricia Scales
