Deep Listening for Better Communication and Connection

Description

Listening is a central component of strong communication, and it’s obvious that it is essential for learning.

Many schools assess listening as a learning skill but don’t often teach it directly. The good news is that listening is a skill that can be learned and deepened, for our students and also for ourselves, as educators. 

Using fun and engaging activities, this course will introduce participants to deep listening skills that can enhance learning and connection in (and outside of!) the classroom. 

Through exploring practices such as contemplative writing, mindful listening, conscious movement, and connecting with nature, educators will enhance their own self-awareness, which is a key component in listening and creating a positive teaching and learning environment.

They will also investigate how listening can even be used as an opportunity for self-care! 

This experiential learning will include a range of activities that teachers will be able to use with their students.

Scaffolding of individual, pair-share, and group work will culminate in Council Practice – an age-old form of deep listening and speaking – that can be applied directly and effectively to the modern classroom. 

These meaningful activities can create connection and community within the classroom and provide a model of communication that can foster deeper learning. 

By the end of the course, participants will have a renewed sense of their listening strengths and a toolkit of activities that they can use in their classroom and school communities to enhance listening skills and the sense of connection to self and others, making teaching more meaningful and enjoyable. 

Concept by Amy Burke

Learning outcomes

The course will help the participants to:   

• Understand the importance of deep listening for learning (and for life!);
• Develop the skills necessary to deepen listening skills for themselves and their students; 
• Increase self-awareness by recognizing their own strengths and challenges as a listener; 
• Enhance classroom atmosphere by deepening the relational aspects of learning;
• Appreciate the power of deep listening for self-care and positive classroom atmosphere; 
• Foster community building among students and teachers;
• Integrate listening into all aspects of teaching and learning;
• Understand how these are transferable skills to others aspects of school life;
• Create a listening plan to implement in their specific educational context.

Tentative schedule

Day 1 – Course introduction

• Introduction to the course, the school, and the external week activities;
• Icebreaker activities;
• Presentations of the participants’ schools; 
• Connect through teamwork and cooperation games;
• Explore the difference between hearing and listening.

Day 2 – Inquiring into our own listening capacities

• Engage in contemplative writing approaches, learning to listen to the self;
• Explore the benefits – and difficulties – of slowing down mentally and physically;
• Learn to listen to your emotional and physical states;
• Pair sharing – learning to listen to another;
• Appreciate how listening contributes to self-awareness.

Day 3 – Exploring listening in the classroom and group settings

• Recognize our own behavioral tendencies in group settings;
• Recognize our own listening style;
• Exploring communication styles through role play;
• Explore what gets in the way of listening; 
• Listen to the wider world – Sounds Practice in the city.

Day 4 – Engaging deeper levels of listening

• Explore mindful listening and speaking through various rounds of Council Practice;
• Listen to the self-conscious movement; 
• Listen to the Earth – Nature Nurture activity in the park;
• Understand how listening can be an act of self-care.

Day 5 – Exploring strategies for implementation

• Community building in the classroom and school community;
• Create a Listening Plan for your own classroom context;
• Explore possible actions you can take to implement listening in your personal and professional life.

Day 6 – Course closure and cultural activities

• Course evaluation: round up of acquired competences, feedback, and discussion;
• Awarding of the course Certificate of Attendance;
• Excursion and other external cultural activities.

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